Isra' and Mi'raj: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:36, 23 April 2025

Revision as of 15:36, 23 April 2025

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{{Short description|Night journey undertaken by Muhammad in Islamic tradition}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}{{for|the 17th chapter of the Quran|al-Isra'}}

[[File:Miraj by Sultan Muhammad.jpg|thumb|upright|1543 illustration of the [[Mi'raj]] from an edition of the ''[[Khamsa of Nizami|Khamsa]]'' of [[Nizami Ganjavi]] created for Shah [[Tahmasp I|Tahmasp&nbsp;I]]<ref>Bowker. ''World Religions''. p. 165.</ref>]]

The '''Israʾ''' and '''Miʿraj''' ({{langx|ar|الإسراء والمعراج}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj}}'') are the names given to the narrations that the prophet [[Muhammad]] ascended to the sky during a night journey, saw Allah and the afterlife, and returned. It is believed that expressions without a subject in verses 1-18 of [[surah An-Najm]] and some verses of 17th [[surah]] of the [[Quran]], commonly called ''[[al-Isra']]'',<ref name="alisra">{{qref|17|1|c=y}}</ref> allude to the story. Framework and the details are elaborated and developed<ref name="Britannica-Miʿrāj">{{cite web |last1=Zeidan. |first1=Adam |title=Miʿrāj |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Miraj-Islam |website=Britannica |access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref><ref name=Reiter-2008/> in the [[Miraj Nameh|miraculous accounts]], some of which are based on [[hadith]], the reports, teachings, deeds and sayings of Muhammad coectedcollected later centuries attributed after him. The story of the journey and ascent are marked as one of the most celebrated in the [[Islamic calendar]]—27th of the Islamic month of [[Rajab]].<ref name="times">{{Cite news|title=A night journey through Jerusalem |date=18 August 2007|access-date=27 March 2011|author=Bradlow, Khadija|work=[[The Times|Times Online]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/a-night-journey-through-jerusalem-zxxb7n0bbpn |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Mohammed on Heaven.jpg|thumb|right|Ascension of Muhammad, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul, 18th century (copy of a work probably created in the 8th century)]]

[[Ibn Sa'd]] summarizes the earliest version of the written stories<ref name="H. Busse 1991, S. 7" /> under the title "Ascension and the Order of Prayer" and dated the event to a Saturday, the 17th of Ramadan, eighteen months before Muhammad's [[Hijrah]].<ref>Die Angaben in [[Hans Wehr]]: ''Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart'' (ʿ-r-ǧ): ''die Himmelfahrt (die Muḥammad von Jerusalem aus am 27. Raǧab unternommen hat)'' sind entsprechend zu korrigieren. Dies geht nicht auf das Traditionsmaterial, sondern auf den willkürlich festgelegten [[Islamische Festtage|Festtag]] der Muslime zurück</ref> According to him, the angels [[Gabriel]] and [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] accompanied Muhammad to a place in the sacred precinct of the [[Kaaba]], between the well of [[Zamzam Well|Zamzam]] and [[Maqam Ibrahim]]. There, a ladder (miʿrāj) is said to have been set up by Muhammad and Gabriel, with whose help they ascended to heaven. When he reached the top, Muhammad is said to have met the previous prophets. According to one version of the tradition, Gabriel held Muhammad's hand tightly and ascended with him to heaven.<ref>H.Busse (1991), S. 8</ref> When he reached the [[Sidrat al-Muntaha]] mentioned in Sura 53, verse 14,<ref>So in der Übersetzung von „sidrat al-muntahā“ bei [[Rudi Paret]]; bei H. Busse (1991), S. 7 steht: Lotusbaum</ref> Muhammad saw heaven and hell. So, he was required to perform the original [[Salah|fifty prayers]], which were reduced to five by the intervention of [[Moses]].

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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: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.]]

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{{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.

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==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>

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=== 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>