Israa And Miraj

Proud2BeHumble

Proud2BeHumble

Seek Truth, Be Happy
  • Israa: Was the prophet's trip from Makkah to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem
  • Miraj: Was the Prophet's journey to Heavens
The Prophet (pbuh) and the small group of early Muslims in Makkah had been suffering extensively from the Arab pagans of the Quraish tribe. The distress further increased when the Prophet went to the city of Taif where he was humiliated by the people of Taif who pelted him with stones. In this state of anguish, and a feeling of helplessness in front of his enemies he turned to Allah and made a fervent supplication. He ended the supplication by saying that as long as Allah is not displeased with him, then he will always be satisfied. Right after this event, the Israa and Miraj took place to honor him and to renew his courage and strive to serve Allah.
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The experience was also a sign that all prophets go through hardship and that Allah was not displeased with him. There are many lessons we can also learn from the experience such as the truth of Islam, the full confidence of Abu Bakr in the prophet's trustworthiness, the establishment of the prayers, the importance of Jerusalem and its holy sites, etc.
The night as the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) lay sleeping, he was woken by the Archangel Gabriel. The Prophet (Pbuh) sat up and the Archangel took hold of his arm and led him to the door of the Mosque where there was a mysterious animal for him to ride. That animal came to be known as the Buraqq, a magical steed.

The Holy Prophet (Pbuh) mounted the animal and, with the Archangel Gabriel at his side, was transported from Makkah to the Mosque called Al-Aqsa, in far away Jerusalem. There the Prophet (Pbuh) was the Imam in a congregational prayer which included among other Prophets, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (Pbuh). Then the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) ascended to the Heavens where he saw the splendours of paradise and the horrors of Hell. Later the angels took the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) through the seven Heavens one by one. In his journey across the heavens he saw some of the Prophets (Pbuh) who had come before him in their earthly missions.

The greatest moment in the life of the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) arrived when he was admitted into the divine presence of Allah himself. He was instructed to order his community to observe ‘salat’ fifty times a day.

In the words of the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) himself, this is how the incident occurred which resulted in the five daily prayer becoming obligatory on Muslims: “Allah enjoined fifty prayer on my followers. When I returned with this order of Allah, I passed by Moses (Pbuh) who asked me, “what has Allah enjoined on your followers.” I replied, He has enjoined fifty prayers on them. Moses said. Go back to your Lord (and appeal for reduction) for your followers will not be able to bear it. (So I went back to Allah and requested for reduction) and He reduced it to half, when I passed by Moses again, I informed him about it, he said, Go back to your Lord as your followers will not be able to bear it. So I returned to Allah and requested for further reduction and half of it was reduced. I again passed by Moses and he said to me: Return to your Lord, for your followers will not be able to bear it. So I returned to Allah and He said. These are five prayers and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward) for My word does not change. I returned to Moses and he told me to go back once again. I replied, Now I feel shy of asking my Lord again. (Reported by Ibn Hazm and Anas bin Malik .. Bukhari).

The morning after the Prophet’s (Pbuh) return to Makkah he related the events of the night before. “By God! This is ridiculous! A caravan takes a month to go to Syria and a month to return! Can you do that long journey in a single night!” When Abu Bakr heard the news he exclaimed. “By Allah, if Muhammad (Pbuh) himself has said so, then it true. Remember, the Prophet (Pbuh) tells us that the word of Allah comes to him directly from heaven to earth at any hour by day or night, and we believe him. Is not that a greater miracle than what you are now doubting?”

This spontaneous belief in the Prophet’s (Pbuh) truthfulness earned Abu Bakr the title of Al Siddiq or the “one who supports the truth. Others also began to believe the Prophet’s (Pbuh) story when he went on to describe two caravans he had seen on his way back to Makkah. He told the doubters where he had seen the caravans, what they were carrying and when they would arrive in Makkah. And that the Prophet (Pbuh) had said was borne out when the caravans arrived at the time he said they would be, carrying all that he has described.

The Qur’an also speaks of the Night Journey; “Glory be to Him, who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque to the far distant place of worship, which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs. He, only He is the All Hearing, the All-Seeing.” (Qur’an 17:1)

Adapted from “The life of the Prophet Muhammad” (Pbuh) by Leila Azzam and Aisa Gouverneur
 
Proud2BeHumble

Proud2BeHumble

Seek Truth, Be Happy
More On Israa & Miraj

Detailed reports about Israa and Miraj are found in the works of Hadith and Sirah and have been narrated from as many as twenty-five Companions. The most exhaustive reports are those from Anas ibn Malik, Malik ibn Sa'sa'ah, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and Abu Hurayrah. Some other details have been narrated by 'Umar, 'Ali, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abd Allah ibn Abbas, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, and 'A'ishah among other Companions of the Prophet

The Quran here only mentions that the Prophet was taken from the Ka'bah to the mosque in Jerusalem, and specifies that the purpose of the journey was such that God might "show him some of His signs". Beyond this, The Quran does not concern itself with any detail.

However, according to Hadith reports, Gabriel took the Prophet at night from the Ka'bah to the mosque in Jerusalem on a buraq.

On reaching Jerusalem the Prophet along with other Prophets offered Prayers. (Al-Nasa'i, Sunan, K. al-Salah, 'Bab Fard al-Salah wa Dhikr Ikhtilaf al-Naqilin...' -Ed.)

Gabriel then took him to the heavens and the Prophet met several great Prophets in different heavenly spheres. (See al-Nasa'i, Sunan, K. al-Salah, 'Bab Fard al-Salah' - Ed.)

Finally, he reached the highest point in the heavens and was graced with an experience of the Divine Presence. On that occasion the Prophet received a number of directives including that Prayers were obligatory five times a day. (Al-Bukhari, K. Manaqib al -Ansar, 'Bab al-Mi'raj ; K. al-Tawhid, 'Bab Kallama Musa Taklima' - Ed.)

Thereafter, the Prophet returned from the heavens to Jerusalem, and from there to the Holy Mosque in Makka. Numerous reports on the subject reveal that the Prophet was also enabled on this occasion to observe Heaven and Hell. (Al-Bukhari, K. al_Salah, 'Bab Kayfa Furidat al-Salah fi al-Isra' and Ibn Hisham, Sirah, vol. I, p. 404 - Ed.)

It may be recalled that according to authentic reports when the Prophet narrated the incidents of this extraordinary journey the following day to the people in Makka, the unbelievers found the whole narration utterly amusing. (Muslim, K, al-Iman, 'Bab Dhikr al-Masih ibn Maryam' - Ed.)

In fact, even the faith of some Muslims was shaken because of the highly extraordinary nature of the account. (See Ibn Hisham, Sirah , vol. I, p.398 and al-Qurtubi, comments on verse 1 of the surah - Ed.)

What was the nature of this journey? Did it take place when the Prophet was asleep or when he was awake? Did he actually undertake a journey in the physical sense or did he have a spiritual vision while remaining in his own place?


Opinion 1:
Many Muslims believe that Miraj of Muhammad (PBUH) was a physical journey. In contrary, Allah has said that Miraj was a vision or ru'ya (Surah Al Israa': 60). Our dear Prophet experienced this extraordinary vision when contemporary people were relentlessly humiliating him. Even after years of his dedicated mission, only few people had accepted the Truth. In such circumstances, it is natural that anybody would be disheartened and be in a low morale. During such a period of preaching, Allah (SWT) granted our Prophet a vision that he is leading a salat where all the past prophets were attending. This vision signifies that our dear Rasul would be the imam of the whole world as all the previous prophets acknowledged his highest level of dignity and status. Thus, it can be concluded that his preaching would soon prevail all over the world. In this spiritual journey, he traveled beyond the world and observed a view of the universe. Many people of his time assumed this to be a physical journey. To correct them, our prophet said that he was in the stage of half-sleep and half-awake. When he woke up (or completed the journey), he found his seat to be warm. This attests that the journey consumed a brief moment. All the incidents that happened in this short period can only occur spiritually or in ru'ya.

According to the Qur’an, this incident was a ‘Ru’ya’’ of the Prophet (pbuh). The Arabic word ‘Ru’ya’’ is used in the same meaning as we use the word ‘Dream’ in the English language. The Qur’an implies that the Prophet (pbuh) was taken on a spiritual journey by God, for his education and experience. Yes, it was real, but not physical.

Some emphasise that if the Qur’an had presented it as a physical journey, there would have had absolutely no objection in believing that it was a physical journey of the Prophet (pbuh). Though they believe that for God anything and everything is possible. But argue that the reason for not believing it to be a physical ascension is that the Qur’an has called it ‘Ru’ya’’ (a vision in a dream) rather than ‘Ru’yat’ (seeing with open eyes). They say, therefore, the Mairaj or the ascension of the Prophet (pbuh) was a spiritual experience, not a physical one.


Opinion 2:
As per this second opinion (and this sounds me more convincing), had the Prophet's journey of Al-Israa' and Al-Mi`raj been in soul only, it would not have been regarded as a miracle. It would have been then an ordinary dream. While sleeping, many people visit remote places and see extraordinary things without moving an inch from the places they are already in, and there is nothing extraordinary about that to other people.

These questions, in this view, have been resolved by the text of the Quran itself. The opening statement: "Holy is He Who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque to the farther Mosque... " (verse 1) itself indicates that it was an extraordinary event which took place by dint of the infinite power of God.

For quite obviously, to be able to perceive the kind of things mentioned in connection with the event, either in a dream or by means of intuition, is not so wondrous that it should be prefaced by the statement: "Holy is He Who carried His servant by night..." ; a statement which amounts to proclaiming that God was free from every imperfection and flaw. Such a statement would make absolutely no sense if the purpose of it was merely to affirm that God had the power to enable man to have either visions in the course of a dream, or to receive information intuitively.

As per this view, the words of the experience or a dream vision, was an actual journey, and the observation in question was a visual observation. All was contingent upon God's will that truths be revealed to the Prophet in this fashion.

The Creator is infinite and transcends both time and place, yet in dealing with His creatures He has to have recourse to the means which are finite and are circumscribed by time-space limitations. This is because of the inherent limitations of man. Hence when God speaks to His creatures, He employs, of necessity, the same means of communication which can be comprehensible to the latter even though His Own speech transcends the means employed in the speech.

In like fashion, when God wants to show someone the signs of His vast kingdom, He takes him to certain places and enables him to observe whatever he is required to observe. For it is beyond the power of man to view the universe in the manner God can. While God does not stand in need of visiting a certain place in order to observe something that exists there, man does need to do so.

The same holds true of having a direct encounter with the Creator. Although God is not confined to a particular place, man needs to experience His presence at a defined place where the effulgence of His Being might be focused. For it is beyond man's power to encounter God in His limitlessness.

Then the splendid vision drew nearer and came still nearer till there was a distance of two bow lengths or even less so Allah revealed to His beloved servant what He wanted to reveal (53:8-10)

So Basically the ayat does support the fact that the Miraj was a physical journey as is demonstrated in the FIRST ayat of the Sura Isra:


سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far Distant Place of Worship the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Nearer, the Seer. Surah Isra:01
 
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