The Spider and the Dove

The leaders of Quraysh had made a terrible plan. They wanted to hurt the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and stop him from spreading the message of Islam. But Allah had a different plan. He told the Prophet that it was time to leave Makkah and travel to the city of Madinah. This great journey is called the Hijrah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) set out secretly at night, and his closest friend, Abu Bakr, went with him. They knew the Quraysh would come searching for them, so instead of heading straight north toward Madinah, they went south, to a cave on a mountain called Thawr. They climbed up and hid inside. Meanwhile, the Quraysh discovered that the Prophet had gone. They were furious and sent out trackers to find him. The trackers followed footprints and trails, and before long they arrived right at the mouth of the Cave of Thawr. Abu Bakr's heart filled with worry. He whispered, "O Messenger of Allah, if one of them just looks down at his feet, he will see us." But the Prophet (peace be upon him) was calm. He replied gently, "Do not grieve, for indeed Allah is with us." (Sahih al-Bukhari, 3653) This moment is also mentioned in the Quran: "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us." (Quran, 9:40) And what had Allah done? A spider had spun a delicate web right across the entrance of the cave, and a dove had built her nest there and was sitting peacefully on her eggs. When the Quraysh trackers reached the cave and saw the unbroken web and the nesting bird, they thought, "No one could have entered here — look, the spider's web is untouched!" And so they turned around and left. (Musnad Ahmad, 3251) Through the tiniest of creatures — a spider and a dove — Allah protected His Prophet and his companion, and they continued their journey safely to Madinah.