نوع مقاله : پژوهشی
نویسنده
استادیار گروه آموزشی علوم قرآن و حدیث دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
Abraha, the most well-known king of Ḥimyar, is remembered in Islamic tradition for his expedition against Mecca, where he is said to have marched with an army of elephants to destroy the Kaʿba. The episode, known as the “Year of the Elephant,” is linked in some reports to the birth of the Prophet Muḥammad and is discussed both by Muslim historians and in Qurʾānic exegesis on Q 105. Since Islamic accounts were composed centuries after Abraha, modern scholarship has raised doubts about its historicity: how could African elephants cross nearly 800 kilometers from Yemen to Mecca across a harsh desert, and why do contemporary non-Islamic sources fail to mention Mecca or this event? Nonetheless, Abraha appears in contemporary pre-Islamic records, and archaeological excavations have uncovered 10 inscriptions attributed to him, four commissioned by the king himself. No other pre-Islamic Arabian figure is documented with such varied and precise evidence. This study asks: What was the extent of Abraha’s rule? What were his religious orientations? And was his expedition to Mecca historical? By reviewing contemporary sources alongside epigraphic and archaeological evidence, and presenting the most significant findings, the paper provides a basis for reassessing traditional accounts.
کلیدواژهها English
