Appendix 3: Mi’raj
معراج
Note: This is the third of a series of articles written by the Author on various occasions that have bearing on the topics of the book, and hence they have been included in it as appendices.
*****
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“Glory be to Him Who carried His servant (Apostle Muhammad) by night from the holy mosque (of the Ka'ba) to the farthest mosque, which We have blessed its environment that We may show unto him, of Our signs; Verily He, is All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” (17:1)
وَآتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلْنَاهُ هُدًى لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَلَّا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْ دُونِي وَكِيلًا
“And gave We unto Moses the Book (Torah) and made it a guidance for the children of Israel, (saying) that “Take ye not other than Me (anyone as) a guardian.” (17:2)
Before dealing with the specific issue of the ascension of the Holy Prophet - which is considered as one of the distinctive aspects of his personality in comparison to all other prophets - a few points may be said about the ascension in general. Ascension and descension are two terms used regarding the order of creation and as regards the human cognitive self, moving through the various realms and the spheres of finite beings up to the Absolute One and from there proceeding down again through the various realms of the abstract and the spiritual beings of more comprehensive nature, down to the lowest finite material world.
This journey is of two types - intellectual (fikri) and visual (shuhoodi). The intellectual journey is common to all seekers of the truth, through metaphysical methods which is based on external senses and its zenith, the highest intellectual concept. The visual journey starts from the zenith of the intellectual journey as its base, through the various realms of the spiritual beings higher and even higher, up to the Absolute and then down again to its base. There is no prophet without this intuitive perceptual experience of Ascension and Descension, each according to his individual capacity.1 It may be in the state of either a dream or being awake. For some it is in between state of being asleep and being awake, and it may take place more than once.
As regards the Holy Prophet, it is said that he had this kind of Ascension and Descension many a time. It is not only he, but even his divinely commissioned successors - the imams who in soul and body were his, and he was of them and all of whom were of one and the same divine light and origin - had this experience.
Now, as regards the specific type of Ascension attributed to the Holy Prophet - and agreed by all schools of thought in Islam as an article of faith - it is his physical ascension along with the visual one. Those who tried to create doubt about this, are of two groups. The first include those like Mu’awiyyah Ibn of Abu Sufyan. People of this type had too much of a materialist tendency to appreciate or understand this highest apostolic or prophetic status. The second group comprises those philosophers who are highly influenced by the Ptolemaic and their principles of astronomical system. They could not imagine the possibility of the penetration of the celestial spheres and the firmaments by any terrestrial body.
The answer to these people is that modern astronomy has uprooted the whole theory and replaced it with new findings and postulations, which have prompted them to attempts at reaching the moon and the other planets. Whether they succeed or not, or whether their postulations be replaced with ones or not, the Qur'an has already declared the possibility of such penetration with the proviso of the attainment of the power and capacity to do it.
يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَنْ تَنْفُذُوا مِنْ أَقْطَارِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ فَانْفُذُوا لَا تَنْفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلْطَانٍ
“O ye Peoples of jinn and humans, if ye can penetrate the bonds of the heavens and earth, then do penetrate ye through; (But) ye cannot penetrate but with authority.” (55:33)
Therefore, the doubt based on such speculations and the materialist tendencies should be entirely discarded not only in connection with this specific kind of Ascension but also with the cases of miracles wrought by the Apostles of God and the other holy souls.
Of course a question remains that accepting the physical Ascension of the Holy Prophet by the lightning force of the divine will and might throughout the physical sphere, and the disappearance of his body from the place (his bed) in the house of Umm Hani or the Masjid al-Haram (as it has been asserted by the traditions narrated by a great number of reliable companions and scholars such Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas’ood, Anas, Jabir Ibn Abdullah Ansari, Huzaifah and Umm Hani and others besides the confirmation by Ali and the other imams of the house of the Holy Prophet), what was the ultimate point at which the journey ended? Was it physical or beyond the physical realm?
The end of the journey was to the Absolute. So far as the physical and the dimensional portion of the journey is concerned, it was undoubtedly physical and there is no argument of logical value to prove its impossibility. But beyond that, there is no room for the conception of the journey of a physical object into a non-physical realm. Here it is said that ascending towards the Absolute by the influence of the spiritual and divine light, the whole physical aspect is spiritualized. And passing the boundaries of the physical realm, the self entirely transcends the physical properties.
However, this Ascension is termed as the ‘Mi’raj al-Wujoodi', i.e. the total transformation of the personality of the Holy Prophet into a spiritual entity and Descension means his reappearance in his ordinary form. Although this may seem to be very difficult for the common readers to grasp and appreciate, this is the fact relating to the status of the person who as a light is the first in the order of creation, and as a prophet and messenger of God is the last in the sequence of the chosen Prophets.
Anyone who understands these two facts can understand the Ascension also. Anyway, a Muslim need to believe in the physical journey and the Ascension of the Holy Prophet to the farthest mosque, Masjid-ul-Aqsa where God is worshipped and which is the highest realm of creation, the surrounding of which is blessed by Allah and whose signs are on display therein.
Regarding the details of the Ascension journey, the traditionists and commentators have dealt with it in detail, but a few points forwarded by the great scholar, Tabrasi in his valuable commentary, Majma’ul Bayan are worthy of our notice.
He says there are four points to ponder about the Ascension:
-
The first and foremost, the physical Ascension in the state of being awake, which is to be accepted without any question.
-
There are details given of what the Holy Prophet said during his Ascension journey which are contradictory to any reasoning or principle.
-
There are things which are not apparently in agreement with certain reasoning and principles, but they can be interpreted in a sensible way.
-
Such statements that are against reason and against the articles of the faith, and there is no room for any proper interpretation except:
-
The first point is beyond doubt and questioning.
-
The second one asserts that he visited the heavens and saw the prophets, the divine throne, the all-embracing terminal realms of the finite beings (the Sidratul-Muntaha), paradise, hell etc.
-
عِنْدَ سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَىٰ
“By the lote-tree of the utmost boundary.” (53:14)
عِنْدَهَا جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَىٰ
“Nigh unto it is the Garden Abode.” (53:15)
إِذْ يَغْشَى السِّدْرَةَ مَا يَغْشَىٰ
“When covereth (over) the ‘Sidra’ (tree) that which covereth it.” (53:16)
مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغَىٰ
“Neither his eye did dazzle, nor did it rebel.” (53:17)
لَقَدْ رَأَىٰ مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِ الْكُبْرَىٰ
“Indeed, he did see of the greatest signs of his Lord.” (53:18)
-
He saw people in paradise enjoying and some suffering in hell. This should be interpreted as that he saw their descriptions and names.
-
That which is to be rejected totally is the narration stating that be talked with God openly - that he saw God and sat on God’s throne, etc. These are an obvious anthropomorphism and humanization of God, which is remote from His glory and absoluteness. Similarly, the narrations stating that the Holy Prophet’s chest was cut open and washed is totally absurd. First, he was pure from all evil and dirt. Second, if there was any spiritual defect or dirt, there is no meaning in washing it with water.
All these nonsensical statements are evidently borrowed from the Christians, other anthropomorphic sources and the pagan cults by incompetent narrators who thought they should attribute to their prophet such statements that others have done to their religious leaders.