The glorious Mi'raj

Moslems all over the world normally celebrate this auspicious night through prayers and penance on the 27th of Rajab. The holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) was first transported through a unique journey from the holy Ka'ba to the seat of the earlier revelations in Jerusalem, and then taken through the Seven Heavens, even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time. He was also blessed with the unique opportunity to meet in person the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful Rabbul Alameen -- an unparalleled "Deedar' of the 'Concrete' with the 'Supreme Abstract'.

On the sacred Night of Ascension the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was at Makkah in the house of his cousin Hazrat Umma Hani (RA), sister of Hazrat Ali Murtaza (RA). Having said his night prayers, the holy Prophet (pbuh) was asleep "with closed eyes but a wakeful Kalb." Hazrat Jibrail (Gabriel) (AS) roused him from his sleep and informed him that Allah, in His infinite Mercy, has graciously decided to show him the Wonders, to honour him in a manner as He has not done with anybody else before.

It was indeed a unique incident in the annals of history. No other creation had ever been so close to the Creator. The holy Prophet (pbuh) had indeed seen the Greatest Signs of Allah. According to Tirmizi, the holy Prophet (pbuh) said: "I saw my Rab with my eyes and Kalb." According to the Mishkat, the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) said: "I saw my Rab in His Best Appearance …

. I was endued with knowledge of whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earths."

The holy Prophet (pbuh) then visited Jannat (the Paradise) and Jahannam (the Hell) and returned to Makkah. It was still night when they reached the Ka'ba. From there the holy Prophet (pbuh) went again to the house of Umma Hani (RA). "A little before dawn the Prophet (pbuh) woke us," says Umma Hani (RA), and when he had prayed the dawn prayer, he said, 'O Umma Hani, I prayed with you the last evening prayer in this valley as thou sawest. Then went I to Jerusalem and there prayed; and now have I prayed with you the morning prayer as thou seest.' 'O Prophet of God: I said, 'Tell not the people this, for they will give thee the lie and insult thee.' 'By God, I will tell them,' he said.

The holy Prophet completed the entire Journey, comprising the unique Audience with the Creator, visits to the Heavens and Hells, offering of prayers at various places on Earth and in the Heavens, brief discussions with numerous Prophets, in an incredibly short period. The astounding feat surprised many. A few even went to the extent of claiming that the Journey was performed through a vision. Even a renowned and erudite exegetist like Abdullah Yusuf Ali opines: "Even on the supposition of a miraculous bodily journey, it is conceded that the body was almost transformed into spiritual fineness." But persons who doubt the physical ascension of the holy Prophet (pbuh) perhaps forget that Allah can do and undo anything and everything, nothing is impossible on His part. He is the Best of the planners and "when He hath decreed a Plan, He but saith to it, 'Be, and it is." (Sura Al-I-Imran, Verse 47).

The glorious Mi'raj has always furnished "worlds of golden dreams" for the imaginative genius of poets and philosophers and traditionists, both Moslems and non-Moslems. Prof. Miguel Asin, the renowned Spanish scholar in the University of Madrid, very rightly claimed that the Mi'raj had a great influence on the Mediaeval literature of not only Asia and Africa but of Europe as well. According to this great scholar, even the sublime Italian poem, Divina Commedia of Dante, which had a tremendous impact on the development of Italian language and tremendous impact on the development of Italian language and literature, and which towered like a landmark in mediaeval literature, was greatly influenced by the Divine Ascension of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Prof. Asin's work, translated into English by H. Sunderland under the title "Islam and the Divine Comedy" in 1926, created sensation all over the world. His claim, duly substantiated by detailed and painstaking analysis, has not yet been challenged by any scholar in the East or the West.

The Night of Ascension indeed occupies a very significant place in the chequered history of Islam. It was on this Night of Excellence that Salat or 'Prayers' were instituted and divine injunction conveyed to the believers, through the Apostle of Islam (pbuh): "Tell My servants, who believe, to establish Prayers."

Syed Ashraf Ali is former DG, Islamic Foundation, Bangladesh.