A major turn in the life of Prophet Muhammad came when he started to retreat monthly for few days at a cave around three miles away from the city of Mecca. After spending a few days there on his own he would return to his home and family in Mecca. He would take with him food and water as well. Food consisted of dates and crushed beans.

Evidently, he was going there to achieve mental concentration, as this happened before the declaration of Prophethood and at that time there existed no system of prayer among the small number of monotheist Arabs for praying to the True God. According to the Sufi point of view, he was using the retreat to practice Muraqaba. During his stay his mind would contemplate the mysteries of the Universe and the Divine Essence. When that concentration reached its zenith, he started witnessing the unseen. First, he saw a group of angels and then he saw Archangel Gabriel. Through Gabriel, his Prophetic training started which culminated in a stage in which he started receiving the command directly from the Divine. This was related in the story of meraj in the Qur’an (Koran):

“Pure is the Essence which took His servant at night from the Mosque of Mecca masjid (al- haram) to the Mosque of Jerusalem (Dome of the Rock), so that he could witness the signs of Our might.”

[Sura Bani Israel]

“He teaches, He is all-powerful. Appeared in the true face, when at the supreme height. Came closer and further closer. Descended, until the remaining distance was less than two arches, even less. What the heart saw was not illusion.” [Sura Najam]