Cave of Hira
From Mw
Life of Muhammad 
| |
|---|---|
| Birth of Muhammad | 570 CE (54 BH) |
| Muhammad is orphaned | 575 CE (49 BH) |
| Muhammad marries Khadija | 595 CE (28 BH) |
| Makkah phase of dawa | 610–622 |
| Quran Revealed | 610 CE (12 BH) |
| Declaration at mount Safa | 613 CE (9 BH) |
| First Emigration to Abysinnia | 615 CE (7 BH) |
| Start of Boycott of Banu Hashim | 616 CE (6 BH) |
| Year of Sorrow | 619 CE (3 BH) |
| Isra and Mi'raj | 620 CE (2 BH) |
| First pledge of Aqaba | 621 CE (1 BH) |
| Emigration to Yathrib | 622 CE (0 AH) |
| Madinah phase of dawa | 622–632 |
| Battle of Badr | 624 CE (2 AH) |
| Battle of Uhud | 625 CE (3 AH) |
| Battle of the Trench | 627 CE (5 AH) |
| Treaty of Hudaibiyyah | 628 CE (6 AH) |
| The first pilgrimage | 629 CE (7 AH) |
| Conquest of Makkah | 630 CE (8 AH) |
| Death of Muhammad | 632 CE (10 AH) |
When Prophet Muhammad was nearly forty, he had been wont to pass long hours in retirement meditating and speculating over all aspects of creation around him. This meditative temperament helped to widen the mental gap between him and his compatriots. He used to provide himself with Sawiq (barley porridge) and water and then directly head for the hills and ravines in the neighbourhood of Makkah. One of these in particular was his favourite resort — a cave named Hira’, in the Mount An-Nour. It was only two miles from Makkah, a small cave 4 yards long and 1.75 yard wide. He would always go there and invite wayfarers to share him his modest provision. He used to devote most of his time, and Ramadan in particular, to worship and meditation on the universe around him. His heart was restless about the moral evils and idolatry that were rampant among his people; he was as yet helpless because no definite course, or specific approach had been available for him to follow and rectify the ill practices around him. This solitude attended with this sort of contemplative approach must be understood in its Divine perspective. It was a preliminary stage to the period of grave responsibilities that he was to shoulder very soon. [1]
Privacy and detachment from the impurities of life were two indispensable prerequisites for the Prophet’s soul to come into close communion with the Unseen Power that lies behind all aspects of existence in this infinite universe. It was a rich period of privacy which lasted for three years and ushered in a new era, of indissoluble contact with that Power. [2]
Source: Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum
[edit] References
- ↑ Rahmat Al-lil'alameen 1/47; Ibn Hisham 1/235,236; Fi Zilal Al-Qur'an 29/166
- ↑ Fi Zilal Al-Qur'an 29/166,167
