The Theological Significance of ISRA AND MI'RAJ

THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Nearly all, if not all the Prophets of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) recognised by Jews and Christians at the time of they were in some way or another connected with Palestine and Jerusalem. Indeed many had their roots in that holy land. The Christians and Jews considered it a holy land because of Solomon's (pbuh) temple which was built in Jerusalem, because of the Sakhrah or holy rock close to Solomon's (pbuh) temple to which they turned in prayer, and because David (pbuh) had established his kingdom there. Abraham (pbuh) lived there and the Jews and Christians believed that the trial of the sacrifice of his son took place there. Therefore, none could, at that time, claim to be a Prophet of God and hope to have his claim accepted by the Jews and Christians unless he could demonstrate a powerful personal link with the holy land.

Now Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) was born of Arab parents in the city of Makkah in Arabia - a land which, to that time, had produced no Prophets of god. He spent his entire life in Makkah and Madina and never even once traveled to Jerusalem. It was very likely, therefore, that the majority of Jews and Christians would have very serious reservations about his claim to Prophethood despite the fact that he recognised and venerated the previous Prophets and claimed to be imparting the same guidance which the world received through them.

It was, perhaps, with the specific objective of enhancing the legitimacy of his claim of prophethood in the eyes of those who associated prophethood with Jerusalem that the Sakhrah (Holy Rock) of Jerusalem had been ordained as the direction to which he and the Muslims should turn in prayer (Qibla).

Shortly, however, before the Prophet's migration (Hijrah) to Madina where, unlike Makkah, there was a large and influential community of Jews and Christians, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) strengthened his credentials in dealing with those two groups by taking him on a miraculous journey to Jerusalem and to the temple of Solomon (pbuh) (referred to in the Qur'an as Masjid al-Aqsa) so that he, too, could be physically linked to that holy land as were Prophets who preceded him. Indeed the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) had an added and unique honour in the fact that whereas other Prophets had themselves to travel to Jerusalem (Jesus (pbuh) went on a donkey), Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) was taken there by God Himself.

Nineteen months before he actually confronted the Jews and Christians of Madina with his physical presence, the powerful impact (and implications) of Al-Miraj was beamed to that city and to the Christian and Jewish worlds by the Prophet from Makkah. Here was tangible and incontrovertible evidence of the truthfulness of his claim that he was the Prophet of God and that he was imparting the same guidance as was taught by the Prophets who preceded him.

The Prophet's Miraj is an indispensable strategic instrument for the projection of the Qur'anic guidance in the lands of Christians and Jews.

The second important theological significance of Al-Isra and Miraj is to be found in the fact that he, Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) led the congregational prayers at Masjid al-Aqsa in which participated all the Prophets of God. This amply demonstrates his status as leader of .the Prophets.

In addition, the fact that, in so far as we are aware, he Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) was the only one in the entire history of creation, to be honoured by Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) with an approach to Him closer than even Gabriel was permitted, is demonstrative of his added status (clearly established in the Qur'an) of being unique in all creation.

Finally, we must note the important fact of theological significance that, as a consequence of Al-Isra and Miraj God's Messenger could invite the people to believe in the hereafter - in the world of unseen verities, of angels, heaven and hell, etc., not only on the basis of what was communicated to him by Gabriel, but also on the basis of his direct experience of these verities. That direct experience was, for him, a confirmation of that which he had previously been taught through revelations. As a result of Miraj he could speak of those unseen verities with even greater conviction and this lent and still lends, added strength and appeal to his message.

The truths of religion can never be truly established until they are experienced. Miraj holds out the possibility that those truths can be experienced. This is a matter of supreme importance in today's world in which values are collapsing and corruption is doing great damage to political, economic, legal, educational and so many other social institutions. The verdict of history is that religion, and religion alone, can restore and sustain values. But religion can only do so to the extent that it can establish indubitable faith in the unseen world. Islam alone appears to have preserved the capacity to do so, and the Miraj plays a strategic role in that capacity.

Source:The Fast of Ramadan & Isra' and Miraj

To Be Continued ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRy9qUnCw5Y

The Scientific Significance of ISRA AND MI'RAJ

THE SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE

Since the Al-Isra and Mira} involved a real journey (rather than a vision or a dream) it is important that we should seek to understand how the journey was effected. How was it possible for the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) to be transported from Makkah to Jerusalem and back to Makkah in a matter of a fleeting moment? Also, how was it possible for the physical being of the Prophet to be transported into the transcendental realms and to return to this spatio­ temporal dimension of existence?

We are, in fact, faced here with a situation which is virtually identical to that of the ascent of Jesus (pbuh) - if we accept the majority Muslim view that Jesus (pbuh) was transported bodily into the heavens and will return to this world before the end of the world.

Now since the physical body occupies space, one cannot, in terms of the Qur'anic Guidance, conceive of a physical approach to Al­lah (subhanahu wa ta’alah), Who is non-spatial and Who is also "with you wherever you are" and is "closer to (man) than his jugular vein". The only way, therefore, that we can understand this journey is by postulating the transformation of the physical body into its transcendental form which, by definition, pertains to that domain of existence which transcends space and time. Although the majority opinion in the time of the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) and up to this day has been that the physical body made the entire journey, we noted earlier that there was a minority opinion to the effect that the body did not participate in the journey. It is important that we remember that the Prophet himself did not explicitly confirm the participation of the physical body in the physical form. Indeed he seemed to be deliberately vague on the subject.

Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari, the learned author of "The Qur'anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society", (World Federation of Islamic Missions, Karachi, 1973) supports the thesis of ,transformation' :

"The holy Prophet's Miraj was. however, an event of unique nature in which it should be accepted that his sacred personality had been transformed by God from the physical to the transcendental dimension of existence ..." (Vol. 1. pS8)

Now both the physical and the transcendental are dimensions of the self-same human personality. Al-Isra and Miraj involved movement within the individual person of the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) from one dimension of existence to another.

Para-psychologists have conclusively demonstrated that out-of­ body travel over long distances in very short periods of time is possible and actually happens. The transformation of the physical being has, however, eluded para-psychology. The secret explanation for this probably lies in the Sufi view of the origin of matter - that it is light which generates energy and gradually transforms itself into matter. The first thing which God created was a particle of light in intense motion, and from this original light emerged all creation. Matter, therefore, is at its origin, light. If scientific research can discover how to reverse the transformation of light into matter it will be possible for the physical being to be transformed - and herein lies the primary scientific significance of the Prophet's (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) miraculous joumey.

One cannot commence the effort of seeking to discover the process of reverse transformation, however, until one has first understood the original process of creation through transformation. Nor can one penetrate the knowledge of the original process of transformation without turning to the divine guidance on the subject revealed through the Word of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) (the Qur'an). For this reason also, therefore, the Qur'an remains a book of supreme scientific importance advent of Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam).

Source:The Fast of Ramadan & Isra' and Miraj

To Be Continued ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRy9qUnCw5Y

The Epistemological Significance of ISRA AND MI'RAJ

THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) has explained in the Qur'an that the purpose of the al-Isra was "to show him (i.e. the Prophet) of Our Signs". Now since the Signs of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) are basically pregnant with knowledge, which is intended for the benefit of mankind (and this is why the verses of the Qur'an are also called Signs or Ayat), it should be obvious that Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) showed those Signs of the purpose of imparting some special knowledge to the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam). This fact is clearly reinforced by the use, at the end of the verse, of the divine attributes al-Sami (He Who hears) and al-Basir (He Who Sees).

Since it is He, Allah, Who Really Sees and Really Hears, Real knowledge is with Him. Al-Miraj, therefore, was to the world of Real knowledge. This is a matter of such supreme importance for the modern world that it could usher an intellectual revolution. The modem scientific method insists that only that which can be an object of observation and experimentation can be admitted into scientific knowledge. That which cannot be observed cannot be admitted as knowledge, because only scientific knowledge is real knowledge. Everything else belongs to 'disneyland'. The result has been that the secularization of knowledge has delinked knowledge from the sacred and the transcendental. And since the essence of things are located in their transcendental substance, modern scientific man can sees things only as they 'appear' to him. As a consequence he is like a ship without a pilot, sailing the wide sees without a clue as to where he is going.

All human knowledge comes to man through the medium of the senses and the intellect, both operating inter-dependently within the framework of space and time. Man is, under normal circumstances, imprisoned within this framework of thinking and living. But through the Prophet's Mira} Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) demonstrated, in as spectacular a manner as possible, that there is another world of knowledge which transcends space and time. Man can partake of that knowledge if he can pierce the spatio- temporal barrier. If and when he does, he will be able to acquire the knowledge of things 'as they are' in contrast to the prevailing knowledge of things 'as they appear to us'.

The Mira}, therefore, established the existence of transcendental knowledge, and the learned man (Alim) is he whose knowledge is enriched with transcendental knowledge. But the further significance of the Mira} into the world of transcendental knowledge is that it did not take place until the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) had first spent long years learning from the Signs of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) here-below. Transcendental knowledge thus appears to be the fruit which is earned after prolonged struggle in the quest for knowledge.

The epistemological significance of the Mira}, therefore, is that it affirms the existence of, and draws our attention to transcendental knowledge. It also provides us with the methodology which must be adopted if the acquisition of that knowledge is to be possible.

Source:The Fast of Ramadan & Isra' and Miraj

To Be Continued ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRy9qUnCw5Y

The Psychological Significance of ISRA AND MI'RAJ

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

In order to appreciate the psychological or strategic significance of the miraculous event we must look to the exact moment when it took place. The most authentic sources indicate that this event took place of the night of 27th Rajab in the eleventh year after the commencement of his mission, when the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) was 51 years of age. Shortly before this event the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam)  had, at age fifty, suffered the two greatest blows he had ever suffered since the announcement of his prophethood ten years earlier.

Firstly, Abu Talib who, because of his position as leader of an important clan of the tribe of Quraish (Banu Hashim) and as the Patriach of Makkah, was able to offer security and protection to the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam), now died, and the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) was left in a position of grave insecurity. Shortly before this the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) suffered another serious blow when his beloved wife and life-long companion, Khadija (RA), died. To the intense grief and the loneliness of a widower were now added the grave burden of the Prophet's (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) insecurity.

But the darkest day of his life and of his mission was yet to come when, shortly after, he ventured to the city of Taif with the hope of extracting some form of support from Banu Saad Bin Bakr (in which tribe he was suckled) and other tribes in that city which would alleviate his perilous insecurity. The tribal chiefs not only rejected his approach but ordered the street urchins to stone him out of the city. With blood flowing from his wounds, his heart lonely and forlorn with grief, and his enemies closing the noose around him and his small band of followers, it appeared as though the end was in sight.

Not once, not even at such a hopeless moment, did the faith of the Prophet waver. He relied on none but Allah. He turned to none but Allah. Regardless of the hopelessness of the objective situation in which he now found himself, there was no thought of any compromise with the forces ranged against him and his followers.

It was at precisely this moment, not sooner and not later, that the miraculous journey (Miraj) took place. And it marked the turning point in his mission (apart from being the greatest honour ever bestowed by Almighty God on any of His creation). Through his steadfast commitment to 'Truth' and to the mission of struggle for establishing the supremacy of 'Truth', and through his noble patience in the face of unrelenting adversity, the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) earned the Grace of divine intervention (al-Isra wal Miraj) which then charted a course to victory.

Four and a half months after the Mira} (i.e. the month ofZil Haj in the same 11th year of the Call) the tide began to turn and a way was provided for the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) and his followers to escape from the perils of Makkah. The opening was from the city of Yathrib (later to renamed Madina) and was grasped in the first pledge of Aqaba. By the time of the second pledge of Aqaba one year later (Zil Haj in the 12^th year of the Call) the way was clear for the migration to Madina (Hijrah) which took place three months later (Rabi al-awwal in the 13th year of the Prophet's mission). Hijrah was followed by the successful establishment by the Muslims of the city-State of Madina with the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) as supreme authority. This was followed by military victory at Badr and diplomatic and political victory at Hudaibiyah until, finally, complete victory over the Quraish at Makkah in the year 8 A.H. (eight after Hijrah).

Thus al-Isra and Miraj, in marking the turning point in the Prophet's mission, also ordained a psychology of da'wah (inviting people to God), to the effect that it is the obligation of the believers to persevere in the mission of truth despite all adversities, and no matter how long the struggle may last (the Prophet was aged 51 and had, by then, pursued the mission for 11 long years), and to be steadfast and patient until Divine intervention charts the course of victory. Thus the strategic factor for success in the process of the Islamic revolution lies in the spiritual domain of Divine Grace. Revolutionary forces cannot invoke this Grace. They must earn it.

Source:The Fast of Ramadan & Isra' and Miraj

To Be Continued ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRy9qUnCw5Y