The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SINAI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
I
N
A
I
More clues leading to the result SINAI
- Peninsula overthrown during sectarianism
- Mount rising in Aleutian island
- Offence attracts fine where law handed down
- A function I must host in desert
- Peak in Ionian Islands seen from east
- Where commandments received, breaking one leads to fine
- Saint favoured sits on excellent holy mountain
- Territory taken back in Egyptianisation
- Mountain sloths?
- Sloth perhaps displayed excellent mount
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "holy mountain" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case holy mountain = sinai.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.