CAVE OF BANI HARAM
The cave of the prayer of Khandaq.
A refuge cave during the siege
During the siege of Khandaq (year 5 AH), while the coalition surrounded Medina, the Prophet ﷺ moved around the perimeter of the trench to supervise the defense.
According to tradition, he stopped in a cave in the neighborhood of Bani Haram to pray. This cave has become a memorial site. (As-Samhudi · Wafa' al-Wafa)
The spiritual context
It was in this atmosphere of siege — cold, hunger, fear, fatigue — that the Prophet ﷺ would isolate himself at times to invoke Allah. This cave is one of the many places where he would have made his supplications against the coalition:
« O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Swift to take account, put the coalition to rout. » (Sahih al-Bukhari no. 2933)