Isr'a literally means a journey by night and Mi'raj literally means an elevator or a ladder, i.e., an instrument which lifts something up. But, In Islam, Isra' refers to a miraculous night-journey made by the last Prophet ﷺ from makkah to Jerusalem, and Mi'raj refers to the vehicle which took the Prophet ﷺ from Jerusalem, up to and out of the universe, through the seven heavens, and into the direct presence of Allah.

The Night Journey (isra')

Towards the end of calm night, one year before the Hijrah, (migration), the roof pf the Prophet Muhammad's house house split open and Angel Jibril (Gabriel) descended into the Prophet's room. He went over to the prophet ﷺ , opened his shirt and cut open his chest. He then removed his heart and washed it with Zamzam water.

After he had completed washing it, he then brought a gold dish filled with Emaan (faith) and Hikmah (wisdom), emptied it into the Prophet's chest and then closed it all up. Jibril then nudged the prophet until he awoke. When the Prophet ﷺ  got up, Jibril took a hold of his hand and lead him outside of his house to the gate of Ka'bah. there, the Prophet ﷺ found a strange unearthly animal. It was smaller than a mule but larger than a donkey, white in colour and having a wing on each of it's hind legs. he was informed that it's name was "Buraq", a name taken from the Arabic word Barq which means a flash of lightning. Jibril helped the Prophet ﷺ mount it and they set off to the north. Each stride of the Buraq took it to the horizon, and, in no time they reached Jerusalem. there the prophet ﷺ dismounted and tied the animal to the same ring on the door of al-masjid al-Aqsa used by the Prophets. the Prophet ﷺ entered the masjid and prayed two rak'ahs. When he finished he noticed a group of other Prophets also making Salah there. He saw among them prophet Musa (Moses), Prophet 'Esa (jesus) and Prophet Ebrahim (Abraham) (may peace be upon them). Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was then told to lead them all in Salah. When the prophet ﷺ finished this Salah, someone said to him, "This is malik, the guardian of the Hell-fire, so give him Salam. When he turned to greet him, the angel gave him Salam before he had time to do so."

Jibril then brought two vessels and presented them to the Prophet ﷺ. One was filled with wine and the other filled with milk. the Prophet ;saw: chose the vessel filled with milk and drank from it. Jibril then said, "You have been guided to the Fitrah.

The Ascent (Mi'raj)

The prophet ﷺ then left the masjid and the mi'raj was brought for him. Jibril helped him get into it, and it shot up into the heavens and out of the solar system. Travelling at a tremendous rate, the Prophet and Jibril soon left our galaxy and raced past the other galaxies until they reached the end of the universe. At the end of the universe, they arrived at the boundary of the lowest heaven. Jibril then requested that it's gate be opened for them. jibril was then asked who he was and who was him. When he informed the guardian angel who they were, he was then asked if the Prophet ﷺ had been sent for. When he said that was so, the guardian said, "welcome! His coming is good," and the gate was opened. When they went into the lowest heaven the Prophet ﷺ saw a man sitting with a large group of people on his right and a large group of people on his left. When the man looked at those on his right he laughed, and when he looked at his left he wept. The Prophet ﷺ asked Jibril who the man was and Jibril replied, "this is your father Adam, so greet him." When the prophet ﷺ did so, Prophet Adam returned his Salams and said, "Welcome! Oh good son and good prophet." Jibril then said, "these people on his right and left are the souls of his descendants. Those of them on his left are the inhabitants of Hell, so when he looks to his right side he laughs and when he looks at his left side he cries." Jibril then took him up to the second heaven where he met and greeted and 'Eesa and Yahya, up to the third where he met and greeted Prophet Yousuf; up to the fourth where he met and greeted Prophet Idris, up to the fifth where he met and greeted Prophet Harun, and up to the sixth where he met Prophet Musa. When he went on past prophet Musa, Musa wept, and when he was asked why he wept he replied, "I am crying because more followers of a young man, who was sent as a prophet after my time, will enter paradise than my followers." he then went on up with Jibril to the seventh heaven, requested entrance and they came upon Prophet Ibrahim leaning with his back against the house of worship called al-bayt al-Ma'mur. Prophet Muhammad observed approximately seventy thousand angels, entering this heavenly house of worship without seeing any of them leave. Jibril then led the Prophet to the lote-tree of the boundary, which he described as having leaves like the ears of elephants and fruits like large earthen-ware jugs. the lot-tree marked the spot, beyond which even Jibril could not go, but Allah permitted the Prophet Muhammad to go beyond it and spoke to him directly. Allah revealed to the prophet the last verses of Surah al-Baqarah and promised him that the major sins of his followers would be forgiven if they did not commit Shirk. Allah also made Salah compulsory fifty times per day for the Prophet and his followers. On the Prophet's return he passed by Prophet Musa who asked him what worship had been prescribed for him. When The Prophet informed him, Musa said, "your people are not capable of doing fifty daily prayers. I swear by Allah that I have tested men before your time and tried my best with the Israelites, so go back to your Lord and ask Him to make things lighter for your people." The Prophet did so and Allah reduced it by ten, but Musa suggested that he return and request a further reduction for the same reason, so he returned. The Prophet continued going back and forth between his Lord and Musa until Allah said, "They are five prayers everyday, Muhammad, each being rewarded as ten, so that makes fifty times of prayer. He who intends to do a good deed and does not do it will have a good deed recorded for him, and if he does it, it will be recorded for him as ten; whereas, he who intends to do an evil deed and does not do it it will have nothing recorded against him." When he came down and Musa told him to go back, he replied, "I ahve asked my lord till I am ashamed to face him. I am now satisfied and i submit." The Prophet ﷺ was then taken into Paradise and he reported he saw in it domes of pearls and that its soil was made of musk. He was also taken to Hell and Allah showed him scenes from the future. He saw in the Hell fire people receiving terrible punishments for various sins. The prophet then took the mi'raj and descended with Jibril to al-Masjid al-Aqsa. From there he mounted the Buraq and returned to his home in Makkah where he found his bed was still warm.

The Return

The following morning, the Prophet ﷺ went to the Quraysh's Tribal meeting place, and when Abu Jahl came up to him, he informed him of his journey. Abu Jahl then called all the people to hear the Prophet's story, and when he related it to them, they stared at him in amazement and disbelief. Some Muslim converts whose Eeman was weak left Islam and returned to Kufr, because of the incredible tale which the Prophet told.

 Some of the people ran to Abu Bakr and told him and his companions that Muhammad claimed that he went to Jerusalem, made Salah there, and returned to Makkah in one night. Abu Bakr told them that they were lying about the Prophet ﷺ , because the story was too strange, but they told him that the Prophet was at the Ka'bah telling it to the people. When they told him that. they were sure that he would also leave Islam, because it was obvious to them that Muhammad ﷺ must be lying. But Abu bakr told them, "By Allah, if he actually said that, he has told the truth. There really is nothing to be amazed about, for he has told me that information comes to him from Allah, from the sky to the earth, in an instant during the night or day and I believe him. And that is even more strange." Because of that statement of Abu Bakr, the Prophet  ﷺ gave him the title of "as-Siddiq (the truthful)."

The people then demanded from the Prophet ﷺ proof of what he said. They knew that he had never travelled to Jerusalem, so some of them demanded that he describe it. The Prophet ﷺ worried, as he had forgotten most of it's details. He had only been there at night and had not paid much attention to it's details. But, Allah blessed him with a vision in which he saw Jerusalem as if he were there. So he was able to describe even it's smallest details for them. For the others, he told them that on his way to Jerusalem he passed by a stray camel belonging to one of the clans which had camped in a valley. It had escaped from a group of them and he led them to it. He also told them that on his return he passed by the same clan's caravan and found them all sleeping. They had a drinking vessel with some water in it which they had covered, so he uncovered it, drank its contents and put the cover back on the same way it was. He then informed them that the caravan was on its way to Makkah and he further described its lead camel. So the people rushed out to meet the caravan and found it as he had described. They then asked the clan about the stray camel and the drinking vessel, and they replied, "By Allah! He told the truth, we had camped in a valley which he mentioned and one of our camels had run off. We heard a man's voice calling us to it until we caught it." They also mentioned that they had left water in their jug and were surprised to find that it was all gone the next morning.

The significance of Mi'raj

 Strengthening the prophethood

a) Shortly before the Hijrah, (the migration to Madinah) the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib died. Though the Prophet ﷺ tried his best to get him to accept Islam, he chose to remain in the religion of his forefathers. This hurt the Prophet ﷺ a lot because Abu Talib had raised him from his early childhood and had protected him from a lot of harm which the tribe of Quraysh had tried to do to him. So Abu Talib's death affected the Prophet ﷺ in two ways: (1) He did not join Islam and (2) He could no longer shield the Prophet from the anger of Quraysh.

b) Three days after Abu Talib's death, the Prophet's wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid died. It was she who comforted him during his first difficult experiences with revelation and during the early attacks and rejection of his people.

c) Following that the prophet ﷺ wen to taif in the hope of spreading Islam there, but his invitation was totally rejected. He was chased out of the city and stoned so badly that his sandal became clogged with blood.

From these events which occurred around the same time, we can see that the Prophet ﷺ had suffered a series of disappointing set-backs and trials. Thus, Allah took him up into His presence in order to strengthen him spiritually and prepare him for the next, forthcoming difficult stage of Prophethood.

The significance of Isra'

Proof of the prophethood

 The miraculous night journey of the Prophet ﷺ provided him with additional proof to show his people that he had been sent by Allah. it would not have been possible to prove his prophethood to the people by describing his trip into the heavens, as it was something none of them had experienced. It would have only sounded like a dream or just a wild story. but some of them had been to Jerusalem, and they all could ask the caravan to confirm his claims. So, his accurate description of the temple (al-Masjid al-Aqsa) and its surroundings in detail, as well as the lost camel and the emptying of the drinking vessel proved to them, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was a prophet from Allah.

Lessons from Isra' and Mi'raj

1.Allah is above creation

The events of that miraculous journey of the Prophet ﷺ up through the heavens to the direct presence of Allah, indirectly confirm that Allah is abonot inside His creation. it shows that He is not part of His creation nor is He surrounded by His creation, instead He is above His creation. For, if He was everywhere as some people claim, the Prophet ﷺ would not have needed to even leave his room in order to be in direct presence of Allah. However, Allah sees and hears all thing and nothing at all is hidden from Him. His knowledge is everywhere, but there is no need for Him to be everywhere. In the same way that we are able to sit in our living-rooms and watch TV what is going on half-way around the world without having to be there, Allah knows all things without having to be in all places.

2. Allah can not be seen in this life

When the prophet ﷺ was asked whether he saw Allah during his journey in the Mi'raj, he replied, "There was only light, how could I see Him?" The fact that prophet Muhammad ﷺ could not see Allah, just as Prophet Moses before him was unable to see Him, shows that no man can see Allah in this life. Therefore, we know with certainty that all those who claim to have seen Allah are either purposely lying for fame and honour or they have been tricked by Satan into believing that they have seen Him.


3. Salah: The greatest pillar of Islam

Salah was the first act of worship which Allah made compulsory to Muslims and it was the only one which He ordered in Makkah. All the other pillars of Islam were made obligatory in Madinah, after the Hijrah. this pillar is so important that Allah chose to reveal it when he spoke directly to the Prophet above the heavens