Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz Amma - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (319)

Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz AmmaIbn al-'Uthaymin

Commentary on Sūrat al-Fīl (The Elephant)

“In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the Companions of the Elephant? * Did He not cause their scheme to go astray? * And He sent against them birds in flocks, * pelting them with stones of baked clay, * and made them like devoured straw.”

The basmala has already been discussed.

“Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the Companions of the Elephant?” Allah Most High is addressing the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—or He is addressing everyone to whom these words may properly be directed. According to the first interpretation, the address to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—is also an address to him and his nation, since his nation follows him. According to the second, the address is directed generally to him and his nation from the outset. In either case, Allah Most High is affirming what He—Glorified and Exalted—did to the Companions of the Elephant.

The Companions of the Elephant were the people of Yemen who came to demolish the Kaaba with a huge elephant sent to them by the king of Abyssinia. This came about because the king of Yemen wanted to divert people from making pilgrimage to the Kaaba, the House of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He therefore built a structure resembling the Kaaba and called upon the people to make pilgrimage to it, intending to divert them from pilgrimage to the House of Allah. This angered the Arabs, and one of them went to the structure that the king of Yemen had erected as a substitute for the Kaaba, defecated inside it, and smeared its walls with filth.

The king of Yemen became exceedingly angry and informed the king of Abyssinia, who sent him this huge elephant. It is said that six other elephants accompanied it to assist it. The king of Yemen then set out with his soldiers to demolish the Kaaba, as he intended, but Allah—Glorified is He—is the Protector of His House. When they reached a place called al-Mughammas, the elephant stopped, balked, and refused to turn

تفسير سورة الفيل ﴿بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ﴾ ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَبِ الْفِيلِ * أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِى تَضْلِيلٍ * وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ * تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ * فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولِ﴾ . البسملة تقدم الكلام عليها. ﴿ألم تر كيف فعل ربك بأصحاب الفيل﴾ يخاطب الله تعالى النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم، أو يخاطب كل من يصح توجيه الخطاب إليه، فعلى الأول يكون خطاب النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم خطاباً له وللأمة؛ لأن أمته تابعة له، وعلى الثاني يكون الخطاب عاماً له ولأمته، ابتداءً، وعلى كلٍّ فإن الله تعالى يقرر ما فعل ﷾ بأصحاب الفيل، وأصحاب الفيل هم أهل اليمن الذين جاؤوا لهدم الكعبة بفيل عظيم أرسله إليهم ملك الحبشة، وسبب ذلك أن ملك اليمن أراد أن يصد الناس عن الحج إلى الكعبة، بيت الله ﷿ فبنى بيتاً يشبه الكعبة، ودعى الناس إلى حجه ليصدهم عن حج بيت الله فغضب لذلك العرب، وذهب رجل منهم إلى هذا البيت الذي جعله ملك اليمن بدلاً عن الكعبة وتغوَّط فيه، ولطخ جدرانه بالقذر، فغضب ملك اليمن غضباً شديداً، وأخبر ملك الحبشة بذلك فأرسل إليه هذا الفيل العظيم قيل: وكان معه ستة فيلة لتساعده فجاء ملك اليمن بجنوده ليهدم الكعبة على زعمه، ولكن الله سبحانه حافظ بيته، فلما وصلوا إلى مكان يسمى المغمَّس وقف الفيل وحرن، وأبى أن يتجه