Surah Al-Fil || #youtubeshorts #viral || Quran Recitation || Tilawat-e-Quran
Channel: Tilawat-e-Quran
Date: 16/04/2024

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

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

Historical Background
As we have explained in footnote 4 of Surah Al-Buruj, 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 Yemen, the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia invaded Yemen and put an end to the Himyarite rule there, and in 525 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 the Byzantines and Abyssinia sent 70,000 of its troops by it across the Red Sea to Yemen. From the outset one should understand that all this did not happen due to religious zeal but there were economic and political factors also working behind it, and these were probably the real motive, with retaliation for the Christian blood being 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 Augustus 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 (See map of this trade route on p. 111 of The Meaning of the Qur'an, vol. iv). However the campaign failed to achieve its objective on account of the 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 land route they conspired with the Abyssinian Christians and aiding them with their fleet, helped them to occupy Yemen.