Shab E Miraj What To Pray
Najla Ondik
In a night of profound significance, Muslims around the world are set to commemorate Shab-e-Miraj, a miraculous journey undertaken by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), marking a pivotal event in Islamic history.
Shab-e-Miraj, also known as Al-Isra Wal-Miraj, falls on the 27th night of the Islamic month of Rajab. The night is a dual celebration, encompassing the night journey (Isra) and ascension (Miraj) of the Prophet (PBUH) to the heavens.
The journey began with Angel Jibra'eel (AS) waking Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and leading him to the celestial creature Buraq. Traveling from Mecca to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, the Prophet (PBUH) prayed at significant locations, demonstrating the connection between the Islamic faith and the previous Abrahamic traditions.
The second part of the journey involved the ascension through the heavens, where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encountered several prophets and ultimately stood in the divine presence of Allah, receiving the commandment for the obligatory Salah (prayer).
Muslims worldwide observe Shab-e-Miraj as a night of increased devotion and spiritual reflection. The commemoration typically includes additional prayers, recitation of the Quran, supplications for forgiveness and blessings, and acts of charity and kindness. It is a time for self-reflection, seeking spiritual growth, and reinforcing the connection with Allah.
Many mosques organize special programs, lectures, and congregational prayers to mark the occasion. Families come together to discuss the significance of Shab-e-Miraj, fostering a deeper understanding of the event among younger generations.
As Muslims engage in this night of spiritual ascension, the overarching message of unity, compassion, and devotion remains central. Shab-e-Miraj serves as a reminder of the Prophet's (PBUH) resilience in the face of adversity and his unwavering commitment to spreading the message of Islam.
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The events of Isra and Miʿraj are mentioned briefly in the Quran and then further expanded and interpreted within the hadith (the literary corpus of reported sayings of Muhammad), which form supplements to the Quran. Two hadith sources on the Isra and Miʿraj considered the most reliable are Anas ibn Malik and Ibn ʿAbbas. Both are considered ṣaḥāba or "Companions of the Prophet", but were young boys at the time of Muhammad's journey of Mi'raj.[7]
Within the Quran, chapter (surah) 17 al-Isra, was named after the Isra', and the first verse contains a brief description. There is also some information in a later verse, and some scholars[8] say a verse in surah an-Najm also holds information on the Isra and Miʿraj.
Glory be to the One Who took His servant Muḥammad by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.
And remember, O Prophet when We told you, "Certainly your Lord encompasses the people." And We have made what We brought you to see as well as the cursed tree mentioned in the Quran only as a test for the people. We keep warning them, but it only increases them greatly in defiance.
There are different accounts of what occurred during the Miʿraj, but most narratives have the same elements: Muhammad ascends into heaven with the angel Gabriel and meets a different prophet at each of the seven levels of heaven; first Adam, then John the Baptist and Jesus, then Joseph, then Idris, then Aaron, then Moses, and lastly Abraham. After Muhammad meets with Abraham, he continues on to meet God without Gabriel. God tells Muhammad that his people must pray 50 times a day, but as Muhammad descends back to Earth, he meets Moses who tells Muhammad to go back to God and ask for fewer prayers because 50 is too many. Muhammad goes between Moses and God nine times, until the prayers are reduced to the five daily prayers, which God will reward tenfold.[17] To that again, Moses tells Muhammad to ask for even fewer but Muhammad feels ashamed and says that he is thankful for the five.[18]
Al-Tabari is a classic and authentic source for Islamic research. His description of the Miʿraj is just as simplified as the description given above, which is where other narratives and hadiths of the Miʿraj stem from, as well as word of mouth. While this is the simplest description of the Miʿraj, others include more details about the prophets that Muhammad meets. In accounts written by Muslims, Bukhari, Ibn Ishaq, Ahmad b. Hanbal and others, physical descriptions of the prophets are given. Adam is described first as being Muhammad's father, which establishes a link between them as first and last prophets.[19] Physical descriptions of Adam show him as tall and handsome with long hair. Idris, who is not mentioned as much as the other prophets Muhammad meets, is described as someone who was raised to a higher status by God. Joseph is described as the most beautiful man who is like the moon. His presence in the Miʿraj is to show his popularity and how it relates to Muhammad's. Aaron is described as Muhammad's brother who is older and one of the most beautiful men that Muhammad had met. Again, the love for Aaron by his people relates to Muhammad and his people. Abraham is described with likeness to Muhammad in ways that illustrate him to be Muhammad's father. Jesus is usually linked to John the Baptist, who is not mentioned much. Moses is different than the other prophets that Muhammad meets in that Moses stands as a point of difference rather than similarities.[19]
Muhammad's beast of burden, the Buraq is described in several sahih hadith as "white" and "bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule".[20] Although hadith seldom if ever explicitly describe the Buraq as having wings or a human face, Near Eastern and Persian art typically portrays it as having one.
Ibn ʿAbbas' Primitive Version narrates all that Muhammad encounters throughout his journey through heaven. This includes seeing other angels, and seas of light, darkness, and fire. With Gabriel as his companion, Muhammad meets four key angels as he travels through the heavens. These angels are the Rooster angel (whose call influences all earthly roosters), Half-Fire Half-Snow angel (who provides an example of God's power to bring fire and ice in harmony), the Angel of Death (who describes the process of death and the sorting of souls), and the Guardian of Hellfire (who shows Muhammad what hell looks like). These four angels are met in the beginning of Ibn ʿAbbas' narrative. They are mentioned in other accounts of Muhammad's ascension, but they are not talked about with as much detail as Ibn ʿAbbas provides. As the narrative continues, Ibn ʿAbbas focuses mostly on the angels that Muhammad meets rather than the prophets. There are rows of angels that Muhammad encounters throughout heaven, and he even meets certain deeply devoted angels called cherubim. These angels instill fear in Muhammad, but he later sees them as God's creation, and therefore not harmful. Other important details that Ibn ʿAbbas adds to the narrative are the Heavenly Host Debate, the Final Verses of the Cow Chapter, and the Favor of the Prophets.[21] These important topics help to outline the greater detail that Ibn ʿAbbas uses in his Primitive Version.
In an attempt to reestablish Ibn ʿAbbas as authentic, it seems as though a translator added the descent of Muhammad and the meeting with the prophets. The narrative only briefly states the encounters with the prophets, and does so in a way that is in chronological order rather than the normal order usually seen in ascension narratives. Ibn ʿAbbas may have left out the meeting of the prophets and the encounter with Moses that led to the reduction of daily prayers because those events were already written elsewhere. Whether he included that in his original narrative or if it was added by a later translator is unknown, but often a point of contention when discussing Ibn ʿAbbas's Primitive Version.[21]
The Subtleties of the Ascension by Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami includes repeated quotations from other mystics that also affirm the superiority of Muhammad.[23] Many Sufis interpreted the Miʿraj to ask questions about the meaning of certain events within the Miʿraj, and drew conclusions based on their interpretations, especially to substantiate ideas of the superiority of Muhammad over other prophets.[22]
Muhammad Iqbal, a self-proclaimed intellectual descendant of Rumi and the poet-scholar who personified poetic Sufism in South Asia, used the event of the Miʿraj to conceptualize an essential difference between a prophet and a Sufi.[24] He recounts that Muhammad, during his Miʿraj journey, visited the heavens and then eventually returned to the temporal world.[24] Iqbal then quotes another South Asian Muslim saint by the name of 'Abdul Quddus Gangohi who asserted that if he (Gangohi) had had that experience, he would never have returned to this world.[24] Iqbal uses Gangohi's spiritual aspiration to argue that while a saint or a Sufi would not wish to renounce the spiritual experience for something this-worldly, a prophet is a prophet precisely because he returns with a force so powerful that he changes world history by imbuing it with a creative and fresh thrust.[24]
Israeli Political scientist Yitzhak Reiter mentions some alternative interpretations among some Muslim sects in the 21st century which dispute that the night journey took place in Jerusalem , believing instead it was either in the Heavens , or in Medina and its vicinity by Jaf'ari Shi'tes.[28]
In Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, the structure of the Dome of the Rock, built several decades after Muhammad's death, marks the place from which Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven. The exact date of the Journey is not clear, but is celebrated as though it took place before the Hijrah and after Muhammad's visit to the people of Ta'if. The normative view amongst Sunni Muslims who ascribe a specific date to the event is that it took place on the 27th of Rajab, slightly over a year before Hijrah.[34] [note 1] This would correspond to the 26th of February 621 in the Western calendar. In Twelver Iran, Rajab 27 is the day of Muhammad's first calling or Mab'as. The al-Aqsa Mosque and surrounding area is now the third-holiest place on earth for Muslims.[36][37]
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