s ay y i d u n ā m u ḥ a m m a d s — al-isrāʼ and al-miʿrāj

The Night Journey &

H e av e n ly A s c e n s i o n
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” (ḥadīth). 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; 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 u alone. The Throne has
bearers who carry it and Allah u 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 Qāb qawsayn, or ‘the Distance of
two-bow lengths’.
 s ay y i d u n ā m u ḥ a m m a d s — al-isrāʼ and al-miʿrāj

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’ (“ t h e n i g h t j o u r n e y ”)

One night while the Prophet Muhammad 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
On the night of Ascension, the blessed chest of sayyidunā Muhammad s was
split open by the archangel Jibrīl e, who washed the heart of our Master
Muhammad s three times, removing from it the black clot, before proceeding
on the miraculous journey.

What was this ‘black clot’?

Aḥmad Riḍā al-Māturīdī (d. 1340) 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.
 s ay y i d u n ā m u ḥ a m m a d s — al-isrāʼ and al-miʿrāj

s i d r at a l - m u n ta h ā (“ t h e lot e t r e e ”)

At the seventh heaven, sayyidunā 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 u.

It is at this point that Jibrīl e 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)

When the Prophet s and Jibrīl e approached the Lote Tree, the Prophet said,
“Jibrīl! Let us continue.” To which Jibrīl replied, “If I were to move forward…
I shall be destroyed.”4

After Jibrīl e said that he would not be able to pass the Lote Tree, the Prophet
s asked him, “Do you have any need or wish that I may present before your
Lord?”5

The angels wished to see the Chosen One (al-muṣṭafā) s, and this wish was
granted by Allah u. The angels hid themselves at the Lote-Tree to see the
blessed vision of the Prophet s.6

ʿarsh, or the throne of Allah u

The Prophet Muhammad s then ascended to what is beyond the seven heavens.
Here he was shown Janna, or paradise, and Jahannum, or the fire of hell.

4
Set forth by al-Shaʿranī in al-Yawāqīt al-jawāhir, 3:34.
5
Set forth by al-Ḥalabī in Sīra al-Ḥalabiyya, 2:120.
6
Refer to al-Suyūṭī’s, Durr al-manthūr, 6:116.
 s ay y i d u n ā m u ḥ a m m a d s — al-isrāʼ and al-miʿrāj

Prophet Mūsā e advised the Prophet s to return to Allah u 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 u reduced the number, but once again,
the Prophet Mūsā e advised the Prophet s that the prayers were too many. This
continued until there were five prayers. Even then Prophet Mūsā e 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.

t h e p ro p h e t s r e t u r n s to m a k k a

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 g 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!”9 Because of this, Abū Bakr g was named al-Ṣiddīq, or the
Most Truthful.

s u m m a ry

The Isra’ and Miʿrāj are the two parts of a Night Journey undertaken by Sayyiduna
Muhammad s around the year 621. Sayyidunā Muhammad s travelled from
Makka to the Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem and from there to the heavens and
farther to meet with Allah u.
9
Narrated from the Mother of the Believers ʿĀ’isha j by al-Ḥākim, 3:62=1990 ed. 3:65, 3:76=1990 ed.
3:81, who said its chain is sound – al-Dhahabī concurred, Ibn Saʿd, 1:144, Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim in al-Āḥād wa’l-
mathānī, 1:83 #39, al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr, 1:55 #15, and Musnad al-shāmiyyīn, 1:145 #232, from Anas
by Ibn Abī Ḥātim in his Tafsīr, and from ʿAlī and Lady ʿĀ’isha by Abū Nuʿaym in Maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba cf.
al-Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, 4:155.