for whatever he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did before prophethood, we are commanded to follow him in it if he prescribed it after prophethood; otherwise, we are not. From the time Allah Most High made him a prophet, he never again ascended to the Cave of Hirā’, nor did his Rightly Guided Caliphs. He, may Allah’s blessings be upon him, lived in Mecca for a little over ten years before the Hijrah. He entered Mecca for the make-up ‘umrah, stayed there for nearly twenty nights in the year of the Conquest, and came there for the Farewell Pilgrimage, staying for four nights. Although the Cave of Hirā’ was nearby, he did not visit it.

People used to visit this cave during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance. It is said that ‘Abd al-Muttalib instituted this practice among them, because they did not have the prescribed acts of worship that he, may Allah’s blessings be upon him, brought after prophethood, such as prayer and devotional retreat in mosques. These dispense with the need to visit Hirā’, unlike their situation before revelation began. For he did not read; rather:

“The angel, peace be upon him, said to him, ‘Read.’ He, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said, ‘I replied, “I cannot read.”’”

Nor did they know this prayer. Thus, when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed it, some polytheists, such as Abū Jahl, forbade him from doing so. Allah Most High said:

“Have you seen the one who forbids
A servant when he prays?
Have you seen if he is upon guidance
Or enjoins righteousness?
Have you seen if he denies and turns away?
Does he not know that Allah sees?
No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock—
A lying, sinful forelock.
Then let him call his associates;
We will call the angels of Hell.
No! Do not obey him, but prostrate and draw near.”

And “a group” make the retreat in seclusion forty days long and attach great importance to this forty-day observance.