The event of Isra Wa al-Meraj took place around a year before Prophet (saw) migrated to Madinah. Its exact date is still controversial. The first part of the journey is called Isra. It is mentioned in the first Ayah of Surah Bani Israel.
when his beloved Uncle Abu Talib and his treasured wife Khadija RA passed away. This was the same year when people of Taif mistreated and rejected the Prophet (saw). Before we start the details of the Prophet’s (saw) night journey, one must open one’s mind. One should accept that one cannot have logical reasoning to every religious belief. This is our faith. The belief in the Unseen. So, think of it as a supernatural event which was brought about by the unlimited powers of Allah SWT.
ْس ٰى ِب َع ْب ِد ِه ل َ ْي ًًل ِيم َن الْ َم ْس ِج ِد الْ َح َرا ِم ُس ْب َح َان َ ْ ه ِاَّلي َأ ْ َاْل ْق ََص ه ِاَّلي َِب َر ْكنَا َح ْو َ َُل ِل ُ ُِني َ ُه ِم ْن أ ََيتِنَا ۚ ا ََل الْ َم ْس ِج ِد ِ ان ه ُه ه َُو- الس ِمي ُع الْ َب ِص ُري ه17:1 ِ
“Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid alAqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” Qur’an (17:1)
The night journey took place in one part of the night. That is in real time of this world; it took place only in few moments. The students of science know about Time dilation. Time behaves differently in different spaces affected by gravity and speed. For example, the astronauts returning from the space station age less than the mission control crew that remained on the earth. So, time will bend due to difference in gravity or difference in speed. This is the law of Allah SWT.
The object of this journey stated here is to show Allah SWT’s signs to the Prophet (saw). The Prophets are special people. They are great men chosen by Allah SWT for a special purpose. All the prophets before Muhammad (saw) were given miracles of their own. These miracles were the signs of Allah SWT and were given to the prophets to make them stronger in their faiths. Allah SWT wanted to show some of His signs to the Prophet (saw).
The angels are not confined by earth’s time and space and are also quite different from humans. They could travel at the speed of light or more. Prophet (saw) himself told his
It was a hard time for the Prophet (saw), when this event occurred. It was the year
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