The Qullays and the Man Who Defiled It

Abrahah wanted to change the religion of the people and force them to become Christian, and since the Arabs were attached to the Kaaba, he decided to build a counterpart to the Kaaba in Ṣanʿāʾ, in Yemen. So he built a huge cathedral, al-Qullays, and this was described as a wonderful piece of art — huge, great — he had access to wealth from Abyssinia, so they built this huge cathedral in Ṣanʿāʾ to compete with the Kaaba.

Now, one man didn't like this idea. What he did was a bit crude: he went into al-Qullays, and he defecated, and then, not only that, he took it and he spread it all over the walls — stool, imagine, stool all over the walls — and he ran away. Abrahah was furious. "What is this? What is this guy doing?" He was so angry, he decided that he must get rid of the Kaaba. "I'm going to put an end to this, and destroy the Kaaba, mobilise an army, and march towards Makkah."

There was some resistance along the way — one of the chiefs of a tribe, his name is Nufayl, he put up some resistance, but he was defeated. Abrahah has a huge, powerful army, and they captured Nufayl, they captured him as a prisoner of war. When Abrahah reached al-Ṭāʾif, the people of al-Ṭāʾif assisted Abrahah, and one of them offered to be a guide for Abrahah for the rest of the journey — this man, his name is Abū Righāl. So Abū Righāl, he went out with the army, but then, immediately when they got out of al-Ṭāʾif, he died. So then the Arabs were so upset with him, they built, in the place of his death, a monument that they would stone, because of his betrayal.