Page 22 - World Religions I - Islam

o His message was not well received, and he was stoned and run out of town.39
The Night Journey and The Ascension

Muhammad's most exalted claim to a divine encounter through which he received revelation is tied to two even which
have become known as Isra' and Mi'raj.

• Isra' is a single-night journey in which Muhammad claimed to have been transported from Mecca to "the farthest
mosque" via a winged horse name Buraq.40
o The date of this event is unknown, although tradition holds that the event took place around the year AD
620.
o Isra' is referred to briefly in the Qur'an.
 "Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to
the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of
Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)." - Al-Isra (The Night Journey)
17:1 (trans. Yusuf Ali)
o Hadith traditions provide further detail, since the single vague mention in the Qur'an is hardly self-
explanatory.
 The Hadith claims that Muhammad led other prophets—namely Abraham, Moses, and Jesus—in
prayer at Bayt Al-Muqaddas (lit. "Holy House").41
 The place referred to in the Qur'an as "the farthest mosque" is traditionally viewed by Muslims as the
site of the modern-day Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands on the site of the former Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem. The Temple had been destroyed in AD 70, more than five centuries before the events of
Isra'. No major structure would take its place until the Dome of the Rock in AD 691, 59 years after
Muhammad's death. At the time of Isra', no physical structure of worship stood on the remains of the
Temple Mount.
• Tradition holds that Muhammad attempted to prove to unbelievers his having
been to Jerusalem by describing the details of the Bayt Al-Muqaddas (i.e. the
Temple).42 43 According to biographical accounts, Muhammad convinced the
Quraish of his night journey to Jerusalem by describing specific details about an
incoming caravan that he had passed on the way—details that were proven to be
true.130
• Muslim scholars defend the location of the Temple Mount as the site of "the farthest
mosque" by claiming that the term masjid is not only used to mean mosque, but also
literally means a "place of prostration."
 The interpretation of the location of "the farthest mosque "being in Jerusalem was advanced by the
earliest biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq (written 120-30 years after Muhammad's death).
 Traditions indicate that Muslims originally prayed toward Jerusalem until AD 624, at which
point Muhammad received divine instructions to redirect prayer towards Mecca.45 46
When Caliph Umar conquered Jerusalem in AD 638, he instructed that a prayer hall be built
on the Temple Mount under the advice of Ka'ab al-Ahbar, a Jewish convert to Islam, at the
place believed to be the site where Isra' had taken place. A larger, more formal structure
known as Al-Aqsa Mosque ("The Farthest Mosque") was completed in AD 705 by Calif Al-
Walid I. The Al-Aqsa Mosque was destroyed by earthquakes in AD 746, 780, and 1033. It
was rebuilt each time, most recently in 1035 by the caliph Ali Az-Zahir, which has stood to
the present day.
• Mi'raj is the account of Muhammad's ascension to heaven.
o Muhammad is first carried by Gabriel to the Zamzam well in Mecca where his torso is cut open and his
innards removed, cleansed with Zamzam water, filled with "belief and wisdom", and then replaced into his

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