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{{Short description|Night journey undertaken by Muhammad in Islamic tradition}}
{{for|the 17th chapter of the Quran|al-Isra'}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
[[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]]]]
[[File:Temple Mount (Aerial view, 2007) 05.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Al-Aqsa|Al-Aqsa Mosque compound]], also known as the [[Temple Mount]]]]
{{Muhammad|miracles}}
The '''Israʾ''' and '''Miʿraj''' ({{langx|ar|الإسراء والمعراج}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj}}'') are the two parts of a '''Night Journey''' that [[Muslims]] believe the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] ([[AD]] 570&ndash;632) took during a single night around the year [[AD]] [[621]] (1 [[Hijri year|BH]] – 0 BH). Within [[Islam]], the majority of Islamic scholars claim that the journey was both a physical and spiritual one.<ref name="Dr. ‘Abdullaah Al-Faqeeh">{{cite web |title=The Mi'raaj: physical or spiritual? Fatwa No: 83413 |url=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/83413/the-miraaj-physical-or-spiritual |website=Islamweb.net |access-date=14 October 2023 |date=17 October 2001}}</ref><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> Islamic tradition believes a brief mention of the story is found in the 17th [[surah]] (chapter) of the [[Quran]], called ''[[al-Isra']]'',<ref name="alisra">{{qref|17|1|c=y}}</ref> while details of the story are found in the ''[[hadith]]'' (the later collections of the reports, teachings, deeds and sayings of Muhammad).
In the ''Israʾ'' ("Night Journey"), Muhammad is said to have traveled on the back of [[Buraq]] (a winged horse-like bird) to [[Al-Aqsa]] (i.e. the [[Noble Sanctuary]]), where he led other prophets including [[Abraham in Islam|Ibrahim]] ([[Abraham]]), [[Moses in Islam|Musa]] ([[Moses]]), and [[Jesus in Islam|Isa]] ([[Jesus]]) in [[prayer]].<ref>Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity, Y. Reiter, Springer, 26 May 2008, p.30</ref>
Muhammad then [[Entering heaven alive|ascended into heaven]] during the ''Miʿraj'' (Ascension), where he individually greeted the prophets, and later spoke to [[God in Islam|God]], who agreed to lower the number of required [[ṣalāt]] (ritual prayer) from 50 a day to only five. 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.co.uk/article/a-night-journey-through-jerusalem-zxxb7n0bbpn |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Terminology==
''Isra'' means walking or traveling at night; ''miʿraj'' means rising, or going up to a high place.<ref name="Khan">{{cite web |last1=Khan |first1=Asad |title=The Miracle of Isra (Night Journey) and Miraj (Ascension |url=https://www.academia.edu/35946712 |website=Academia |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>
==Basis in Islamic sources==
The events of Isra and Miʿraj are mentioned briefly in the Quran and then further expanded and interpreted within the [[hadith]] (the literary corpus of reported sayings of Muhammad), which form supplements to the Quran. Two hadith sources on the Isra and Miʿraj considered the most reliable are  [[Anas ibn Malik]] and [[Abd Allah ibn Abbas|Ibn ʿAbbas]]. Both are considered ṣaḥāba or "[[Companions of the Prophet]]", but were young boys at the time of Muhammad's journey of Mi'raj.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Colby|first1=Frederick S.|title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Teaching the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse|date=2008|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-7518-8}}</ref>
===The Quran===
{{Islamic Culture}}
Within the [[Quran]], chapter ({{transliteration|ar|[[surah]]}}) 17 {{transliteration|ar|[[al-Isra]]}}, was named after the Isra', and the first verse contains a brief description. There is also some information in a later verse, and some scholars<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colby |first=Frederick S.|date=2002|title=The Subtleties of the Ascension: al-Sulamī on the Mi'rāj of the Prophet Muhammad|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1596216 |journal=Studia Islamica |issue=94 |pages=167–183 |doi=10.2307/1596216 |jstor=1596216 |issn=0585-5292}}</ref> say a verse in {{transliteration|ar|surah [[an-Najm]]}} also holds information on the Isra and Miʿraj.
{{blockquote|Glory be to the One Who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.|{{qref|17|1|c=y}}}}
{{blockquote|And ˹remember, O  Prophet˺ when We told you, "Certainly your Lord encompasses the people." And We have made what We brought you to see as well as the cursed tree ˹mentioned˺ in the Quran only as a test for the people. We keep warning them, but it only increases them greatly in defiance.|{{qref|17|60|c=y}}}}
{{blockquote|And he certainly saw that ˹angel descend˺ a second time{{pb}}at the [[Sidrat al-Muntaha|Lote Tree]] of the most extreme limit ˹in the seventh heaven˺—{{pb}}near which is the Garden of ˹Eternal˺ Residence—{{pb}}while the Lote Tree was overwhelmed with ˹heavenly˺ splendours!{{pb}}The ˹Prophet's˺ sight never wandered, nor did it overreach.{{pb}}He certainly saw some of his Lord's greatest signs.|{{qref|53|13-18|c=y}}}}
===Hadith===
Various hadiths contain much greater detail. The {{transliteration|ar|Israʾ}} is the part of the journey of Muhammad from Mecca to the farthest place of worship, though the city is not explicitly mentioned. The journey began when Muhammad was in the [[Masjid al-Haram]] in [[Mecca]], and the [[Holy Spirit in Islam|Archangel Jibrīl]] (or Jibrāʾīl, [[Gabriel]]) came to him, and brought [[Buraq]], the traditional heavenly mount of the prophets. Buraq carried Muhammad to the "farthest place of worship". Muhammad alighted, tethered Buraq and performed prayer, where on God's command he was tested by Gabriel.<ref>{{cite web|author=Momina|title=isra wal miraj|url=http://www.chowrangi.com/al-isra-wal-miraj-the-night-journey-and-the-ascension-of-prophet-muhammad-peace-and-blessings-be-upon-him.html|publisher=chourangi|access-date=16 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615232240/http://www.chowrangi.com/al-isra-wal-miraj-the-night-journey-and-the-ascension-of-prophet-muhammad-peace-and-blessings-be-upon-him.html|archive-date=15 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.duas.org/articles/merajarticle.htm|title=Meraj Article|work=duas.org|access-date=12 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025042431/http://www.duas.org/articles/merajarticle.htm|archive-date=25 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was told by [[Anas ibn Malik]] that Muhammad said: "Jibra'il brought me a vessel of wine, a vessel of water and a vessel of milk, and I chose the milk. Jibra'il said: 'You have chosen the [[Fitra]]h (natural instinct).'" In the second part of the journey, the {{transliteration|ar|Miʿraj}} (an Arabic word that literally means "ladder"), Jibra'il took him to the heavens, where he toured the [[Seven Heavens|seven stages of heaven]], and spoke with the earlier prophets such as [[Abraham]] ([[Abraham in Islam|ʾIbrāhīm]]), [[Moses]] ([[Moses in Islam|Musa]]), [[John the Baptist]] ([[John the Baptist in Islam|Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā]]), and [[Jesus]] ([[Jesus in Islam|Isa]]).<ref>{{Href|bukhari|3430|b=y}}</ref><ref>{{Href|bukhari|3437|b=y}}</ref> Muhammad was then taken to [[Sidrat al-Muntaha]] – a holy tree in the seventh heaven that Gabriel was not allowed to pass. According to Islamic tradition, God instructed Muhammad that [[Muslim]]s must pray fifty times per day; however, Moses told Muhammad that it was very difficult for the people and urged Muhammad to ask for a reduction, until finally it was reduced to five times per day.<ref name=times/><ref>IslamAwareness.net – [http://www.islamawareness.net/Isra/isra.html Isra and Mi'raj, The Details] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724113028/http://www.islamawareness.net/Isra/isra.html |date=24 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>[[About.com]] – [http://islam.about.com/od/otherdays/a/isra-miraj.htm The Meaning of Isra' and Miʿraj in Islam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506001455/http://islam.about.com/od/otherdays/a/isra-miraj.htm |date=6 May 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Vuckovic| first = Brooke Olson| title = Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam (Religion in History, Society and Culture)| date = 30 December 2004| publisher = [[Routledge]]| isbn = 978-0-415-96785-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Mahmoud| first = Omar| title = Muhammad: an evolution of God| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hqiQwmTDYBUC&q=isra+and+miraj&pg=PA56 | access-date = 27 March 2011| date = 25 April 2008| publisher = [[AuthorHouse]]| isbn = 978-1-4343-5586-7| page = 56| chapter = The Journey to Meet God Almighty by Muhammad—Al-Isra}}</ref>
====The Miraj ====
[[File:Miraj-BNF-1436.jpg|thumb|Miraj-BNF-1436]]
There are different accounts of what occurred during the Miʿraj, but most narratives have the same elements: Muhammad ascends into heaven with the angel Gabriel and meets a different prophet at each of the seven levels of heaven; first [[Adam in Islam|Adam]], then [[John the Baptist#Islam|John the Baptist]] and [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]], then [[Joseph in Islam|Joseph]], then [[Idris (prophet)|Idris]], then [[Aaron]], then [[Moses in Islam|Moses]], and lastly [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]]. After Muhammad meets with Abraham, he continues on to meet God without Gabriel. God tells Muhammad that his people must pray 50 times a day, but as Muhammad descends back to Earth, he meets Moses who tells Muhammad to go back to God and ask for fewer prayers because 50 is too many. Muhammad goes between Moses and God nine times, until the prayers are reduced to the five daily prayers, which God will reward tenfold.<ref>{{cite book|last1=al-Tabari|title=The History of al-Tabari volume VI: Muhammad at Mecca|date=1989|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-88706-706-9}}</ref> To that again, Moses tells Muhammad to ask for even fewer but Muhammad feels ashamed and says that he is thankful for the five.<ref>{{Href|bukhari|7517|b=y}}</ref>
[[Al-Tabari]] is a classic and authentic source for Islamic research. His description of the Miʿraj is just as simplified as the description given above, which is where other narratives and hadiths of the Miʿraj stem from, as well as word of mouth. While this is the simplest description of the Miʿraj, others include more details about the prophets that Muhammad meets. In accounts written by Muslims, [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Bukhari]], [[Ibn Ishaq]], Ahmad b. Hanbal and others, physical descriptions of the prophets are given. [[Adam]] is described first as being Muhammad's father, which establishes a link between them as first and last prophets.<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|last1=Vuckovic|first1=Brooke Olsen|title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Miʿraj in the Formation of Islam|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-96785-6}}</ref> Physical descriptions of Adam show him as tall and handsome with long hair. Idris, who is not mentioned as much as the other prophets Muhammad meets, is described as someone who was raised to a higher status by God. Joseph is described as the most beautiful man who is like the moon. His presence in the Miʿraj is to show his popularity and how it relates to Muhammad's. Aaron is described as Muhammad's brother who is older and one of the most beautiful men that Muhammad had met. Again, the love for Aaron by his people relates to Muhammad and his people. Abraham is described with likeness to Muhammad in ways that illustrate him to be Muhammad's father. Jesus is usually linked to John the Baptist, who is not mentioned much. Moses is different than the other prophets that Muhammad meets in that Moses stands as a point of difference rather than similarities.<ref name="Routledge"/>
Muhammad's beast of burden, the [[Buraq]] is described in several sahih hadith as "white" and "bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule".<ref>(Sahih al-Bukhari 3887, Sahih Muslim 162a, Sahih al-Bukhari 3207, Sahih Muslim 164a) https://sunnah.com/search?q=buraq</ref>  Although hadith seldom if ever explicitly describe the Buraq as having wings or a human face, Near Eastern and Persian art typically portrays it as having one.
Some narratives also record events that preceded the heavenly ascent. Some scholars{{who|date=October 2021}} believe that the opening of Muhammad's chest was a cleansing ritual that purified Muhammad before he ascended into heaven. Muhammad's chest was opened up and water of Zamzam was poured on his heart giving him wisdom, belief, and other necessary characteristics to help him in his ascent. This purification is also seen in the trial of the drinks. It is debated when it took place—before or after the ascent—but either way it plays an important role in determining Muhammad's spiritual righteousness.<ref name="Routledge"/>
====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 ʿAbbas]]' Primitive Versions narrates all that Muhammad encounters throughout his journey through heaven. This includes seeing other angels, and seas of light, darkness, and fire. With Gabriel as his companion, Muhammad meets four key angels as he travels through the heavens. These angels are the Rooster angel (whose call influences all earthly roosters), [[Ishim (angel)#In Islam|Half-Fire Half-Snow angel]] (who provides an example of God's power to bring fire and ice in harmony), the [[Azrael|Angel of Death]] (who describes the process of death and the sorting of souls), and the [[Maalik|Guardian of Hellfire]] (who shows Muhammad what hell looks like). These four angels are met in the beginning of Ibn ʿAbbas' narrative. They are mentioned in other accounts of Muhammad's ascension, but they are not talked about with as much detail as Ibn ʿAbbas provides. As the narrative continues, Ibn ʿAbbas focuses mostly on the angels that Muhammad meets rather than the prophets. There are rows of angels that Muhammad encounters throughout heaven, and he even meets certain deeply devoted angels called [[cherub]]im. These angels instill fear in Muhammad, but he later sees them as God's creation, and therefore not harmful. Other important details that Ibn ʿAbbas adds to the narrative are the Heavenly Host Debate, the Final Verses of the Cow Chapter, and the Favor of the Prophets.<ref name="State University of New York Press">{{cite book|last1=Colby|first1=Frederick S|title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse|date=2008|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-7518-8}}</ref> These important topics help to outline the greater detail that Ibn ʿAbbas uses in his Primitive Version.
In an attempt to reestablish Ibn ʿAbbas as authentic, it seems as though a translator added the descent of Muhammad and the meeting with the prophets. The narrative only briefly states the encounters with the prophets, and does so in a way that is in chronological order rather than the normal order usually seen in ascension narratives. Ibn ʿAbbas may have left out the meeting of the prophets and the encounter with Moses that led to the reduction of daily prayers because those events were already written elsewhere. Whether he included that in his original narrative or if it was added by a later translator is unknown, but often a point of contention when discussing Ibn ʿAbbas's Primitive Version.<ref name="State University of New York Press"/>
==== Sufi interpretations====
The belief that Muhammad made the heavenly journey bodily was used to prove the unique status of Muhammad.<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> One theory among [[Sufism|Sufis]] was that Muhammad's body could reach God to a proximity that even the greatest saints could only reach in spirit.<ref name=":0" /> They debated whether Muhammad had really seen the Lord and if he did, whether he did so with his eyes or with his heart.<ref name=":0" /> Nevertheless, Muhammad's superiority is again demonstrated in that even in the extreme proximity of the Lord, "his eye neither swerved nor was turned away," whereas Moses had fainted when the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush.<ref name=":0" /> Various thinkers used this point to prove the superiority of Muhammad.<ref name=":0" /> (The source for Moses' having fainted is in surah [[al-A'raf]]:143. In the Biblical narrative ([[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 3:4–4:17), the texts for verse 3:6 state simply that Moses "hid his face" ([[Masoretic]] [[Hebrew]], [[Targum]] [[Aramaic]], and [[Samaritan Pentateuch|Samaritan]]) or "averted his face" ([[Septuagint]] [[Greek language|Greek]]).)
The Subtleties of the Ascension by Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami includes repeated quotations from other mystics that also affirm the superiority of Muhammad.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Colby|first=Frederick|date=2002|title=The Subtleties of the Ascension: al-Sulami on the Miraj of the Prophet Muhammad|journal=Studia Islamica|issue=94|pages=167–183|doi=10.2307/1596216|jstor=1596216}}</ref> Many Sufis interpreted the Miʿraj to ask questions about the meaning of certain events within the Miʿraj, and drew conclusions based on their interpretations, especially to substantiate ideas of the superiority of Muhammad over other prophets.<ref name=":0" />
[[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" />
===Alternative Muslim interpretations===
====Mystical interpretations====
Many sects and offshoots belonging to Islamic mysticism interpret Muhammad's night ascent – the Isra and Miʿraj – 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> unlike the Sunni Muslims or mainstream Islam. The mystics claim Muhammad was transported to the farthest place of worship and then onward to the [[Seven Heavens]], even though "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>
==== Alternative locations ====
Israeli political scientist [[Yitzhak Reiter]] mentions some alternative interpretations  among some Muslim sects in the 21st century which dispute that the night journey took place in Jerusalem, believing instead it was either in the [[Seven heavens|Heavens]], or in [[Medina]] and its vicinity by [[Ja'fari school|Jaf'ari Shi'tes]].<ref name="Reiter-2008">Yitzhak Reiter (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=bZbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 ''Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity''],  Springer, p. 21.: "The issue of al-Aqsa Mosque's location has been subject to much debate within Islam, and even today there are those who  believe it is not in Jerusalem at all, according to one claim, the text was meant to refer to the Mosque of the Prophet in al-Madina or in a place close to al-Madina. Another perception is that of the Ja’fari Shiites, who interpret that al-Aqsa is a mosque in heaven. This interpretation reflects the Shiite anti-Umayyad emotions in an attempt to play down the sacredness of Umayyad Jerusalem and to minimize the sanctity of Jerusalem by detaching the qur'anic al-Masjid al-aqsa from the Temple Mount, thus asserting that the Prophet never came to that city, but rather ascended to the heavenly al-Aqsa mosque without ever stopping in bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem]. Apart from depriving Jerusalem of its major attraction for pilgrims, the Shiite traditions offer alternative pilgrimage attractions such as the Shiite holy city of Kufa, as well as Mecca. However, the tradition about Muhammad’s Night Journey to Jerusalem were never suppressed. They were exploited by the Umayyads and continued to be quoted in the [[tafsir]] (Qur’an interpretation) collections. The interpretation dating from the Umayyad and Crusader eras, according to which al-Aqsa is in Jerusalem, is the one that prevailed."</ref>
====Of mutating hadith====
Another question (more than an interpretation) is whether Isra' and Mi'raj originally belonged together.
According to Britannica, in "the earliest interpretations of the Miʿrāj", while he is in the Kaʿbah in Mecca, Muhammad's body is cut open by the angel Jibrīl, cleansed and purified, before being transported by Jibrīl "directly to the lowest heaven". But sometime "early in Islamic history" this story of purification and ascension to heaven began to be associated with the story of a night journey (Isrāʾ) by Muhammad from the “sacred place of worship” (Mecca) to the “further place of worship” (Jerusalem). Eventually the night journey came to be combined with Muhammad's purification and ascension, falling between the two in the sequence, so that after his purification Muhammad is "transported in a single night from Mecca to Jerusalem by the winged mythical creature Burāq. From Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock now stands, he is accompanied by Jibrīl to heaven, ascending possibly by ladder or staircase (miʿrāj)."<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> This interpretation shares the belief that the Isra' Mecca-to-Jerusalem story does not belong with the other two, according to Yitzhak Reiter.<ref name=Reiter-2008/>
==European sources==
[[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>
==Modern Muslim observance==
The ''Lailat al-Miʿraj'' ({{langx|ar|لیلة المعراج}}, {{transliteration|ar|Lailatu 'l-Miʿrāj}}), also known as ''Shab-e-Mi'raj'' ({{langx|bn|শবে মেরাজ|Šobe Meraj}}, {{langx|fa|شب معراج}}, {{transliteration|fa|Šab-e Mi'râj}}) in Iran, [[Pakistan]], [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]], and ''Miraç Kandili'' in [[Turkish language|Turkish]], is the [[Muslim holidays|Muslim holiday]] on the 27th of Rajab (the date varying  in the Western calendar) celebrating the Isra and Miʿraj. Another name for the holiday is ''Mehraj-ul-Alam'' (also spelled ''Meraj-ul-Alam''). Some Muslims celebrate this event by offering optional prayers during this night, and in some Muslim countries, by illuminating cities with electric lights and candles. The celebrations around this day tend to focus on every Muslim who wants to celebrate it. Worshippers gather into mosques and perform prayer and supplication. Some people may pass their knowledge on to others by telling them the story on how Muhammad's heart was purified by the [[Gabriel|archangel Gabriel]], who filled him with knowledge and faith in preparation to enter the seven levels of heaven. After [[salah]], food and treats are served.<ref name=times/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/holydays/lailatalmiraj.shtml|title=BBC – Religions – Islam: Lailat al Miraj|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=17 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016102122/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/holydays/lailatalmiraj.shtml|archive-date=16 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0191/9101056.htm|title=WRMEA – Islam in America|work=Washington Report on Middle East Affairs|access-date=17 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190002/http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0191/9101056.htm|archive-date=27 September 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/j-k/meraj-ul-alam-observed-753553|title=Meraj-ul-Alam observed|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|Tribune India]]|date=4 April 2019|accessdate=13 March 2021}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}
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 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> {{Notetag|One strict salafi source, Islam Question and Answer insists Some sources insists "there is nothing" in any sahih hadith (sound hadith) to indicate that the Isra’ and Mi’raaj "took place in Rajab or in any other month", and even if there were it shouldn't be celebrated because Muhammad and his companions "did not celebrate it" nor "single it out in any way."<ref name="IQA-2014">{{cite web |title=Celebrating the night of the Isra' and Mi'raaj |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/60288/celebrating-the-night-of-the-isra-and-miraaj |website=Islam Question and Answer, Q.60288 |access-date=15 October 2023 |date=25 May 2014}}</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>
==Historical issues==
===Jerusalem site===
The general consensus of modern Muslim scholars is that the Isra' and Mi'raj were specific to a physical place called ''al-Masjid al-Aqsā'' ("the Far Mosque") and that Muhammad did indeed go to a physical location. Minority Muslim groups have also regarded the journey as an out-of-body experience.
''Al-Masjid al-Aqsā'' is traditionally associated with the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] in [[Jerusalem]] (both the structure and the city being called ''Bayt al-Maqdis'' in Islamic tradition calquing the Jewish name for the Temple) as well as the general area of the site, i.e. the [[Temple Mount]], analogous to how the term ''al-Masjid al-Harām'' "the Sacred Mosque" refers to both the [[Kaaba]] and the [[Masjid al-Haram|Al Haram Mosque]] built after Muhammad's death in its vicinity.
A small prayer hall ([[musalla]]), what would later become the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]], was built by [[Umar]], the second caliph of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. This was rebuilt and expanded by the [[caliph]] [[Abd al-Malik]] in AD 690 along with the [[Dome of the Rock]].<ref name="Elad" /><ref name="le Strange">le Strange, Guy. (1890). ''Palestine under the Moslems'', pp. 80–98.</ref> In the reign of the caliph [[Mu'awiyah I]] of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (founded in AD 661), a quadrangular mosque for a capacity of 3,000 worshipers is recorded somewhere on the Haram ash-Sharif.<ref name="Elad">Elad, Amikam. (1995). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=CDz_yctbQVgC&pg=PA29 Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship. Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage]'' BRILL, pp. 29–43. {{ISBN|90-04-10010-5}}.</ref>
A [[hadith]] reports Muhammad's account of the experience:
{{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>}}
==== Secular scholarship ====
Although the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of [[Names of Jerusalem|its names]] in Surah Al-Isra 17:1, 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>
Regardless however, 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 prior to 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>
[[French Americans|French American]] Academic [[Oleg Grabar]] believed that the Quranic ''[[Al-Aqsa|Al-masjid al-aqṣā]]'' referred to one of two sanctuaries in a Hijazi village known as [[al-Juʽranah]] near Mecca, basing this on the statement of two near-contemporary medieval Muslim travelers [[Al-Waqidi|Al Waqidi]] and [[Al-Azraqi]] who used the term "''Al-masjid al-aqṣā" ,'' and "''Al-masjid al-Adna"'':{{blockquote|Bevan has shown that among early traditionists there are many who do not accept the identification of the masjid al-aqsa, and among them are to be found such great names as al-Bukhari and Tabari. Both Ibn Ishaq an al-Ya'qubi precede their accounts with expressions which indicate that these are stories which are not necessarily accepted as dogma. It was suggested by J. Horovitz that in the early period of Islam there is little justification for assuming that the Koranic expression in any way referred to Jerusalem. But while Horovitz thought that it referred to a place in heaven, A. Guillaume's careful analysis of the earliest texts (al-Waqidi and al-Azraqi, both in the later second century A.H.) has convincingly shown that the Koranic reference to the masjid al-aqsa applies specifically to al-Ji'ranah, near Mekkah, where there were two sanctuaries (masjid al-adnai and masjid al-aqsa), and where Muhammad so-journed in dha al-qa'dah of the eighth year after the Hijrah.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grabar |first=Oleg |date=1959 |title=The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629098 |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=3 |pages=33–62 |jstor=4629098 |issn=0571-1371 }}</ref>}}
Israeli Political Scientist Yitzhak Reiter also claimed that the location being in Jerusalem was a tradition invented after Muhmmad's life by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] to divert pilgrimage to either Shi'ite sites such as [[Kufa|Al-Kufa]], or Mecca when it was held by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]] during the [[Second Fitna|Second Muslim Civil war]]<ref name="Reiter-2008" />
== Similarities to other Abrahamic traditions ==
Traditions of living persons ascending to heaven are also found in early Jewish and Christian literature.<ref>Bremmer, Jan N. "Descents to hell and ascents to heaven in apocalyptic literature." JJ Collins (Hg.), The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature, Oxford (2014): 340-357.</ref> In the [[Books of Kings|Book of Kings]] of the [[Hebrew Bible]]/[[Old Testament]], the prophet [[Elijah]] is said to have [[Entering heaven alive|entered heaven alive]] by a chariot and horses of fire.<ref name="2 Kings 2:11">[[2 Kings 2:11]]</ref> The [[Book of Enoch]], a late [[Second Temple Judaism|Second Temple]] Jewish [[Jewish apocrypha|apocryphal work]], describes a tour of heaven given by an angel to the patriarch [[Enoch]], the great-grandfather of [[Noah]]. According to Brooke Vuckovic, early Muslims may have had precisely this ascent in mind when interpreting Muhammad's night journey.<ref>Vuckovic, Brooke Olson. Heavenly journeys, earthly concerns: the legacy of the mi'raj in the formation of Islam. Routledge, 2004, 46.</ref> In the [[Testament of Abraham]], from the first century CE, [[Abraham]] is shown the final judgement of the righteous and unrighteous in heaven.
==See also==
* [[Islamic view of miracles]]
* [[Entering heaven alive]] - view of the belief in various religions
* [[Transfiguration of Jesus]]
* [[Miraj Nameh]]
== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* [[Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi|Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali]] (2010). ''[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/meraj-i Me'rāj]''. [[Encyclopædia Iranica]].
*{{Cite book |last = Asad |first = Muhammad |author-link = Muhammad Asad |year = 1980 |title = The Message of the Qu'rán | section = Appendix IV: The Night Journey |publisher = Dar al-Andalus Limited |location = Gibraltar, Spain |isbn = 1904510000 |title-link = The Message of the Qu'rán }}
*Colby, Frederick, "Night Journey (Isra & Mi'raj)'', in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God'' (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol II, pp.&nbsp;420–425.{{ISBN?}}
* [[Annemarie Schimmel|Schimmel, Annemarie]] (1985). "The Prophet's Night Journey and Ascension", in ''And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety'', University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.{{ISBN?}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Isra and Mi'raj}}
* [http://ahadith.co.uk/searchresults.php?q=ascended+to+heaven Hadith On Isra and Mi'raj] from [[Sahih Muslim]]
{{Muslimholidays}}
{{Public holidays in Indonesia}}
{{Public holidays in Malaysia}}
{{Public holidays in Pakistan}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Isra' and Mi'raj}}
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[[Category:Islamic mythology]]
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