Ghar Thawr (Cave of Thawr)
غار ثور
A cave at the top of Jabal Thawr, a rugged mountain south of Mecca, where the Prophet and Abu Bakr hid for three nights at the start of the Hijra.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Summary
The location
Mount Thawr is a towering mountain, its path rugged, hard to climb, full of stones; it lies south of Mecca toward Yemen. The Prophet took this route because it is the opposite of the Medina road, toward which eyes first turn 1.
In the Hijra
The Prophet's feet were worn climbing the mountain — it was said he walked on his toes to hide his trace — so Abu Bakr carried him until he reached the cave at the mountain's summit 1. They stayed in it three nights — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — and the pursuers reached its door and turned back 2.
Connections
- Site of
- The three nights in the cave of ThawrThe Hijra
- Part of
- Mecca
People and things also explored
Abu Bakr al-SiddiqMuhammadThe HijraThe departure night of the HijraThe Pledges of AqabaThe early Muslim communityThe MuhajirunAbdullah ibn Abbas
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, p. 164
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, pp. 165-166
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Ghar Thawr (Cave of Thawr)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/ghar-thawr/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.