Al-Isra’ and al Mi’raj is a miraculous journey our Prophet Muhammad went on. It is one of the greatest miracles bestowed by Allah.

This journey has two parts to it. Al-Isra’ means: Night Journey, while al-Mi’raj means: Ascension.

Al- Isra’, The Night Journey

While the Prophet (saw) was sleeping, the Angel Jibril {as} descended and took the Prophet (saw) to the Hijr. The Hijr is the semi-circular wall of the Ka’bah. It is said that there Angel Jibril opened the Prophet’s (saw) chest and washed it with Zamzam water. Then, he poured wisdom and faith into the prophet’s chest and closed it.

Then came to the Prophet (saw) a white beast called al-Buraq (similar to the Arabic word barq, which means lightning). Al-Buraq was smaller than a donkey and bigger than a mule, and each step it took was as long as the eye could reach.

Al-Buraq took the Prophet (saw) all the way from Makkah to Bait al-Maqdis (Aka Masjid Al-Aqsa) in the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Inside Bait al-Maqdis, the Prophet (saw) found all of the Prophets that ever existed. He led them all in prayer! SubhanAllah.

Al-Mi’raj, The Ascension

From Al-Aqsa, the second part of the journey begins. Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the angel Jibreel {as} ascended to the Seven Skies. In each sky, the Prophet (saw) met and spoke with different other Prophets.

Then, the angel Jibreel {as} and the Prophet (saw) reached “Sidrat-Al-Muntaha” at the 7th Sky. At this boundary, only the Prophet (saw) passed through.

Allah (swt) told Prophet Muhammad (saw) that Muslims are to pray 50 times a day. As the Prophet (saw) went back to earth, he met with Prophet Moses who advised him that 50 prayers were too much for a day. So Prophet Muhammad (saw) went back to Allah and requested to reduce 50 prayers since it was too much. Allah reduced it to 45, then the Prophet (saw) met Prophet Moses (as) who advised him to ask to reduce it again. This happened 9 times until the amount of prayers became 5. Allah (swt) told the Prophet Muhammad (saw) that 5 is the final number of prayers, and that they will be counted as if they were 50. This shows the mercy of Allah, giving us the same amount of hasanats as 50 prayers, just by doing 5.

Lessons from Al-Isra’ w Al-Mi’raj

Al-Isra’ w Al-Mi’raj took place at a time when Prophet Muhammad (saw) was facing many hardships. He had just gone through “The Year of Sorrow” (‘Aam Al- Huzn), the year he lost his beloved wife Khadijah (ra), and his uncle Abu Talib who was very close to him.

In addition, when the Prophet (saw) had traveled to Ta’if to spread the knowledge of Islam, the people of Ta’if had rejected him cruelly.

After going through so much grief, suffering, and burdens, the miracle of Al-isra’ and Al-Mi’raj was a comforting and beautiful gift. This shows us a very important message, that “with every hardship, there will be ease” (Al-Qur’an, 94:5).

Al-Isra’ w Al-Mi’raj

(The Night Journey and Ascension)