The Elephant

allah has made makkah a secure place and promised to always protect the ka'bah.

those who make evil plans to harm the holy house will pay the price for their crime.

a mighty army of men and elephants can be crushed by little birds. so, if you have allah on your side, it does not matter who is against you. but if allah is against you, it does not matter who is on your side.

An evil king named Abraha was jealous because people from all over Arabia visited Makkah for Hajj and business. So he built a fancy church in his kingdom in Yemen, hoping that people would start going there instead of the Ka'bah. One angry Arab idol-worshipper sneaked into the new building at night, and disrespected it by pooping on the wall. Abraha got so mad that he decided to destroy the Ka'bah. He marched with a large army of men and elephants towards Makkah. But Allah sent against his army flocks of birds that showered the army with stones, killing everyone before they could reach the Ka'bah. It is commonly believed that the Prophet (PBUH) was born in the same year that this happened. {Recorded by **Imam Ibn Kathir**}

Animals don't have free will, so they can't go against Allah's orders. But humans and jinn have free choice, and many of them choose to disobey Him..

1. Although Abraha tried to destroy the Ka'bah refused to harm the House of Allah...

2. In Surah An-Naml (27:24-25), the hoopoe was very angry because the people of Sheba (in Yemen) were praying to the sun iňstead of Allah.

3. In the same Surah, an ant saved other ants from being crushed by the army of Sulaiman (Solomon). Compare this to the story of the destruction of Sheba's dam. When **Imam Ibn Kathir** explained verse 34:16, he mentioned the story of **Amr ibn Aamer** who went up the mountain one day and realized that the dam was going to burst in a few days. He kept it secret, and made an evil plan to sell his house and land before he left the city. He told his son, 'When we go to the city's gathering tomorrow, I am going to ask you to do something. Don't listen to me. When I ask you again, I want you to get angry and slap me on the face.' His son refused at first, but eventually agreed to the plan. When Amr was slapped, he pretended to be very mad and threatened to kill his son. People begged him not to. Finally, he said, 'Fine! But I'll not stay in a city where I have been humiliated by my own son.' They offered to buy his house and land. He said, 'OK, but you have to pay me today before I change my mind.' So, they paid him in gold. Then he took his family—including his son—along with all the gold and left overnight when everybody was asleep. Two days later, the dam burst, destroying all homes and farms.

What the donkey did is called 'a feasibility study,' which is a plan for a future project to see if it will work or not. So for example, before you start a business, you need to study the chances of risk and success, the need for this business, and so on. As inspired by the donkey, always remember to take two steps back and do the math before you jump.