The 20 minutes climb was really hectic, which consumed almost half of my energy produced by this 45 years old 300 horsepower engine! It reminded me about those old days when I was placed in Bintulu, in the late 90s, jungle and mountain trekking was one of my craze leisure activities, other than cycling, golfing and sometime jogging. What else to do though in Bintulu then? Well, that was 10 years ago. Nevertheless, after releasing my biological waste and almost spending 20 minutes in the Maqam al-Arba’in whilst learning from Amir a little bit history of the place, alhamdullillah, the exhaustion and the pain subsided. Amir called the caretaker named Musbah, a very decent and friendly young Syrian man, for us to visit another important momentous spot in the Islamic history – the site of where the murder of Habil (by his brother Qabil) is believed to have taken place.
Musbah, before he unlocked and opened the small 3’ X 5’ door to the ‘cave’, reminded us for no photos shooting, whatsoever. Upon entering the door, we went through a short alleyway where the caretaker placed their belongings, religious books, Mushaf Al Quran El Kareem, etc. The 8 feet long (4 feet wide and the ceiling is about 8 feet) passageway brought us to a big spacious and well maintained chamber. The chamber is divided into two compartments; one big portion is for prayer (there is a small niche showing the Qibla direction) and meditation. Another small chamber separates by wooden fence (and door), is where one could see a hand-like figure casted on the ceiling (6 feet from the floor). This hand-like figure is believed to be a hand-print of Saidina Jibrail a.s. who tried to prevent the earth who was trying to engulf Qabil. Within the cave is a grotesque image of a mouth in the rock, said to have been formed when the earth cried out and shocked at the awful deed. Amir explained further that, the earth always thought that human being is a very decent creatures and could not believed what had happened. One could see water drops from the middle part of the hand-like figure, claimed to be the tears of the earth, which mourned the killing of Habil. Next to the grotesque is a small shaft (with 3 holes) into the mouth of the mountain which is believed to be, according to local tradition, the place from which the spirit of Damascus' 40 saints descends every night and ascends with the break of dawn.
It was really an amazing and astonishing experience for all of us. This lifetime experience had enhanced our knowledge and reminded us on the importance of complying to Allah swt Rules and Instruction, shown and demonstrated by His Messengers, in our case, Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him). We adjourned after spending around 20 minutes inside the cave.
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