Fifty or fifty five days before the birth of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), the incident of the people of the elephants occurred, which is well known and recorded in the kitaabs of history and Seerat. The Holy Qur’aan also devotes a specific Surah to this particular incident. A comprehensive account of this incident is recorded in the kitaabs of Tafseer. Below follows a summary of this incident:

Abrahah was the governor of Yemen, appointed by Najaashi (Negus), the emperor of Abyssinia. When he noticed all the Arabs travelling to Makkah Mukarramah to perform Tawaaf of the Baitullah, he decided to erect a magnificent, highly decorated structure in the name of Christianity so that the Arabs would abandon the simple Ka‘bah and make Tawaaf of his fake Ka‘bah. He therefore erected a beautiful church in the capital city of San‘aa.

(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/46)