Ababil (religious)
Part of Islam
Location
Usually Ababils are found in Africa
Pied-winged Ababil (Wire-tailed swallow)

Ababil (Arabic: أبابيل, romanized: abābīl) means a "Flock of Birds". It refers to the miraculous birds in Islamic belief mentioned in Surah Al-Fil of the Quran that protected the Kaaba in Mecca from the Aksumite elephant army of Abraha, then self-styled governor of Himyar, by dropping small clay stones on them as they approached.[1] In the translation of sahih international, the phrase "tayran abābīl(a)"(طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ) is translated as "Birds in flocks" that is mentioned in the verse 105:3.

The event is said to have occurred in 570, the year that the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Yusuf Ali, Abdullah (1989). The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an. Amana Publications. ISBN 978-1-5900-8016-0.
  2. ↑ Matthews, John and Caitlin (2005). The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures. HarperElement. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4351-1086-1.
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