Al-Fil (The Elephant): (4) Throwing at them stones...

There are several issues concerning this verse:

The First Issue: The Reader of the Verb

Abu Haywah recited the verb as يَرْمِيهِمْ (yarmīhim - he throws at them), implying that Allah is the one throwing, or that the birds (ṭayr) are the subject, as ṭayr is a masculine plural noun, even though it is often treated as feminine based on meaning.

The Second Issue: The Manner of the Throwing

Several views are mentioned regarding how the stones were thrown:

1. Muqatil's View: Every bird carried three stones—one in its beak and two in its feet. Each stone killed one man. Inscribed on every stone was the name of the person it would strike. Wherever a stone landed on a body, it emerged from the opposite side; if it landed on the head, it emerged from the rear.

2. The View of 'Ikrimah from Ibn 'Abbas: When Allah sent the stones upon the companions of the Elephant, no stone struck anyone without blistering their skin and causing smallpox (jadarī) to erupt. This is also the view of Sa'id ibn Jubayr. These stones were small, the smallest being like a lentil, and the largest like a chickpea.

Some scholars rejected this account, arguing that if we permit stones the size of a lentil to possess the weight necessary to penetrate a human head and exit the lower body, we must also permit a massive mountain to be devoid of weight, or for a fig to possess such weight. This invalidates observable reality (al-mushāhadāt). If this were permissible, it would also be permissible for the sun and moon to be present yet unseen, or for a blind person to gain sight and perceive a location in Andalusia while they are in the East—all of which are impossible.

However, according to our school of thought (the Ash'arite/Maturidi perspective), this is permissible, except that custom (al-'ādah) dictates that such things do not occur (i.e., miracles are possible through the suspension of natural laws).

The Third Issue: The Meaning of Sijjīl

Several interpretations are offered for the word sijjīl:

1. The Inscribed Punishment: Sijjīl is a proper noun indicating the register (dīwān) where the punishment of the disbelievers was written, just as Sijjīn is the register of their deeds. It is as if it means: stones from the category of written, recorded punishment. Its derivation is from isjāl (sending/dispatching). From this root is sijill (a bucket full of water), named so because the punishment was written in it, and the punishment is described as being "sent" (as per the verse: {And We sent against them birds in flocks} and {So We sent against them the flood}). Thus, {from sijjīl} means "from what Allah wrote in that register."

2. Ibn 'Abbas's View: Sijjīl means sinn (stone) and kull (clay), meaning it was partly stone and partly clay.

3. Abu 'Ubaydah's View: Sijjīl means "intense" or "severe."

4. The Name of the Lowest Heaven: Sijjīl is the name of the lowest heaven.

5. Stones from Hell: Sijjīl refers to stones from Hell, as Sijjīl is one of the names of Hell, where the letter nūn (N) was substituted with lām (L).

{ Then He made them like eaten chaff. }

Regarding the Almighty's saying: { Then He made them like eaten chaff }...