The Night Journey and Ascension (Isra and Mi'raj)

The Isra' wal-Mi'raj — the nocturnal journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and the ascent through the seven heavens — is the most singular event in the Prophet's ﷺ earthly biography. Its date is disputed among scholars; the majority place it in the eleventh or twelfth year of prophethood, following the Year of Sorrow. The Quran references it in Surah al-Isra' (17:1): 'Glorified is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs.' The classical scholarly consensus holds that this was a bodily, physical journey — not a dream — based on the Quranic word 'His servant' (abdihi) denoting body and soul, and the fact that the Quraysh's reaction the next morning was disbelief at a physical claim, not a dream. Jibril brought the Prophet ﷺ al-Buraq and they traveled to Jerusalem, where the assembled prophets — Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and others — were waiting. The Prophet ﷺ led them all in prayer. He then ascended through the seven heavens with Jibril, meeting a prophet at each: Adam in the first, Isa and Yahya in the second, Yusuf in the third, Idris in the fourth, Harun in the fifth, Musa in the sixth (who wept, saying the Prophet's ﷺ followers would exceed his own in number), and Ibrahim in the seventh, reclining against the Bayt al-Ma'mur — the celestial Ka'bah circumambulated by seventy thousand angels daily. At Sidrat al-Muntaha — the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary — the Prophet ﷺ received the command of fifty daily prayers. On descent, Musa urged him to request reductions repeatedly, each time sending him back to Allah, until the prayers were fixed at five — equal to fifty in divine reward. When the Quraysh heard the Prophet's ﷺ account the next morning, they mocked it. Abu Bakr alone responded without hesitation: 'If he says it, it is true' — earning the title al-Siddiq, the affirmer of truth. Jerusalem's sanctity in Islam, the five daily prayers, and the seal of the prophetic chain are all anchored in this single night — the most intimate divine encounter in human history, given at the lowest moment of the Meccan mission.