As we said it's almost impossible to peice together the events in order.

We simp
ly have a collection of hadith; therefore from this point onwards what we have i
s just a series of incidents and we don't know exactly what order they come in.
Of the first is that there is a very long hadith the prophet PBUH narrates in Mu
snan Ahmed, "on the night I went on Isra wal Mi'raj, I smelt a fragerence that w
as very sweet and so I asked Jibraeel what is this beautiful fragerence? And Jib
raeel said its the fragerence of the one who used to comb the hair of the daught
er of Pharaoh, and her children. I asked Jibraeel what is their story? And he sa
id once she was combing and the comb fell from her hand and she said 'Bismillah'
. The daughter said 'surely you mean in the name of my father?' And she said 'no
, my Lord and your Lord is Allah, and the Lord of your father is Allah'. And the
girl said 'do you want me to tell my father?' and she said 'yes go ahead'. And
then Pharoah called her and said 'are you saying you have a God besides me?'". I
ndeed Pharoah used to say "did I teach another God besides me?" And so the woman
said with same bravery "yes, my lord and your lord is Allah". And so Pharoah or
dered that a boiling fire be brought before her. And that she has to throw her o
wn children into the fire or else acknowledge Pharoah as her Lord. Faced with th
is dilemma, she asked him for one condition - that he bury her and her children
all in one place. So Pharoah agreed. And one by one her children were thrown in.
But the last child was her baby who was still suckling and she was hesitant at
this. But the baby spoke and said "Oh my mother throw yourself in as the punishm
ent of this world is nothing compared to the next (or in another narration, do n
ot waver for you are on the truth)". Ibn Abass comments only four babies spoke f
rom their cradle; this story, Isa AS, the witness of Yusuf AS and Jurayj (the pe
rson whose mother said 'O Allaah, do not allow him to die until he sees the face
s of prostitutes' when he didn't respond to her because he is in prayer). What's
amazing here is that Allah willed this story be narrated even though we don't e
ven know the name. But the prophet PBUH narrated her sacrifice and courage to th
e ummah. It would be remembered and mentioned by the largest ummah and she would
become a role model. It's amazing this story, even though it happened in Musa's
ummah, its mentioned in our ummah. Indeed this story isn't found in any of the
old books i.e. Old Testament or Jewish scripture.
The prophet PBUH narrates that after he recieved the command for salah he entere
d into Jannah. And he saw tents made out of pearls and the soil was made out of
musk (perfume). As mentioned, the priority was the meeting with Allah - when tha
t was over, then he could meet and see everything else. Here we have a theologic
al question and that is nobody has entered Jannah since Adam AS. And this is som
ething in hadith references aswell that the first person to enter Jannah after t
he day of Judgement will be the prophet PBUH. Note the shaheed is not living in
Jannah, he is flying around and seeing Jannah. And he's not in his original body
; he's in the body of a green bird. And he is hanging from the chandileers of Ja
nnah but not living in Jannah. So the question is how do we interpret this? One
can say the prophet PBUH is the first person to enter Jannah after Adam AS is of
course true; except he entered it once in the Isra wal Mi'raj, and once after t
he day of Judgement. Another thing is that the prophet PBUH said he 'saw Jannah'
- and seeing is not actually entering Jannah. SO he didnt enter but just survey
ed Jannah. The prophet PBUH also said he saw many of the punishments of Hell. An
d this gives credit to the fact that he didn't enter Jannah because obviously he
didn't enter Hell - so when he describes Jannah he most likely must have been a
n overlooker and overseer of Jannah, just as when he described Hell.
The prophet PBUH saw many punishments of Hell spread over several hadiths. In ea
ch hadith he saw the punishment and then asked Jibraeel "who are these people?"
So, in one hadith the prophet PBUH said that he saw the punishment of the one wh
o stole an orphas money. That they had noses like that of camels; and they were
eating coals made out of fire. Their mouths would swallow the coals and it would
come out of their anuses.

In another hadith he saw people who had nails of copper, and they were scratchin
g their bodied and faces because they used to backbite. The prophet PBUH said he
saw people had in front of them pure meat and rotten meat. And they are the rot
ten meat, and Jibraeel said "these are the people that used to fornicate - they
would leave the halal (spouses) and would go to the haraam".
In another hadith the prophet PBUH saw people with such large bellies they could
not stand up and animals were being brought over them to trample over them. And
when the prophet PBUH asked who they were, Jibraeel said these are the people w
ho got their money for riba. The connotation here is greed.
The prophet PBUH also said he saw people cutting their own lips and tounges with
scissors of fires/copper, and Jibraeel said these were the people who used to t
ell other to do good, and they would forget themselves.
The prophet PBUH also said he saw the dajjal, and one of his eyes was bloated (n
ot seeing). In another hadith the prophet PBUH said "I saw the dajjal and I will
tell you something no other prophet told his people, and that is his left eye i
s like a rotten grape (so one of his eyes is bloated)." And the prophet PBUH sai
d "know the dajjal is one eyed".
So these are the some of the things we hear about what the prophet PBUH saw comi
ng down. We don't know the order or any further details (as we did when the prop
het PBUH went up). So the prophet PBUH came back down to Jerusellum and he re-ro
de Baraqh. Recall Baraqh was the animal the transported the prophet PBUH from Me
cca to Jeresullam. As for the transportion from Jeresullam to the heavans, this
is the al-Mi'raj. THere are some narrations that the prophet PBUH passed by thre
e caravans of the Quraysh he recognised. On one of them, he noticed a certain gr
oup of people. On another he drank some water from them as he was feeling thirst
y. And in the third he said he saw so and so looking for a camel that had been l
ost. These are the three caravans he said he saw.
When he came back to Mecca, the prophet PBUH went back to sleep and woke up in t
he Haraam. This shows therefore the actual Isra took place from the Haram to Bay
tal Maqdas and then back to the Haram, in comformity with the Quran "masjid-al-h
araam ilal masjid-al-aqsa". So the actual Isra took place from one masjid to the
other. When he woke up, he himself tells us this whole story in the first perso
n.
He said "when I woke up I felt an anxiety in that how am I going to tell the peo
ple about what has happened to me, what will they say? They will reject me!". Su
bhanAllah this shows the human nature of the prophet PBUH; it also shows Allah i
nstructed the prophet PBUH to tell the people as he wouldn't have told them with
out Allah's permission. So the prophet PBUH said as he was sitting, anxious and
nervous and worried, Allah willed that Abu Jahal passed by and saw the prophet P
BUH in that greif-struck state. So Abu Jahal said in a sarcastic manner "what is
the matter with you? Has anything happened?" The prophet PBUH said "yes somethi
ng happened. Last night, I was taken from here to Jeresuallum". So Abu Jahal was
shocked and said "and you are here amongst us now?!" And so the prophet PBUH hi
mself said he didn't know whether to mock and make fun of him now, or delay it f
irst. So the prohpet PBUH said "yes I am awake with you now". So Abu Jahal said
"if I call your people, will you tell them exactly what you have told me?" So Ab
u Jahal started screaming out to the people "come forth, we have an announcement
to make". Mecca is a small city and Abu Jahal is a leading figure so all the pe
ople gather with curiosity. So Abu Jahal said "tell them what you promised you w
ould". So the prophet PBUH said "last night, I went to Baytal Maqdas and I praye
d in the Masjid al Aqsa". So the people began reacting in different ways. Some b
egan clapping, others put their hands on their heads, other began snickering and
laughing. They didn't know what to do! He's never known to have lied before so

people are in shock, until one of them said "can you describe it for us?" Becaus
e everyone knew the prophet PBUH had never been to Baytal Maqdas. And so the pro
phet PBUH began describing until they began to ask him about specifics he couldn
't recall. And again it shows his humanity as he dosen't remember all the detail
s.
As they began to ask more and more, the prophet PBUH said he got confused and he
became so worried and anxious that he couldn't answer like never before. The wo
rd used is 'kurba' meaning literally terrified. Notice he only mentioned the Isr
a (Mecca to Jeresullam and back) so maybe Allah told him to leave the Mi'raj for
the muslims only. Why is he terrified? Because its a legitimate question but he
can't remember the answers to all of them. He said as he waiting for what to re
spond, I saw in the distance Baytal Maqdas rising up in front of me until it ext
ended above the house of Aqil ibn Abu Talib (house he grew up in). SubhanAllah!
And there was no question that was asked except that he saw. Until finally one o
f them said "as for the description, he is fully accurate". Ibn Hisham mentions
at this time the prophet PBUH said "I will give you some signs aswell; and he me
ntioned the three caravans. One lost a camel, one had a large earn of water and
one will return soon". In one report Abu Jahal said "if this is the case that ca
ravan should be arriving in Mecca right now since its close by". And as they dis
cussed that exact caravan walked in. So Abu Jahal sees and its exactly as the pr
ophet PBUH and he says "this is clear sorcery".
There is a phrase in Ibn Hisham only, and it dosen't have an isnaad, but it says
"when the news spread amongst the muslims, some of them couldn't grasp it and t
hey left their religion". This is problematic for many issues. Most importantly
, we don't have a single narration of any muslim becoming murtad in the Meccan e
ra. Significantly, a hadith in Bhukari says "in the 7th year of the Hijra, when
Abu Suffyan was in Jeresuallam and the prophet PBUH wrote a letter to Heraculus;
he asked Abu Suffyan 'has any one of them left the religion after embracing it?
' and he replied 'No'". So for a fact we know nobody left Islam in the Meccan pe
riod. This is a fact. So Abu Suffyan is saying in the 7th year that he's never h
eard of a murtad. Yet here in Ibn Hisham we see a completely different narration
. So we deduce this line in Ibn Hisham must not be true, and indeed it dosen't h
ave an isnaad.
At this time the news reached Abu Bukr, which was before the prophet PBUH could
tell Abu Bukr himself, one of the Quraysh came running and said "do you know wha
t your companion has just said? He claims to have gone all the way to Jeresallum
and back, two months journey, in one night". And Abu Bukr replied "if he said t
hat, then it must be true". So the man said "do you believe him in such a claim?
!" So Abu Bukr said "I believe him in something in even more amazing; he claims
that the revelation from the seven heavens comes to him instantenously". From th
is time onward, Abu Bukr got the title "as siddique".
We've already mentioned Allah mentions the Isra in one surah, Surat al Isra and
the Mir'aj in another surah, in surah Najam. Its interesting to note Surat al Is
ra begins with the Isra, just one ayah, but the bulk of the surah is about the j
ews, the sanctity of the Baytal Maqdas and what is going to happen at the end of
times about the Baytal Maqdas. As for surah Najam, of course it mentions issues
of the Mir'aj.
Two theological questions:
1. Did the prophet PBUH see Allah? Ibn Abbass narrated that the prophet PBUH saw
Allah. From Aisha RA in Bhukari she said "whoever says the prophet PBUH has see
n his Lord has said a huge lie against Allah". Because Allah says in the Quran "
eyes cannot encompass Him". So Aisha RA said this and one of the students of the
sahabah, Masrooq, sitting behind the curtain. Note Aisha RA never ever appeared
publically - always behind a curtain of niqaab and hijaab - Allah says about th

e wives of the prophet PBUH that if you have to speak to them speak behind a hji
aab. And note this hijaab was special in that Aisha RA was behind an actual, phy
sical curtain so much so her figure could not be seen. Even when she went outsid
e there was an actual curtain outside her camel. So Masrooq said "my mother, all
ow me to ask something and don't get angry: didnt Allah say "and he saw him in t
he highest place; closer than two bows length". So Aisha RA responds back "subha
nAllah my hairs are standing on end because of what you have said. I was the fir
st person to ever ask the prophet PBUH about these verses. The reference is to J
ibraeel - all of them are not to Allah". Then she said "Have you not read? 'Eyes
cannot encompass Him and He encompasses all eyes'. And have you not read? That
Allah says its not allowed for anyone to speak to Allah except it be from inspir
ation, or behind a curtain, or an angel comes and speaks to him". So Aisha RA cl
early knows her stuff. SubhanAllah. Masrooq thought he outwitted Aisha RA but sh
e knew better. Narrated in Muslim.
Further, in Muslim Abu Durr asks the prophet PBUH "did you see your Lord?" The p
rophet PBUH responds "there was light; how could I see him?" And the scholars ha
ve said there was the light of Allah's hijaab. Another hadith in Muslim says All
ah has a hijaab of noor (light). If Allah were to lift this veil, then the rays
that come from His face would destroy everything that it sees (i.e. everything i
n creation). So Allah is noor, His guidance is noor. Every name and attribute we
affirm it but we don't think how as we can't comprehend it and we shouldn't try
. So this noor of Allah is so powerful it can destroy the creation. And indeed w
hat happened when Allah lifted the veil for a split second when Musa requested t
o see him? The whole mountain collapsed and Musa AS was thrown back and fell dow
n unconscious. So in Allah's case the veil between him and us is light itself. A
nd so the response of the prophet PBUH is clear: "there was light, how can I see
him?" This also shows the prophet PBUH went to a place no one has been to as he
saw the veil of Allah.
In the next world we will be in existance of a different type. And only in that
existance we will see Allah. Its not possible to see Allah, nor could anyone at
all in this world. As to what Ibn Abbass said, people have interpreted this as e
ither a mistake, or that he meant the prophet PBUH saw Allah with his heart. If
Ibn Abbass affirms this there is no contradiction.
2. Another question debated by some early scholars and still today: was al Isra
wal Mi'raj a dream, or an actual physical journey? Some of the early scholars sa
y it was a dream based on narration by some of the tabioon (students of the saha
bah), wherein the prophet PBUH said "I woke up in Mecca in front of the ka'bah".
From this they deduce because he 'woke up' it must have been a dream. But the p
eople who narrated this are a few in number; and its clear they are misinterpret
ing the event based on a few words.
Further, the evidences that show the prophet PBUH went on the journey physically
in soul and body are far far more. Of this, had the prophet PBUH experianced a
dream, what then is miraculous about him journeying to Jerusellam and back? Inde
ed one can dream about going to the moon - but its nothing amazing. So if its a
dream, why was he so anxious about telling the Quraysh? Further there was a phys
ical animal, the Baraqh, needed to take him to Jeresuallam. Of this is that he g
ot thirsty on the way back and he drank water, again showing his state of wakefu
llness. Clearly the prophet PBUH journey was in a state of wakefullness, body, s
oul, heart and mind. In our days people who are afraid to believe in miracles tr
y to reinterupet such things and try to make 'sense' of them i.e. parting of the
red sea, splitting of the moon, the night journey and so on. But this is all wr
ong. These were real life miracles. Indeed in a dream you can do more than what
the prophet PBUH narrated so without doubt it was in body and soul.
Some of the benefits of the Isra wal Mi'raj:

1. The event is mentioned in the Qur'an and its narrated in the Muttawatir - the
authentic narrations that have been narrated by many companions (in excess of 4
0). Therefore anyone who denies this event denies the authenticity of the Qur'an
and the authentic hadith. No muslim can do this.
2. The primary wisdom of the Isra wal Mi'raj is to show the prophet PBUH his own
status and console him of the all the hardships he went through. Recall Musa AS
first encounter with Allah. This is a minor example of what the Isra wal Mir'aj
is. Allah spoke to Musa, told him he has been given some miracles (throw his st
aff, put your hand in your pocket and take it out etc). Why are these miracles h
appening? Who is witnessing them? Because it is strengthening the faith of Musa
AS. Even the prophets of Allah need a boost. Indeed Ibrahim AS himself said "Ya
Allah I know you can resurrect the dead, but just show me anyway for my nafs". F
or the prophet PBUH what was the miracle Allah showed him personally? The whole
Isra wal Mir'aj wherein Allah showed the prophet PBUH that Jannah is real, Jahan
nam is real, the angels are real, the prophets are real and so on. No one else w
itnessed it except the prophet PBUH.
3. To further the point is that this entire miracle is a personal gift to the pr
ophet PBUH. We don't benefit except we believe it happened. Indeed generally mir
acles are for unbelievers to show them the truth. But sometimes Allah does mirac
les for prophets themselves as mentioned above.
4. This miracle and gift occurs at a time at great sadness and was completely un
expected. Both of these points make us understand why this is such a great gift.
Even for us, if we get a suprise gift, that pleases us so much more. The gift c
ame after the prophet PBUH lost his wife, his uncle and was rejected and stoned
by the people of Ta'if. SubhanAllah - this shows us with every difficulty there
is ease; the greater the difficulty the greater the ease IF we remain patient an
d steadfast. The prophet PBUH had to suffer so much to obtain the gift of the Is
ra wal Mi'raj.
5. Ibn Kathir said if any person had seen even a fraction of what the prophet PB
UH saw, he would have woke up insane. But our prophet PBUH saw it all, came back
and then went back to sleep for a short while. Allah says this in the Quran "th
e eyes did not falter" - Allah here is praising the courage of the prophet PBUH.
The prophet PBUH comes back and goes to sleep. Complete calm and collected - sh
owing the bravery and strong mindedness of the prophet PBUH. He took it all in h
is stride. The prophet PBUH also mentioned this in a hadith "if you knew what I
knew, you would laugh little and cry alot". In another hadith the prophet PBUH i
f you knew what I knew, you would leave your wives and go out to the fields i.e.
go insane.
6. It shows the humanity of the prophet PBUH that we see the joys, fears, sorrow
s, ups and down etc. We see he wakes up but he is sad because he knows the peopl
e will reject him. But he still says it proving again his bravery, even to Abu J
ahal.
7. It also shows we don't distort the message of Islam. We should never ever cha
nge the message of Islam to appease the people. Our job is to sell the product,
not modify it. We are the salesmen, we have no right to change Allahs deen. Inde
ed whatever Allah told the prophet PBUH to tell, he told.
8. The permisability to use physical proofs/evidences to prove Islam i.e. the pr
ophet PBUH explained the physical aspects of the Baytal Maqdas.
9. The linkage between the progeny of Ismail AS and the progeny of Ishaaq AS in
that, the Isra wal Mi'raj begins in Mecca, goes to Jeresullam and then back to M
ecca. Both mosques are linked - however Mecca is given preference as the journey
starts and ends there. The two are not seperate, they are the same message. Thi

s shows us the blessing of both Mecca and Baytal Maqdas. We also know for a fact
the Baytal Maqdas will be the site for the final battle between Isa AS and the
dajjal which is why when Umar RA conquered Baytal Maqdas (recall the christians
had decimated the temple of Sulayman and made it into a junk yard) he ordered al
l the junk be cleansed and he built the masjid on that very location. Also there
is imagery that the direction of worship will change from Baytal Maqdas to Mecc
a, and this indeed literally happened 1.5-2 years later.
10. In the existance of Buraqh we clearly find Allah has linked effort with caus
es. Nothing comes for free - there must be an effort. In other words, we don't s
it at home and think 'leave it to Allah'. Even if Allah blessed you with a mirac
le, there has to be an effort. Thus to ride the Buraqh the prophet PBUH had to g
et on, adjust the saddle and push him foward. And then he had to tie him to his
post. Similarly, when Maryram AS was blessed with fruits from Jannah, she had to
shake the trees for the fruit to come down. There has to always be some effort.
Allah never gives anything. We must strive and work hard. Whatever we want Alla
h has created the path to get it but we must act. Even for Musa AS, Allah told h
im "throw and hit your staff" i.e. it didn't just happen. All of this clearly sh
ows Allah has created the causes and efforts to get to the goal we want.
11. In the story of the milk and wine we see the purity of the prophet PBUH's so
ul. Jibreel says "you have chosen the pure, if you chose the wine your ummah wou
ld have been ruined". We already mentioned the many wisdoms of milk over wine. T
he difference between them is in essence Islam v all other ways. The prophet PBU
H shows Islam i.e. the pure over the evil.
Note when the prophet PBUH went up and saw Adam AS in another narration its said
he saw many people around him. On the right hand was one group; on the left sid
e another group. And when Adam saw to the right he was happy (people of Jannah)
and on the left he cried (people of Jahanam).
12. The companionship of all the prophets. Even when the prophet PBUH led them i
n prayer there was no fighting. The prophets accepted the decree of Allah that t
he prophet PBUH was chosen to lead. Even when Musa AS cried out he did so wantin
g good for his own ummah i.e. he wanted to have the largest ummah.
13. Again we see the chosen nature of the prophet PBUH. That he is the only sing
le person ever to go pass the sidratul muntaha and speak to Allah; to see the pr
ophets; to see Jibreel AS in his form; all of these benefits combined.
14. The status of salah. No other commandment has been shown in this manner.
15. The superiority of our ummah over Musa AS's ummah. Even he said "my ummah co
uld not have done that" but Allah knew that we could and we took it on.
Theological benefits:
1. Allah is above us - the very fact that the prophet PBUH went all the way up H
e is above us.
2. Heaven and Hell right now as we speak.
3. The fitrah is the purity represented by milk; Islam fits in with our being an
d creation and it dosen't corrupt us.
Fiqh benefits:
1. We need to ask permission before entering doors: Jibreel knocked and asked ev
ery time he went up. When someone said "who is there?" we repsond with our names
and not "its me" - even the prophet PBUH said this. Indeed Jibreel says "I am J

ibreel".
2. The one who is walking should start the salaam with the one who is sitting or
standing. Indeed the prohpets were waiting for the prophet PBUH but they are th
e one who said their salaam.
3. Encouraged to give glad tidings and good news to those worthy of recieving it
- the prophets gave such good news to the prophet PBUH.
4. Its permissable to give advice that will bring about good for the people. Ind
eed Musa AS is giving advice even though the prophet PBUH did not ask for it. It
s apart of our deen to help out when we can.
5. Its permissable to sit with your back facing the ka'bah. Ibrahim AS sat with
his back on the Baytal Ma'moor.
6. Night travelling is preferred to day travelling and the prophet PBUH himself
said "when you are travelling do so at night as Allah makes it easier for you".
There are authentic hadith about this aswell.