Summary of Quran Chapter Surah Al Fil 105 The Elephant

Summary of Quran Chapter Surah Al Fil 105 The Elephant 

Surah Al-Fil and most of the surahs that follow it are related to the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) or to the environment and circumstances of the Arab society during his time. For example, the incident mentioned in Surah Al-Fil occurred in the same year that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was blessedly born. Some historians believe that his birth took place on the very day of this incident. However, there are also some narrations indicating that he was born fifty days after this event. 

The background of this incident is as follows: The Christian king of Yemen, Abraha, had a grand church built with the intention of rivaling the Kaaba, so that the Arabs would stop performing pilgrimage to the Kaaba and instead come to his church. However, despite all his efforts, he failed to capture people’s attention. During this time, an Arab, out of mischief, defiled the church by relieving himself in it. Abraha, already consumed by jealousy, took this incident as a pretext and launched a full-scale attack on Makkah, intending to destroy the Kaaba. 

Abraha's army that attacked Makkah was sixty thousand strong and included many elephants. That is why the Arabs called this army ‘Ashab al-Feel’ (The People of the Elephant), and the year this army attacked became famously known among them as the ‘Year of the Elephant’. Nevertheless, Allah miraculously protected His House and destroyed Abraha’s army through small birds.