The night of Al-Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj — the miraculous Night Journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and the Ascension through the seven heavens — is one of the most extraordinary events in the history of all creation. This article presents the complete account with its Qurʾānic basis, Ḥadīth, and the essential lessons for Muslims today.
The Context
The Miʿrāj occurred in the twelfth year of Prophethood — the ʿAm al-Ḥuzn (Year of Sorrow) in which the Prophet ﷺ lost Sayyidatunā Khadījah ؓ and Sayyidunā Abū Ṭālib, and was rejected and stoned in Ṭāʾef. Allah ﷻ, in His infinite mercy, responded to this darkest period with the greatest gift — an intimate encounter beyond the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.
The Qurʾānic Account
“Glory be to the One Who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Sūrah al-Isrāʾ (17:1)
“Then he drew near and descended, and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer. And He revealed to His servant what He revealed.”
Sūrah al-Najm (53:8–10)
The Journey in Detail
Jibrīl arrived at the Prophet’s ﷺ side in the night and brought the Burāq — a luminous creature whose stride reached the horizon. The Prophet ﷺ rode to Masjid al-Aqsā in an instant, prayed two rakʿahs, and then led all the Prophets in prayer as their Imām. He was offered milk and wine — he chose the milk. Jibrīl said: “You have chosen the fiṭrah.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 168)
From Masjid al-Aqsā, he ascended through the seven heavens, meeting a Prophet at each:
- First heaven: Sayyidunā Ādam
- Second: Sayyidunā ʿIsā and Yaḥyā
- Third: Sayyidunā Yūsuf
- Fourth: Sayyidunā Idrīs
- Fifth: Sayyidunā Hārūn
- Sixth: Sayyidunā Mūsā — who wept saying: “A young man was sent after me and more of his followers will enter Paradise than mine”
- Seventh: Sayyidunā Ibrāhīm — leaning against the Bayt al-Maʿmūr, the frequented house, into which 70,000 angels enter every day and never return
At the Sidrat al-Muntahā — the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary — the Prophet ﷺ entered the Divine Presence. Here Allah ﷻ obligated fifty prayers upon the Ummah. Through the encouragement of Sayyidunā Mūsā , the Prophet ﷺ returned repeatedly until they were reduced to five — with the reward of fifty. (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 3207)
Key Lessons
- Salāh is the Miʿrāj of the believer — a direct gift from Allah ﷻ without angelic intermediary
- Hardship precedes honour — the Year of Sorrow gave way to the night of Miʿrāj
- The Prophet ﷺ intercedes for his Ummah — even at the highest station, he returned to reduce our burden
- Masjid al-Aqsā is sacred — the first stop of the Night Journey, blessed by Allah ﷻ in the Qurʾān
- The bodily ascension — the mainstream Sunni position is that the Miʿrāj was with both body and soul
May Allah ﷻ grant us a share in the love of His Prophet ﷺ, enliven our prayers with the spirit of Miʿrāj, and admit us to Paradise through his blessed intercession. Āmīn.
