Examine the significance of the year of year of Elephant (570 C.E.)
Explanation
*The event of the Elephant refers to an attempt to pull down the Kacbah in 570 C.E.
*It occurred when Abdul-Muṭṭalib was the head of Quraysh
*Abraha al-Ashram was then the Abyssinia viceroy of Yemen.
*This is because of the political and economic significance of the pilgrimage as well as the religious leadership of Makkah.
*So he built an elaborate cathedral in Sanāc the capital of Yemen.
*The motive was to attract pilgrims to it instead of the kacbah.
*An Arab was said to have profaned this cathederal.
*He decided to march on Makkah to pull down the Kacbah in retaliation.
*Elephants and other war implements were obtained to execute the plan.
*Allah, the Owner of the House protected it.
*He sent flocks of birds with baked stones to destroy the attackers.
*The rest fled back to Abyssinia disappointed.
*Sūratul Fīl (Q.107) refers to the event.
*Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) was born in that year.