The Prophet Holy night journey from Mecca to Beit Al-Maqdiss, the place where all the Divine messages were descended since Prophet Ibrahim till Prophet Issa (A.S.), and which was followed by the ascendance to the skies and to the farthest lote-tree. This journey took place on the twenty seventh of Rajab, the year right before Hijra. And it had profound effects on the souls of Muslims.

The Journey's Circumstances

Before the Prophet (Peace be on him) had this journey, he had lost his uncle, Abu Taleb, as well as his faithful wife, Khadija. Quraish then started to tighten its grip on Muhammad and his followers. Hence the journey was a kind of a Divine moral support. From the scientific point of view, the night journey was a land trip while the ascendance was a journey through the cosmic space to other world's full of suns and stars, which consist the domain of Heavens. The meaning of Heaven in this context is the same as that indicated in many Ayats in the Holy Quran: "Surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the faithful" [45:3] and "In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of sense" [3:191]. It's a scientific fact that if we travel in space indefinitely we would reach the outskirts of the visible cosmos in about twenty billion years provided that we travel at the speed of light (300,000 km/s). In all these distances we would be subjected to the same laws of nature that we encounter on earth. Moreover, neither science nor religion could accept the idea of a god in a fixed place that we travel to.

A Journey Through The Stars

Therefore, it is more correct both religiously and scientifically, to say that the ascendance was a trip in the universe, in which the Prophet saw for himself its endless worlds and wonders, until be reached its end. One of these wonders, which the ancients used to talk about was the "Blue Dome", that we see above our heads everyday. They went as far as saying that it was the place the angles live in, but modern science has proved that it is only a light phenomenon due to the disperse of the sun's blue light. When man was able to go over this dome, he saw that the cosmos above it was dark despite the presence of the sun.

It has been proven that the dome faces the sun, and turns with the earth with a thickness of no more than 200 kilometers in accordance with what Allah said in the Sura of Yassin: "A sign for them is the night. From it we draw out the day and they are plunged in darkness" [36:36]

The Ayat of the night journey has predicted or rather asserted that both Kaaba and the Beit Al-Maqddis will become Muslim mosques. Allah, the most Exalted tells us that the aim of the night journey was to "show him some of Our signs" and the aim of the ascendance to see "some of his Lord's greatest signs", thus proving what we claimed that it was a sacred journey through the universe. The night journey is also a symbolic act to underscore the unity of the Muslim lands and the ties that bond between the Kaaba and the Aqsa Mosque. On the other hand both journeys were not meant as a challenge to the unbelievers, but rather to try the Muslims on the eve of Hijra. The truth of the matter is that the greatest miracle by which the Prophet challenged the unbelievers is the Holy Quran. Thus I believe that we should not consider the journey as a miracle for it lacks the element of challenge.

At the time of this blessed journey Allah wished to reassure His Prophet in the midst of his crisis with Quraish. He saw with his own eyes all facts and hopes. And when he saw how grand the universe was, and the secrets it conceals, he felt how irrelevant was the earth and what was on it.

The Quran mentions the lives in the other worlds in many ayats like: "To Allah bow all the creatures of the heavens and earth" [16:49].

When the Messenger woke up, the following day he began to talk of his night journey, describing both Kaaba and Beit al-Maqddis as Mosques, although the Kaaba was still full of idols.

It is related that the Prophet told his foster-sister Hind bint Abd al-Mutalib: "I was with you last night and I performed the night prayers in this valley, then I went to Beit al-Maqddis where I performed a prayer and here I am performing the morning prayers with you. But when Hind urged him not to tell anybody about it for they would not believe him, he swore by Allah that he was going to do just that".

Therefore, it is obvious that the wisdom that underlies the timing of the journey a year before Hijra was to eradicate the ranks of Muslims of all hypocrites and reluctant believers, so that only those of firm belief and a will to sacrifice would migrate to Madina.

Thus it was not strange that the journey would create a controversy among the people who focused on the issue of whether it was made by spirit only or by both spirit and Body. But how could it have been by the spirit only when Allah says that His Prophet has seen His Ayats.

Moreover, there is no doubt that the human mind is but limited and that miracles by definition do not conform with the laws the mind usually accepts.

So, while some Muslims have talked about a journey by soul alone, I tend to believe that it was performed by both soul and body by Allah's will. If man is able to transfer the hearing and seeing senses through the radio and the television, could it have been difficult for the Creator to move all the senses...

I have wondered a lot about what made the Quran call a journey in outer space a mirage, which means in Arabic both ascendance, and travelling along a curved path. But when I learnt that all bodies in outer space travel along such a path, I knew why Allah used such an expression. How could the Prophet learn this fact 14 centuries ago, were it not for the Divine revelation?

Furthermore, when the Quran talks about the ascendance, it does so in the beginning of the "Star" Surah, which indicates that it was a journey in the cosmos. This material cosmos that although vast and enormous, is enclosed on itself, and that in it resembles the earth with its limited horizon.

Conclusion

The Quran has challenged the unbelievers with the scientific facts it revealed. It says: "Say: Have you any knowledge you can show us? You believe in nothing but conjecture and follow nothing but falsehoods" [6:148].

The Holy Quran has revealed to us many of the wonders of the Heavens especially that they were 7 in number. Moreover, it has mentioned the first heaven calling it the heavens of this earth, or as we call it today the atmosphere. Allah has challenged the unbelievers in the Holy Quran, when He says:

"Do not the disbeliveers see that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass which we tore asunder, and that We made every living thing of water? Will they not have faith?" [21: 30].

Is not it about time that we go back to the right path and see the light of truth?

Mohtaj-e-dua

Rupani family