Does the verse, "Did He not make their plot go astray?" indicate that the Prophet (peace be upon him) knew the story of the People of the Elephant before the revelation of the surah, and were there any contemporaries of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who witnessed or knew about the elephant incident, and what is the source of the story of Abraha in the Prophetic biography?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The incident of the Elephant occurred in the year of the Prophet's birth (peace be upon him) and was well-known and successively narrated among generations at that time. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Qurayshi companions were aware of it. Surat Al-Fil was revealed to remind Quraysh of what Allah did to Abraha al-Habashi and his army, who tried to demolish the Kaaba, and to remind them of Allah's power and His vengeance upon tyrants by destroying them with birds and stones.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- 143845
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