Mecca Sharif, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 21.377333, 39.849675
Jabal Thawr is located south of Mecca and Masjid al-Haram, on road to Yemen. Height of the mountain is 1,405 m.
The fame of this mountain is because of the cave where Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at the beginning of Hijra (the Immigration) in Laylat al-Mabit sought shelter there from the polytheists.
Polytheists went to the door of the cave, but thanks to the divine assistance, they could not find Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
For most Muslims, the cave is of religious significance, and is thus visited by many pilgrims and the tourists.
Currently , the distance of mount Thawr to Masjid al-Haram is 3 to 4 kilometers.
Cave of Thawr
The cave of Thawr where Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ took shelter for three days at the beginning of Hijra.
Cave of Thawr is located on top of mount Thawr with a view over surrounding mountains.
It is in the form of a rock or a hallowed rock and looks like an upside-down boat.
Its altitude from the ground is a little more than 500 meters. Climbing up to the cave is very difficult and requires making a lot of efforts.
Cave of Thawr has two entrances, one in the west which is very narrow and almost at the bottom of the cave, entering from which is very difficult, and another is on the east which is somehow wider and it is believed that it has been made by a miracle from Allah after Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ entered the cave.
Length of the cave is about 18 hand spans and its width in the middle is 11 hand spans. The height inside the cave is about the height of a man and its area is 2.5 cubic meters.
Story
After Allah informed the Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ of the plot of the polytheists for killing him, Imam Ali رضي الله عنه stayed in the bed of the Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ while he صلى الله عليه left Mecca for Yathrib at night.
To escape the polytheists who were searching for him, the Prophet صلى الله عليه took refuge in the cave of Thawr together with Hz. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and remained in there for three days and nights.
The holy Qur’an has mentioned the story of polytheists’ plot, the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه leave from his house in Mecca and his stay in the cave of mount Thawr.
Divine Miracles
For the blessing of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه stay in this cave, several miracles happened such as spinning of a spider’s net in the front of the cave, nestling of two wild pigeons and in a report growing of a tree.
Polytheists who were searching for the Prophet صلى الله عليه came up to the opening of the cave of Thawr, but Allah stopped them from entering it.
This way, Quraysh who saw the spider’s net and the eggs of the pigeons, assumed that the cave must have been an isolated one. Because, had anyone entered it before, the spider’s net would have been cut apart, the eggs of the pigeons would have been broken and the pigeons would have not been sitting there with ease.
Pilgrims at Mount Thawr
Mount of Thawr has been regarded as blessed by Muslims after the three days staying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه there and has always been a place of visiting for hajj pilgrims.
Around the year 800/1397-8 or according to another report 810/1407-8, the ruler of that time ordered to extend the range of the entrance of the cave so that people would have less troubles there.
In later times, the ruler of Mecca, widened the entrance of the cave once again. Today, the height of the opening and the width of the cave is about half a meter.
