As we said, it's almost impossible to piece together the events of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj in chronological order. We simply have ahadith. Therefore, from this point onward (the descent), what we have is just a series of incidents, and we don't know exactly in what order they occurred.
The Story of the Mashitah of the Daughter of Pharaoh
Of the first is there is a very long hadith the Prophet PBUH narrates in Musnad Imam Ahmad: On the night I went on al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, I smelled a fragrance that was very sweet, so I asked Jibril, "What is this beautiful fragrance?" Jibril said it's the fragrance of the mashitah (ماشطة - hairdresser/the one who combs the hair) of the daughter of Pharaoh (Fir'awn), and her (the mashitah's) children. I asked Jibril, "What is their story?" He said, once, when she was combing the hair of the daughter of Pharaoh, the comb fell from her hands, and she said, "Bismillah (بسم الله - In the name of God)." The daughter of Pharaoh said, "Surely, you mean in the name of my father?" The mashitah 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?" The mashitah said, "Yes, go ahead." And then Pharaoh called her and asked, "Are you saying you have a God besides me?" [see Quran, 79:24, 28:38]. The mashitah responded with the same bravery, "Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah." So Pharaoh ordered a boiling cauldron be brought before her and told her to throw herself and her own children into the cauldron one by one (we don't know how many exactly), or else acknowledge Pharaoh as her Lord. Faced with this dilemma, she asked him for one condition, that he bury her and her children all in one place. Pharaoh agreed, so one by one, her children were thrown in. But the last child was her baby who was still suckling, and she was hesitant at this. However, the baby miraculously 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." (Or in another narration: "Do not waver, for you are on the Truth.") So she threw herself in with the baby.
And Ibn Abbas commented on this (his opinion): There are only four babies who spoke from the cradle: (i) the one in this story, (ii) Isa AS [see Quran, 19:29-34], (iii) the witness of Yusuf AS [see Quran, 12:26-27], and (iv) the baby in the story of Jurayj[1][2] (جريج) — the person whose mother said 'O Allah, do not allow him to die until he sees the face of a prostitute' when he didn't respond to her because he was in prayer.
What's amazing about the story of the mashitah is that Allah willed this story to be preserved even though we don't even know her name — the Prophet PBUH narrated her sacrifice and courage to the ummah. Her exemplary Iman will forever be remembered and mentioned by the largest ummah, and she will continue to inspire others as a role model. It's amazing that this story, even though it happened in Musa's ummah, it's preserved in our ummah. Indeed, this story isn't found in any of the Old Books, i.e., the Old Testament or Jewish scripture.
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Observing Jannah
The Prophet PBUH narrates in Sahih Bukhari that after he received the command for salah, he entered into Jannah. And he saw tents made out of pearls and soil made out of musk (perfume). As mentioned in the previous episode, the priority of al-Mi'raj was the meeting with Allah — when that was over, then he could meet and see everything else.
Here we have a theological question and that is how do we understand the interpretation of the scholars who say, "Nobody has entered Jannah since the time of Adam AS until the Day of Judgment"? (Side Note 1: This is something that hadith literature references as well, that the first person to enter Jannah after the Day of Judgment will be the Prophet PBUH.) (Side note 2: There is also another theological point: "Whoever enters Jannah will never exit from it [especially after the Reckoning].") (Side note 3: The shaheed is not living IN Jannah — he is flying around and seeing Jannah, and he is not in his original body; he is in the body of a green bird, and he is hanging from the chandeliers of Jannah, but he is not living IN Jannah.)
The response: There is no clear-cut interpretation, but: (i) One can say of course it is true that the Prophet PBUH is the first person to enter Jannah after Adam AS, except he entered it once during al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, and then for eternity after the Day of Judgment, i.e., this was an exception. (ii) Another interpretation is that he is observing Jannah in a manner similar to the shaheed — he didn't enter, but just surveyed.
And this is all that we know about his entering into Jannah.
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Observing Jahannam
The Prophet PBUH also said he saw many of the punishments of Hell. (Side note: And this gives credence to the fact that the Prophet PBUH didn't actually enter Jannah, because obviously, he didn't enter Hell — so when he describes Jannah, he most likely must have been an overlooker/overseer of Jannah, just as when he describes Hell.)
The Prophet PBUH gave many ahadith about the punishments of Hell he saw on the night of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, and the descriptions spread over several hadiths. And in each hadith, it's said he saw the punishment and then asked Jibril, "Who are these people?"
In one hadith, the Prophet PBUH said he saw the punishment of the one who stole an orphan's money — they had noses like that of camels, and they were eating coals made out of fire, and their mouths would swallow the coals and it would come out through their anuses. And this is exactly what Allah SWT says in the Quran, "Indeed, those who devour the property of orphans unjustly are only consuming into their bellies fire" [4:10].
In another hadith, it's said the Prophet PBUH saw people who had nails of copper, and they were scratching their bodies and faces — and this is the punishment for those who used to backbite all the time.
The Prophet PBUH said he saw people who had in front of them pure meat and rotten meat, and they were eating the rotten meat and avoiding the pure meat. The Prophet PBUH asked Jibril, "Who are these people?" Jibril said, "These are the people that used to fornicate — they would leave the halal (spouses) and would go to the haram."
In another hadith, it's said the Prophet PBUH saw people with such large bellies they could not stand up, and animals were being brought over them to trample over them. "Who are these people?" Jibril said these were the people who would get their money from riba (ربا - usury). (The connotation here is greed; "Go get as fat as you can. These are your animals; and these are all that you own. See what good they have done you on this day"—because once upon a time, if you were rich, you had a lot of animals. In our times, if you are rich, you have fancy cars and houses.)
The Prophet PBUH also said he saw people who were cutting their own lips and tongues with scissors of fire/copper. Jibril said these were the people who used to tell others to do good, but they would forget themselves.
The Prophet PBUH also said he saw the Dajjal, and one of his eyes was bloated (not seeing). In another hadith, the Prophet PBUH said, "I saw the Dajjal, and I will tell you something about the Dajjal that no other prophet has ever told his people, and that is that his left eye is like a rotten grape (one of his eyes is bloated & not normal)." And the Prophet PBUH also said, "Know that the Dajjal is one-eyed."
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So these are some of the things we hear about when the Prophet PBUH was coming back down. We don't know the order or any further details as we did when the Prophet PBUH was ascending.
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The Return to Makkah
The Prophet PBUH came back down to Jerusalem and re-rode the Buraq back to Makkah. Recall Buraq was the animal that transported the Prophet PBUH from Makkah to Jerusalem.
There are some narrations (not fully authentic but there is no problem in affirming them) that on the way back to Makkah, the Prophet PBUH passed by three caravans of the Quraysh that he recognized. On one of them, he noticed a certain individual of the Quraysh (because everybody knows everybody in Makkah). In another, he drank some water from their public urn/canister (not private property), as he was feeling thirsty. And in the third, he said he saw so-and-so looking for a camel that had been lost. These are the three caravans that he said he saw.
When he came back to Makkah, the Prophet PBUH went back to sleep, and woke up in the Haram. This shows therefore the actual Isra took place from the Haram itself to Bayt al-Maqdis, and then back to the Haram, in conformity with the Quran, "From al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa" [17:1]. So the actual Isra took place from one masjid to the other. When he woke up, he himself told us this whole story in the first person:
He said, "When I woke up the next morning, I felt an anxiety about how am I going to tell the people of what happened to me." Subhan'Allah, this shows the human nature of the Prophet PBUH. It also shows Allah instructed the Prophet PBUH to tell the people about al-Isra. The Prophet PBUH said, "As I was sitting anxious, nervous, and worried, Allah AWJ willed that the enemy of Allah, Abu Jahal, passed by me and saw me in that grief-stricken state."
So Abu Jahal asked the Prophet PBUH in a sarcastic manner, "What is the matter with you? Has anything happened?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Yes, something happened." "What?" "Last night, I was taken from here to Jerusalem." Abu Jahal was shocked, "And you are here amongst us now?!" (The Prophet PBUH himself narrates to the sahaba later: "Abu Jahal didn't know whether to mock and make fun of me then and there, or to delay it until later so that I would not retract what I said when he calls other people," i.e., Abu Jahal was being serious.) The Prophet PBUH said, "Yes, I am waking up amongst you here." So Abu Jahal said, "If I call your people (the Quraysh), will you tell them exactly what you have just told me?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Yes, I will."
So Abu Jahal started screaming out to the people, "Come forth! We have an announcement to make!" Makkah is a small city and Abu Jahal is a leading figure, so all the people gathered with curiosity. Abu Jahal said, "Tell them what you promised you would tell them." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Last night, I went to Bayt al-Maqdis and I prayed in Masjid al-Aqsa." (Side note: Notice how the Mi'raj is not mentioned. Perhaps Allah told him to only mention the Isra. He leaves the Mi'raj only for the Muslims later.) The people began reacting in different ways. Some began clapping, others put their hands on their heads not knowing what to do, others began snickering and laughing. They didn't know what to do! He's never known to have lied before, so people are in shock — until one of them, who has been to Jerusalem before, asked, "Can you describe it (Bayt al-Maqdis) for us?" (Because everyone knew the Prophet PBUH had never been to Bayt al-Maqdis.) And so the Prophet PBUH began describing it until they began to ask him about specifics he wasn't able to recall. And again, this shows his humanity — no human can recall everything.
As they began to ask more and more, the Prophet PBUH said he got confused — and he narrated, "I became so worried and anxious that I wasn't able to answer, and I had never been so worried before ever." The word used is "kurba (كربة)" meaning literally terrified. Why was he terrified? Because they were asking legitimate questions but he couldn't remember the answers to all of them.
He then said, as he was waiting for what to respond with, "I saw in the distance Bayt al-Maqdis rising up in front of me until it extended above the house of Aqil ibn Abi Talib (عقيل بن أبي طالب) (i.e., the house the Prophet PBUH grew up in, i.e., the house that used to belong to Abu Talib)." Subhan'Allah! "And no question they asked of me except that I saw the Bayt al-Maqdis being shown to me (from whichever angle I needed to see it), allowing me to answer with utmost precision." (Of course the Quraysh could not see it.) Until finally, one of them said, "As for the descriptions of Bayt al-Maqdis, he is fully accurate."
Ibn Hisham narrates: At this time, the Prophet PBUH said, "I will give you some signs as well," and he mentioned the three caravans he saw on the way back to Makkah: "(i) One is the caravan of so-and-so, and they will be returning soon, because they were the closest to the city; (ii) one is the caravan of so-and-so, and they had lost a camel, and you can ask them about that camel; (iii) one is the caravan of so-and-so, and they had a large urn of water that I drank from." Abu Jahal said, "If you saw one of them in such-and-such a place, that caravan should be arriving in Makkah right now." And while they are discussing, the news arrives that the exact caravan is entering Makkah. So Abu Jahal goes and sees — and it was exactly as the Prophet PBUH described. So he comes back and says, "This is clear sorcery/sihr."
There is a phrase that's only found in Ibn Hisham, and it doesn't have an isnad; it says, "When the news spread amongst the Muslims, some of them couldn't grasp it, and they left the religion." This phrase is problematic for many reasons. Most importantly, we don't have a single narration of any Muslim becoming murtad in the Makkan era. And this phrase contradicts a hadith in Bukhari that says, in the 7th year of the Hijrah, when Abu Sufyan (who wasn't a Muslim at the time) was in Jerusalem and Heraclius quizzed him, "Has any one of them (the Muslims) left the religion after embracing it?", Abu Sufyan replied, "No." So for a fact we know nobody left Islam in the Makkan period. This is a fact. Yet here in Ibn Hisham, we see a completely contradicting narration. Allahu a'lam; but many of the scholars have said that because we don't have an authentic chain for Ibn Hisham's phrase here, this story should not be relied upon. And indeed, it doesn't make sense that in the Makkan era, anybody would have become a murtad.
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Al-Siddiq
It is authentically narrated that at this time, the news reached Abu Bakr. Before the Prophet PBUH could tell Abu Bakr himself, one of the Quraysh came running and said, "Do you know what your companion has just said? He claims to have gone all the way to Jerusalem and back. Two months journey in one night!" Abu Bakr replied, "If he said that, then it must be true." (Side note: This reply shows Abu Bakr's intelligence. He didn't say, "Yes, he did"; rather, "IF he said that, then it must be true"—because the Quraysh could be lying.) So the man said, "Do you believe him in such a claim?!" Abu Bakr said, "I believe him in something even more amazing than this: he claims that the revelation from above the seven heavens comes to him instantaneously."
And because of this statement, from this time onward, Abu Bakr was called "al-Siddiq (الصديق - the Truthful; or in this case, the One Who Constantly Believes in the Truthfulness of the Prophet PBUH)." He got this title from this occasion.
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Al-Isra wal-Mi'raj in the Quran
We have already mentioned that Allah mentions the Isra in one surah —Surah al-Isra— and the Mi'raj in another surah —Surah al-Najm—. It's interesting to note that Surah al-Isra begins with the Isra —just one ayah— but the bulk of the surah talks about the Jews, their transgressions, the sanctity of Bayt al-Maqdis, and what is going to happen towards the End of Times about Bayt al-Maqdis [17:7]. As for Surah al-Najm, of course it mentions various aspects related to the Mi'raj.
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Theological Question 1: Did the Prophet PBUH See Allah SWT?
Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet PBUH saw Allah SWT.
But in Sahih Bukhari, Aisha RA said, "Whoever says the Prophet PBUH has seen his Lord has said a huge lie against Allah, because Allah says in the Quran, 'Eyes cannot encompass Him' [6:103]." In Sahih Muslim, one of the students of the sahaba, Masruq (مسروق), asked her from behind the curtain, "My Mother, allow me to ask something, and don't get angry at me. Didn't Allah SWT say in the Quran, 'And he has already seen him in the clear horizon' [81:23], 'And he certainly saw him in another descent' [53:13], 'And was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer' [53:9]?"
(Tangent: Aisha RA never ever appeared publicly — she was always behind a curtain/hijab. In the Quran, Allah says about the wives of the Prophet PBUH that if you have to speak to them, speak from behind a hijab [Quran, 33:53]. And note this hijab was special, in that, Aisha RA was behind an actual, physical curtain, so much so her figure could not be seen. And even when she went outside, there was an actual curtain on her camel. For further reading, see episode 55.)
Aisha RA responded to Masruq, "Subhan'Allah! My hair is standing on end because of what you have said. I was the first person to ever ask the Prophet PBUH about these verses; but the reference is to Jibril — all of them are not to Allah Jalla Jalaluhu." Then she said, "Have you not read in the Quran, Allah SWT says, 'Eyes cannot encompass Him, and He encompasses all eyes' [6:103]? And have you not read in the Quran, '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' [42:51]?" So Aisha RA clearly knows her stuff. Subhan'Allah.
Further, in Sahih Muslim, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari RA asks the Prophet PBUH directly, "Ya Rasulullah, did you see your Lord?" The Prophet PBUH responds, "There was light; how could I see Him?" And the scholars have said the reference here is the light of Allah's Hijab. (Note: This shows the Prophet PBUH went to a place no one has been to, as he saw the Veil of Allah.) Another hadith in Sahih Muslim says, "Allah has a Hijab of nur (light). If Allah were to lift this Veil, the rays that come from His Face would destroy everything that it sees (i.e., everything in creation)." And scholars have said that Allah AWJ is Nur, His guidance is nur, and He has created the nur — all of this is the meaning of the verse in the Quran, "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth" [24:35]. (Note: We affirm every name and attribute of Allah, but we don't/shouldn't think 'how.' Because there is no way we can comprehend it. Allah is Light — but how He is Light, we don't think. Just like we say Allah is Living, but we don't think how.) The Prophet PBUH said that the Nur of Allah is so powerful that it can destroy the whole creation. And indeed, what happened when Allah lifted the Veil for a split second for the mountain, when Musa requested to see Him [see Quran, 7:143]? The whole mountain collapsed. No creation can withstand the Beauty of Allah in this dunya. In order to protect the creation from His Magnificence, Allah has taken a Veil. And unlike the veils of our dunya, which are always veils of darkness and cover, the Veil of Allah AWJ is light.
Now, if somebody were to ask, "How then will the creation see Allah AWJ in the Next world?" the response is: The Next world is not a world of physical bodies that we have now. It is a different world. The resurrection will be a perfect resurrection, and it will be resurrection of eternity. And it will not be of the type of flesh that we have now. It will be its own type of existence that only Allah knows about. And only in that existence will we be able to see Allah Jalla Jalaluhu. No one has seen Allah, nor could anyone see Allah, in this world.
Therefore, as to what Ibn Abbas said, people have interpreted it as either a mistake on his part, or that he meant the Prophet PBUH saw Allah with his heart (as per another version of the hadith from Ibn Abbas). If Ibn Abbas affirmed this, then this doesn't contradict the fact that nobody has seen Allah AWJ with the eyes.
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Theological Question 2: Was al-Isra a Dream?
Another question debated by some early scholars and being resurrected in our times: Was al-Isra a dream or an actual physical journey? Some of the early scholars say it was a dream based on certain narrations by some of the tabi'un/students of the sahaba, in which the Prophet PBUH said, "I woke up in Makkah in front of the Ka'bah." From this, they deduce: "Because he 'woke up,' this means it must have been a dream." But the people who narrated this are only 1 or 2 in number, and it's clear that they are misinterpreting the whole incident based on one phrase.
The fact of the matter is throughout medieval and pre-modern Islam, the Muslim ummah has unanimously agreed that al-Isra was in body and soul, flesh and spirit, in a state of wakefulness, and not in a dream. The evidences for this are too many to mention. Of this, had the Prophet PBUH experienced it in a dream, what then is miraculous about him journeying to Jerusalem and back in one night? Indeed, one can dream about going to the moon and back, and there's nothing amazing about it. So if it's a dream, why was he so anxious about telling it to the Quraysh the next day? Further, there was a physical beast, the Buraq, needed to take him to Jerusalem. Of this is that he got thirsty on the way back and he drank the water — showing his state of wakefulness.
In our times, people who are afraid to believe in miracles (the progressives and modernists) try to reinterpret the miracles to make them 'scientific' enough for them, including the parting of the Red Sea, the splitting of the moon, and the Night Journey. But this is all wrong. These were real-life miracles. Indeed, in a dream, you can do more than what the Prophet PBUH narrated; so without a doubt, al-Isra was in body and soul.
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The Benefits of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj
The event is mentioned in the Quran, and it's narrated in the mutawatir hadith (حديث متواتر - authentic narration that has been narrated by numerous sahaba), in excess of 40 narrations. Therefore, anyone who denies this incident denies the Quran and the authentic sunnah. And no Muslim can do this.
The wisdoms/benefits of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj:
1. The primary wisdom of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj is to show the Prophet PBUH his own status and to console him after all of the hardships he went through. And a smaller example that helps us illustrate this point: Recall Musa's AS first encounter with Allah AWJ at Tur Saina — this is a minor example of what al-Isra wal-Mi'raj is. Allah spoke to Musa and told him he had been given some miracles. E.g., (i) throw his staff and it becomes a snake, (ii) put his hand in his pocket, take it out, and it becomes white [see Quran, 27:8-12]. Why are these miracles happening? Who is witnessing them? Nobody. Because it is meant to strengthen the faith of Musa AS himself. Even the prophets of Allah need a boost [of Iman]. Indeed, Ibrahim AS himself said, "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 of Quran, 2:260]. For the Prophet PBUH, what was the miracle Allah showed him to make him feel content? The whole al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, in which Allah showed him what he is preaching is real: Jannah is real, Jahannam is real, the angels are real, the prophets are real, and so on. No one else witnessed it except the Prophet PBUH, because it is meant to be a personal gift to him.
2. To further the point, the entire al-Isra wal-Mi'raj is a personal gift from Allah to Prophet Muhammad PBUH. We don't benefit except that we believe it happened. It's not a gift to the ummah as much as it is a gift to the Prophet PBUH directly. Generally, miracles are meant for the unbelievers, to prove the truthfulness of the prophets; but sometimes, Allah gives miracles for the sake of the prophets themselves, as mentioned above.
3. This miracle and gift occurs at a time of great sadness, and was completely unexpected. Both of these points make us understand why this is such a great gift. Even for us, if we get a surprise gift, that pleases us so much more. This gift came after the Prophet PBUH lost his wife, his uncle, and was rejected and stoned by the people of Ta'if. Subhan'Allah. This shows us that with every difficulty there is ease [see Quran, 94:5]; the greater the difficulty, the greater the ease IF we remain patient and steadfast. The Prophet PBUH had to suffer so much to obtain the gift of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj.
4. Ibn Kathir said if any person had seen even a fraction of what the Prophet PBUH saw, he would have woken up insane. But our Prophet PBUH saw it all, came back, and then went back to sleep for a short while. This shows us his Iman, bravery, and strong-mindedness, which Allah Himself referenced in the Quran, "The eyes did not falter" [53:17] — Allah SWT is praising the courage of the Prophet PBUH. This is also indicated in a hadith, wherein the Prophet PBUH said, "If you knew what I knew, you would not be able to laugh that much, and you would cry a lot." Or in another hadith, "If you knew what I knew, you would have left your wives and go out to the fields/deserts (i.e., go insane)."
5. It shows the humanity of the Prophet PBUH — we see the joys, fears, sorrows, ups and downs, etc., of the Prophet PBUH. When he woke up, he was sad because he knew the people were going to reject him. But he still told them, even to Abu Jahal; which again shows his bravery.
6. It also shows we don't distort the message of Islam. We should never sugarcoat/change the message of Islam to appease the people. Our job is to sell the 'product,' not modify it. We are the 'salesmen'; we have no right to change Allah's deen (دين - religion). Allah says in the Quran, "Upon you is only the [duty of] notification, and upon Us is the account" [13:40]. Indeed, whatever Allah told the Prophet PBUH to tell, he told.
7. The permissibility to use physical proofs/evidences to show the truthfulness of Islam. When the Quraysh asked the Prophet PBUH about what Jerusalem was like, the Prophet PBUH didn't say, "Just believe me," but rather, he explained the physical aspects of the Bayt al-Maqdis.
8. We see the linkage between the messages of the two sons and the two great traditions of Prophet Ibrahim AS, and that is of Ismail AS and Ishaq AS, in that, al-Isra wal-Mi'raj begins in Makkah, goes to Jerusalem, and then back to Makkah. The linkage is very clear, and the precedence is given to Makkah, as the journey starts and ends there. But the two are not separate from one another, they are the same message. This shows us the blessing of both Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Aqsa. Tangent: We also know for a fact that the [vicinity of] Bayt al-Maqdis will be the site for the final battle between Isa AS and the Dajjal[3]. Which is why when Umar RA conquered Bayt al-Maqdis (recall the Christians had desecrated the Temple of Sulayman and made it into a junkyard) he ordered all the junk be cleansed and built the masjid on that very location — because he knew the status of Bayt al-Maqdis. Some scholars have also derived that there is a sign/hint here that the direction of worship will change from Bayt al-Maqdis to Ka'bah. And this indeed happened 1½ - 2 years later [see episode 34].
9. In the existence of al-Buraq, the journey of al-Mi'raj, etc., we clearly find there are worlds beyond our world. There are creations beyond our creation. Man should never think he is the only creation of Allah SWT. Allah says in the Quran, "And He creates that which you do not know" [16:8].
10. Also in the existence of al-Buraq, we clearly find that Allah AWJ has linked efforts with causes. Nothing comes for free — there must be an effort. In other words, we don't just sit at home and say 'leave it to Allah,' and think things are going to happen. Rather, there is always an effort we need to put in to get to the goal. Even if Allah is blessing you with a miracle, there has to be an effort on your part to get the miracle. Thus, Buraq had to be mounted to get to Bayt al-Maqdis, then it had to be tied to the post, etc. And this point is illustrated throughout the Quran: When Maryam AS was blessed with fruit falling from the heavens, the fruit had to come from a tree, and she had to shake the tree for the fruit to come down [19:25]. There has to always be some effort, even if it's small. And if this is for a miracle, how then about the daily occurrences that are not miraculous? Allah never gives anything just like that. We need to show our dedication, put in the effort, strive, and work hard. We want money? We want to be cured? Whatever we want, Allah has created the path to get it — but we must act. Even the miracles that don't have general paths, Allah SWT still said you need to do something. E.g., even for Musa AS to part the Red Sea, Allah told him, "Strike the sea with your staff" [26:63] — it didn't just happen on its own. All of this clearly shows Allah has created the causes to get to the goals that we want.
11. In the story of the milk and wine, we see the purity of the Prophet's PBUH soul, in that, even before wine has been made haram, he knows he doesn't want wine. He chooses the pure over the corrupt. Jibril says, "You have chosen the pure. Had you chosen the wine, your ummah would have gone astray." We already mentioned the many wisdoms of milk over wine. The difference between them is in essence Islam vs. all other ways. And the Prophet PBUH chose Islam, which is pure.
12. In the Journey of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, the Prophet PBUH physically saw most of the pillars of Iman (or at least indications of them): (i) He saw the Hijab of Allah and spoke directly with Allah, (ii) he saw angel Jibril in his original form, and other countless angels, (iii) he met all of the prophets, (iv) he spoke to them about the Day of Judgment and its signs, and saw Jannah and Jahannam, (v) he even saw the reality of qadr by seeing Adam with the people on his right and left, and by hearing the writing of the Pen above the seventh heaven.
13. The brotherhood of all the prophets. Even when the Prophet PBUH led them in prayer, there was no fighting. The prophets accepted the decree of Allah that the Prophet PBUH was chosen to lead. Even when Musa AS cried, he didn't cry out of anger/jealousy against the Prophet PBUH, but rather, out of mercy and love wanting good for his own ummah, i.e., he wanted to have the largest ummah. It's natural to feel 'I want to have the best good deeds.' Competition with other people should be in hasanat, not in the worldly things.
14. We see the status of the Prophet PBUH as being someone who clearly is the most chosen of the entire creation, the Sayyid of the children of Adam — the one who leads the prophets, the one who goes up beyond Sidrat al-Muntaha, the one who sees the Veil of Allah and hears the Pen writing. No other person has been there.
15. The status of salah. No other commandment has been established in this manner. Salah is the crux of our religion.
16. The superiority of our ummah over Musa's AS ummah. Musa AS said his ummah would not be able to pray 5 times a day. And yet, this ummah has taken it on. And by and large, we have a healthy percentage of the ummah praying 5 times a day.
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Theological Benefits of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj
1. Allah is above us — the very fact that the Prophet PBUH went all the way UP shows that Allah SWT is above us. And this is a clear refutation against the extreme groups who believe 'Allah is everywhere.'
2. Jannah and Jahannam exist right now as we speak.
3. The fitrah is the purity, represented by milk. And the religion of Islam is that purity — Islam fits in with our being and creation, and it does not corrupt us.
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Fiqh Benefits of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj
1. We need to ask permission before entering doors. Indeed, Jibril asked permission every time he approached the gates of the heavens. Also, when someone asks "who is there?", we should respond with our names, and not "it's me." Indeed, Jibril said, "This is Jibril." And there is an authentic hadith about this as well, where the Prophet PBUH expressed displeasure when a sahabi responded with "it's me" without mentioning his name.[4]
2. The one who is walking should start the salam with the one who is sitting or standing, even if he is nobler than him. Indeed, the prophets were waiting for the Prophet PBUH, but the Prophet PBUH was the one who started the salam even though he is nobler.
3. It is allowed/encouraged to give glad tidings and good news to those worthy of receiving it — the prophets gave glad tidings to the Prophet PBUH.
4. It's permissible/encouraged to give advice that will bring about good for the people. الدين النصيحة (The deen is naseeha). Indeed, Musa AS gave advice even though the Prophet PBUH did not ask for it. It's a part of our deen to help out when we can.
5. It's permissible to sit with your back facing the Ka'bah/qibla (قبلة). Indeed, Ibrahim AS sat with his back on Bayt al-Ma'mur. Some of our cultures consider this to be impermissible; but the example of Ibrahim AS clearly proves otherwise.
6. We derive incidentally (not directly) that night traveling (isra) is preferred to day traveling. There is authentic hadith about this as well: The Prophet PBUH himself said, "When you are traveling, do so at night, because Allah SWT makes the distance easier to go by." But of course, there is nothing wrong with day travel — but if you can choose between the two, then night travel is better.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, September 2023]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, September 2023]
