Jabal Al Nour - Mount of Light

Jabal al-Nour (The Mountain Of Light)

 This Cave of Hira, the sanctum of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the place of His devotions and meditations and the sacred spot where the Holy Quran began to be revealed. 

The Cave is situated on mount Al-Noor on way to Mina near Makkah and its peak is visible from a great distance. Muhammad (peace be upon him) had just stepped into the forty-first year of his life, when during a night in the month of Ramadan the first 5 verses of the Surah Al-Alaq (96) were Revealed to him

By the age of 40 he the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) was still living among an extremely backward people who were devoid of any traces of civilization and humanity. These hard conditions severely tormented his pure soul. He observed nothing in that society but the darkness of ignorance. He would go to the Ka'aba, but instead of witnessing the worship of God, he witnessed. Idolatry. He would then leave the Ka'aba and go among the people. But there, too, he was troubled by what he saw. He was pained by the ugly customs and false thoughts of his people. The pitiable condition of the poor and the destitute caused him great anguish. The deplorable situation of women, who were treated worse than animals, as well as the prevalence of gambling, wine drinking and murder tortured his blessed heart.

When he dealt with people as a merchant, their immoral behavior gave so severe an emotional shock to him that he had to go to a lonely place where he would not be tormented by people's inhuman behavior. For these reasons and to find peace of mind, he would go to Mount Hira and there think deeply about the amazing phenomena of nature and the vestiges of God's All-Embracing Compassion.

The Prophet at the age of forty:

By the time the Holy Prophet of Islam reached the age of 40, he was ready for his divine mission. One day suddenly, while he sat in a cave at Mount Hira, Gabriel, the Angel of Revelation, appeared to him and said, `Recite!' He said in surprise, `What shall I recite?' Again the divine voice very clearly and openly called out, `Recite, O Muhammad!'

And a third time Gabriel repeated, "Recite in the Name of Your Lord Who created. He created the human being from a clot. Recite and your Lord is Most Honorable, Who taught (to write) with the pen, taught the human being what he knew not..." Holy Quran (Alaq 96: 1-5)