Abrahah ibn Ashram attacked with a fleet of elephants when...

Abrahah ibn Ashram attacked with a fleet of elephants when `Abd al-Muttalib steadfastly stood at the entrance to the Ka`bah. If the idolaters had converted it into a storehouse of idols, it was `Ali (a.s) who, astride the shoulders of the Prophet (a.s), demolished the idols and threw them out. Therefore, his birth was the prelude of the purification of the Ka`bah.

While `Ali (a.s) had the singular privilege of being born in the holy precincts of the Ka`bah, the timing of his birth was very felicitous that he was born in the month of Rajab which is one of the sanctimonious months in the Islamic Calendar. On the twenty-seventh of this month, the Annunciation of the Prophet (a.s) took place and commenced the invitation for the people to embrace Islam. This also is an indication of the…