Isra' and Mi'raj: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:56, 22 April 2025

Revision as of 16:08, 22 April 2025

Line 18:

In Islam, whether the Miraj is a physical or spiritual experience is also a matter of debate based on different arguments and evidence. The physical perception of the Miraj may imply [[Anthropomorphism and corporealism in Islam|attributing a physical space to God]], contradicting the understanding of transcendence ([[tanzih]]) that [[Attributes of God in Islam|attributed to God in Islam]]. Many sects and offshoots belonging to [[Islamic mysticism]] interpret Muhammad's night ascent to be an out-of-body experience through nonphysical environments,<ref>Brent E. McNeely, [http://www.bhporter.com/Porter%20PDF%20Files/The%20Miraj%20of%20Muhammad%20in%20an%20Asceneion%20Typology.pdf "The Miraj of Prophet Muhammad in an Ascension Typology"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530231238/http://www.bhporter.com/Porter%20PDF%20Files/The%20Miraj%20of%20Muhammad%20in%20an%20Asceneion%20Typology.pdf |date=30 May 2012 }}, p3</ref><ref>Buhlman, William, "The Secret of the Soul", 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-06-251671-8}}, p111</ref> stating "the apostle's body remained where it was"<ref>{{cite book| last1= Brown| first1= Dennis| last2= Morris| first2= Stephen| series= Rhinegold Eeligious Studies Study Guide| title= A Student's Guide to A2 Religious Studies: for the AQA Specification| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7OkAqYod1CgC| access-date= 10 January 2012| year= 2003| publisher= Rhinegold| ___location= London, UK| oclc= 257342107| isbn= 978-1-904226-09-3| page= 115| chapter= Religion and Human Experience| chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7OkAqYod1CgC&pg=PA115| quote= The revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad [includes] his Night Journey, an out-of-body experience where the prophet was miraculously taken to Jerusalem on the back of a mythical bird (buraq)....| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160210074350/https://books.google.com/books?id=7OkAqYod1CgC| archive-date= 10 February 2016| url-status= live}}</ref> while the majority of Islamic scholars claim that the journey was both a physical and spiritual one.<ref name=enc>{{cite book |editor1-first=Richard C. |editor1-last=Martin |editor2-first=Saïd Amir |editor2-last=Arjomand |editor2-link=Saïd Amir Arjomand|editor3-first=Marcia |editor3-last=Hermansen |editor4-first=Abdulkader |editor4-last=Tayob |editor5-first=Rochelle |editor5-last=Davis |editor6-first=John Obert |editor6-last=Voll |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |year=2003 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan Reference USA]] |isbn=978-0-02-865603-8 | page = 482}}</ref>

[[File:The Kaaba during Hajj - edited.jpg|thumb|The Holy Ka'abah, Makkah]]

[[File:Miraj-BNF-1436.jpg|thumb|The Night Journey showing Muhammad, [[Buraq]], Gabriel, Noah, and Idris in the Second Heaven. One of 60 miniatures in the ''[[Miraj Nameh]]'' of the [[Timurid dynasty]] artists [[illuminated manuscript]] from [[Herat]] in [[Chaghatai language|Chaghatai]] with [[New Persian]] and [[Arabic]] captions. [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]].]]

[[File:The rock of the Dome of the Rock Corrected.jpg|upright=1.3|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Foundation Stone|A stone associated with the Miraj in Islamic tradition and blessed]]; The round hole at upper left penetrates to a small cave, known as the [[Well of Souls]], below.]]

[[File:Temple Mount (Aerial view, 2007) 05.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Dome of the Rock]], at the [[Temple Mount]]. Build by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] during the [[Second Fitna]] in 691–692 CE, on [[Foundation Stone|blessed rock]] mentioned above.]]

Line 40:

{{Muhammad|miracles}}

====Ibn ʿAbbas Primitive Version====

[[File:Muhammad encountering the angel of fire and ice.jpg|thumb|upright|Muhammad encounters the angel composed of fire and ice during his [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night journey]]. Miniature from a copy of al-Sarai's {{transliteration|ar|Nahj al-Faradis}} from [[The David Collection]]]]

[[Ibn Abbas]]'s Primitive Versions describe everything Muhammad encountered during his journey through heaven. This includes seeing other angels and the seas of light, darkness, and fire. Muhammad, as companion of Gabriel, met four important angels as he travelled through heaven. These angels were the Rooster angel (whose call influences all earthly roosters), the Half Fire Half Snow angel (an example of God's power to bring fire and ice together in harmony), the [[Azrael|Angel of Death]], and the [[Malik|Guardian of Hellfire]]. These four angels are introduced at the beginning of Ibn Abbas's narrative and focus on the angels rather than the prophets. There are ranks of angels in heaven, and he even meets some deeply connected angels called [[cherubim]].<ref>Colby, Frederick S. Narrating Muḥammad's night journey: tracing the development of the Ibn ʿAbbās ascension discourse. State University of New York Press, 2008. p. 36</ref> These angels instill fear in Muhammad, but he sees them later as God's creation and not harmful.

Line 63 ⟶ 62:

{{blockquote|''"Then Gabriel brought a horse (Burraq) to me, which resembled lightning in swiftness and lustre, was of clear white colour, medium in size, smaller than a mule and taller than a (donkey), quick in movement that it put its feet on the farthest limit of the sight. He made me ride it and carried me to Jerusalem. He tethered the Burraq to the ring of that Temple to which all the Prophets in Jerusalem used to tether their beasts..."'' <ref>Siddiqui, Abdul Hameed. ''The Life of Muhammad''. Islamic Book Trust: Kuala Lumpur. 1999. p. 113. {{ISBN|983-9154-11-7}}</ref>}}

Although not in all of them, in some hadiths, such as bukhariBukhari 3207,<ref>https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3207</ref> the Miraj story is handled and processed independently of Al-Aqsa. Besides that city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of [[Names of Jerusalem|its names]] in Surah Al-Isra 17:1, however, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that Quranic reference to ''[[Al-Aqsa|masjid al-aqṣā]]'' in the verse refers to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is mentioned in later Islamic literature and in the [[hadith]] as the place of Isra and Miʽraj.<ref>Historic Cities of the Islamic World edited by Clifford Edmund Bosworth P: 226</ref> Some figures contest the consensus that ''[[Al-Aqsa|Al-masjid al-aqṣā]]'' was in Jerusalem and believe it was somewhere other than Jerusalem. This arises from the belief that there's no evidence of a [[Islamization of Jerusalem|Mosque on the Temple Mount]] in Jerusalem before the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Islamic conquest of the Levant]], and [[Umar]]'s arrival;

The [[Solomon's Temple|first]] and [[second temple]]s were destroyed by the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BCE)|Babylonians]] and the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|Romans]], respectively, the latter more than five centuries before Muhammad's life. After the initially successful [[Jewish revolt against Heraclius]], the Jewish population resettled in Jerusalem for a short period of time from AD 614 to 630 and immediately started to restore the temple on the Temple Mount and build synagogues in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghada |first=Karmi |title=Jerusalem Today: What Future for the Peace Process? |year=1997 |pages=115–116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kohen |first=Elli |title=History of the Byzantine Jews: A Microcosmos in the Thousand Year Empire |pages=36 |chapter=5}}</ref> After the Jewish population was expelled a second time from Jerusalem and shortly before [[Heraclius]] retook the city (AD 630), a small synagogue was already in place on the Temple Mount. This synagogue was reportedly demolished after Heraclius retook Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |author=R. W. Thomson |url=https://archive.org/details/armenianhistorya00thom |title=The Armenian History Attributed to Sebeos |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780853235644 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/armenianhistorya00thom/page/n288 208]–212 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Line 77 ⟶ 76:

==Celebrations and reception==

[[File: Miraj by Sultan Muhammad.jpg|thumb|'' Ascent of Muhammad to Heaven'' (c. 1539–1543), from the [[Nizami Ganjavi#Quinary ("Panj Ganj" or "Khamsa")|Khamseh of Nizami]]]]

In Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, the structure of the [[Dome of the Rock]], built several decades after Muhammad's death, marks the place from which Muhammad is believed to have ascended to [[heaven]]. The exact date of the Journey is not clear, but it is celebrated as though it took place before the [[Hijrah]] and after Muhammad's visit to the people of [[Ta'if]]. The normative view amongst Sunni Muslims who ascribe a specific date to the event is that it took place on the 27th of Rajab, slightly over a year before Hijrah.<ref>Reiter, Yitzhak. "The Elevation in Sanctity of al-Aqsa and al-Quds." Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2008. 11-35.</ref> This would correspond to the 26th of February 621 in the [[Western calendar]]. In [[Twelver]] [[Iran]], Rajab 27 is the day of Muhammad's first calling or ''Mab'as''. The al-Aqsa Mosque and surrounding area is now the third-holiest place on earth for Muslims.<ref name="BloomBlair2009">{{cite book|author1=Jonathan M. Bloom|author2=Sheila Blair|title=The Grove encyclopedia of Islamic art and architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&pg=PA76|access-date=26 December 2011|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-530991-1|page=76|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615020218/http://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&pg=PA76|archive-date=15 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Grabar2006">{{cite book|author=Oleg Grabar|title=The Dome of the Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeIOowshe6EC&pg=PA14|access-date=26 December 2011|date=1 October 2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02313-0|page=14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615020045/http://books.google.com/books?id=OeIOowshe6EC&pg=PA14|archive-date=15 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Line 88 ⟶ 86:

[[Muhammad Iqbal]], a self-proclaimed intellectual descendant of [[Rumi]] and the poet-scholar who personified poetic Sufism in South Asia, used the event of the Miʿraj to conceptualize an essential difference between a prophet and a Sufi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie|title=And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-8078-1639-4|pages=247–248}}</ref> He recounts that Muhammad, during his Miʿraj journey, visited the heavens and then eventually returned to the temporal world.<ref name=":1" /> Iqbal then quotes another South Asian Muslim saint by the name of '[[Abdul Quddus Gangohi]] who asserted that if he (Gangohi) had had that experience, he would never have returned to this world.<ref name=":1" /> Iqbal uses Gangohi's spiritual aspiration to argue that while a saint or a Sufi would not wish to renounce the spiritual experience for something this-worldly, a prophet is a prophet precisely because he returns with a force so powerful that he changes world history by imbuing it with a creative and fresh thrust.<ref name=":1" />

=== European reception ===

[[File:Muhammad's ladder, from Livre de l'eschiele Mahomet.png|thumb|upright|Illustration of Muhammad on a ladder, from the sole copy of the French ''Book of Muhammad's Ladder'']]

In the 13th century AD, an account of the Isra' and Mi'raj was translated into several European languages—[[Latin]], [[Old Spanish|Spanish]] and [[Old French|French]]. Known as the ''[[Book of Muhammad's Ladder]]'', this account purports to be the words of Muhammad himself as recorded by Ibn Abbas. It was translated by [[Abraham of Toledo]] and [[Bonaventura da Siena|Bonaventure of Siena]]. It may have influenced [[Dante Alighieri]]'s account of an ascent to heaven and descent to hell in the ''[[Divine Comedy]]''.<ref>Ana Echevarría, "Liber scalae Machometi", in David Thomas; Alex Mallett (eds.), ''Christian–Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History'', Vol. 4 (Brill, 2012), pp. 425–428.</ref>

==See also==