Al-Isra and Al-Miraj...the rituals that impose prayers on the Holy Prophet’s journey to heaven (communication sites)

The miracle of the Night Journey and Mi’raj was an incident that sparked debate in ancient times and in the present, in the era of prophecy and after it, and it still is. Despite the progress of science that has brought much closer to what the ancients rejected, some of its events are still the subject of discussion and controversy, and the Muslim who believes in the unseen believes in what has been proven and repeated in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Other than that, it is a matter of debate and disagreement according to the rules of the scientific research method in these issues.

It is one of the issues that I have faced many times, and I searched for precise details about it, but despite the length of research I did not find a convincing detail about it, for example: what is said specifically about the miracle of the Night Journey.

It is the one before which the polytheists of Quraish stood discussing and arguing. Because they used to go to Jerusalem and visit the Levant on one of their two trips: summer and winter for trade.

From what I used to read or hear from preachers and preachers talking about the Night Journey, and people’s reactions to it, we find this phrase: He who believed increased in faith, and some people apostatized from Islam. So, were there really companions who apostatized from Islam because of the event of the Night Journey?

I did not find anything that helped me much in the books of biography, but I found in the books of the Sunnah some narrations on the subject, with some corrected and weak ones. The focus of the narrations was not on talking about apostasy, but rather they came in an occasional sentence, and the rest of the talk was about the details of the journey, and the details of the discussion and the pilgrims. Between the Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - and the polytheists of Quraysh.

We will discuss most of the narrations that were mentioned on the subject, and we will quickly look at their chain of transmission, then we will focus on their contents. Is such an event true or not?

Apostasy occurs out of conviction in a specific situation, or for a person with weak faith. So what about people who apostatize after years of their faith, and have been subjected to a severe test, more severe than the test of the Night Journey and Mi’raj, after the siege of Abu Talib’s people, and after a series of major trials?

Two novels on the subject

There are two narrations mentioned on the subject, the first: on the authority of Aisha - may God be pleased with her - who said: When the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family - was taken on the journey to Al-Aqsa Mosque; People started talking about that, so some of those who had believed in him and believed him apostatized, and they sought this out to Abu Bakr - may God be pleased with him - and said: Do you have a friend of yours who claims that he was taken on a journey to Jerusalem at night? He said: Or did he say that? They said: Yes. He said: If he had said that, then he would have told the truth. They said: And you believe him that he went to Jerusalem tonight and came before the morning?! He said: Yes, I believe him in something beyond that: I believe him in the news of the sky in the morning or in the evening. That is why he was called Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq.”

The scholars differed regarding its weakness and authenticity. Al-Hakim narrated it and authenticated it, but others weakened it, including Sheikh Al-Albani and others.

As for the second narration: On the authority of Ibn Abbas, he said: “The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, was taken on a journey to Bayt al-Maqdis, then he came the night before, and told them about his journey, the sign of Bayt al-Maqdis, and their camel, and people said. Hasan said: Do we believe Muhammad in what he says? So they turned into infidels.” So God struck their necks with Abu Jahl, and Abu Jahl said: Muhammad scares us with the tree of Zaqqum, so bring dates and butter, and they will be zaqqum.

It is in the Musnad of Ahmad and Abi Ya’la, and its chain of transmission was authenticated by the sheikhs: Ahmad Shaker, Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, and the investigators of Musnad Ahmad under the supervision of Sheikh Shuaib al-Arna’ut. Here in this narration the word “so they turned into infidels” appears. Does it mean that they were believers and disbelieved, or that they added more? Blasphemy for their disbelief after proving the miracle?

Dr. Saad bin Abdullah Al-Hamid says: This hadith does not indicate that they were believers, but rather indicates that after they saw the wondrous sign; It is that they challenged the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - to prove his truthfulness in that he was taken captive to Jerusalem one night and then returned, and after he proved that, they said: We do not believe Muhammad in what he says, so instead of believing, they reverted to their disbelief, so they increased in disbelief.

There is another narration in which the word apostasy is not mentioned, but rather it was mentioned in a form that suits the event and what took place in it, and its form is: “Then people from Quraysh prepared to go to Abu Bakr, and they said: Do you have a friend of yours who claims that he came to Jerusalem and then returned to Mecca?” In one night?!”

I would say this narration is the closest to the situation. Because the formula indicates that it came from people who are not believers in the first place, so their saying is as in all the narrations: Do you have a friend who claims that he came to Jerusalem? The word: (your friend) is said by someone who does not believe in Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - and the formula is logical here that You respond that they were prepared to cast doubt and ridicule what Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, narrates.

Did the narrators witness the event?

We saw the two narrations in which people turned away from Islam, and they were reported on the authority of Mrs. Aisha - may God be pleased with her - and Abdullah bin Abbas - may God be pleased with him - who were among the youngest companions in age, and they were in Mecca at this time at a young age, according to the difference in narrations in their ages. Both of them, were they among those who witnessed the event and narrated it, or was it a narration they received from others?

It is most likely that they narrated this from others who mentioned the matter to them, or from what people spoke about the subject in general.

Sheikh Al-Ghazali rejected the narration

Among the contemporary scholars who devoted themselves to studying the biography of the Prophet: Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali - may God have mercy on him - who quickly reviewed the incident and responded to those who confirmed it among contemporary writers who wrote about the biography, such as Dr. Muhammad Hussein Haykal, in his book: (The Life of Muhammad).

Al-Ghazali said: (Some writers claim that a group of Muslims apostatized after the Night Journey and Mi’raj in denial of them. Rather, Dr. Heikal adds that the Muslims were weakened as a result of the spread of the story in the mouths, and the polytheists ruled out its occurrence. This is all wrong, as no historical traces indicate it, nor does a prudent conclusion conclude. And we do not know how this can be said?!)

Although Al-Albani commented on Al-Ghazali by mentioning the narration of Musnad Ahmad, that this was proven in this narration.

Discussion of the text of the novels

There are points remaining in these novels, in terms of their content, and the important objective discussion surrounding the novels themselves, so we say:

  • First: The issue of a person’s apostasy from his religion is not impossible, as it happened before and after this incident, but we are here in the context of examining whether it happened here or not? Was the miracle of the Night Journey a reason for the apostasy of the Companions or not?

In principle, the issue is not impossible, but checking to what extent this happened at this time or not? The issue of a Muslim’s apostasy from Islam is not impossible, nor is it rare. It has occurred in ancient and modern times, and it will occur, as evidenced by the existence of provisions for an apostate and apostasy in all books of the Sunnah and its explanations, books of jurisprudence with its schools of thought, and books of belief. It also happened during the era of prophecy.

  • Second: How can a number of people apostatize, as the narrations mention, and some people apostatized, whether those who apostatized were numbered on the fingers of one hand or more. How could a major event like this occur, when it is not known who among those apostates were, and the number of companions in Mecca was small, and they were known by name individually?

If it had happened, it would have been known who had apostatized, as we saw in the incident of the apostasy of the husband of Mrs. Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan in Abyssinia, and as was reported about the apostasy of Abdullah bin Abi al-Sarh later. I had read words some time ago by Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Reda questioning the issue of the apostasy of Ibn Abi al-Sarh.

  • Third: Apostasy occurs out of conviction in a specific situation, or for a person with weak faith. So what about people who apostatize after years of their faith, and they have been subjected to a severe test, more severe than the test of the Night Journey and Mi’raj, and after the siege of Abu Talib’s people, and after a series of major trials, and with people who were tested to turn away? About their religion, it did not happen that any of them changed his religion. Rather, when Ammar bin Yasser - may God be pleased with him - uttered the word of disbelief under compulsion, the Qur’an was revealed confirming his faith. Throughout this period, this group went through skepticism about prophecy and revelation, no less than the issue of the Night Journey and Ascension.

Then, if there was someone who apostatized because he doubted the possibility of this happening, they asked him about the details of the mosque, the place, and the road, which is what was mentioned in the narration of Ibn Abbas, and in other narrations they asked him about a caravan for them on the road, and he described it to them, so what about the one who doubted after he saw the polytheists discussing with him? And their question about these details and his answer, and he answered according to the information they had, how could that be a reason for his apostasy?!

  • Fourth: If there was one person who apostatized for a party attended by the polytheists of Quraish, since the number of Muslims was limited and they were known by name, then what about us when the narration says: People apostatized, and we have seen the attempts of Abu Jahl himself with his brothers, his cousins, and with the family of Yasser: Yasser and his wife Sumayyah. And Ammar, his son, in order to get a word from them indicating that they adhere to their religion, and how he was happy and went away after Ammar forcefully said it, while Sumaya and her husband were killed for their refusal.

If there were those who apostatized because of this event in Mecca, and they were few, they would have been known by name, and the reaction of the Quraysh would have exaggerated the event, benefited from it, and built on it with others, which is something we have not seen any effect of in what is narrated about the Meccan period, and about the position of the Quraysh towards Muslims. .

The reason why this novel passed without scrutiny

In my opinion, the reason why this sentence went unnoticed, without scrutiny or careful review of it, is that most of the contemporaries who wanted to infer the validity of the Isra’ and Mi’raj taking place based this sentence on the grounds that if it had been a dream or only in the spirit, the infidels of Quraysh would not have discussed the Messenger. God - may God bless him and grant him peace - in that, and when he apostatized, he apostatized.

The minds and minds of researchers on the subject were focused on proving something related to the miracle, and they overlooked another historically important matter, which is related to the apostasy of the Companions from Islam because of the miracle, for which we do not find acceptable evidence, despite the presence of a narration containing the responses and discussions we mentioned.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.