MI’RÂJ NIGHT is the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab. Mi’râj means ladder. It is the night on which Rasûlullah was made to ascend to heavens and was taken to unknown places.
The inhabitants of Mekka would not have îmân. They had been persecuting Muslims very much. They had gone too far and had already begun tormenting Muslims. Rasûlullah was very sorry. It was one year before the Hegira, and he was fifty-two years old. Taking Zayd bin Hârisa with him, he went to Tâif. He preached to the inhabitants of Tâif for one month. None would have îmân. They mocked him and tormented him, hooted and jeered at him. The children pelted him with stones. Hopeless, wearied, he was on his way back, his blessed legs wounded. Meanwhile, Zayd’s head had blood all over. During a very hot hour, they sat by the roadside, exhausted. The owners of a vineyard that happened to be there, two rich brothers named Utba and Shayba, who were sons of Rabî’a sent their servant Addâs with a bunch of grapes for each.
Before eating the grapes Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ said the Basmala. Addâs, a Christian, was surprised to hear this.
“I have been here for many years. I have never heard anybody say such a word. What kind of a word is that?” he said. Rasûlullah asked, “Where are you from?”
Addâs: “I am from Ninawa.”
Rasûlullah: “I see you are from the same place as Hadrat Yûnus ‘’alaihissalâm’.”
Addâs: “How do you know Yûnus? No one hereabouts knows him.”
Rasûlullah: “He is my brother. He was a Prophet like me.”
Addâs: “The owner of this beautiful face and these sweet words cannot be a liar. I now believe that you are Allah’s Messenger.” So he became a Muslim and added, “Yâ Rasûlallah (O, you, Messenger of Allah). I have been serving these cruel people for many years. They have been depriving people of their rights. They have been cheating others. They have no goodness. They will commit any baseness to get what is worldly and to fulfill their sensuous desires. I hate them. I want to go with you, get honoured with your service, to be the target of the irreverence which the ignorant and the idiots will commit against you and to sacrifice myself to protect your blessed body.”
Rasûlullah smiled: “Stay with your masters for the time being! After a short while, you will hear of my name far and near. Come to me then,” he stated. Resting for a while, they wiped off the remaining blood that was still on them and walked towards Mekka. It was already dark when they arrived in the city. The few months he spent in Mekka were troublesome. The enemy was everywhere. There was not a place to go. At last he went to the district of Abû Tâlib, where the house of Umm-i Hânî, his uncle’s daughter, was. Umm-i Hânî had not become a Muslim yet. “Who is there?” she said.
Rasûlullah said: “It is me, Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, your uncle’s son. I have come here as a guest, if you will accept me.”
Umm-i Hânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’: “I will gladly sacrifice my life for such a true, trustworthy, honourable and noble guest as you are. But if you had said in advance that you would honour us, I would have prepared something. I have no food to give you now.”
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’: “I want nothing to eat and drink. I care for none. A place will suffice where I can worship and entreat my Allah.”
Umm-i Hânî received Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’, gave him a mat, a bowl and an ewer. It was considered as the most honourable duty among the Arabs to do kindness to a visitor and to protect him against an enemy. Any harm given to a guest in a home would be a grave shame for the host. Umm-i Hânî thought, “He has a lot of enemies in Mekka. There are even people who want to kill him. I will be on the watch for him till morning in order to protect my honour.” Taking her father’s sword, she began to walk around the house.
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ was hurt very much during the day. Performing an ablution, he began to entreat his Allah, ask for forgiveness and pray so that people would have îmân thereby and attain happiness. Being very tired, hungry and aggrieved, he lay down on the mat and soon fell asleep.
At that moment, Allâhu ta’âlâ commanded to Hadrat Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’: “I have afflicted My Beloved Prophet so much. I have hurt his blessed body, his tender heart so much. But he still entreats Me. He does not think of anything besides Me. Go! Bring Me My Beloved! Show him My Paradise and Hell. Let him see the blessings I have prepared for him and for (My other) creatures who love him. Let him see the torment I have prepared for those who deny him, who hurt him with their words, writings and actions. I will console him. I will cure the wounds of his tender heart.” Within a moment Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ was with Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. He found him sound asleep. The Best of Mankind looked too adorable for the Archangel to wake him up. He was in a man’s figure. He kissed the sole of his blessed foot, thereby waking up the Messenger or Allah. At once he recognized Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ and, fearing that Allâhu ta’âlâ might have beenoffended with him, he said, “O my Brother, Jabrâil! Why are you here at such an unusual time?Have I done something wrong, have I offended my Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ)? Have you brought bitter news for me?”
Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ said, “O You, the Highest of all creatures! O You, the Beloved of the Creator! O You, the Master of Prophets! O You, the Honourable Prophet, the source of goodness and superiorities! Your Rabb sends His salâm to you. He bestows upon you the blessing which He has given to no other Prophet, to no creature. He invites you to Himself. Please get up. Let us go.” They went to the Kâ’ba, where someone came to them, cleaved open his chest, took out his heart and washed it with the water of Zemzem. Then he put it back in its place. Then, riding on a white animal named Burâq brought from Paradise, they went to the Masjid-i Aqsâ in Jerusalem in a moment. Making a hole in the rock with his finger, Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ tied Burâq there. The souls of some past Prophets, in their own figures, were present there. He offered Hadrat Adam, Hadrat Nûh (Noah) and Hadrat Ibrâhîm, respectively, to conduct the namâz as the imâm so that they would perform it in jamâ’at. Asking to be excused and saying that they were defective, they all declined it. Hadrat Jabrâil suggested the Habîbullah. “When you are present, no one else can be the imâm,” he said. After the namâz, they went out of the masjid and by some unknown ascent passed the seven layers of heavens in one moment. At each heaven he saw a great Prophet. Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ remained in Sidra, saying, “If I go as farther as a hair’s breadth I will burn and perish.” Sidrat-ulmuntahâ is a tree in the sixth heaven. After seeing Paradise, Hell, and innumerable other things, Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, on a carpet of Paradise named Rafraf, passed the Kursî, the ’Arsh, the world of souls, and reached the heights decreed by Allâhu ta’âlâ in an unknown, incomprehensible and unexampled manner. Without place, time, direction and manner, he saw Allâhu ta’âlâ. Without eyes, ears, means and place, he spoke with Allâhu ta’âlâ. Attaining blessings that could be known or comprehended by no creature, he came back to Jerusalem and thence to Umm-i Hânî’s house in the blessed city of Mekka. The place where he had lain down had not become cold yet, nor had the motion of the water in the bowl come to a standstill. Umm-i Hânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’, who had been walking about outside, had dozed off, unaware of all the events. On his way from Jerusalem to Mekka he met a caravan of Quraish. A camel in the caravan was frightened and fell down.
The next morning he went to the Kâ’ba and related his Mi’râj. Hearing this, the disbelievers scoffed at him. “Muhammad’s gone crazy for good,” they said. And the ones who had been thinking of becoming Muslims gave up. Some of them, amused, went to Abû Bakr’s house. They knew he was a clever, experienced and calculating merchant. As soon as he came to the door, they asked him: “O Abâ Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’! You went to Jerusalem many times. You must know well. How long does it take to go from Mekka to Jerusalem?” Hadrat Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ said: “I know well that it takes more than a month.”
The disbelievers were pleased with this reply and said:“So will a wise and experienced man say.” Laughing, mocking, being happy because Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ was of the same opinion as they were, they said: “Your master says that he went to and came back from Jerusalem in a night. He is completely mad now,” and showed their sympathy, reverence and trust for Abû Bakr. Upon hearing the blessed name of Rasûlullah, Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ said: “If he says so I believe him. He for sure went and came back in a moment,” and went back in.
The disbelievers were all stupefied. Hanging their heads, they walked away, saying:“How amazing! What a strong sorcerer Muhammad is! He bewitched Abû Bakr.” Clothing himself immediately, Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ went to Rasûlullah. In the big crowd he said aloud, “O Rasûlallah! I congratulate you, your blessed Mi’râj! Infinite gratitude be to Allâhu ta’âlâ because He has honoured us with being the servants of such an exalted Prophet as you are. He has blessed us with seeing your shining face, with hearing your sweet words that please hearts and attract souls. O Rasûlallah ‘sallAllâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’! Every word you say is true. I believe you. I am ready to sacrifice my life for you!” These words of Abû Bakr’s bewildered the disbelievers. Being at a loss as to what to say, they dispersed. This strengthened the hearts of a few people with weak îmân who had been doubting. That day Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ called Abû Bakr “Siddîq.” Being given this name, he was promoted to a higher grade.
All this exasperated the unbelievers. They could not bear the Believers’ firm îmân, their believing right away whatever he said, their gathering around him and protecting him. In order to rout and disgrace Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’, they attempted to test him. “O Muhammad ‘’alaihissalâm’! You claim to have gone to Jerusalem. Tell us now! How many doors and how many windows does the masjid have?” were some of their questions. As the Prophet answered each, Hadrat Abû Bakr said, “Right, O Rasûlallah! It is true, O Rasûlallah!” But in actual fact, out of his embarrassment, Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ would not even look at a person in the face. Afterwards, he stated: “I had not looked around in the Masjid-i aqsâ. I had not seen what they asked about. At that moment Jabrâil ‘’alaihissalâm’ brought Masjid-i aqsâ before my eyes. [Like watching television], I saw, counted, and answered their questions at once.” He said that he had seen travellers riding camels on his way and that he hoped, inshâallah, that they would arrive on Wednesday. On Wednesday, just before sunset, the caravan arrived in Mekka. They said that something had happened like the blowing of the wind and that a camel had fallen down. This situation strengthened the Believers’ îmân but aggravated the unbelievers’ enmity. The book entitled Rûh-ul-bayân, quoting from the book entitled Tafsîr-i Husaynî, and the book entitled Bahr, in the section dealing with imâmat, say:“A personwho does not believe that Rasûlullah was taken from the city of Mekka to Jerusalem [to Beyt-ul muqaddes] will be a disbeliever. One who does not believe that he was taken to the heavens and to unknown places will be dâl and mubtadi’. ” That is, he will be a heretic.
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Seâdet-i Ebediyye Endless Bliss Third Fascicle
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