How many chapters in the holy quran are named after animals?

[shiraz.virani]

The answer is 6 namely,

The Cow
The Cattle
The Ant
The Spider
The Bee
The Elephant

[agakhani]

he answer is 6 namely,

The Cow
The Cattle
The Ant
The Spider
The Bee
The Elephant

Thanks for the post, I have a question; Does elephants were existed in Saudi Arabia during the time of revelation of Quran, In my opinion Elephants were not existed at that time not even before that time and not even now.
I will appreciate if you kindly refer me that ayah in which Allah mentioned about elephants.

[shiraz.virani]

Thanks for the post, I have a question; Does elephants were existed in Saudi Arabia during the time of revelation of Quran, In my opinion Elephants were not existed at that time not even before that time and not even now.
I will appreciate if you kindly refer me that ayah in which Allah mentioned about elephants.

Great question agakhani bhai, In order to understand why that surah is called The Elephant, we have to understand the story behind it !

Ima cut the story short for you ok ??

Zu-Nuwas the king of yemen, persecuted the christians living in Najran..and this he did so that people of different faith should covert

There was this guy called "DUS" who was a christian and who escaped from this ongoing murders....He ran to Caesar of rome.

The great Caesar send a letter to Najashi, The great king of yemen and told him to take the revenge.

Najashi prepared an army of about seventy thousand men and sent them to yemen to fight Zu-Nuwas under the leadership of "Ibrat"....This guy named "Abrahah" was one of the commanders of the army who was fighting from the christian side.

The army of christians defeated Zu Nuwas and Ibrat became the ruler of Yemen...But after a short time Abrahah who was the commander in Ibrats army murdered Ibrat and became the ruler himself !

The news reached Najashi who decided to punish him.... Abrahah shaved the hair of his head and with some soil of Yemen sent this to Najashi as a sign of complete submission and loyalty....Najashi forgave him

Then, to show his good behaviour, Abrahah had built a great church unsurpassed in the world at that time. After that he introduced it as 'Ka'ba', to the people of Arabia, instead of the real Ka'ba and decided to make it the center for the Arab Hajj pilgrimage and to transfer the great central place of gatherings of Mecca to that place.

For this purpose, he sent many preachers to different places and among the Arab tribes in Arabia. But, Arabs, who intensely loved Mecca and the Ka'ba and knew it as the greatest sign of Prophet Abraham, the Khalil (a.s.), felt danger.

According to some narrations, a group of people hiddenly burnt the church....Abrahah became very angry and decided to destroy the holy Ka'ba, totally in order to take revenge. He set out to invade Mecca with an army which consisted of soldiers and elephants.

Approaching the outskirts of Mecca, Abrahah's men captured 200 camels belonging to Abdul-Muttalib, the grandfather of the holy Prophet (saw]

Abrahah sent a man to Mecca to find the supreme chief of Mecca ...The man arrived in Mecca and looked for the chief of the city. Everyone showed Abdul-Muttalib to him and he gave him the message. Abdul-Muttalib said that they were not in a position to fight with them and the Ka'ba would be protected by Allah[swt].

Wait !!....Stop for a moment here...The story which is a historical fact tells us that the great grand father of rasool[saw] was a believer, which means they were following islam even before the arrival of Islam and rasool[saw]

When Abdul Muttalib approached the military camp he was received respectfully..... and Abrahah gave him an honourable seat near him and then he asked him about the purpose of his visit.

Abdul Muttalib said that he had come to complain to Abrahah about the two hundred camels that Abrahah's men had taken away and to request him to return his animals to him.

Abrahah was startled when Abdul Muttalib spoke like this.... The conversation between the two is reported thus: what? I have come to destroy your place of worship, the Ka'ba, and you, instead of pleading to save the Holy House, speak of your camels ??? Abdul-Muttalib replied: The camels belong to me and I, as the owner of the camels, have come for them. The Ka'ba belongs to Allah and it is the concern of the Owner of the Ka'ba to save it or to leave it to its fate in your hands.

After his meeting with Abrahah, the grand father of rasool[saw] adviced his fellow tribes men to take refuge on the mountain and pray to allah[swt] for help !

Then the grand father of rasool[saw] went to the valleys around Mecca and sent one of his sons over the mountain peak to see what was happening. He returned and said that he had seen a black cloud coming from the Red Sea. Abdul-Muttalib became happy with that news and adviced him people to return back to their home for allah has sent protection

When Abrahah, riding on his elephant by the name of 'Mahmood' and intending to destroy the Ka'ba, entered the city, a huge flock of tiny birds, like a cloud, appeared in the sky; each bird with three small stones, as small as a pea, carrying one in its tiny beak and two in its claws. They dropped them on the invading soldiers and they were killed at once.

Can you imagine killing someone killing someone with a pea sized stone ??

Abrahah tried to go forth on elephant-back, but the animal did not move until it turned its head and moved swiftly towards Yemen.....and there Abrahah too died in the capital of Yemen.

In the same year, the holy Prophet[saw] was born and brightened the world with the light of his being....After this the so called year was called as the year of the elephant and it is the beginning date in the history of arabs

[shiraz.virani]

And thats the reason why brother agakhani the very first verse of surah 105 starts with

Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the Companions of the Elephant? [105:1]

Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray? [105:2]

And He sent against them Flights of Birds [105:3]

Striking them with stones of baked clay [105:4]

[agakhani]

Thanks for sharing this interesting story Shiraz. Its refresh my memory.

[MR-FORGET]

Abrahah tried to go forth on elephant-back, but the animal did not move until it turned its head and moved swiftly towards Yemen.....and there Abrahah too died in the capital of Yemen.

Mr. Virani,

I thought Abrahah was killed by stones throwing by birds from their legs and beaks!!?? please correct me if I am wrong.

[shiraz.virani]

You're welcome agakhani bhai !!

Mr. Virani,

I thought Abrahah was killed by stones throwing by birds from their legs and beaks!!?? please correct me if I am wrong.

Different historians have different take on this brother...some say he was trampled by his own elephant....some say he died because of those stones etc etc....but i personally think that he was chased away by these so called birds who followed him where ever he went and was killed by the stones that were hurled on him.

[alnoordodhia]

Ya ali madad all,
if in muslim following quran is most important....offering namaz is most compulsory.....then why do we offer dua 365 days and not namaz 365 days...and why our IMAM offers namaz....????

[star_munir]

Because, Ismailis have to follow what Imam has said. This question has already been discussed several times. You may search it for the detailed answer of your questions.

[Admin]

Ya ali madad all,
if in muslim following quran is most important....offering namaz is most compulsory.....then why do we offer dua 365 days and not namaz 365 days...and why our IMAM offers namaz....????

The most important thing for Muslim is to believe in one God and that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is his prophet.

When you die, Allah will not ask you how many Namaz or Roza you did. He will ask you how many people you have helped in your life time, what good you did around you and how many time you tried to bring fitna amongst Muslims. These are the important questions...