Abraha was a king in Yemen who built a big temple or church and called people to come to it for pilgrimage. He wanted to destroy the Holy Ka’ba and make people come to his church or temple as an alternative. He came with a big army from Yemen towards Makkah to destroy the Ka’ba. He sent a message to Makkan leader Hazrat Abdul Muttalib (the grandfather of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.a.)) that “we are not interested in killing your people, but only in destroying Ka’ba”. Hazrat Abdul Muttalib replied to him: “The house of Ka’ba has a Lord who will protect it”. Abraha and his army started their war moving towards the Ka’ba. They brought with them elephants to scare the Arabs of Makkah who were unfamiliar with elephants. However, small birds were sent by Allah (s.w.t.) carrying small stones to destroy these enemies of the Ka’ba. Those birds are called Abaabeel in the Holy Quran. The Abaabeel birds threw the small stones on the army of Abraha, and that was enough to destroy them and force the rest to run away to Yemen. Abraha was injured and was taken back to Yemen were he succumbed to his injuries and died. This incident was so famous among people that its year was called ‘The Year of Elephant’ among the Arab people and became a part of history. Abraha wanted to destroy the Ka’ba, but Allah (s.w.t.) has destroyed him and his army. People who saw or heard about this miracle became more attached to the Ka’ba. The Quranic Surah ‘Al-Feel’ (Elephant) reminds people about that great miracle.   _{Your Comment}