Jabal al-Nour

Jabal al-Nour (also Jabal an-Nur or Jabal Nur),which can be translated from Arabic(جبل النور),"The Mountain of Light", or "Hill of Illumination",is a mountain near Mecca in Saudi Arabia's Hejaz region. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mecca, and no pilgrimage to the 'Holy City' is complete without visiting this mountain. The mountain houses the famed Ghar-E-Hira or Hira cave. The cave is quite small, four arm's length long by 1.75 arm's length wide. The mountain is barely six hundred and forty meters tall. It does however, take two hours to make it to the cave and is extremely strenuous on the individual. However, the mount and the cave hold tremendous significance from Muslims throughout the world. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have spent a great deal of time in the cave meditating and it is believed that he had received his first revelation from the archangel Gabriel, inside this cave from (Allah).

Naming

Since this is where the Prophet received the first verses of the Quran(the Muslim holy book), the mountain was giving the title "Jabal-al-Nour". "Jabal" in Arabic means mountain and "Nour" or "Noor" means hidayat (guidance).This experience is sometimes identified with the beginning of revelation; hence the present name. As for the exact date of the first revelation it can be seen through investigation to fix the time to Monday the 21st of Ramadan at night, i.e. August, 10, 610 C.E. or exactly 40 lunar years, 6 months and 12 days of age i.e., 39 Gregorian years, 3 months and 22 days.

Why this mountain?

Before the Prophet Muhammad’s first revelation he would have pleasant dreams. Among these dreams showed signs of his Prophethood starting to appear as well as signs that the stones in Makkah would great him with Salam which in turn proved true. These dreams lasted for six months. Also an increasing need for solitude, lead him to seek seclusion and meditation in the rocky hills which surrounded Mecca. There he would retreat to Hira cave for one month,each year, engaging in tahannuth, which means self-justification for the purpose of the Quraysh to engage during Jahiliyyah. He would take provisions along with him during this retreat, and would feed the poor that would come to him. Then before returning home to his family for more previsions he would circumambulate the Ka'ba seven times, or however may times Allah willed; then he would go home. In the blaze of day and during the clear desert nights, when the stars seem sharp enough to penetrate the eye, his very substance was becoming saturated with the ‘signs’ in the heavens, so that he might serve as an entirely adequate instrument for a revelation already inherent in these ‘signs.’ It was then that he was undergoing a preparation for the enormous task which would be placed upon his shoulders, the task of prophethood and conveying the true religion of Allah to his people and the rest of humanity.

Tahannuth

Tahannuth or tahannatha, verb, are words found in some of the accounts of Muhammad’s first prophetic experience Tahannuth is immediately glossed as tabarrur (“abstaining from sin”?): wa ’l-taḥannut̲h̲ al-tabarrur. Tahannuth can be associated with an ancient custom of Kuraysh and that essentially it consisted of veneration of the Ka’ba and works of charity while being withdrawn on Jabal Al-Nour. It is suggested that tahannuth refers to the condition which, in fikh, one assumes by making a binding vow- one becomes “liable” (hanith) to fulfuil the vow. In the traditions about the prophet, the word would reflect the idea that he made a vow to enter a period of retreat (iʿtikāf [q.v.]), a practice of early Muslim times which was beginning less widespread as a result of juristic disapproval of asceticism. It was because the practice was in declind that the word was such a puzzle for later generations.

How Jabal-al Nour looks today

One physical feature that differentiates it from other mountains and hills is its strange looking summit, which makes it look more like two mountains on top of each other. The top of the Mountain of Nour in the mountainous desert is one of the loneliest of places. However, the cave within, which faces the direction of the Ka’ba, is even more isolated. While standing in the courtyard back then you can only look over the surrounding rocks. Now a day you are still able to see the surrounding rocks as well as buildings that are hundreds of meters down and hundreds of meters to many kilometers away. Hira is both without water or vegetation other than a few thorns. Hira is higher than Thabir, and is crowened by a steep and slippery peek, which the Apostle with some companions once climbed. Muhammad was in the habit of staying here with his wife.

The Mystery of Cave Hira

A study, reported in August 2001 issued by the National Geology, revealed that while investigating an ancient Greek temple that was based on the Oracles of Delphi suggested the possibility that the vicinity of the shrine that caused the oracles of Delphi to experience their powers was attributed to intoxicating fumes. Not to say that the Prophet Muhammad’s religious experience was not based on his faith but this tries to gives a scientific explanation to a very powerful experience. However, according to Welch these revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures, and reports are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims.

When Muhammad returned to the cave seeking the angel Gabriel after speaking to him once before he waited and prayed, was of no avail. In despair, haunted by terrible doubts and assailed by fears of madness, Muhammad climbed onto a precipice and prepared to leap to his death. At that very moment, the angel appeared before him again and raised his hands, repeated, “I am Gabriel, and thou art Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.” Muhammad froze on the edge of the chasm in a spellbound trance. Hours passed. That night, one of Khadija’s servants came and found Muhammad still perched on a crag, lost in ecstasy, and led him home.

The Pilgrimage to Jabal al-Nour

Pilgrims on Jabal al-Nour Hundreds of thousands of Muslims arrive in Saudi Arabia to take part in the year hajj pilgrimage. Before the four day pilgrimage Muslim pilgrims pray on their way up Mount Noor in the holy city of Mecca before the start of the annual Hajj. The Pilgrimage is one of the central pillars of Islam and is expected by all able-bodied Muslims – both of Sunni and Shi’ite sects – at least once in their lifetime. The event is expected to fall from the 13th -18 October this year, in which millions of pilgrims packed shoulder to shoulder in prayer and supplication will walk from Mecca to Mina to the Plain of Arafat to sand near Jabal al-Rahman, the Mount of Mercy and ask Allah for forgiveness. “Let all your feuds be abolished,” the Prophet Muhammad said in his last sermon on the Mountain of Mercy. “You must know that every Muslim is the brother of every Muslim…between there are no races and no tribes…do not oppress and do not be oppressed.” It is quite common for those on pilgrimage to stop by the cave to pray. They also visit other nearby landmarks such as Mount Arafat,Jabal Rahma,Muzdalifah,Jabal al Thur and Jannat ul Mualla.