Isra and Mi'raj

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A 16th century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled, a common practice in Islamic art.

The Isra and Mi'raj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج ) refer to two parts of a journey the Islamic prophet Muhammad took in one night of the year 1 BH (621 CE) ^[1]. Isra (Arabic: الإسراء ) is an Arabic word referring to what Muslims regard as Muhammad's miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem — specifically, to the site of Masjid al-Aqsa. Mi’raj (Arabic: المعراج ) is an Arabic word referring to the second part of the journey, particularly the ascension of Muhammad from Masjid al-Aqsa to the heavens.

This celebrated event in Islam is considered to have taken place before the Hijra and after Muhamad's visit to the people of Taif. It is considered by some to have happened just over a year before the Hijra, on the 27th of Rajab; but this date is not always recognized. In Shi'a Iran for example, Rajab 27 is the day of Muhammad's first calling or Mab'as. However, in many parts of the Muslim world, this date is celebrated as Lailat al Miraj.

A majority of Muslims consider it a physical journey but some Islamic scholars consider it a dream. Both opinions are discussed in the article.^[2]

[edit] The event

[edit] The Qur'an

Following verse is referred by some scholars to show that it was a dream^[2] while others disagree:^[3]

Following verses are purported to point to this event.^[4]

[edit] Hadith

This event has been discussed in detail in hadith literature.

[edit] Synopsis

As Muhammad was resting in the Kaaba, Gabriel came to him, and brought him the winged steed Buraq, who carried him to the "furthest mosque", where he alighted, tethered Buraq, and led other prophets in prayer. He then got back on Buraq, and was taken to the heavens, where he toured heaven and hell (described in some detail), and spoke with the earlier prophets, and with Allah. Allah told him to enjoin the Muslims to pray fifty times a day; however, Moses told Muhammad that they would never do it, and urged Muhammad to go back several times and ask for a reduction, until finally it was reduced to five times a day.

Afterwards, the unbelieving Meccans regarded this as absurd, and some went to Abu Bakr and told him "Look at what your companion is saying. He says he went to Jerusalem and came back in one night." Abu Bakr told them, "If he said that, then he is truthful. I believe him concerning the news of the heavens — that an angel descends to him from the heavens. How could I not believe he went to Jerusalem and came back in a short period of time — when these are on earth?" It was for this that Abu Bakr is said to have received his famous title "Us-Siddiq", The Truthful.

[edit] Journey by Body and Soul, or by Soul only

It is widely believed amongst Muslims that Isra and Mi'raj was a physical journey of Muhammad, but some Islamic scholars consider it as a dream. They point to a verse in the same sura of Qur'an, ...and We did not make the vision (Arabic: ru'ya or الرُّؤيَا) which We showed you but a trial for men... 17:60 and a hadith regarding Isra and Mi'raj in Sahih Bukhari, ...Allah's Apostle said, "O Moses! By Allah, I feel shy of returning too many times to my Lord." On that Gabriel said, "Descend in Allah's Name." The Prophet then woke while he was in the Sacred Mosque (at Mecca). 9:93:608. Similarly Ibn Ishaq, author of first biography of Muhammad, has a tradition from Aisha that only Muhammad's spirit had journeyed to "the distant place of prayer", although later material written by Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir differ in this opinion.^[5] It is argued that it was a mode of revelation for the Prophet in symbolic form for the guidance of the Muslim nation. This event also foretold Muslims that God would now raise Muslims up as a superpower and Jerusalem would soon fall into their hands, which happened indeed within less than three decades of this event.^[6][2] While some hadith material suggests that it was a physical journey and it is argued that this event wouldn't be a "trial" for believers if it was a dream.^[3]

The Quran 53:13 reports that Muhammad saw Gabriel during the night Journey. Another incident when Muhammad saw Gabriel was reported in this verse 81:23.

[edit] Controversy over its historicity

Many non-Muslims regard the incident as implausible. However, while most scholars accept that Muhammad claimed to have made this trip, a few dispute this as well. Some believe that the prophet's journey may have been one of the soul and not necessarily the body. Islamic scholars have debated this issue for centuries.

John Wansbrough (a leading exponent of extreme scepticism regarding early Islamic sources, best known for his theories of extremely late Quranic composition), argues that the entire story of the Isra and Mir’aj constitutes later Islamic scriptural exegesis designed to explain away the vagueness of ayah 17:1 (a literary phenomenon he claims was common in early Islamic and Jewish theology.) He holds that this verse probably does not even refer to Muhammad, and that no evidence links it to Jerusalem: "Far from providing unambiguous witness to the Arabian prophet, this particular scriptural image (israa' bi-abdeehee laylan) is employed, in but slightly varying forms, only to describe Moses' departure from Egypt" (Wansbrough, Quranic Studies).

[edit] The term "Masjid al-Aqsa" (the farthest mosque) in the Qur'an

The "farthest Mosque" (al-masjid al-Aqsa) in verse (17:1) of the Qur'an is traditionally interpreted by Muslims as referring to the site at the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem on which the mosque of that name now stands. This interpretation is already given by the earliest biographer of Muhammad — Ibn Ishaq — and is supported by numerous Hadith. The term used for mosque, "masjid", literally means "place of prostration", and includes monotheistic places of worship such as Solomon's Temple, which in verse 17:7 (in the same sura) is described as a masjid.

Many Western historians regard this as the originally intended interpretation, for instance Heribert Busse and Neal Robinson (see references.)

However, some disagree, arguing that at the time this verse of the Qur'an was recited (around the year 621, unless one follows Wansbrough) many Muslims understood the phrase "furthest mosque" as a poetic phrase for a mosque already known to them, a mosque in Heaven, or as a metaphor. For the following reasons, they find it unlikely that this verse referred to a location in Palestine: But it is also true that initially Muslims used to pray while facing towards "bait-ul-muqadas" or the temple mount or the holy land. Later on the Qibla was changed to Mecca. So it would be wrong to say that in that period muslims had no connection with Palestine.

1. There were already two places that Muslim tradition of that time period called "the furthest mosque"; one was the mosque in Medina (Arthur Jeffrey, The Suppressed Quran Commentary of Muhammad Abu Zaid, Der Islam, 20 (1932): 306) and the other was the mosque in the town of Jirana, which Muhammed is said to have visited in 630, although Solomon's Temple is of course further than either. (Alfred Guillaume, Where Was Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa? Al-Andalus, (18) 1953: 323–36)
2. When Muslims finally did conquer and occupy Jerusalem, they are not known to have identified the Temple Mount with "the furthest Mosque" until 715.

In 715 the Umayyads built a new mosque on the Temple Mount; they named this Mosque al-masjid al-aqsa, the Al-Aqsa Mosque or "furthest mosque". AL Tibawi, a Palestinian historian, argues that this action "gave reality to the figurative name used in the Koran." (AL Tibawi, Jerusalem: Its Place in Islam and Arab History, Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1969, p. 9.)

The evidence is insufficient to confirm whether a specific meaning had been attached to this verse before the Muslim conquest and occupation of Jerusalem. However, it is known that by twenty-five years after the conquest the account of the Isra and Mir’aj was generally attached to the Temple Mount.

There is an opinion among some Muslim scholars that "the furthest mosque" in Qur'an actually points to the Temple of Solomon and not Masjid Al-Aqsa, which was built by Omer Bin Khattab (c. 581-644), the Muslim caliph who conquered Jerusalem in 637.^[7]

[edit] Modern Observance

Muslims celebrate this night by offering optional prayers during this night, and in many Muslim countries, by illuminating cities with electric lights and candles. In India this day is observed by taking fast, while some consider its celebration a Bid‘ah (an innovation in the religion).

[edit] See also

• Dome of the Rock
• Foundation stone
• Mut`im ibn `Uday
• Muhammad before Medina
• Islamic view of miracles

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://christdot.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5095&hl
2. ^ ^{a b c} A Question on the Night Journey of the Prophet (pbuh), understanding-islam.com, Al-Mawrid Institute
3. ^ ^{a b} Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur'an (tafsir), 17:60
4. ^ Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur'an (tafsir).53:13
5. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim world, Macmillan reference, USA, 2004. p.482
6. ^ Shehzad Saleem. Ascension of the Prophet (sws). Renaissance - Monthly Islamic Journal, 8(7-8). July & August 1998
7. ^ Moiz Amjad, The Position of Jerusalem and the Bayet al-Maqdas in Islam, understanding-islam.com, Al-Mawrid Institute

[edit] References

• "The Treatise of al-Miraj - from Risale-i Nur"
• "Night Journey"
• The Miracle of al-Isra and al-Mir’aj
• Egyptian Ministry of Culture Publication: The Prophet Muhammad's 'Night Journey' was Not to Jerusalem but to Medina
• The Position of Jerusalem and the Bayet al-Maqdas in Islam
• A. Bevan, Mohammed's Ascension to Heaven, in "Studien zu Semitischen Philologie und Religionsgeschichte Julius Wellhausen," (Topelman, 1914,pp. 53-54.)
• B. Schreike, "Die Himmelreise Muhammeds," Der Islam 6 (1915–16): 1-30
• J. Horovitz, "Muhammeds Himmelfahrt," Der Islam 9 (1919): 159-83
• Heribert Busse, "Jerusalem in the Story of Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 14 (1991): 1–40.
• Heribert Busse and Georg Kretschmar, Jerusalemer Heiligstumstraditionen (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1987)
• Heribert Busse, "The Destruction Of The Temple And Its Reconstruction In The Light Of Muslim Exegesis Of Sûra 17:2–8", Jerusalem Studies In Arabic And Islam, 1996, Vol. 20, p. 1.
• N. Robinson, Discovering The Qur'ân: A Contemporary Approach To A Veiled Text, 1996, SCM Press Ltd.: London, p. 192.

[edit] External links

• "The Treatise of al-Miraj - from Risale-i Nur"
• "Night Journey"
• The Miracle of al-Isra and al-Mir’aj
• Egyptian Ministry of Culture Publication: The Prophet Muhammad's 'Night Journey' was Not to Jerusalem but to Medina
• The Position of Jerusalem and the Bayet al-Maqdas in Islam
• http://www.sunnah.org/ibadaat/fasting/ascen3.htm

• "THE NIGHT JOURNEY OF MUHAMMAD (Peace Be Upon Him) TO HEAVEN"