105. Feel

Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi's Chapter Introductions to the Quran



Name

The Sura derives its name from the word ashab al fil in the very first verse.

Period of Revelation

This is unanimously a Makki Sura; and if it is studied against its historical background it appears that it must have been sent down in the very earliest stage at Makkah.

Historical Background

As we have explained in E. N. 4 of Sura Al-Burujabove in retaliation for the persecution of the followers of the Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be on him) in Najran by the Jewish ruler Dhu-Nuwas of Yaman the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia invaded Yaman and put an end to the Himyarite rule there and in 52S A. D. this whole land passed under Abyssinian control. This happened in fact through collaboration between the Byzantine empire of Constantinople and the Abyssinian kingdom for the Abyssinians at that time had no naval fleet. The fleet was provided by Byzantium and Abyssinia sent 70 000 of its troops by it across the Red Sea to Yaman. At the outset one should understand that all this did not happen under the religious zeal but there were economic and political factors also working behind it and probably these were the real motive and retaliation for the Christian blood was just an excuse. Since the time the Byzantine empire had occupied Egypt and Syria it had been trying to gain control over the trade going on between East Africa India Indonesia etc. and the Byzantine dominions: from the Arabs who had been controlling it for centuries so as to earn maximum profits by eliminating the intermediary Arab merchants. For this purpose in 24 or 25 B. C. Caesar Augustas sent a large army under the Roman general Aelius Gallus which landed on the western coast of Arabia in order to intercept and occupy the sea route between southern Arabia and Syria. But the campaign failed to achieve its objective on account of thc extreme geographical conditions of Arabia. After this the Byzantines brought their fleet into the Red Sea and put an end to the Arab trade which they carried out by sea with the result that they were left only with the land route. To capture this very land route they conspired with the Abyssinian Christians and aiding them with their fleet helped them to occupy Yaman. The Arab historians statements about the Abyssinian army that invaded Yaman are different. Hafiz Ibn Kathir says that it was led by two commanders Aryat and Abrahah and according to Muhammad bin Ishaq its commander was Aryat and Abrahah was included in it. Then both are agreed that Aryat and Abrahah fell out Aryat was killed in the encounter and Abrahah took possession of the country; then somehow he per- suaded the Abyssinian king to appoint him his viceroy over Yaman. On the contrary the Greek and Syriac historians state that when after the conquest of Yaman the Abyssinians started putting to death the Yamanite chiefs who had put up resistance one of the chiefs named As-Sumayfi Ashwa (whom the Greek historians call Esymphaeus) yielded to the Abyssinians and promising to pay tribute obtained the Abyssinian king's warrant to be governor over Yaman. But the Abyssinian army revolted against him and made Abrahah governor in his place. This man was the slave of a Greek merchant of the Abyssinian seaport of Adolis who by clever diplomacy had come to wield great influence in the Abyssinian army occupying Yaman. The troops sent by the Negus to punish him either warned him or were defeated by him. Subsequently after the death of the king his successor was reconciled to accept him as his viceregent of Yaman.(The Greek historians write him as Abrames and the Syriac historians as Abraham. Abrahah perhaps is an Abyssinian variant of Abraham for its Arabic version is Ibrahim). This man through passage of time became an independent ruler of Yaman. He acknowledged the sovereignty of the Negus only in name and described himself as his deputy. The influence he wielded can be judged from the fact that after the restoration of the dam of Marib in 543 A. D. he celebrated the event by holding a grand feast which was attended by the ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor king of Iran king of Hirah and king of Ghassan. Its full details are given in the inscription that Abrahah installed on the dam. This inscription is extant and Glaser has publish