Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī
quran:105:1 – In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

Have you not considered, ˹O Muhammad˺, how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?  

Have you not considered (an interrogative meant to provoke marvel, in other words, ‘marvel at’) the way in which your Lord dealt with the Men of the Elephant?, who was named Mahmūd, and the men were Abraha, King of Yemen and his troops. He had built a church in San‘ā’ in order to divert pilgrims away from Mecca to it. A man from among the Banū Kināna defecated in it and stained its prayer niche with a deflowered virgin’s blood, in contempt of it. Abraha then swore that he would knock down the Ka‘ba. So he approached Mecca with his troops riding Yemeni elephants with Mahmūd at the vanguard. But when they turned to destroy the Ka‘ba, God unleashed upon them what He relates in His words:
القرآن:١٠٥:١ – بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ  

{ألم تر} استفهام تعجب، أي اعجب {كيف فعل ربك بأصحاب الفيل} هو محمود وأصحابه أبرهة ملك اليمن وجيشه، بنى بصنعاء كنيسة ليصرف إليها الحجاج عن مكة فأحدث رجل من كنانة فيها ولطخ قبلتها بالعذرة احتقارا بها، فحلف أبره ليهدمنَّ الكعبة، فجاء مكة بجيشه على أفيال اليمن مقدمها محمود، فحين توجهوا لهدم الكعبة أرسل الله عليهم ما قصَّه في قوله:

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Qurʾān