Masjid al-Mursalat: A Surah Revealed in a Cave at Mina

The mosque is gone. The report is not.

Masjid al-Mursalat no longer exists. Saudipedia lists it in Mina among the mosques of the holy sites that have gone, together with Masjid al-Kawthar, Masjid al-Kabsh and Masjid al-Sakharat.

Of those four, this one commemorated the event with the strongest evidence behind it, which is why it is worth more than a line.

What Bukhari and Muslim record

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported that they were with the Messenger of Allah in a cave at Mina when Surah al-Mursalat was revealed to him.

He then gives a detail that most reports of a revelation do not contain. The Prophet was reciting it, and Ibn Mas'ud was taking it from his mouth, learning it as it came. He says the Prophet's mouth was still moist with it.

And then a snake came out at them.

They moved to kill it and it got away into a crack in the rock. The Prophet said that it had been saved from their harm as they had been saved from its harm.

This is in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim both. It is established evidence at the highest level.

Why that detail is worth sitting with

Most accounts of revelation are told from outside: the Prophet came down from the mountain, or he was covered, or he told them afterwards. This one is told by a man standing next to him while it was happening, close enough to watch his mouth.

And the scene is ordinary in a way that is easy to miss. They are in a cave. A snake turns up. Everyone reacts. It gets away.

Ibn Mas'ud was among the earliest Muslims and one of the great authorities on the Qur'an, and this is one of the reports that shows why: he was learning it directly, verse by verse, in the moment.

The surah itself

Surah al-Mursalat is chapter 77, a Makkan surah. It opens with a series of oaths and moves into a sustained warning about the Day of Judgement, with a refrain repeated through it about woe on that day to those who deny.

There is a related report in the authentic collections from Umm al-Fadl, who heard the Prophet reciting al-Mursalat in the Maghrib prayer, and said it was the last thing she heard from him.

Two reports, one at the start of the surah's life and one near the end of the Prophet's. Both in the authentic collections.

Where exactly, and how much we can say

The hadith says a cave at Mina. It does not identify which cave, and no cave in the valley is established today as the place.

A mosque was built at some point to mark the association, and it took the surah's name. That mosque is now gone, and Saudipedia does not give its position within the valley.

So the position is this: the event is certain and the place is not. A cave, somewhere in Mina, in a valley that has since been comprehensively rebuilt for the Hajj.

Anyone who offers to show you the cave of al-Mursalat is going beyond the evidence. There is no harm in looking at the mountainsides around the valley and thinking about it, which is a different thing from being shown a spot.

Is anything prescribed there?

No. No prayer is prescribed at the site, no reward for seeking it out is established, and it is not part of Hajj or Umrah.

Reciting or reflecting on the surah is worthwhile anywhere. Nothing about that depends on standing in a particular valley.

What is still standing in Mina

Our Mina page covers the valley itself and the days of Hajj spent in it.

Seeing Mina

Outside the Hajj season the valley is quiet and easy to drive through. Twenty to thirty minutes covers it, and there is no rite to perform there outside Hajj.

Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat lie one after another on the same road, so all three fit into one leg of a Makkah Ziyarat round, from SAR 200 per vehicle with waiting at each stop. Fares reviewed August 2026.

Accuracy note

The revelation of Surah al-Mursalat in a cave at Mina, with Ibn Mas'ud present and taking it from the Prophet's recitation, and the incident of the snake, are recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. This is established evidence.

The report from Umm al-Fadl that she heard the Prophet reciting al-Mursalat in the Maghrib prayer, and that it was the last thing she heard from him, is also in the authentic collections.

Saudipedia's list of holy site mosques places Masjid al-Mursalat in Mina and lists it among the mosques of the holy sites that no longer exist. Saudipedia does not give its position within the valley, and no cave in Mina is established today as the cave of the hadith. We have said so rather than pointing at one.

No prayer or reward is established at the site and visiting is not part of Hajj or Umrah. Fares are our own published rates, reviewed August 2026. Verified August 2026.