Context of Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj - 27th of Rajab
Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj took place during a time when the Prophet (saw) was facing intense hardship and pain. The Quraysh, who were his tribe and his family, constantly ridiculed, humiliated and oppressed the Prophet (saw) and his followers. Moreover, the Prophet (saw) had just faced the Year of Sorrow (’Aam al-Huzn), during which he (saw) lost his beloved wife Khadijah (ra), and his uncle Abu Talib, who was his protector and ally.
In addition to all these burdens, when the Prophet (saw) had travelled to Ta’if to spread the Islamic message, the people of Ta’if had rejected him in the most cruel way, sending their children into the streets to stone him until he left the city.
Having gone through so much grief and suffering, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was given a truly beautiful and comforting gift. He was transported not only to the Sacred Sanctuary and through the skies, but ultimately into the Divine Presence, the source of all comfort and hope. One of the most important lessons of Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj, therefore, is that ‘with every hardship [there will be] ease’ (The Noble Qur’an, 94: 5).
Al-Isra’: From the Ka’bah (Makkah) to Al-Aqsa (Jerusalem-Palestine)
When the Prophet (saw) was sleeping in the house of Umm Hani (ra) in Makkah he said, ‘the roof of my house was opened and the Angel Jibril [as] descended’ (Bukhari). Scholars reconciling between various narrations, say the Prophet (saw) was then taken to the Hijr, the semi-circular wall of the Ka‘bah, where the Prophet (saw) said that Jibril (as) (Angel Gabriel), ‘opened my chest, and washed it with Zamzam water. Then he brought a golden tray full of wisdom and faith, and having poured its contents into my chest, he closed it’. [Bukhari]
The Prophet (saw) continued, ‘I was then brought a white beast which is called al-Buraq [from the Arabic word barq, meaning lightning], bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule. Its stride was as long as the eye could reach’. [Muslim]
It is narrated by Anas (ra) that Buraq was, ‘saddled and reined, but he shied from him (saw). So Jibril [as] said to him, “Is it from Muhammad [saw] that you do this? For nobody has ridden you who is more honourable to Allah than him!” He said, “Then he started sweating profusely”’. [Tirmidhi]
At several points along the journey, Jibra’eel (as) stopped Buraq and told the Prophet (saw), ‘Dismount and pray’. The first stop was at ‘the place of emigration’ i.e. Madinah - and soon after this night the Prophet (saw) would meet the Ansar and migrate to Madinah. The second stop was at Mount Sinai, where Allah (swt) revealed the Torah to Musa (as). The third stop was at Bethlehem, where ’Isa (as) was born.
The fourth stop was the grave of Musa (as), ‘I happened to pass by Musa [as] on the night of my Night journey by the red sandhill whilst he was standing praying in his grave’ (Muslim). We know that his grave is located, ‘a stone’s throw’ away from the holy land of the Blessed Masjid Al-Aqsa (Bukhari). This incident clearly shows us an example of what the Messenger of Allah (saw) said about Prophets (as) after they pass away that, ‘The Prophets are alive in their graves praying’ (Abu Ya‘la).
Arriving at Al-Aqsa
Finally, the Messenger of Allah (saw) arrived in the holy city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and he said, ’When we reached Bait al-Maqdis [‘the holy house’ another name for the Blessed Masjid Al-Aqsa] Jibril (as) pointed with his finger causing a crack in the rock, and he tied the Buraq to it [at the western wall of the noble sanctuary]’ (Tirmidhi). Waiting inside were all 124,000 Prophets (as). Jibra’eel (as) led the Prophet (saw) to the front, and he (saw) led them all in prayer in this blessed space.
Some narrations indicate that the Prophet (saw) prayed ‘two units of prayer’ (Muslim) to greet the Masjid (known as Tahiyyat al-Masjid). This is one of the first examples of this established Sunnah of the Prophet (saw). It is also mentioned that Jibril (as) called the Adhan (call to prayer) before this practice was even established later in Madinah and that the angels from the heavens descended to pray behind all the Prophets in this sacred place – Subhan-Allah!
When the Prophet (saw) completed the prayer, he said, ‘someone said, “Here is Malik (as), the keeper of the Hell, so convey Salams to him”. So, I turned to him, but he preceded me in Salams’ (Muslim).
The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said, ’The Prophets were presented to me, and Musa (as) was a thin man, it was as if he was from the men of Shanu’ah [a Yemeni tribe]. And I saw ’Isa ibn Maryam (as), and the closest of the people in resemblance to him from those I have seen, is ‘Urwah ibn Mas'ud (ra). And I saw Ibrahim (as), and the closest of the people in resemblance to him, from those I have seen, is your companion [meaning himself]. And I saw Jibril [as], and the closest of the people in resemblance to him, from those I have seen, is Dihyah (ra)’ (Tirmidhi).
Part of what the Prophets (as) discussed after praising Allah was about ‘the Hour’. Both Ibrahim (as) and Musa (as) stated that they ‘did not have any knowledge of it’. Whilst ’Isa (as) ’mentioned the Dajjal (anti-Christ) and said,
“I will descend and kill him, then the people will return to their own lands and will be confronted with Gog and Magog, who will, “swoop down from every mound” [Qur’an, 21:96]”’. [Ibn Majah]
Following this, the Prophet (saw) said, ‘Then I came out and Jibril (as) brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. Then I chose the milk, and Jibril (as) said, “You have chosen the natural state (Fitrah)”’ (Muslim).
The dominant opinion is that the Prophet (saw) alongside Jibril (as) then proceeded to the Noble Rock (as-Sakhrah al-Musharrafah) that is currently housed by the holy Dome of the Rock Masjid at the centre of the noble sanctuary (al-Haram ash-Sharif) of the Blessed Masjid Al-Aqsa. He (saw) ascended into the heavens for the next part of this incredible journey, the Mi‘raj, the Ascension!
The Prophet (saw), ’saw the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise at the left of the Rock [at the Dome of the Rock Masjid]. He greeted them and they returned his greeting. Then he asked them something and they replied with an answer that cools the eyes. Then the Prophet (saw) was brought the ladder by which the spirits of the children of Adam (as) ascend. Creation never saw a more beautiful object. It had alternate stairs of silver and gold and came down from the Highest and Amplest Garden of Paradise, Jannat al-Firdaws. It was encrusted with pearls and surrounded with angels on its right and left’. [The Prophet’s Night Journey and Heavenly Ascent by Sayyid Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki]
The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said that, ‘a ladder was brought to me finer than any I have ever seen. It was that to which the dying man looks when death approaches’. [The Life of Muhammad (saw) Ibn Ishaq]
The First Sky
Allah ascended the Prophet (saw) from the Dome of the Rock through the skies, where he not only saw many miraculous sights and numerous angels, he also met the past Prophets (as). Along the way, he (saw) was greeted with excitement and delight, as his arrival had been much-anticipated.
It is hard to imagine how he (saw) must have felt upon meeting his brothers (as), all of whom had gone through trials and difficulties, as they met him with the warmth and love his own tribe had isolated him from. He was greeted with the words, ‘Welcome O pious Prophet and pious brother!’ (Bukhari). (Adam (as) and Ibrahim (as), however, welcomed him as a ‘pious son’).
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ’Then he ascended with us to the heaven [first layer of the sky and end of the known universe]. Jibril [as] then asked the (gate of heaven) to be opened (by knocking on one of its doors). [Bukhari]
It was said, “Who are you?” He said, “Jibril [as]“.
It was said, “And who is with you?” He said, “Muhammad [saw]“.
It was said, “Has he been sent for?” He said, “He has indeed been sent for”.
And it (the door of the heaven) was opened for us and suddenly I was with (the Prophet) Adam [as]. Then he welcomed me and supplicated for good for me’. [Muslim]
(In other narrations it mentioned the angelic gatekeepers rejoiced at the arrival of the beloved Prophet (saw) and proclaimed, ‘Welcome unto him! What an amazing arrival has come!’ [Muslim] and ‘He is most welcome and amongst family!’ [Bukhari]).
In other narrations we gain more details of the meeting of the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet Adam (as):
’There we saw a man sitting with some people on his right and some on his left. When he looked towards his right, he laughed and when he looked toward his left he wept. Then he said, ”Welcome O pious Prophet and pious son!” (or in another narration, ”Welcome you are amongst family, O my son! What an amazing son you are!” [Bukhari]).
I asked Jibril [as], “Who is he?” He replied, “He is Adam [as] and the people on his right and left are the souls of his offspring. Those on his right are the people of Paradise and those on his left are the people of Hell and when he looks towards his right he laughs and when he looks towards his left, he weeps”’. [Bukhari]
The Second to Sixth Sky
Then the Prophet (saw) continued to ascend the layers of sky with Jibril (as). Again, permission was sought to enter, and the angelic guards were delighted and welcomed the Messenger of Allah (saw).
At the second sky, he met the maternal cousins, the Prophets Isa (as) and Yahya (as).
At the third sky, the Prophet (saw) met the Prophet Yusuf (as) whom he described as having ‘been given half of (world) beauty’ [Muslim]. The Messenger of Allah (saw) had himself been blessed with all beauty, ma sha’ Allah!
At the fourth sky, the Prophet (saw) met the Prophet Idris (as) whose soul was taken there, and he is praised in the Qur’an: ‘We raised him to a lofty position’. [The Noble Qur’an, 19:57]
At the fifth sky, he met the Prophet Harun (as); and in the sixth sky, he met Prophet Harun’s younger brother, the Prophet Musa (as).
Some narrations mention that Musa (as) was seen crying and a voice was heard saying, ‘What makes you cry?’ He said, ’My Lord, this is a young man whom You have sent after me (as a Prophet) and his Ummah will enter Paradise in greater numbers than my Ummah’. [Muslim]
At each one of these levels, these Prophets (as) welcomed the Prophet (saw) and supplicated good for him saying, ‘Welcome O pious Prophet and pious brother!’ [Bukhari]
The Seventh Sky
At the seventh sky, the Prophet (saw) met his greatest ancestor, the Prophet Ibrahim (as) who was ‘reclining his back against al-Bait al-Ma‘mur. And there enter into it seventy thousand angels every day, never to return to it (again)’. [Muslim]
(Bait al-Ma’mur literally means ‘the much-visited House’. It is the heavenly Ka‘bah directly above the one on earth).
Like Adam (as), Ibrahim (as) greeted the Prophet (saw) saying, ‘Welcome O pious Prophet and pious son!’ [Bukhari]
In another narration, Ibrahim (as) conveyed his salaams to the Ummah of the Prophet (saw) and advised us that, ‘Paradise has pure soil and delicious water, and that it is a flat treeless plain, and that its seeds are (saying), SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), Alhamdulillah (All praise belongs to Allah), La ilaaha ill-Allah (There is no god but Allah), and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)’. [Tirmidhi]
The Lote Tree
The Prophet (saw) carried on his journey, reaching the Furthest Lote Tree. The Arabic word for this is Sidrah al-Muntaha [The Noble Qur’an, 53:14]. The Prophet (saw) described this vast tree in great detail!
- ‘[Its] leaves were like elephant ears and its fruit like big earthenware vessels’. [Muslim]
- ‘Then when it was covered by the Command of Allah, it underwent such a change that none amongst the creation has the power to praise its beauty’. [Muslim]
- ‘A rider will travel in the shade of one of its branches for a hundred years,’ or ‘a hundred riders will seek to shade themselves with its shade’. [Tirmidhi]
- The tree is surrounded with ‘golden butterflies’. [Tirmidhi]
- He further said: ‘many a colour had covered it which I do not know (i.e. the colours of this tree were indescribable)’. [Muslim]
- He also stated that, ‘There terminates everything that ascends from the earth, and everything that descends from above’. [Tirmidhi]
SubhanAllah, the Prophet (saw) witnessed a truly amazing sign from Allah!
The Divine Meeting
At the end of this journey, the Prophet (saw) was brought into the Divine Presence, the ultimate source of strength and relief. It is impossible to imagine the beauty of this scene, or how loved, honoured and humbled the Prophet (saw) must have felt.
We do not know a great about what was privately discussed between Allah and His beloved (saw), with Allah simply stating, ‘Then Allah revealed to His servant [saw] what He revealed’. [The Noble Qur’an, 53:10].
The Prophet (saw) mentioned, ‘Then Allah revealed to me what he revealed to me and then He made obligatory for me fifty prayers every day and night’. [Muslim]
It was here that Allah gave this Ummah the gift of compulsory Salah, a daily source of strength to Muslims because it gives us the opportunity to communicate with Allah and draw closer to Him - it is the believer’s ascension! We know through the Prophet Musa’s (as) intervention and advice that fifty prayers were eventually reduced to five, but still rewarded as fifty, subhanAllah!
Finally, the Prophet (saw) was taken back down to the Blessed Masjid Al-Aqsa and returned to Makkah on the Buraq.