Qur’anic
Roots of the Me’raj
The
Heavenly Journey of the Prophet of Islam has been straight‑forwardly
explained in two Surahs of the Qur'an. In other Surahs as well, we see
allusions to this journey.
In
the Surah al‑Isra (Sarah 17 ‑ also known as Bani Isra`il), it is
mentioned:

"Glorified
be He who carried His servant at night from Masjid al Haram to Masjid al‑Aqsa,
the precincts of which We have blessed so that We may show him of Our Signs.
Verily He is the All Hearing, the All‑Seeing. " [1]
From
this verse, we come to the conclusion that the Prophet of Islam traveled with his physical body
through the worlds of Ascension. Further, by the greatness of the Hidden Power,
he was able to complete this journey in a very short span of time.
Allah starts His speech with
the phrase which
denotes the fact that Allah is free from all deficiencies ‑ but
He does not stop here. Rather, He makes the ascension the reason for His
greatness by saying `made to travel' so that others do not imagine that the
means of this journey was through causes of the natural world and with normal,
ordinary means of transportation. This would have made his journey something
that could have been denied. Rather, this journey was accomplished by relying
upon the power of Allah and His specific and special blessings.
Although
this verse states that the start of the journey was from Masjid al‑Haram
and ended at Masjid al Aqsa, this does not contradict the fact that
the Prophet in
addition to this trip, also had other trips towards the higher world, since
another part of the journey of Ascension of the Prophet is explained in verses of
Sarah al‑Najm.
Another
important part of this verse is that the journey of the Prophet was both bodily and
spiritually, not just a spiritual pilgrimage, and this is confirmed by the word
meaning His
servant which is used to mean both the body and the spirit. Had it not been so,
He would have said meaning
his (Muhammad's) soul only. In Sarah al‑Najm, the event of the Me'raj is
explained in more detail.
From
the time the Prophet Muhammad told the Quraish, `I saw the angel of
revelation (when he received the first revelation) in his original and pure
state', all the Quraish rose up to mock him.
The
Qur'an, in response to the thoughts of the ignorant people replies:


"Will
you then argue with him about what he saw? He certainly saw him (Jibra'il)
during his other ascent to the Lote‑tree (in the seven heavens) near
which is Paradise. When the tree was covered with a covering,
(Muhammad's) eyes did not deceive him, nor did they lead him to falsehood. He
certainly saw the greatest (signs) of
the existence of his Lord. " [2]
Notes:[1]
Surah al-Isra’ (17), Verse 1
[2]
Surah al‑Najm, Verses 12 to 18
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