JABAL THAWR (Thawr Mountain)

It is in this mountain that the houses the cave where prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stayed for three days and nights fleeing persecution from the Quraysh during their migration to Medinah. The mountain is at the southern end of Makkah and rises about 760 meters above sea level.

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived at the cave on Mount Thawr, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) entered first to clear away anything that might injure the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). He found a few holes and stuffed them with pieces of cloth. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) then entered and went to sleep on Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) lap. Suddenly, something stung Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) foot, but he did not twitch, fearing he would wake the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). The pain was so intense that tears began to run down his cheeks and onto the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) face. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) woke up and saw that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was in pain. He applied his spittle on the injury and the pain disappeared.

For three consecutive nights the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) remained hidden in the cave. During this period, Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) son, Abdullah, would pass his nights nearby. The young man would return to Makkah very early in the morning so that the Quraysh had no idea that he had slept elsewhere. Each day in Makkah he collected information about the activities of the Quraysh, and each night went back to JablThawr to inform the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and his father Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)

Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) slave, Amir bin Fuhayra (may Allah be pleased with him), would graze Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) goats near the cave so that both men could drink fresh milk. Early the next morning Amir would drive the goats back to Makkah along the same route that Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) son took, to obscure his footprints.

The Quraish people almost entered the cave because they believed that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was in there. But since Allah (the Glorified and Exalted) commanded a spider to spin a web from a bush across the entrance of the cave and Allah (the Glorified and Exalted) also commanded two doves to fly down between the spider and the tree, make a nest and lay eggs. When the pursuers reached close to the cave's entrance they thought it was impossible that someone could have entered the cave without ruining the spider web.