“They have taken their rabbis and monks, as well as the Messiah, son of Mary, as lords besides Allah, though they were commanded only to worship one God. There is no deity worthy of worship except Him. Glory be to Him above what they associate with Him!”

The polytheists of these times, in India and elsewhere, make pilgrimage to their gods, such as Somnath and their other deities. Likewise, Christians make pilgrimage to Qumāmah and Bethlehem, and to the icon at Saydnāyā—an icon being an image—and to other churches of theirs containing images which they venerate, invoke, and seek as intercessors.

Scholars of Quranic commentary, historical biography, and other disciplines have mentioned Abraha, the king of Abyssinia who led the elephant to Mecca to destroy it, when the Abyssinians had seized Yemen and subdued the Arabs. Afterwards, Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan went to seek aid from Chosroes, the king of Persia, who supported him with an army until he expelled the Abyssinians from Yemen. He was among those who foretold the coming of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

The sign of the elephant, through which Allah Most High manifested the sanctity of the Kaaba, occurred in the year of the birth of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah sent against them birds in separate flocks, pelting them with stones of hardened clay. The flocks were separate groups, and the stones were clay that had turned to stone. This event is among the proofs of his prophethood, the signs of his mission, and the evidence for his religious law. And it is to this House that he and his community alone make pilgrimage and towards which they alone pray.

They said:

Abraha had built a church in Yemen and wanted to divert the Arabs’ pilgrimage to it. An Arab man entered the church and relieved himself there, which angered