Ml‘RAJ the ascension of the Holy Prophet ﷺ

 

Ml‘RAJ

 

The Holy Quran says:

"Glory to (God) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our signs: for He is One Who heareth and seeth (all things)". 

The journey by night is an allusion to the incident of Mi‘raj the ascension of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) to the heavens through outer space and beyond heavens, in the presence of God Almighty. The fact that space is not in-conquerable by man is evidenced in two instances the first was the instance of the Ascension of Hazrat Essa. (Jesus Christ, (peace be upon him) to be protected from his persecutors, the second instance was the Ascension of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ)  far beyond the limits where time and space lose their significance, for the traditions say that when the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) returned home from Mi‘raj his bed was still warm with the warmth of his body. 

The Mi‘raj is one of the most outstanding signs of the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). It was a clear sign for the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet as well as a sign far those who live in this era of scientific advancement. The truth of Mi'raj could neither be denied in those days nor can it be denied today. The non-believers of Makkah had complete faith in the honesty and truthfulness of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ), but they could not sever their emotional attachment with their three hundred and sixty petty gods and goddesses, nor could they prevail upon themselves to believe in only one God. Hence, as they could not blame him as being a liar, they began to condemn him as a crazy or deluded person. When they knew that the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) had claimed to have visited the Mosque of Jerusalem and then ascended to the heavens, travelled far beyond the heavens and come back home, all within one single night they knew that they could then easily prove that he was either crazy or deluded.  How was it possible for a mortal to travel even upto the Mosque of Jerusalem and return home within the short span of the night? So, they gathered around him to disprove his claim. A good many among the Shaikhs of Quraish had travelled to Jerusalem together with the trading caravans, they had seen the Holy Mosque of Jerusalem with complete detail and they began to questions the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) about these details. But the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) had seen the Mosque only once during his journey of the Mi‘raj and he had not attached any importance to studying the details of the structure. He was naturally perturbed, but God would not let his Servant down. He presented to the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) a model of the Jerusalem Mosque in the vision and the latter was enabled to describe to the assembly every minute detail relating to the structure of the Mosque. The non-believers were thus defeated in their attempt to disprove the Ascension of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ).  But they were die-hard non-believers, instead of being convinced they began to convince the Holy Prophet (ﷺ)  as a Sorcerer. 

When Abu Bakr (R.D.A.) was asked whether he thought it possible for a person to travel to Jerusalem and return home within one single night he replied that he believed in matters which were of more astounding nature: he believed in the fact that the revelation came daily to the Holy Prophet from beyond the heavens. This firmness of faith earned Abu Bakr (R.D.A.) the title of As-Siddique, the Most truthful.

 The current decade may be named the Interplanetary Decade because during this decade man has been able to send his space ships to neighboring planets. But only a few years back it was not possible to convince a rationally minded person that man would soon be able to travel through space. It involved several obstacles including the Earth's gravitational pull, the emptiness of human capacity to travel through space. 

How was it possible for such rationally minded persons to believe that the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) had journeyed through the space physically? But thanks to the current Interplanetary Decade that the clouds of doubt are clearing away: a rationally minded person is now able to think nay he is sure, of the possibilities of travelling to other planets through space. With regard to the journey to the surrounding solar systems, the vastness of distance constitutes the only obstacle that can be overcome by using the swiftest means of Transport and which means of transport can be swifter than a vehicle electronically propelled, travelling at the speed of light or lightening. In this respect, it is most significant that the means of transport which was provided to the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) on the occasion of Mi‘raj was "Buraq". The word is derived from ‘Barq’ which means Lightening. It is described in the books of Hadith as a quadruped taller than an ass and shorter than a mule in structure, which covered in each step the whole distance the human eye is capable of sweeping through.

 

Who was it who told an illiterate person who lived among the uncultured savages of Arabia fourteen centuries ago that only this sort of a vehicle travelling at the speed of lightening and propelled by electricity was fit for interplanetary transport. As a matter of fact, the incident of Mi‘raj is one of the greatest and everlasting miracles of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). If viewed from the proper angle, it is enough to dispel every doubt from the minds of the sceptics with regard to the truth of Islam.

 

A jewel in the possession of a beggar unnoticed because only the trained eye of a jeweler can detect it. So does Islam go unnoticed by non-Muslim because it is the religion professed by backward and under-developed people. Some of them even have the audacity to blame Islam for the backwardness of Muslims. In fact, it is Muslims who are to be blamed for defaming Islam. Islam has presented to Muslims every principle responsible for their spiritual and material advancement but Muslims have obstinately refused to act according to those principles.

 Before the dawn of the industrial age, no one was able to realize the full worth of iron and steel. Gold was of course a precious metal. The Holy Qur'an turned the attention of Muslims towards the importance of Iron.  A whole chapter of the Holy Qur’an is captioned “Al-Hadid" which means. 'The Iron". A verse in the chapter says:

 "And we poured down Iron which has great striking power and is useful to men in many ways:

 But the Industrial age dawned in the West among non-Muslim nations, Iron, giving them thereby strength and wealth. The world of Islam depends today on the West in matters relating to heavy industry.

Similarly, the Muslims were the first people who are given, by their religion, the idea of interplanetary transport through the incident of Mi‘raj. Besides, the following verses of the Holy Qur'an give an idea of the possibility of penetrating through the orbits of the planets:

 "O ye assembly of Jinns and men" If it be that ye can pass beyond the zones of heavens and the earth, pass ye: not without authority (power) shall ye be able to pass.

 But the space age dawned in the West and the Muslim nations are nowhere to be seen around. The U.S. and the U.S S.R trying their best to outstrip each other in the race of interplanetary exploration. It is commonly believed that science can be used as a more weapon than very nuclear weapons.

 Today, we are far behind the progress. But if Japan could build herself within fifty years and China could build herself within twenty years and be equal to the West, why can we not build ourselves within a shorter period 'guided as we are by the teachings of Islam? Let us, therefore, take Qur’an guidance from the message of Islam, build our character as true Muslims, and quicken our pace of progress until we attain our rightful place as the Vicegerents of God on earth.