Exegesis of Surat al-Fil
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Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
To proceed: This is the one-hundred-and-first session, which takes place every week on Thursday, and this is the twenty-eighth Thursday of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, 1416 AH. In it, we briefly review the exegesis of the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: [al-Fil:1] to the end of the surah, because it is the surah we stopped at previously.
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says: [al-Fil:1] addresses the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or it addresses everyone to whom the address is valid. So, on the first view, the address to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is an address to him and to the Ummah; because his Ummah follows him,And on the second view: the address is general for him and his Ummah from the outset.
In any case, Allah affirms what He, Glorified and Exalted is He, did to the People of the Elephant. The People of the Elephant are the people of Yemen who came to demolish the Ka'bah with a great elephant, which the King of Abyssinia sent to them,And the reason for that is: because the King of Yemen wanted to prevent people from performing Hajj to the House of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So he built a house resembling the Ka'bah and called people to perform Hajj to it to prevent them from performing Hajj to the House of Allah. The Arabs became angry about this, and one of them went to this house that the King of Yemen had made in place of the Ka'bah, and he relieved himself in it and smeared its walls with filth. The King of Yemen became extremely angry and informed the King of Abyssinia of this,So he sent to him this great elephant. It is said: and he had six elephants with him to assist him.
So this man—meaning the King of Yemen—came with his soldiers to demolish the Ka'bah, as he claimed. But Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, protected His House. When he reached a place called al-Mighmas, the elephant stopped and refused to head toward the Ka'bah. Its driver urged it, but it refused. When they directed it toward Yemen, it ran off at a gallop, but when they directed it toward Makkah, it stopped. This is a sign among the signs of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Then they remained until Allah sent upon them birds in flocks:[Al-Fil 105:4] The scholars said: "Birds in flocks" means scattered groups, each bird carrying a hard stone of Sijjil in its beak; Sijjil is burnt clay, because it becomes harder. And this stone is not large, but it is small. It strikes one of these men on the head and comes out of his rear, may Allah protect us: [al-Fil:5] meaning: like a crop that the livestock ate and trampled with their feet until it crumbled.
This is a summary of what is in this great surah, in which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, showed what He did to the People of the Elephant, and that their plot returned to their own throats. And so it is with everyone who intends evil against the truth; for Allah, the Exalted, makes their plot return to their own throat.
And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, protected the Ka'bah from this elephant, even though in the end times He will unleash upon it a man from Abyssinia who will demolish it stone by stone until it is level with the ground. This is because the story of the People of the Elephant is a preamble to the mission of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), in which the House will be honored. Then, in the end times, if the people of the House insult it and intend for it deviation and injustice, and do not recognize its worth, then Allah will unleash upon it one who will demolish it until nothing remains on the face of the earth. For this reason, it is obligatory for the people of Makkah, especially, to be cautious of sins, transgressions, and major sins; lest they insult the Ka'bah and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, humiliate them. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to protect our religion and His Sacred House from the plot of every plotter, for He is capable of all things.
To proceed: This is the one-hundred-and-first session, which takes place every week on Thursday, and this is the twenty-eighth Thursday of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, 1416 AH. In it, we briefly review the exegesis of the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِAllah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says:
Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِIn any case, Allah affirms what He, Glorified and Exalted is He, did to the People of the Elephant. The People of the Elephant are the people of Yemen who came to demolish the Ka'bah with a great elephant, which the King of Abyssinia sent to them,And the reason for that is: because the King of Yemen wanted to prevent people from performing Hajj to the House of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So he built a house resembling the Ka'bah and called people to perform Hajj to it to prevent them from performing Hajj to the House of Allah. The Arabs became angry about this, and one of them went to this house that the King of Yemen had made in place of the Ka'bah, and he relieved himself in it and smeared its walls with filth. The King of Yemen became extremely angry and informed the King of Abyssinia of this,So he sent to him this great elephant. It is said: and he had six elephants with him to assist him.
So this man—meaning the King of Yemen—came with his soldiers to demolish the Ka'bah, as he claimed. But Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, protected His House. When he reached a place called al-Mighmas, the elephant stopped and refused to head toward the Ka'bah. Its driver urged it, but it refused. When they directed it toward Yemen, it ran off at a gallop, but when they directed it toward Makkah, it stopped. This is a sign among the signs of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Then they remained until Allah sent upon them birds in flocks:
Striking them with stones of hard clay,
تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍAnd He made them like eaten straw.
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍThis is a summary of what is in this great surah, in which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, showed what He did to the People of the Elephant, and that their plot returned to their own throats. And so it is with everyone who intends evil against the truth; for Allah, the Exalted, makes their plot return to their own throat.
And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, protected the Ka'bah from this elephant, even though in the end times He will unleash upon it a man from Abyssinia who will demolish it stone by stone until it is level with the ground. This is because the story of the People of the Elephant is a preamble to the mission of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), in which the House will be honored. Then, in the end times, if the people of the House insult it and intend for it deviation and injustice, and do not recognize its worth, then Allah will unleash upon it one who will demolish it until nothing remains on the face of the earth. For this reason, it is obligatory for the people of Makkah, especially, to be cautious of sins, transgressions, and major sins; lest they insult the Ka'bah and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, humiliate them. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to protect our religion and His Sacred House from the plot of every plotter, for He is capable of all things.