Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj is one of the greatest signs and miracles provided to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ after the Qur’an. Al-Isra’ refers to the Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and Al-Mi’raj is for the Ascension into the Heavens. In this miraculous journey, the Prophet ﷺ was taken from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa. He witnessed the Prophets preceded, Paradise, and Hell and experienced other phenomena beyond all human intellectualities. He was blessed and honored by being taken to the utmost station where he met Allah. Allah blessed this Ummah with the decree of the daily prayers.
Allah immortalized the mention of Jerusalem and al-Masjid al-Aqsa till the Day of Judgement when He told us,
“Exalted is He who took His (most beloved and intimate) Servant (Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have Blessed, to show him of Our signs. Surely, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Surah al-Isra, 1]
Many people skeptically believe that this journey was just a hallucination, something that occurred in a dream, or something that was accomplished in the form of a soul and not physically. This is fallacious and coincides with the non-believers. This was a physical journey that happened on the same night. If the Isra’ and Mi’raj occurred only as a soul or in a dream, the Quraish would not have abdicated it or ridiculed him for hearing about it. They would not have commented that it took them a month by camel to reach Jerusalem and a month to return, whereas Prophet Muhammad ﷺ claimed that he spent a portion of the night undertaking this journey.
It is one of the most well-documented journeys in the Makkan period. There is no specific chronological order mentioned, and there are certain narrations that go into detail, whereas some don’t. We have over 20 narrations in Sahih al-Bukhari alone from 6 different companions on Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj. There are 17 narrations in Sahih Muslim from 7 different companions. In addition to these, Allah Himself mentions portions of it in the Qur’an across Surah an-Najm and Surah al-Isra.
In this miraculous journey, the Prophet ﷺ witnessed heaven, paradise, and hell; saw the past and future; and experienced other phenomena beyond all human proximity. Allah is the Creator, the Most Powerful, and He does as He pleases. Space, time, gravity, speed, light, and distance are all factors that submit to Allah, not the other way around. As Muslims, we believe that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was taken on a journey by night and was taken up to heaven himself when he was awake; then he was taken as high up as Allah willed, where he met with Allah and was blessed with the mandatory daily prayers.
Al-Isra: Horizontal journey from Makkah to al-Masjid al-Aqsa
Allah does as He pleases. To show His might, power, and His signs. The Ka’bah was filled with idols and had become a place where shirk was committed.
These were the first places of worship built in the world and the Qiblahs of the Prophets of Allah. This indicated that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was being taken; the closest that one can be to Allah in this world before his meeting with Allah in the heavens.
To showcase the importance and highlight the blessed station of Masjid Al-Aqsa is another noteworthy reason. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Sulayman bin Dawud asked Allah that any person who enters this House (al-Masjid al-Aqsa) wanting nothing but to pray within it, that he leaves it as if he is just a newborn (that is, with all his sins forgiven).” [Ibn Hibban]
Jerusalem was the land of the Prophets, and many of them lived and were buried there. All the prophets that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would soon envisage in the heavens have a direct connection with Ash-Shaam and Jerusalem.
Prophets Idrees عليه السلام, Isa عليه السلام, and Muhammad ﷺ all ascended from the holy place, and Prophet Isa عليه السلام will descend there towards the end of times.
This is the place where the Dajjal will be killed, and Islam will conquer. It is the place to establish the Final Gathering.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When we reached Bayt Al-Maqdis, Jibreel pointed to a crack in the rock, and he tied the Buraq to it.” [Tirmidhi] This is located nearly at the southwest edge of the Al-Aqsa compound. It is today known as the Wailing Wall, revered by the Jews.
The Prophet ﷺ entered Bayt al-Maqdis, where all the Prophets of Allah were made to cause the sacred assembly. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Then I found myself among a group of the Prophets, and the time for prayer came, so I led them in prayer.” [Muslim]
In Bayt al-Maqdis, two vessels were presented to the Prophet ﷺ: one full of wine and the other full of milk. He looked at them and took the vessel, which was full of milk. At this, Angel Jibreel عليه السلام said, “All praise goes to Allah, Who has guided you to that, which is in accordance with the fitnah (natural disposition). Had you chosen wine, your people would have gone astray.” [Bukhari].
Point to be noted that this incident also teaches us how al-Masjid al-Aqsa has been a central theme and a place of visit by other Prophets of Allah.
The Mi’raj: Ascension Into The Heavens
Now, it was time for Al-Mi’raj, or the mounting. Literally, anything that facilitates taking a person from a lower position to a higher position is known as Al-Mi’raj. The Prophet ﷺ described everything he saw, including the Buraq, elaborately but left out the details of the exact mechanism of the Mi’raj. There are no authentic narrations that detail it like stairs descending from the sky, etc. As Muslims, by submission, we believe in it happening physically and don’t dive into how it happened. Allah is omnipotent, and this is something easy for Him.
Allah says about Isra wal Mi’raj,
“He assuredly saw some of his Lord’s greatest signs.” [Surah al-Isra, 18]
Supporting the verse, Allah again says, “It is Allah who has created seven heavens and the earth.” [Surah Aal Imran, 12]
“Don’t you see how Allah created seven heavens, one above the other?” [Surah Nuh, 15]
Heavens are often interchangeably used to refer to skies.
There are seven heavens, and the world that we live in is the lowest heaven. All the billions of galaxies and everything else that we are acquainted with and not yet of all fall under this lowest heaven. Paradise, or Jannah, prevails in the seventh heaven, or, based on another comprehension, it starts in the sixth heaven and then expands up into the seventh heaven. All the hundreds and thousands of levels of Paradise that we are told about are all located in the seventh heaven.
To give further context to the grandeur of Allah’s Creation and Power, Imam Al-Alusi رحمه الله said, “The size of the earth compared to the first heaven is like the size of a mere ring in a desert; the size of the first heaven compared to the second is like the size of a tiny ring in a vast desert, and so on, until the seventh heaven. The size of the seventh heaven compared to the Kursi of Allah is like a ring in a desert, and the size of the Kursi compared to the Throne is as well.” [Ruh Al-Ma‘ani]
Anyway, the Prophet ﷺ accomplished seven subsequent meeting sessions with Prophet Adam عليه السلام, Prophet Isa عليه السلام, Prophet عليه السلام, Yusuf عليه السلام, Prophet Idrees عليه السلام, Prophet Harun عليه السلام, Prophet Musa عليه السلام, and Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام, apparently according to the order of the heavens (the skies).
The Ultimate Meeting Allah wished for
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Then Jibreel took me till we reached Sidratul-Muntaha, which was shrouded in colors beyond description. Then I was admitted into Paradise, where I found small (tents or) walls (made) of pearls, and its earth was of musk.” [Bukhari]
Allah says, “And he assuredly saw him (Angel Jibreel) in another descent—at the farthest Lote Tree, Sidrat al-Muntaha—adjacent to the eternal paradise, Jannatul Ma’wa—while the Lote Tree was overwhelmed with (heavenly) splendors! The (Prophet’s) sight never wandered, nor did it overreach. He certainly saw some of his Lord’s greatest signs.” [Surah an-Najm, 13-18]
The 3 things that could comprise what Allah refers to in Ayah 18 of Surah an-Najm, “He certainly experienced some of his Lord’s greatest signs,” are:
1. Al-Bayt Al-Ma’mur
2. Sidrat al-Muntaha (terminates everything ascending from the earth)
3. Angel Jibreel عليه السلام in his original form
Ibn Umar says, “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was given three things: he was given five prayers, he was given the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqarah, and He pardoned the grave sins for those of his Ummah who do not associate anything with Allah.” [Muslim]
In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ added, “Then Jibreel ascended with me to a place where I heard the creaking of the pens.” [Bukhari] It is interesting and important that we go on a tangent and understand the writing of the pen and the types of Divine Decrees. There are different types of decrees, or Qadr, that the pens write.
Other Key Incidents
1. Discussing the Day of Judgement with different prophets.
2. Meeting the Angel Malik, the gatekeeper of Hell.
3. Observing Paradise and Hell.
The Reaction of the Quraysh
After the Prophet (PBUH) was miraculously taken by night to the farthest mosque in Jerusalem, the people began to talk about it. Some of them renounced their faith and belief in him. They ransacked Abu Bakr, and they said, “Have you heard that your friend imagined he visited by night the sacred house?” Abu Bakr said, “Did he really say that?” They said, “Yes.” Abu Bakr said, “If he said it, then it is undoubtedly true.” They said, “Do you believe he went by night to the sacred house and came back before morning?” Abu Bakr said, “Yes. Verily, I rather believe something even more astonishing than that. I believe he has received revelations from heaven for everything he does.” For this reason, Abu Bakr was named the Truthful, al-Siddiq.” [Aisha (R.A.) – from Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah of Bayhaqī 2/361]
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When the people of Quraysh started distrusting me (i.e., the story of my Night Journey), I stood up in Al-Hijr, and Allah presented Jerusalem in front of me, and I started describing it to them while I was looking at it.” [Bukhari]
At the end of all the questioning, one of the Quraysh people said, “He is accurate in his description of Jerusalem.” [Ahmad] The Prophet ﷺ said, “I will give you some extra signs.” He then uttered the three caravans he had passed on his way back. One of them was very close to entering Makkah, and it arrived just as the Prophet ﷺ was facing the questions of the Quraysh. Abu Jahl went to see the caravan and found it was exactly as the Prophet ﷺ had stated. So he comes back and says, “This is clear incantation.” [Ibn Hisham]
The Makkans asked the caravan about the stray camel and water container. They replied, “By Allah! He told the truth; we had tented in a valley that he described, and one of our camels had run off. We heard a man’s voice calling us to it until we caught it.” Despite seeing all the signs, he persisted in his distrust and refused the Prophet ﷺ.
A Day of Celebration?
Although a few controversies go on, the night of Al Isra wal Mi’raj holds great spiritual significance for Muslims and is an extremely important event. It has a direct impact on our daily lives, as this was the night that the Prophet (PBUH) was commanded to establish Salah (prayer).
The miracle of Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj also shows us a glimmer of the unending power and glory of Allah, what is beyond the unseen eye, and the dearness of the Prophet (PBUH) to Allah.
On the night of Al Isra wal Miraj (27th Rajab*), as well as offering nafl prayers, giving Sadaqah, and increasing other forms of worship. It’s significant to reflect on Al Isra wal Mi’raj and draw lessons from the blessed event that may benefit us greatly.
For instance, the blessed journey reminds us of the spiritual world, which we cannot see but exists for righteous believers.
This grand event was arranged by Allah during the most difficult and trying time of the holy Prophet’s illustrious life. He experienced the ‘am al-huzn (year of sorrow) in which he witnessed the passing away of two significant people in his life. One was his protective uncle Abu Talib, who was his guardian and political custodian, and the other was his most beloved wife Khadija (R.A.), his confidante and mother of all his children (except Ibrahim). She was the first to embrace his faith, the financier of the nascent Islamic movement, and Mother of the Faithful.
So, for those who may be experiencing a tough period in their lives, Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj is a reminder of what Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. Quran [94:5-6]
What is Al Aqsa, and why does it matter?
Jerusalem is home to one of the world’s most sacred religious sites. Jews refer to the site as “the Temple Mount,” or “Beit Hamikdash.” Muslims venerate it as “the Noble Sanctuary,” or “Haram al-Sharif.” Christians also believe that the site is the location where Jesus encountered a challenge against temple authorities, which led to his crucifixion.
However, the idea of Jewish prayer on the site is anathema among many religious Jews for the sanctity purpose of the temple as per the scripture’s sayings.
That is why religious Jews complete their prayer at the Western Wall, a remnant of the Second Temple’s outer courtyard.
Although Jews are not allowed to pray on the site itself, Israel’s strict control over the area is the root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The entire area is still governed by the Waqf today, but all of its gates are controlled by Israeli police.
“For Muslims and world cultural heritage, it is very irritating that Jerusalem is being controlled by Israel,” historian Ekrem Bugra Ekinci said.
“This area is very critical. There is constant unrest in that area as Muslims have been coercively displaced from their homes, and Jews formed a state,” he added.
Israeli police eventually restricted Muslim men under a certain age from entering portions of the site, citing security concerns.
Sometimes, they block all access to the site for Muslims of all ages and non-Muslims alike.
In October 2016, UNESCO condemned the Israeli government for restricting access to the site.
Palestinians argue that Israel’s policies towards the compound are aimed at narrowing Palestinian attendance in the area.
The other issue is Israel’s archaeological excavation steps. Some Palestinians argue that the excavations may cause damage to the Al Aqsa compound.
“We fear the Al Aqsa Mosque could collapse in the event of a natural—or artificial—earthquake,” said Ahmad al Ruwaidhi, the representative from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Palestine.
Actually, they want to expand a political and administrative hegemony over the sacred place.
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