The Night Journey &: Heavenly Ascension

THe NIGHT JOURNEY &
HEAVENLY ASCENSION
THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY
The Prophet Muhammad s was blessed with many miracles. One of the
most significant events of his life was the miraculous Night Journey, or the
Isrā’ and Miʿrāj.
The Night Journey took place in the year 621. During the course of
only one night, our master Muhammad s was taken to city of Jerusalem
and then travelled up the heavens to meet with Allah.
The ulema have differed as to when the miʿrāj took place.
• One opinion is to say that it took place during Ramaḍān.

• A second opinion is to say that it took place during Shawwāl.
• It is also said to have taken place in Rabīʿ al-Awwal.
• And, it has been said to have taken place in Rajab.
The majority hold: it took place one year prior to ḥijra.
Al-Nawawī (d. 676) has stated with full certainty that the Miʿrāj took place
in Rajab.1
The Isrā’, or the Night Journey, is the portion of the journey from
Makka to Jerusalem, and the journey from Jerusalem to the heavens is
1 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (7:602).

known as the Miʿrāj, or literally, ascension.
The miracle of the Isrā’ is mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an in the
chapter, Sūra al-Isrā’ (chapter 17):
Praise is to He (i.e. Allah) Who took His servant for a journey by night
from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque (al-Aqṣā)… (17:1)
The three stages of the Night Journey (al-isrā’) and Ascension (miʿrāj):
1. From Masjid al-Ḥarām to Masjid al-Aqṣā, i.e. from the Bayt’ullah to

the Bayt al-Maqdis.
2. From Masjid al-Aqṣā to above the seventh heaven reaching Sidrat al-
muntahā (Lote Tree of the Uttermost Limit).
3. From Sidrat al-muntahā to further past this station.
al-isrā’
One night while the Prophet Muḥammad s was in Masjid al-Ḥarām

in Makka, Jibrīl e came to him with a winged creature of the heavens,
referred to as the Burāq. The Prophet s would ride the Burāq throughout
this journey.
The Burāq was able to travel with great speed; in a hadith the Prophet
s stated that the length of one of Burāq’s strides was the same distance as
far as the eye could see.
It was on this night also that the miracle of the splitting of the chest occurred.
In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, in the ḥadīth of ascension narrated by Anas ibn Mālik, it
is mentioned that his s blessed chest was split open, his blessed heart taken
out and rinsed, and ‘a black clot’ was removed.
Removal of the black clot from the pure heart of our master s
On the night of Ascension, the blessed chest of our master Muhammad
s was split open by the archangel Jibrīl, who washed the heart of our
master Muḥammad s three times, removing from it the black clot, before
proceeding on the miraculous journey.
What was this ‘black clot’?

Aḥmad Riḍā (d. 1340H) said the ‘black clot’ represents the part of the
Prophet’s s mercy (raḥma) that would have benefitted the devil on the
Day of Judgement.
The Prophet s was taken by Jibrīl to a number of sacred places where they
stopped and the Prophet s prayed.
1. A land filled with datepalms. This was Madīna al-Munawwara.

2. Madyan at the tree of Prophet Mūsā.
3. Mountain Sina’, where Allah addressed Prophet Mūsā.
4. Bayt Lahm, or Bethlehem, where Prophet ʿĪsā ibn Maryam was
born.
Ibn Burayda narrates from his father that our master Muḥammad s said,
“When we reached the Pure House (bayt al-maqdis), Jibrīl pointed with
his finger causing a crack in the rock, and tied the Burāq to it.”2
The Prophet Muḥammad s went to Masjid al-Aqṣā, where all the
prophets of Allah: from Adam to ʿĪsā gathered. Our master Muḥammad
s moved forward and led them all in prayer.
miʿrāj
The Ascension was with both soul and body.3

After leading the prayer, the Prophet Muḥammad s with the Burāq
and Jibrīl s ascended to the heavens, from what is today recognised as
the Dome of the Rock.
2 Set forth by al-Tirmidhī, Sunan (2:141 §3132); al-Ḥākim, al-Mustadrak (2:360 §3370); al-Tabrīzī,
Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ (3:306 §5921).
3 al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān (15:16-17).
As the Prophet s ascended through the heavens, he met many of the
earlier prophets such as Mūsā, Idrīs, Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā. All of the prophets
received the Prophet Muḥammad s with a warm welcome and made
duʿā, or invocation, for him for goodness.
the lote tree
At the seventh heaven, our master Muhammad s reached the Sidrat al-
muntahā, a lote-tree which marks the farthest boundary of heaven. It is
the farthest anyone was allowed to travel in their approach to Allah.
It is at this point that Jibrīl was no longer allowed to continue, it was
only the Prophet s who would now continue further. The Glorious
Qur’an mentions in Sūra al-Najm (chapter 53):
By the Lote-tree of the utmost boundary, Near it is the Garden of

Refuge and Dwelling… Indeed, he saw one among the greatest
signs of His Lord (53:14-18).
ʿarsh (the throne of allah)
The Prophet Muḥammad s then ascended to what is beyond the seven

heavens. Here he was shown Jannah (paradise) and Jahannum (hellfire).
Beyond paradise, the Prophet s then saw the kursī, or the Footstool,
a huge creation of Allah; and, beyond this, he saw the Throne of Allah,
known in Arabic as the ʿarsh. The Throne is the largest creation of Allah,
with nothing bigger than it in size.
Allah created the Throne as a sign of his power.
Thereafter, the Prophet s ascended beyond the Throne and was invited
to meet Allah. The closeness of the meeting with Allah is mentioned in the
Glorious Qur’an which stated that the Prophet s:
(Was at the distance between) the strings of two bows, or even nearer
(than that) (53:9).
The Prophet s saw Allah on this night.

ʿAbdullah b. ʿAbbās said: the Messenger of Allah s saw Allah twice, once
with the eyes of the head, and once with the eyes of the heart.4 Al-Bājūrī
(d. 1277) says,
“The preponderant opinion in the eyes of most of the scholars is that

[the Messenger s] saw his Lord with the two eyes of his head while
they were fixed in their place – as opposed to those who claimed that
[his two eyes] were moved to his heart – by the [affirmative] report of
Ibn ʿAbbās and other Companions.”5
the daily prayers
During the Prophet’s s meeting with Allah, he was given the command
for Muslims to perform fifty daily prayers. When the Prophet s was
descending, Prophet Mūsā advised the Prophet s to return to Allah and
ask Him to reduce the prayers, because he feared that the community of
the Prophet s, similar to his own people, the Children of Israel, would
not be able to complete so many prayers in a single day. Allah reduced the
number, but once again, the Prophet Mūsā advised the Prophet s that the
prayers were too many. This continued until there were five prayers. Even
then Prophet Mūsā suggested that they be reduced further, but at this
point the Prophet s felt too embarrassed to ask for a further reduction,
and the five prayers were established.
4 Set forth by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-kabīr (12:71 §12564); and, al-Muʿjam al-awsaṭ (6:356
§5757); al-Qasṭallānī in al-Mawāhib al-ladunniya (2:37).
5 Set forth by al-Bājūrī in Tuḥfat al-murid ʿalā jawhara al-tawḥīd.
the prophet s returns to makka
After the Night Jourmey, the Prophet s returned the city of Makka, and
informed his people of what had happened to him the previous night.
Many disbelievers began mocking the pure and noble Prophet s.
When the Quraysh confronted the Prophet s after the Night Journey,
they went to Abū Bakr and said: “Do you believe what he said – that he
went last night to the Hallowed House and came back before morning?”
He replied: “If he said it, then I believe him! And I believe him regarding
what is farther! I believe the news of heaven he brings, whether in the
space of a morning or in that of an evening journey!”6 Because of this, Abū
Bakr was named al-Ṣiddīq, or the Most Truthful.
Summary
The Isrā’ and Miʿrāj are the two parts of a Night Journey undertaken by
our master Muḥammad s around the year 621. Our master Muḥammad
s travelled from Makka to the Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem and from
there to the heavens and farther to meet with Allah. It was on this blessed
night that the five daily prayers were prescribed for the Muhammadan
nation.
6 Narrated from the Mother of the Believers ʿĀ’isha by al-Ḥākim (3:62) who said its chain is sound
– al-Dhahabī concurred; al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr (1:55 §15).
GLOSSARY
sidrat al-muntahā’—the Lote Tree of the Farthest Limit; it is the farthest

boundary of the heavens.
burāq—a heavenly steed. A heavenly creature that travels with incredible

speed.
kursī—the Footstool. It is ‘under’ the Throne and is far smaller than it, “like a
ring lying buried in the middle of the desert” (hadith). The place of the Divine
Command and prohibition, the realm of the universe and the seven heavens,
in both the Seen and the Unseen.
ʿarsh: the Throne. The Throne contains immense expanses, height and
resplendent beauty, but it is beyond the power of any human being to describe
it or imagine its form. Knowledge of it is with Allah alone. The Throne has
bearers who carry it and Allah is settled on it, in a way that is beyond definition
or concept.
al-Isrā’—the Night Journey from Masjid al-Ḥarām, Makka, to Masjid al-Aqṣā,

Jerusalem.
miʿrāj—the Ascension, from Masjid al-Aqṣā to the heavens, and further to the
Lote Tree of the Farthest Limit.
iʿrāj—from the Lote Tree to the Station of Qāb qawsayn, or ‘the Distance of
two-bow lengths’.

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THe NIGHT JOURNEY &

• One opinion is to say that it took place during Ramaḍān.

The majority hold: it took place one year prior to ḥijra.

1 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (7:602).

1. From Masjid al-Ḥarām to Masjid al-Aqṣā, i.e. from the Bayt’ullah to

One night while the Prophet Muḥammad s was in Masjid al-Ḥarām

What was this ‘black clot’?

1. A land filled with datepalms. This was Madīna al-Munawwara.

The Ascension was with both soul and body.3

the lote tree

By the Lote-tree of the utmost boundary, Near it is the Garden of

ʿarsh (the throne of allah)

The Prophet Muḥammad s then ascended to what is beyond the seven

The Prophet s saw Allah on this night.

“The preponderant opinion in the eyes of most of the scholars is that

the daily prayers

sidrat al-muntahā’—the Lote Tree of the Farthest Limit; it is the farthest

burāq—a heavenly steed. A heavenly creature that travels with incredible

al-Isrā’—the Night Journey from Masjid al-Ḥarām, Makka, to Masjid al-Aqṣā,

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