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The journey of Isra & Miraj is very significant and has a direct impact on daily lives of Muslims as it was during this journey that our Prophet SAW had the glimpses of wonders of paradise and torture of hellfire, along with the gift of Salah (obligatory prayers) which was granted during this journey. Apart from these, there are many other lessons that we can learn from it.

Life of Prophet Muhammad SAW before Isra and Mi’raj:
In order to fully grasp the significance of this journey, we should appreciate the circumstances leading to this miraculous trip, try to understand its implications on the life of the Prophet SAW and subsequently of the whole ummah.

According to the majority of reports, the journey took place roughly about nine years after the beginning of revelation. These were not easy times for Prophet SAW for despite devoting all his time inviting people towards Islam, only a handful had responded to his call. Leaders of Makkah were brutal in their retaliation tactics against Islam and their torture of Prophet’s companions was a source of constant agony for him SAW. During this time, Prophet SAW had two main supporters: his wife, Khadijah RA who was a source of constant moral and financial support for the Prophet; and his uncle Abu Talib, who although never embracing Islam himself, was the source of protection for Prophet SAW within the community. Khadija RA passed away during this year shortly followed by Abu Talib which snatched emotional as well as physical support from Prophet SAW. It is important to elaborate on the role of these two people in Prophet SAW’s life to feel the full impact of suffering our beloved Prophet went through.

Khadija RA was a pillar of support for Prophet SAW during the first years of revelation. She was the first woman who embraced Islam, and gave her unconditional, unquestioning and unwavering support to the Prophet in his attempt to spread the message. She was a very noble and dignified person and Prophet SAW often turned to her for wisdom and advice; He SAW often relied on her insight and opinions, which time and time again proved to be true. She also was a source of moral, emotional, and financial support for her husband. It is a known fact that she was one of the wealthiest business-owners in the Arabian Peninsula when she married Prophet SAW, and that she subsequently spent all her wealth in the path of Allah SWT to the point she passed away without anything in her possession. So outstanding was her moral character that before she passed away, she received the glad tidings of her abode in Paradise. Very few people in the history of Islam have received such high spiritual status. Therefore, it is not hard to imagine what a devastating impact her death had on the life of Prophet SAW. It left a void in him that no one was able to replace; even years after her death, the Prophet SAW used to grieve over her loss.

The death of Khadija RA was shortly followed by the death of Abu Talib. With no one left to support the Prophet and grant him protction, Quraysh tribe was free to persecute him SAW and the Muslim community as never before. He SAW was all alone emotionally, and broken financially. At this point he had no means or status in society, he was devoid of emotional support, and his attempts to spread Islam bore no results.

Prophet SAW visited the nearby city of Taif to preach the message of Islam and to seek asylum from the Meccan oppressors, but he was mocked, attacked and chased out of town. Ridiculed by society and labelled a liar, possessed, and a madman, he was all alone during these difficult trials and tribulations. It is not hard to understand why this turbulent period of his life was referred to as the Year of Sadness or ‘Aam al Huzn.

During the journey:
It was during these trying times, when circumstances had reached such low levels— almost beyond normal human endurance, that Allah SWT sent Angel Jibrail to invite the Prophet SAW to the most wondrous journey that anyone on earth had ever been to. The trip was a mercy and support from Allah, to let him SAW know who the real director of events was, in order to ease his suffering and to reveal things which Prophet SAW had believed in his heart, but never seen with his eyes. Much of the details of the journey are so stupendous that it requires total and utter faith. None of us will ever see even a fraction of what the Prophet SAW witnessed; for example, we all believe in the existence of angels however none of us have ever seen them. Similarly, all Muslims believe in paradise and hellfire, without having seen these places.

Based on our understanding of physics, the concept of someone traversing the seven heavens and conversing with unseen beings defies all known logic; therefore it has been debated whether this journey actually took place, or whether it was a mere vision. This is where the reality of faith in the unseen comes in. We need to remind ourselves that our Creator is the inventor of all things. He can create life out of nothing; He created the galaxy in its complex and perfect order; He created the smallest bacteria with such perfection down to its miniscule details that we cannot ever replicate. Therefore, we must remember that things such as physics, dimensions, space, time and distance are creations of Allah, and by His Supreme command all these laws can be changed and suspended. Isra and Mi’raj transcended all these concepts as we understand them on earth. Therefore, the majority of scholars believe that this journey happened physically, with the body and soul of the Prophet SAW.


Ahmed Moait