Question
I wish to know as to what is your real ideology about the night journey of prophet, is it just a journey to the two mosques or is it right till the seven heavens and then much closer to Allah, because if there was much closeness to Allah then that should have been mentioned in Qur’an why is only the travel to two mosques is mentioned?
Answer
Regarding the night journey of the prophet (sws), you have basically asked two questions.
-
Whether the Holy Prophet (sws) journeyed at night between the two mosques only or also to the Seventh Heaven being much closer to Allah? if yes;
-
Why does the Qur’an only mention the journey between two mosques and is devoid of any detail regarding Prophet’s being much closer to Allah?
I would like to first address your second question. It needs to be appreciated that the very theme of the Surah Bani Israel is to give the glad tidings that the two sacred places namely, al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa, which are under the supervision of the descendents of two great Prophets Ishmael (pbuh) and Isaac (pbuh), will now to be handed over to the Muslims. In other words, the surah never aims at narrating the details of what happened during the ascension of the Prophet (pbuh). Paradoxically, the Holy Qur’an does not even narrate what happened during the journey from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Hence, the Holy Qur’an just mentioned two points and since its objective fulfilled by doing so, it did not go into details any further. To better understand this point, consider that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) is narrating the events which has taken place during his night journey. He is imparting the good news to the Muslims that Allah has given them the custody of these two sacred places and warning the disbelievers that they had better be prepared for what lay ahead of them. Since these two places actually entitled their respective custodians to present themselves as divine appointees and receive also all worldly benefits, they become contemptuous and incredulous regarding what the Holy Prophet (pbuh) explained to his addressees. This is the point where the Almighty reveals His own words and divinely stamps the authenticity of what the Prophet (pbuh) is uttering regarding transfer of these two places.
The Almighty thus starts the Surah with the words:
He, who is absolutely devoid of any failing, took his servant at night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa. (Al Isra 17:1)
The opening evidently hints toward the fact that something is being spoken in contempt of the Sublime Being. He is absolutely above what the disbelievers are uttering. He, it is, who previously gave these places to those of old and He, it is, who is now awarding the custodianship to the Muslims. The disbelievers ought not to be contemptuous and incredulous. Thus, by revealing this verse, Allah just confirms what the disbelievers are hearing from the Prophet (pbuh).
You may be able to infer from the following verse how disturbed the disbelievers must have become by the news that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) announced to them.
We made the vision which we showed you an ORDEAL for (these) people. (Al Isra 17:60)
It needs to kept in mind that al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa, were actually the two places that entitled the respective custodians to present themselves as divine appointees on the face of this earth. Since after the deputation of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the Almighty had given mankind a final and cleansed version of the religion of Abraham (pbuh), these two places needed to be transferred to those who were now actually enjoying the status of the divine appointees. This is what was announced to the Holy Prophet during his holy ascension, which was later confirmed by the Holy Qur’an.
Viewed in this perspective, you will be able to conclude that Surah Al-Israa actually never aimed at presenting the details of the journey from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa not to mention the meticulous details of the complete journey that have been reported in Ahadith.
My response to the second part of your first question is in the affirmative. The Prophet (pbuh) was not only practically educated about Heaven and Hell, in addition to being exposed to many other divine signs. Closeness to Allah is also reported in authentic Ahadith. I do not have any problem with accepting that since everything is in the control of the Almighty and He can allow anything to take place.
Jhangeer Hanif
July 2, 2003