the holy prophet moses preceded jesus christ (pbuh) by some 1300 years and muhummed (pbuh) succeeded to that high office vacated by jesus some six centuries later. it was the 12 of rabi i., in the year of the elephant, or the 29th of august 570 of the christian era1 that muhummed the praiseworthy, to whom all praise is due, was born in the sacred city of makkah in pagan arabia. his people the quraish remembered the year of his birth as the "era of the elephant", because just two months before the birth of the child abraha al-ashram, the abyssinian viceroy of yemen had attacked the sacred sanctuary at makkah at the head of his troops riding a huge african elephant. a terrifying sight never to be erased from their memory and a still more shocking end to the invasion — the miraculous destruction of abraha and his army as recorded in sura fil or the elephant — seest thou not how thy lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? did he not make their treacherous plan go astray? and he sent against them flights of birds, striking them with stones of baked clay. then did he make them like an empty field of stalks and straw,(of which the corn) has been eaten up (sura fil) holy quran 105:1-5 _______________________________________ 1. always use a.c. (after christ) or c.e. (christian era) and not a.d. as muslims often do unthinkingly.