You have memorized the name of Allah, yet these veils and curtains
still remain.

You have studied and studied, yet your scholarship has only sharpened
your greed.

You have read hundreds of thousands of books, yet you have not
killed your cunning ego.

None but the Shaykhs can kill the inner thief, for it ravages the very
house in which it lives!

-Sultan Bahu

When we hear the Saudis have demolished holy sites and made them into toilets and parking lots, its usually difficult for some people to truly understand or feel emotion. The connection that wahabi-influenced Western Muslims have to, say, the Hazrati Khadijas (R) old house and the Prophet’s (S) birthplace is shaky at best.

However, few places are mentioned as often in childrens tales as the Cave of Hira at Jabl al-Nur (Mountain of Light). Even these people with confused ideologies find their hearts drawn to the stories of the cave. What would it be like to see that cave, pray where the Prophet (S) first received Quran?

Recently family members have come back from Umrah and took some pictures of the situation of the cave.

First we see the standard Bidaa/Innovation disclaimer one would expect from the Wahabi’s who control and are ‘guardians’ of the holy places. Not many people make the trip up the mountain, especially after reading this warning. Only two men traveled up alone to see these sights, they encountered no rush of littering people. Much of this seems to have been sitting there for months or years.

Of course, this means they will give little care to maintaining this place, its all “Bidaa” to them.

Once you are finally up the mountain, the path immediately before the seating place of the Prophet (S):

Its difficult to compare this to times in the past when entire contingents were paid by the government/people to keep places such as this in spectacular condition.

Climb up through these boulders to see where the Prophet (S) would sit and meditate:

This is the view of the area, the large rock in the center may have served as the Prophet’s (S) chair:

Supposedly before construction one could look outwards to see the Kabaah from here, yet its difficult to get past the view of the garbage:

The entire area is littered with not only actual garbage but also graffiti, visitors will often pray here:

The mountain side

Interesting snippet of an article about the Wahabis work on Islamic sacred sites:

Dr Irfan al-Alawi, historian, founder and former executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who is one of the most vocal opponents of the destruction of the Haramayn and their environs, says that last year the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs distributed a pamphlet in the Masjid-e Nabawi calling for the demolition of the green dome. Endorsed by Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s current grand mufti, the pamphlet brazenly declared: “The green dome shall be demolished and the three graves [where the Prophet, Abu Bakr and Umar are laid to rest] flattened in the Prophet’s Mosque.” The groundwork for such sacrilegious statements was prepared by another prominent Saudi scholar, the late Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen, who for 35 years delivered khutbas in the Masjid al-Haram. “We hope one day we’ll be able to destroy the green dome of the Prophet Muhammed [saws],” he said, in a recording provided by Dr Alawi.

Dr Alawi estimates that 300 historic sites have been destroyed or are scheduled for destruction. An old house that had belonged to Umm al-Mu’mineen Khadijah al-Kubra (ra) was recently razed to make room for a public toilet facility, among other things. The birthplace of the Messenger (saw) in Makkah was first turned into a library and named “Maktabat Makka al-Mukarrama”, and is now being turned into a parking lot. While libraries are important, the plan was not based on the Wahhabis’ desire for learning but on their determination to destroy all vestiges of Islam’s heritage. The few remaining historical sites in Makkah can be counted on one hand and will probably not survive much past the next Hajj, according to Dr Alawi. “It is incredible how little respect is paid to the House of Allah [in Makkah].”

An ATM (cash-dispensing machine) has opened on the site where the ancient mosque named after the first khalifah, Abu-Bakr Siddiq (ra), once stood. The sites of the historic battles at Uhud and Badr have become parking lots. The graves of Amir Hamza (ra) and the other shuhada of Uhud have suffered even greater indignity: garbage litters the site and the Wahhabis expressly forbid any identification-markers on them, again under the spurious excuse that this would lead to shirk. The 1,200-year-old mosque and tomb of Sayyid Imam al-Uraidhi ibn Ja‘far al-Sadiq, four miles from Masjid-e Nabawi in Madinah, was destroyed by dynamite and flattened on August 13, 2002. Imam al-Uraidhi was ninth in line from the Prophet (saw).
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/52814

According to Shaikh al-Islam: “When someone fell ill or suffered an affliction,
Khaircha would go to him and recite the Fatiha [the Opening Sura of the Quran and
breathe upon him. That person would recover there and then. An erudite scholar once
suffered from toothache, so he went to Khaircha, who recited the Opening Sura and
breathed upon him. His toothache was cured, but he said: ‘O Khaircha, you do not recite
the Fatiha correctly. Shall I teach you to recite it correctly?’ Khaircha said: ‘No, you
must correct your heart!’”

-Nafahat al Uns

The Blessed Mantle, also known as the Holy Mantle, according to tradition was given by the prophet Muhammad to the poet Kâab bin Züheyr. The poets poem Kasida-ı Burda praising the prophet decorate the Room of the Blessed Mantle[1]. Although many legends were spun about the appearance of the mantle, it is almost two yards long and made of black wool lined with a cream-coloured fabric.[2].

The mantle used to be visited by the sultan and his family and court with a traditional ceremony once a year on the fifteenth day of Ramadan.[3]. The kissing of the mantle was not done directly, but a piece of muslin was placed over it. This decorated kerchief was called the Noble Kerchief (destimal-ı şerif) and was provided for each person by the Agha of the Muslin (Tülbent Ağası). The mantle was kept in a golden box, of which only the sultan had the keys. The box was opened while he intoned the besmele. The mantle was actually wrapped in a number of square pieces of cloth called bohças. In it was another small golden box in which forty bohças were wrapped around the mantle itself. The number forty was considered especially auspicious.

The Agha of the Muslin placed the first kerchief on the mantle and the sultan kissed it, followed by the imperial princes, viziers, officials, male attendants and eunuchs. This was done while Koranic chants filled the chamber. Next to kiss the kerchiefs were the women, who were lead by the Queen Mother, followed by the chief consorts, concubines and daughters of the sultan, as well as the wives of all officials present and female attendants. Princess Imperial Ayşe Osmanoğlu, daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, gave a rare eyewitness account in her book. “Babam Abdülhamit” (My Father, Abdülhamit). Istanbul, 1960. Intimate glimpse of Abdülhamit II and of her own life by his daughter, Ayşe Sultan.:

We began to prepare three days before the visit to the Blessed Mantle, on the fifteenth day of Ramazan. We got up early that day, wore our most beautiful long-skirted ceremonial dresses, put on our jewels, and went to Topkapı. My grandmother got into a carriage of the sultanate; the drivers wore the embroidered uniforms of the royal stable, like the drivers of the padishah. Halim Efendi, who was the officer in charge of harem outings, was in front with the guards. The harem ağas, wearing embroidered uniforms, followed the carriage of my grandmother, which was in front. Thus we left Yıldız and went to Topkapı. There we were met by old female attendants who came from Dolmabahçe, and we went to the room assigned to each of us in Topkapı. All those outside the palace to whom the invitation had previously gone, the married sultans [the ruler’s daughters were called sultan] and the wives of the ministers also came. We invited the people we knew personally.

In the room called the Room of the Armchair my grandmother sat under a canopy in her royal costume, and all of us went and kissed her hand. All together we waited for the opening of the Pavilion of the Blessed Mantle. Sultan Abülmecit’s wives [he was a deceased sultan], Serfiraz and Şayeste, were there too and sat beside my grandmother. Usually the valide paşa [the mother of the khedive of Egypt] was at the ceremony.
The baş musahip [the head harem eunuch in attendance on the sultan] came to the harem when the Blessed Mantle was opened and, with an Oriental salute, gave the news to my grandmother, the valide sultan. The valide sultan rose, and after her walked the wives of Abdülmecit and then the sultans and the kadın efendis, all in order of precedence, and we all went to the Pavilion of the Blessed Mantle. Everyone wore a piece of white muslin on her head. We sensed odours, because incense was burning everywhere, and from behind a curtain came the Noble Koran read in an extremely beautiful voice by the muezzin. The hearts of all of us filled with deep and humble reverence, with slow steps, our skirts sweeping the ground, we walked in ranks until we came in front of the padishah who stood at the foot of the throne. [This is the only mention of a throne in connection with the visit to the Blessed Mantle.] With an Oriental salute from the ground . . . we took the noble kerchief which was given into our hands, kissed it, put it over our heads, withdrew backwards, and went and again stood in our ranks according to precedence. . . .
The young princes, the sons of the padishah, stood in rank in uniform at the foot of the throne.
After us the valide paşa and the wives of the grand vizier, the other ministers and the şeyhülislâm entered. The lady treasurer and the other palace servants also participated in the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony the baş musahip appeared, gave an Oriental salute from the ground, and we left in ranks as we had entered, the valide sultan in front.
Our carriages drew up to the Harem Gate [Carriage Gate] of Topkapi in order of precedence, and we mounted them and returned to Yıldız Palace in the same formation as we had left it. These carriages, which proceeded slowly because of the horses, usually brought us to the palace at the time of the iftar cannon [the cannon that announced the end of the day’s fast during Ramazan].” Davis, pg. 150-151

1 ^ Davis, pg. 146
2 ^ Davis, pg. 149
3 ^ Davis, pg. 149
4 ^ Davis, pg. 151

One who earns his livelihood by hard work and feeds others
is better than one who can fly in the air
or spread his prayer rug on the surface of water.
A blade of grass can also float on water,
and a fly can also fly in the air.
-Nizamuddin Auliya

The anecdote I have now given will serve to illustrate the character of some good people of
Hindoostaun of the present day ; indeed, the veneration and respect paid by all classes to
those men who lead religious lives, is but little changed from the earlier pages of the Mussul-
maun history. I have just met with a Durweish anecdote, of former times, that may be worth
transcribing, as I have received it from Meer Hadjee Shaah, whose aid I am so much indebted
to for subjects with which to amuse my friends. ”

Shahood Dowlah was a Durveish who flourished in the reign of King Shah Jahan at Delhi, but whose fame is known throughout India to the present day. This Durveish was remarkable for his activity of body. It is related, that he was often to be seen at prayer in Delhi, and in three hours after he had transported himself eighty miles off without any visible assistance but his own personal activity on foot. This extraordinary rapidity of movement rendered him an object of veneration ; and the general belief was, that he was highly favoured of Heaven, and gifted with superna- tural power; the life he led was purely religious, with a total disregard of earthly riches. ”

The King, Shah Jahan, was a very sensible person, and a great admirer of all that is counted good and excellent in his fellow-men ; he was particularly friendly to such men as the Dur- weish, or others who devoted their lives to religious exercises. He had often heard of Shah ood Dowlah, without ever meeting with him, and on hearing of some singular acts of this Durweish, he was desirous of seeing him, and gave orders accordingly to his Minister, that messengers should be sent in search of the holy man, but as often as they appeared before the Durweish’s hut he was invisible ; this statement even added to the King’s curiosity. On a certain day the King was seated on the story of his palace which overlooked the town and the outskirts beyond the walls, in conversation with his Minister and favourites, when the Durweish was espied at no great distance standing on the broadway ; which, when the King knew, lie desired messengers might be dispatched to convey the holy man to his presence. ‘Your royal will shall be obeyed,’ replied the Minister; ‘ but your Majesty must be aware that the extent of the circuit from the palace to the outer gate is so great that long before a slave can get to that road, Shah ood Dowlah will be beyond the reach of our summons. With all due submission to your Majesty’s better judgment, would it not be more prudent to call him from hence, and persuade him to ascend the wall in a basket suspended to a rope. The King agreed, and the Durweish was hailed.

‘Our King, the Protector of the World, commands Shah ood Dow- lah’s attendance’ — The Durweish, looking up at the summoner, inquired, ‘Where is the King ?’ — ‘ In this apartment,’ he was answered. — ‘How am I to get near him ? he is too far off’: an old man does not well to climb/ — ‘

Wait a minute,’ replied the servant, ‘ your conveyance shall be prepared.’ ” In a few minutes the basket descended from the upper story, by a strong rope, well secured against the probability of accident.

The Durweish, — who was covered with a chudha, or sheet, to keep him from giddiness in the ascent, — seated himself firmly in the basket, and the servants drew him up in safety. He was immediately conveyed to the King’s apartment ; who, contrary to precedent, rose at his entrance to receive this respected and much-desired guest. ” ‘ Pray -be seated, my friend,’ said the King, leading him to the most honoured part of the royal carpet. The Durweish obeyed without a moment’s hesitation, to the astonishment of the Vizier, nobles, courtiers, etc., who had never before seen a human being seated in the King’s presence, not even one of the most exalted of the nobles. ‘ I have long desired this happiness,’ said the King to the Durweish, ‘ that I might converse with you.’ — ‘ Your Majesty is very gracious to the poor Durweish,’ was responded. ‘I hear much of your great virtue and good life,’ said the King, ‘ from the world, my subjects.’ — ‘ They do but flatter the poor Durweish,’ was his reply ; adding, ‘ none can tell what passes in my heart, when they view only my face. I am but a poor Durweish.”

“I have many questions to ask you,’ said the King, ‘ which I hope to have resolved from your own mouth ; but, first, I beg to be informed, what methods you have used in order to acquire that command over selfish feelings, which is displayed in your intercourse with the world? and by what means you have become so enlightened in the ways pleasing to -God ?’ ”

The Durweish with a smile of pleasure, and in language calm as respectful, answered in the following words : — ‘ Your Majesty, the Protector of the World, was desirous of becoming personally known to the very meanest of your subjects, the poor Durweish ; the opportunity arrived, and you condescended to let down a line of rope to assist your poor subject in the ascent to your presence. With equal condescension you have seated me by your side ; and I, the poor Durweish, feel a due sense of the honour conferred on me. Had I been anxious to gain admittance to the Protector of the World, many would have been the difficulties to surmount ; your castle is well guarded, your gates innumerable to be passed ere this place could be reached, and who would have aided the poor Durweish’s wishes ? But your Majesty had the will, and the power to effect that will ; whilst I, who had neither, might have exerted myself for. ages without effect. Such then, O King ! is the way God draws those whom He wills unto Him. He sees into the hidden recesses of the human heart, and knows every working of mortal minds ; He has no difficulty to surmount ; for to whom in His mercy He grants evidence of His love, He draws them to Himself in heart, in soul, in mind, with infinitely less effort than thou hast exerted to draw my mortal body within thy palace. It is God who in love and mercy throws the line to man; happy that soul who accepts the offered means, by which he may ascend !’ ‘

- Excerpted from Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: Description of Their Manners by B. Mir Hasan ‘Ali
pub 1832