It is narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) sat in this cave and spent the nights there during the Battle of the Trenches (al-Khandaq) in 5 AH. The remnants of this cave is situated on a mountain called Thawab and Sal‘ in Madinah.
It is mentioned in a Hadith narrated by al-Tabarani and al-Haythami on the authority of Abu Qatadah that Mu’adh bin Jabal went out looking for the Prophet (pbuh) and that he was told that he was on Mount Thawab. There he found the Prophet (pbuh) in sajdah for such a long time that he thought that the Prophet had passed away. He then rose and said, “Jibril came to me in this place and said, ‘Allah sends you greetings and asks what you would like Him to do to your nation.’ I said that Allah knows. He then went and returned and said, ‘Allah says I will not harm you in your nation.’ I fell in sajdah and the best way to be closer to Allah is by sajdah.” (Tarikh al-Madinah al-Munawwarah by Ibn Shibbah)
It is also mentioned that the Prophet (pbuh) also dug a small spring close to the cave which is also no more. The entire mountain is now cordoned off with a wire fence and the cave no longer exists. Its approximate location on Google Maps is: 24.473252, 39.598251
Courtesy of Taibanet.com
An old image of the cave
Mount Thawab also known as Mount Sal’
The circled area depicts where the cave used to be
The remnants of the cave after its destruction
View of the cave from above
Another view of the cave from above
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