From Jerusalem to the Heavens

After the passing of Abu Talib and Khadijah ﵂, the two pillars of support in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, the da’wah in Makkah had entered its darkest years. The protection had fallen away, the persecution increased, and the city he ﷺ considered his home had turned completely against him. Only far away in Yathrib, where Mus’ab ﵁ was teaching the first believers there, had a door begun to open. It was in these years of grief and isolation that Allah ﷻ gave His servant a gift unmatched in the history of mankind: the Night Journey and the Ascension. A journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem through the seven heavens to Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Lote Tree at the Furthest Boundary.

The Purification of the Heart

Before this journey would begin, the heart of the Prophet ﷺ was prepared. One night while he ﷺ was at the Ka’bah, Jibril ﵇ and two other angels came to him. They opened his chest from his throat to his lower abdomen, removed his heart and washed it with Zamzam water in a golden vessel. His heart was then filled with wisdom and faith, and his chest was closed again.

This was not the first time the heart of the Prophet ﷺ was purified in this way. As a child among the Banu Sa’d the same had occurred. But where the first purification prepared him for receiving the revelation, this second purification prepared him for something no creature had ever experienced: beholding the signs of his Lord beyond the boundaries of all that was created.

Al-Buraq

Jibril ﵇ then presented the Buraq, a white riding animal larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, with wings on its thighs that propelled its legs. Each step reached to the farthest limit of sight. The name Buraq is derived from the Arabic word barq (lightning), indicating its speed. When the Prophet ﷺ approached the animal, it startled. Jibril ﵇ addressed it:

Shame on you, O Buraq! By Allah, never before has anyone more noble in the sight of Allah ridden upon you.

Thereupon the Buraq calmed and allowed the Prophet ﷺ to mount. This riding animal had in the past also carried Ibrahim ﵇ when he visited Hajar and Isma’il ﵇ at the Sacred House.

The Night Journey to Jerusalem

The journey went from Al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. The reports in the Sahih collections of al-Bukhari ﵀ and Muslim ﵀ mention no stops along the way. A report in the Sunan of an-Nasa’i ﵀ does relate that Jibril ﵇ had the Prophet ﷺ dismount to pray at Yathrib, at Mount Sinai and at Bethlehem. Ibn Kathir ﵀, however, called that report very strange and objectionable, and al-Albani ﵀ graded it munkar: a weak report that goes against more reliable ones.

Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the Prophet ﷺ tied the Buraq to the ring at which the prophets before him used to tie their mounts. He entered Al-Masjid al-Aqsa where all the prophets were assembled. The Prophet ﷺ led them all in prayer as their imam. This was a powerful confirmation of his ﷺ status as the Seal of the Prophets: the man who was followed by all the prophets before him.

After the prayer, Jibril ﵇ offered the Prophet ﷺ two cups: one with wine and one with milk. The Prophet ﷺ chose the milk. Jibril ﵇ said:

You have chosen the fitrah (the pure original nature). Had you chosen the wine, your community would have gone astray.

The Ascension

From Jerusalem, the Prophet ﷺ ascended, accompanied by Jibril ﵇. At each heaven, Jibril ﵇ knocked and the gatekeeper asked who was there. Jibril ﵇ answered with his name and the name of the Prophet ﷺ. Each time the question was asked: “Has he been summoned?” and the answer was: “Yes.” After which the gate was opened.

The First Heaven: Adam ﵇

In the first heaven, the Prophet ﷺ met Adam ﵇, the father of mankind. Adam ﵇ welcomed him with the words:

Welcome, O righteous Prophet and righteous son!

Adam ﵇ was seated among the souls of his descendants. When he looked to the right, he smiled, for there were the souls destined for Paradise. When he looked to the left, he wept, for there were the souls destined for the Fire.

The Second Heaven: 'Isa ﵇ and Yahya ﵇

In the second heaven, the Prophet ﷺ met two cousins: 'Isa ibn Maryam ﵇ and Yahya ibn Zakariyya ﵇. Both welcomed him:

Welcome, O righteous Prophet and righteous brother!

The Third Heaven: Yusuf ﵇

In the third heaven, he met Yusuf ﵇, the son of Ya’qub ﵇. The Prophet ﷺ later described him as the one who was given half of all beauty. Yusuf ﵇ too welcomed him as a righteous brother.

The Fourth Heaven: Idris ﵇

In the fourth heaven was Idris ﵇, about whom Allah ﷻ says in the Quran: “And We raised him to an exalted place.” He welcomed the Prophet ﷺ with the same words of brotherhood.

The Fifth Heaven: Harun ﵇

In the fifth heaven sat Harun ﵇, the brother of Musa ﵇, an elderly man with a white beard who was beloved by his people. He warmly welcomed the Prophet ﷺ.

The Sixth Heaven: Musa ﵇

In the sixth heaven, the Prophet ﷺ met Musa ﵇. After the greeting, Musa ﵇ began to weep. When asked why, he answered:

I weep because a young man has been sent as a Prophet after me, and more of his followers will enter Paradise than of mine.

These were not tears of jealousy but of grief over the failure of his own community. Musa ﵇ would later that night play a crucial role in the establishment of the daily prayer.

The Seventh Heaven: Ibrahim ﵇

In the highest heaven, the Prophet ﷺ met Ibrahim ﵇, the father of the prophets, who was leaning with his back against Al-Bayt al-Ma’mur, the heavenly house situated directly above the Ka’bah. Every day 70,000 angels enter this house to worship Allah ﷻ and they never return; every day a new 70,000.

Ibrahim ﵇ welcomed him not as a brother but as a son:

Welcome, O righteous Prophet and righteous son!

He gave the Prophet ﷺ a message for his community about Paradise:

The soil of Paradise is vast and sweet, its water is pure, and its planting is: SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha ill-Allah, Allahu Akbar.

With this, Ibrahim ﵇ encouraged the community of the Prophet ﷺ to plant trees in Paradise through the remembrance of Allah ﷻ.

Sidrat al-Muntaha

Beyond the seventh heaven, the Prophet ﷺ was brought to Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Lote Tree at the Furthest Boundary. This is the boundary of all that is created, the point at which everything that ascends from the earth and everything that descends from above comes to a halt.

The Lote Tree was of a grandeur that surpasses human comprehension. Its leaves were like the ears of elephants, its fruits like large earthen jars. When the tree was covered by the command of Allah ﷻ, it changed into colours so extraordinary that no creature could describe them. The Prophet ﷺ himself could not name them.

From the roots of Sidrat al-Muntaha sprang four rivers: two hidden rivers that flowed to Paradise and two visible rivers, the Nile and the Euphrates, indicating that these earthly rivers have their heavenly origin.

In a report in al-Bukhari ﵀, the Prophet ﷺ relates that he was taken up until he reached a level where he heard the scraping of the pens. Allah ﷻ revealed to His servant what He revealed. What exactly transpired there belongs to the unseen, the domain of Allah ﷻ alone.

The Gift of Prayer

At Sidrat al-Muntaha, Allah ﷻ prescribed fifty daily prayers for the community of the Prophet ﷺ. On the way back, the Prophet ﷺ passed Musa ﵇ in the sixth heaven. Musa ﵇ asked him what his Lord had enjoined. When the Prophet ﷺ answered that it was fifty prayers, Musa ﵇ said:

Go back to your Lord and ask Him for a reduction, for your community will not be able to bear that. I have tested the Children of Israel and I know how they are.

The Prophet ﷺ returned and Allah ﷻ reduced the number by ten. He came back to Musa ﵇ who again said the same thing. This was repeated several times: from fifty to forty, to thirty, to twenty, to ten, until finally five daily prayers.

At five prayers, Musa ﵇ again said he should go back. The Prophet ﷺ answered:

I have asked my Lord so many times that I am ashamed. I am content and I submit.

Then a voice was heard:

I have established My command and lightened the burden for My servants. These are five prayers but they are equal to fifty in reward. My Word does not change.

Every good deed is rewarded tenfold. Five prayers multiplied by ten equals fifty in reward. Thus the prayer, the direct connection between the servant and his Creator, became the gift of this night. It is not without reason that the prayer is called the mi’raj of the believer.

The Return and the Reaction of Quraysh

The Prophet ﷺ returned that same night to Makkah, before the dawn prayer. When he told the following day what had taken place, Quraysh reacted with scorn and mockery. They said:

We need a month to travel there and a month to return, and you claim to have done this in a single night?

Some clapped their hands in disbelief. Several who were already Muslim even fell away from the faith, so great was the trial. The leaders of Quraysh rushed to Abu Bakr ﵁, hoping that he too would reject the claim.

But Abu Bakr ﵁ responded without a moment of hesitation:

If he has said that, then he has spoken the truth.

When the Quraysh expressed their amazement that he could believe such a thing, Abu Bakr ﵁ answered:

I believe him in something even more extraordinary than that. I believe him when he says that he receives revelation from the heavens. Why then should I not believe him about a journey to Jerusalem?

It was because of this unwavering affirmation that the Prophet ﷺ gave him the title As-Siddiq, the Great Affirmer of the Truth.

The Proofs

To convince the doubters, Quraysh challenged the Prophet ﷺ to describe Jerusalem. Allah ﷻ raised a vision of Jerusalem before the eyes of the Prophet ﷺ and he described the city gate by gate, detail by detail. The Quraysh who knew the city confirmed that his description was accurate.

Additionally, the Prophet ﷺ told of caravans he had seen along the way. He described specific details: a lost camel, a covered water vessel from which he had drunk, and the time of arrival of one of the caravans, with the grey camel that led it. When the caravans reached Makkah, they confirmed every detail exactly as the Prophet ﷺ had described it.

The Significance

Al-Isra wal-Mi’raj was more than a miracle. It was a divine consolation after the deepest grief. The man who was rejected by his own city, who had lost his dearest ones, was elevated by Allah ﷻ above everything and everyone. Where the people rejected him, the prophets honoured him as their leader. Where Quraysh humiliated him, the Creator elevated him beyond the boundaries of all that was created.

And the gift he brought back was not wealth, not power, not vengeance. It was the prayer. The daily connection between man and his Creator. Five times a day, every believer is invited to make the same journey that the Prophet ﷺ made; not physically to the heavens, but spiritually to the proximity of Allah ﷻ.

The trial of Ta’if and the rejection by so many Arab tribes already lay behind him, and the Hijrah was yet to come. But after this night, the Prophet ﷺ knew with a certainty that no earthly loss could take away: Allah ﷻ was with him, and victory would come.