Al-Isra wal-Mi'raj (The Night Journey and Ascension)
~c. 1 year before the Hijrah (~621 CE) · 1 BH·Date debatedThe exact year and month are not established from any Companion or early Successor. Opinions range from one to five years before the Hijrah; Ibn Ishaq and most early writers say one year before. Some scholars held that there were two separate journeys, to reconcile differing reports, but most hold there was one, since Allah says "laylan", a single night, in Surah al-Isra 17:1. Several details in the account were not found in the classical sources checked: the state of the Temple site under Roman rule, the house of Aqil, Abu Jahl finding him first and calling it sorcery, the claim that more Companions narrate this night than the rest of the Makkan period, the report that Khadija RA died before the prayer was made obligatory, and the statement that the prayer was the one obligation given without Jibril AS as intermediary.
The exact year and month are not established from any Companion or early Successor. Opinions range from one to five years before the Hijrah; Ibn Ishaq and most early writers say one year before. Some scholars held that there were two separate journeys, to reconcile differing reports, but most hold there was one, since Allah says "laylan", a single night, in Surah al-Isra 17:1. Several details in the account were not found in the classical sources checked: the state of the Temple site under Roman rule, the house of Aqil, Abu Jahl finding him first and calling it sorcery, the claim that more Companions narrate this night than the rest of the Makkan period, the report that Khadija RA died before the prayer was made obligatory, and the statement that the prayer was the one obligation given without Jibril AS as intermediary.
What happened
In brief
Al-Isra wal-Mi'raj is the miraculous night on which the Prophet ﷺ was carried from Makkah to Jerusalem and then raised through the heavens into the presence of Allah. It came about a year before the Hijrah, after the Year of Sorrow and the stoning at Ta'if, the lowest point of his life. Jibril AS washed his heart, then carried him on al-Buraq to Bayt al-Maqdis, where he led all the prophets in prayer. From there he rose through the seven heavens, greeted at each by an earlier prophet, past the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary and beyond it, alone, to where Allah spoke to him. There he was given the five daily prayers, reduced from fifty at the urging of Musa AS, and was shown Paradise and the Fire. He returned to Makkah before dawn. When he told the Quraysh the next morning they mocked him, but Abu Bakr RA believed him at once and earned the title al-Siddiq. The five daily prayers, the one obligation given to the Prophet ﷺ directly rather than through Jibril AS, date from this night.
Outcome: The five daily prayers were made obligatory, the one commandment given to the Prophet ﷺ in the presence of Allah rather than through Jibril AS. The next morning the Quraysh mocked him, and Abu Bakr RA became al-Siddiq for believing him without hesitation.
Significance
One of the greatest miracles given personally to the Prophet ﷺ (not to his ummah as a whole), coming immediately after the personal losses of the Year of Sorrow and the trial of Ta'if, as the promised ease after difficulty [Quran 94:5-6]. It honored the Prophet ﷺ as Imam of all the prophets and Sayyid al-Anbiya, and is narrated by many sahaba, which has also made it a magnet for exaggeration by early storytellers (qussas) that scholars have had to sift out. Scholars differ on whether the Prophet ﷺ saw Allah SWT during this audience: Aisha RA denied it, Ibn Abbas RA affirmed it, saying he saw Him with his heart twice, and asked by Abu Dharr RA, the Prophet ﷺ answered, "Light; how could I see Him?"
Jibril AS opens the Prophet ﷺ's chest, washes his heart, and brings al-Buraq.
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Muhammad ﷺDetails differTwo authentic narrations differ on where this began: one says he was in the Hatim (Hijr Ismail) when Jibril AS came to him, another that he was in his house and saw the roof open before Jibril AS came to him. Ibn Hajar reconciles both as true in sequence: Jibril AS came to him at his house first, then took him to the Hatim.
Quote · Night of al-Isra
While I was lying in al-Hatim, someone came to me and opened my chest and took out my heart. Then a golden basin full of faith was brought to me, and my heart was washed and filled, and then put back.
Then Jibril brought me a beast (smaller than a mule and larger than a donkey, pure white, called al-Buraq) which puts its hoof down as far as the eye can see. It had a harness and a saddle.
I rode him and he took me until we came to Bayt al-Maqdis. And I tied al-Buraq to the animal post that is used by the prophets.
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Muhammad ﷺDetails differAnother narration has it that he turned around after praying two rak'at and simply saw all the prophets lined up behind him, without knowing beforehand who they were: unlike this fuller version, where he describes and names them himself. Which is correct is unclear; Allah knows best.
Narration · Night of al-Isra, at Bayt al-Maqdis
I entered the mosque and prayed two rak'at in it. And I saw myself among a group of the prophets. Musa was standing in prayer, a well-built man as if he were of the tribe of Shanu'ah. Isa ibn Maryam was standing in prayer, and of all people the one who most resembles him is Urwah ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi. Ibrahim was standing in prayer, and of all people the one who most resembles him is your companion, meaning myself. Then the time for prayer came, and I led them.
Muhammad ﷺWeak chainAn authentic hadith (Sahih Muslim; al-Tirmidhi, with "and I am not boasting"), but the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
I am the Leader (Sayyid) of the children of Adam on the Day of Judgment, and I am not saying this to boast.
Said in connection with being made Imam of all the prophets during al-Isra.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainAn authentic hadith (al-Bukhari), said when a man complained about a distribution of wealth; the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
Indeed, Musa was hurt more than I was, and he was still patient.
Jibril AS· AngelDetails differOne authentic narration has Jibril AS presenting the two vessels at Bayt al-Maqdis, right after the prayer with the prophets; another has this happening later, during the ascent through the heavens.To Muhammad ﷺ
Saying · During al-Isra wal-Mi'raj (exact point disputed)
Take whichever of them you wish.
Presenting the Prophet ﷺ with two vessels, one of milk and one of wine; wine had not yet been made forbidden at this time.
Jibril asked permission for the door of the heaven to open. "Who is it?" "It is Jibril." "Do you have anyone with you?" "Yes, I have with me Muhammad ﷺ." "Has he been sent for?" "Yes." And then the door opened.
Welcome, O righteous son, and O righteous prophet.
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Muhammad ﷺDetails differIt is unclear whether this and the Prophet ﷺ's other sighting of al-Bayt al-Ma'mur were one incident recorded two different ways, or two separate moments; Allahu a'lam.
Quote · 7th heaven, night of al-Mi'raj
I saw Ibrahim in the seventh heaven, sitting with his back against al-Bayt al-Ma'mur.
Then I was shown al-Bayt al-Ma'mur. I asked Jibril about it, and he said: This is al-Bayt al-Ma'mur, where seventy thousand angels pray every day, and when they leave it they never return to it.
Quote · Night of al-Mi'raj (exact location uncertain)
I am informed that one of its signs is that I will return to the earth (and Allah knows when that is) and Dajjal will come, and I will kill him. Then the people will go to their lands, and Ya'juj and Ma'juj will come forth from every valley, and every water they pass will be drunk dry, until I make du'a to Allah that they be killed, and Allah will kill them, and the whole earth will be filled with the stench of their bodies. Then I will make another du'a, and Allah will send rain from the sky and wash them away. And I have been told that when this happens, the Day of Judgment will be as near as a pregnant woman about to give birth.
Then Jibril continued going up with me until we reached the Sidrat al-Muntaha. It was enveloped in colors I cannot describe. Its fruits were as large as the water jars of the people of Hajar, and its leaves were like the ears of elephants.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RADetails differIbn Mas'ud RA's report (Sahih Muslim) places the Sidrah in the sixth heaven; the Prophet ﷺ's own account in al-Bukhari reaches it after Ibrahim AS in the seventh. Al-Nawawi reconciled them: its trunk is in the sixth heaven and its branches reach the seventh.
Quote · Sidrat al-Muntaha (6th heaven per this narration), night of al-Mi'raj
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was taken on the Night Journey, he was brought to Sidrat al-Muntaha, which is in the sixth heaven. To it ends whatever ascends from the earth, and it is taken from there; and to it ends whatever descends from above it, and it is taken from there. "When the Lote Tree was covered by what covered it": golden moths.
Saying · At the Sidrat al-Muntaha, night of al-Mi'raj
As for the hidden ones, they are in Jannah: you will not see them in the dunya. As for the ones that everybody can see, they are the Nile and the Euphrates.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainThe six hundred wings are Ibn Mas'ud RA's report (al-Bukhari; Muslim), given as his explanation of Surah al-Najm, not the Prophet ﷺ's own words; the pearls and coral were not found in the collections checked.
Quote · Beyond Sidrat al-Muntaha, night of al-Mi'raj
I saw Jibril in his true, original form. He had six hundred wings, blocking the entire horizon, and from the feathers of his wings, pearls and corals were dripping.
Quote · Beyond Sidrat al-Muntaha, night of al-Mi'raj
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given three things: the five prayers, the closing verses of Surah al-Baqarah, and forgiveness of the grave sins of those of his ummah who die without associating anything with Allah.
Ibn Mas'ud RA's report of what the Prophet ﷺ was given at Sidrat al-Muntaha on the night of the Mi'raj.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainNot found in this wording in the collections checked. Sunan al-Darimi has Ali RA saying the closing verses of al-Baqarah are from a treasure beneath the Throne.
Quote · Beyond Sidrat al-Muntaha, night of al-Mi'raj
I have been given these two verses from beneath the treasures of the Throne of Allah.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainNot found in the collections checked. Al-Bukhari has "whoever recites the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him", without reference to this night.
Quote
Whoever recites these two verses will be protected by Allah.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainAn authentic hadith (al-Bukhari), but the reports do not connect it to this night.
Quote
Whoever recites these two verses every night, that will be sufficient for him.
My Lord told me that I should tell my ummah to pray fifty times a day.
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Musa ASDetails differNarrations differ on whether each reduction was by five or by ten; both are authentically reported and cannot be resolved.To Muhammad ﷺ
Quote · 6th heaven, night of al-Mi'raj
Go back to your Lord and ask Him to lower this: I have experience with the Children of Israel, and your ummah will not be able to bear it.
Musa AS repeated this same appeal across several rounds of descent as the number was lowered from fifty.
Then a Voice called out: "My commandment has been established, and I have made things easy for My servants. It is five, but it shall be rewarded as fifty."
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The way down
Paradise, the punishments of the Fire, the Dajjal, and the fragrance of the hairdresser of Pharaoh's daughter.
Quote · During al-Mi'raj, after the command for salah
After the command for salah was given, I entered Jannah. I saw tents made of pearls, and its soil was musk.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainFrom Ibn Ishaq's report from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri RA; not in the Sahih collections.
Quote · Descent from al-Mi'raj
I saw people who had lips like camels' lips, and in their hands were pieces of fire like stones which they thrust into their mouths, and they came out from beneath them.
Jibril AS told him these were those who devoured the wealth of orphans unjustly.
These are the people who took their wealth through riba (usury).
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainThis scene was not found in the collections checked.
Quote · Descent from al-Mi'raj
I saw people cutting their own lips and tongues with scissors of fire. Who are these, O Jibril?
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Jibril AS· AngelWeak chainThis scene was not found in the collections checked.
Saying · Descent from al-Mi'raj
These are the people who used to tell others to do good, but would forget themselves.
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Muhammad ﷺDetails differThe reports of this night (al-Bukhari; Muslim) say only that he was shown the Dajjal among the signs; the description of his eye comes from the Prophet ﷺ's other hadith about the Dajjal (al-Bukhari).
Quote · Descent from al-Mi'raj
I saw the Dajjal. He is blind in the right eye, and his eye looks like a grape bulging out. Allah is not one-eyed.
Muhammad ﷺWeak chainThe fuller story told here was not found in the collections checked; Sunan Ibn Majah has a different, shorter account of the fragrance of the hairdresser's grave.
This is the fragrance of the mashitah (the hairdresser) of the daughter of Pharaoh, and of her children.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainThe fuller story told here was not found in the collections checked; Sunan Ibn Majah has a different, shorter account of the fragrance of the hairdresser's grave.
Quote · Night of al-Isra
What is their story?
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Jibril AS· AngelWeak chainThe fuller story told here was not found in the collections checked; Sunan Ibn Majah has a different, shorter account of the fragrance of the hairdresser's grave.
Narration · Night of al-Isra
Once, while she was combing the hair of the daughter of Pharaoh, the comb fell from her hand, and she said, "Bismillah." The daughter of Pharaoh said, "Surely you mean in the name of my father?" She said, "No: my Lord and your Lord is Allah, and the Lord of your father is Allah." The daughter said, "Do you want me to tell my father you said this?" She said, "Yes, go ahead." So Pharaoh called her and asked, "Are you saying you have a God besides me?" She answered with the same bravery, "Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah." So Pharaoh ordered a boiling cauldron brought and told her to throw herself and her children into it one by one, or else acknowledge him as her lord. She asked only that he bury her and her children together in one place, and he agreed. One by one her children were thrown in, until only her baby, still suckling, remained, and she hesitated. But the baby spoke and said, "O my mother, go forth and throw yourself in, for this punishment of this world is nothing compared to the punishment of the Next." So she threw herself in with him.
Three caravans on the road, and waking in the Haram.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainThis detail is not from a fully authentic chain of narration, though scholars see no problem in affirming it.
Quote · Return journey to Makkah, night of al-Isra
On the way back, I passed by three caravans of the Quraysh. In one, I recognized one of their men; in another, I drank from their water canister, for I was thirsty; and in the third, I saw one of them looking for a camel he had lost.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainReported by only one or two narrators; some early scholars cited this phrase as evidence that al-Isra was a dream. The majority of the ummah holds al-Isra was a real, physical, waking journey: this phrase simply describes waking up back home at the end of it.
Quote · Return to Makkah
When I woke up, I found myself in Makkah in front of the Ka'bah.
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Remembered afterwards
Did he see his Lord? What the Companions said, and what he ﷺ said, in later years.
Muhammad ﷺWeak chainAn authentic hadith (Sahih Muslim, from Abu Musa RA), said while teaching the Companions, but the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
Allah has a Hijab of light (nur). If Allah were to lift this Veil, the rays that come from His Face would destroy everything that it sees.
Ibn Abbas RADetails differAisha RA rejected this. In Sahih Muslim, Ibn Abbas RA explains that he saw Him with his heart twice.
Saying
The Prophet ﷺ saw Allah.
Aisha RADetails differThis directly contradicts the view narrated from Ibn Abbas RA that the Prophet ﷺ saw Allah.
Quote
Whoever says the Prophet ﷺ has seen his Lord has said a huge lie against Allah, because Allah says in the Quran, "Eyes cannot encompass Him."
My Mother, allow me to ask something, and don't get angry at me. Didn't Allah say in the Quran, "And he has already seen him in the clear horizon," "And he certainly saw him in another descent," and "And was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer"?
Subhan'Allah! My hair is standing on end because of what you have said. I was the first person to ever ask the Prophet ﷺ about these verses; but the reference is to Jibril: all of them are not to Allah. Have you not read in the Quran, "Eyes cannot encompass Him, and He encompasses all eyes"? And have you not read, "And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a Partition/Curtain, or that He sends a messenger to reveal"?
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainReported by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah from Abu Dharr RA, where he says it on hearing the heavens creak; the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
If you knew what I knew, you would not be able to laugh that much, and you would cry a lot.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainReported by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah from Abu Dharr RA, where he says it on hearing the heavens creak; the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
If you knew what I knew, you would have left your wives and gone out into the wilderness.
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Muhammad ﷺWeak chainReported by Abu Dawud from Anas RA as general advice on travel; the reports do not connect it to this night.
Saying
When you are traveling, do so at night, for Allah makes the distance easier to go by.
“Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our Signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”
Opening ayah of Surah al-Isra, the primary Quranic reference for the Night Journey.
“We make no distinction between any of His messengers.”
Cited alongside Quran 2:253 to explain that the prophets seen during al-Mi'raj are equal in the truth of their message though ranked differently amongst themselves.
“Those messengers — some of them We caused to exceed others.”
Cited alongside Quran 2:285 to explain that the prophets seen during al-Mi'raj are equal in the truth of their message though ranked differently amongst themselves.
“Ya Allah, I know you can resurrect the dead, but I'd like to see how it's done so that I feel content (mafhum/paraphrase of the ayah, not a literal translation)”
Ibrahim AS's request cited in ep.023 as an analogy while explaining the wisdom of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj.
The post's description of Allah's "Hijab of light" draws on the imagery of this ayah (Ayat an-Nur, Q24:35), on Allah as the Light of the heavens and the earth.
“And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a Partition/Curtain, or that He sends a messenger (angel) to reveal”
The post directly quotes this ayah (Q42:51) on how Allah communicates with humans, as part of the argument that the Prophet ﷺ did not physically see Allah during the Mi'raj.
“We give you drink from what is in their bellies — between excretion and blood — pure milk, palatable to drinkers.”
The Mi'raj narration of being offered milk and wine and choosing the milk (interpreted as choosing the fitrah) echoes this ayah's praise of milk as "pure... palatable to drinkers."
“Indeed, those who devour the property of orphans unjustly are only consuming into their bellies fire”
During the Mi'raj, the Prophet ﷺ reported seeing this exact punishment -- people with camel-like noses eating fire that emerged from their bodies -- identified as those who devoured orphans' wealth, mirroring this ayah's warning that such wealth becomes fire in their bellies.