One of Prophet Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam)’s miracles was his ascent to the Mi’râj. Mi’râj Night is the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab. The inhabitants of Mekka would not have îmân. They had been persecuting Muslims very much. They had gone too far and had already begun torturing Muslims. Rasûlullah was very sorry. It was one year before the Hegira, and he was fifty-two years old. Taking Zayd bin Hârisa with him, he went to Tâif. He preached to the inhabitants of Tâif for one month. None would have îmân. They mocked him and tortured him, hooted and jeered at him. The children pelted him with stones. Hopeless, wearied, he was on his way back, his blessed legs wounded. Meanwhile, Zayd’s head had blood all over. Resting for a while, they wiped off the remaining blood that was still on them and walked towards Mekka. It was already dark when they arrived in the city. The few months he spent in Mekka were troublesome. The enemy was everywhere. There was not a place to go. At last he went to the district of Abû Tâlib, where the house of Umm-i Hânî, his uncle’s daughter, was.
Umm-i Hânî thought, “He has a lot of enemies in Mekka. There are even those who want to kill him. I will be on the watch for him till morning in order to protect my honour.” Taking her father’s sword, she began to walk around the house. Rasûlullah was hurt very much during the day. Performing an ablution, he began to entreat his Allah, ask for forgiveness and pray so that people would have îmân and attain to happiness. Being very tired, hungry and aggrieved, he lay down on the mat and soon fell asleep. At that moment, Allâhu ta’âlâ commanded to Hadrat Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’:
“I have afflicted My Beloved Prophet so much. I have hurt his blessed body, his tender heart so much. But he still entreats Me. He does not think of anything besides Me. Go! Bring Me My Beloved! Show him My Paradise and Hell. Let him see the blessings I have prepared for him and for those who love him. Let him see the torment I have prepared for those who disbelieve him, who hurt him with their words, writings and actions. I will console him. I will cure the wounds of his tender heart.”
Within a moment Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’ was near Rasûlullah. He found him sound asleep. He did not have the heart to wake him up. He was in a man’s figure. He kissed under his blessed foot. Because he does not have a heart or blood, his cold lips woke Rasûlullah. At once he recognized Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’ and, fearing that Allâhu ta’âlâ might have gotten offended with him, he said, “O my Brother, Jabrâil! Why are you here at such an unusual time? Have I done something wrong, have I offended my Allah? Have younbrought bad news for me?” Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’ said, “O You, the Highest of all creatures! O You, the Beloved of the Creator! O You, the Master of Prophets! O You, the Honourable Prophet, the source of goodness and superiorities! Your Allah sends His salâm to you. He bestows upon you the blessing which He has given to no other prophet, to no creature. He invites you to Himself. Please get up. Let us go.”
They went to the Ka’ba, where someone came to them, cleaved open his chest, took out his heart and washed it with the water of Zemzem. Then he put it back in its place. Then, riding on a white animal named Burâq brought from Paradise, they went to the Masjid-i Aqsâ in Jerusalem in a moment. Making a hole in the rock with his finger, Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’ tied Burâq there. The souls of some past prophets, in their own figures, were present there. He offered Hadrat Adam, Hadrat Nûh (Noah) and Hadrat Ibrâhîm, respectively, to become the imâm so that they would perform the namâz in jamâ’at. Asking for an excuse and saying that they were defective, they all refused it. Hadrat Jabrâil suggested Rasûlullah. “When you are present, no one can be the imâm,” he said. After the namâz, they went out of the masjid and by some unknown ascent passed the seven layers of heavens in one moment. At each heaven he saw a great Prophet. Jabrâil ‘alaihissalâm’ remained in Sidra, saying, “If I go as farther as a hair’s breadth I will burn and perish.” Sidrat-ul-muntahâ is a tree in the sixth heaven. After seeing Paradise, Hell and innumerable things, Rasûlullah, on a carpet of Paradise named Rafraf, passed the Kursî, the ’Arsh, the world of souls, and reached the heights decreed by Allâhu ta’âlâ in an unknown, incomprehensible and unexampled manner. Without place, time, direction and manner, he saw Allâhu ta’âlâ. Without eyes, ears, means and place, he spoke with Allâhu ta’âlâ. Attaining blessings that could be known or comprehended by no creature, he came back to Jerusalem and thence to Umm-i Hânî’s house in the blessed city of Mekka. The place where he had lain down had not become cold yet, nor had the motion of the water in the bowl come to a standstill. Umm-i Hânî, who had been walking about outside, had dozed off, unaware of everything. On his way from Jerusalem to Mekka he met a caravan of Quraish. A camel in the caravan was frightened and fell down.
The next morning he went to Ka’ba and related his mi’râj. Hearing this, the disbelievers scoffed at him. “Muhammad’s gone crazy for good,” they said. And the ones who had been thinking of becoming Muslims grave up. Some of them, amused, went to Abû Bakr’s house. They knew he was a clever, experienced and calculating merchant. As soon as he came to the door, they asked him:
“O Abâ Bakr! You went to Jerusalem many times. You must know well. How long does it take to go from Mekka to Jerusalem?”
Hadrat Abû Bakr said, “I know well that it takes more than a month.”
The disbelievers were pleased with this reply and said, “So will a wise and experienced man say.” Laughing, mocking, being happy because Abû Bakr had the same opinion as they did, they said:
“Your master says that he went to and came back from Jerusalem in a night. He is completely mad now,” and showed their sympathy, reverence and trust for Abû Bakr. Upon hearing the blessed name of Rasûlullah, Abû Bakr ‘radiyallâhu anh’ said, “If he says so I believe him. He for sure went and came back in a moment,” and went back in. The disbelievers were all stupefied. Hanging their heads, they walked away, saying, “How amazing! What a strong sorcerer Muhammad is! He bewitched Abû Bakr.” Clothing himself immediately, Abû Bakr went to Rasûlullah. In the big crowd he said aloud, “O Rasûlallah! I congratulate you, your blessed mi’râj! Infinite thanks to Allâhu ta’âlâ because He has honoured us with being the servants of such an exalted prophet as you are. He has blessed us with seeing your shining face, with hearing your sweet words that please hearts and attract souls. O Rasûlallah! Every word you say is true. I believe in you. I am ready to sacrifice my life for you!” These words of Abû Bakr’s bewildered the disbelievers. Being at a loss as to what to say, they dispersed. This strengthened the hearts of a few people with weak îmân who had been doubting. That day Rasûlullah called Abû Bakr “Siddîq.” Being given this name, he was promoted to a higher grade.
All this exasperated the disbelievers. They could not bear the Believers’ strong îmân, their believing right away whatever he said, their gathering around him and protecting him. In order to rout and disgrace Rasûlullah, they attempted to test him. “O Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’! You claim to have gone to Jerusalem. Tell us now! How many doors and how many windows does the masjid have?” were some of their questions. As the Prophet answered each, Hadrat Abû Bakr said, “Right, O Rasûlallah! It is true, O Rasûlallah!” But in actual fact, out of his embarrassment, Rasûlullah would not even look at a person in the face. Afterwards, he stated, “I had not looked around in Masjid-i aqsâ. I had not seen what they asked about. At that moment Hadrat Jabrâil brought Masjid-i aqsâ before my eyes. [Like watching television], I saw, counted, and answered their questions at once.” He said that he had seen travellers riding camels on his way and that he hoped, inshâallah, that they would arrive on Wednesday. On Wednesday, just before sunset, the caravan arrived in Mekka. They said that something
had happened like the blowing of the wind and that a camel had fallen down. This situation strengthened the Believers’ îmân but aggravated the disbelievers’ enmity.
The book Rûh-ul-bayân, quoting from the book Tafsîr-i Husaynî, and the book Bahr, in the section dealing with imâmat, say, “One who does not believe that Rasûlullah was taken from the city of Mekka to Jerusalem [to Beyt-ul muqaddes] will be a disbeliever. One who does not believe that he was taken to the heavens and to unknown places will be dâl and mubtadi’. ” That is, he will be a heretic. [2]
He saw Allâhu ta’âlâ in a manner that cannot be understood or explained, like Allâhu ta’âlâ will be seen in the next world without time and space. He spoke with Allâhu ta’âlâ without letters and sounds. He glorified, praised and lauded Him. He was given innumerable gifts and honours. Fifty times of performance of salât in a day were made fard for him and for his umma, but this was gradually reduced to five times a day with the mediation of Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Before this, salât had been performed only in the mornings and in the afternoons or at nights. After such a long journey, having attained gifts and blessings and having seen and heard so many bewildering things, he came back to his bed, which had not become cold yet. What we have written above was understood partly from âyats and partly from hadîths. It is not wâjib to believe all. Yet, since the scholars of Ahl as-Sunna communicated them, those who deny these facts will be separated from Ahl as-sunna. And he who does not believe an âyat or a hadîth becomes a disbeliever.
[1] Ref: This paragraphes are quoted from the book “The Belief and Islam” , annotated translation of book I’tiqâd-nâma written by Mawlana Khalid-i Baghdadi and published in English by Hakikat Kitabevi, www.hakikatkitabevi.com.tr, Istanbul. Mawlânâ Khalid-i Baghdâdî is the great walî, the treasure of Allâhu ta’lâlâ’s blessings, superior man in every respect, the master of unattainable knowledge, the light of right, truth and religion. The author of the book I’tiqâd-nâma, Mawlânâ Diyâ’ ad-dîn Khâlid al-Baghdâdî al-’Uthmânî (b.1192, A.H./1778 in Shahrazûr in the north of Baghdad, d. 1242/1826 in Damascus, quddisa sirruh), was called al-’Uthmânî because he was a descendant of ’Uthmân Dhu’n-nûrain, the third caliph (radî-Allâhu ta’âlâ’ anh).
[2] Muhammad Rebhâmî says in his Persian book, Riyâd-unnâsihîn,“There are many groups of those who disbelieve Mi’râj:
Jahmiyya, who are the second group of the Jabriyya sect, and Kâ’biyya, who are the twelfth group of the Mu’tazila sect, stated that Mi’râj was untrue. The Mu’tazila group stated that Mi’râj was a dream. Recently the number of people following the Mu’tazila example has been on the increase. The Bâhilî group said that Mi’râj extended up to Jerusalem, not up to
heavens.
The groups Hashawiyya and Mushabbiha, two of those groups who assert that Allâhu ta’âlâ is an object, said that Mi’râj lasted one night, that that night was as long as three hundred years, and that all people remained asleep in the course of that time. The group called Ibâhâtî, or Ismâ’îlî, stated that Mi’râj happened spiritually, and that the body did not leave its place. Savants of Ahl as-sunnat wa’l-jamâ’at stated that during the Mi’râj the soul and the body together were taken from Mekka to Jerusalem, thence to the seven skies, thence to the place named Sidra, and thence to the rank of Qâba Qawsayn while awake, and thence they were taken back in one moment in one night. They said that Allâhu ta’âlâ created this, and they proved this in many ways.” He experienced other mi’râjs, too, which happened spiritually.
