Mi'raj: Difference between revisions

'''Al-Miʿrāj''' (Arabic:{{ia|المِعراج}}, lit. ascent) or '''al-Isrāʾ''' (Arabic:{{ia|الإسراء}}) is the nightly journey of the [[Holy Prophet (s)]] from [[Mecca]] to [[al-Aqsa Mosque]] and from there to the skies. Both [[Shi'a]] and [[Sunni]] are unanimous regarding the happening of Mi'raj according to frequent [[verse]]s and [[hadith]]s, but they disagree regarding the time, place, numbers, condition, and physical or spiritual nature. This event happened in the final years of the noble Prophet's (s) stay in Mecca. In Mi'raj, the Prophet (s) saw divine signs and met the souls of some great prophets (a).

Apparently, the Prophet (s) ascended to the skies from the mosque of [[Qubbat al-Sakhra]]. The reason for naming it is the existence of rock inside it from where the Prophet (s) ascended to the skies. In the travel log of [[Nasir Khusraw]], it has been claimed that upon the entrance of the Prophet (s) to the mosque, that rock ascended before him and after his ascent that rock never came back to earth.

From there, the Prophet (s) ascended to the sky of this world and saw [[Prophet Adam (a)]] there. Then, angels came to welcome him in groups and greeted him smiling and congratulated him. There, the Prophet (s) saw an angel having a frowning and angry look and when greeting him (s), not smiling like others. When the Prophet (s) asked the name of that angel from Gabriel, he answered that "this is Malik, guard of the hell and has never smiled and his wrath on the enemies of God and sinners is being increased incessantly." The Prophet (s) then asked Gabriel to show him the hell and when he opened its cap, a flame rose out of it which filled the air.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 13, p. 9-10.</ref>

There, the Prophet (s) also met [['Izra'il]] (Azrael or Malak al-Mawt, the Archangel of Death) who was holding a tablet of light in his hand and after he had a conversation with the Prophet (s), said, "all the world in my hand is like a coin in the hand of a man and he flips it. There is no house except I meet five times a day…" That was when the Prophet (s) said, "Indeed, death is the greatest of calamity and the harshest of event." And then Gabriel said, "the events following death are worse than that."<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 13, p. 10.</ref>

The story of Mi'raj which seemed to be impossible for [[Quraysh]] to believe made their chiefs angry the most. They denied the [[Prophet (s)]] and said, "There are people in [[Mecca]] who have seen [[Jerusalem]]; to prove it, describe the building!" The prophet (s) not only described the buildings of Jerusalem but also reported the events on the way between Mecca and Jerusalem and said that in the middle of the way, I encountered a caravan from a tribe who had lost a camel and had a bowl full of water in their goods from which I drank and then covered it. Also, I encountered a group a camel of whom had escaped and had broken a leg." Quraysh said, "Report on the caravan of Quraysh." The Prophet (s) said, "I saw them in [[Tan'im]] as a grey camel was walking ahead of them, carrying a palanquin on its back. They must enter Mecca now. Quraysh became very angry at such definite news and said, "We will see the truth or lies of his word now." Soon, a caravan entered the city and [[Abu Sufyan]] and the passengers approved the details of the Prophet's (s) report.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 13, p. 17; Qummī, ''Tafsīr al-Qummī'', vol. 2, p. 13; Subḥānī, ''Furūgh-i abadīyyat'', p. 369.</ref>

According to narrations reported by [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] and others, one of the places the Prophet (s) saw travelling above the earth was the land of [[Qom]] which glittered as a spot and when asked [[Gabriel]] about that spot, he answered, "It is the land of Qom, where believing servants and the followers of your household will gather and wait for deliverance and will endure hardships and grief."<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 57, p. 207; vol. 60, p. 238.</ref>

* [[Abu Sa'id al-Khudri]] reported that the [[Prophet (s)]] said, "On the night when [[Gabriel]] took me to Mi'raj when we came back, I told him, 'O Gabriel, do you have any request from me?' he said, 'my request is that you send regards to [[Khadija (a)]] on behalf of the Almighty God and on behalf of me." When the Prophet (s) met Khadija (a), gave her regards from God and Gabriel and she replied, "Surly, [[Allah]], He is the Peace, and from Him is peace and towards Him is peace and with Gabriel be peace."<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 18, p. 385.</ref>

Since the time of Al Jalayir, Mi'raj of the [[Prophet (s)]] has been among the most dominating themes for Iranian painting. There are pictures available from this period about the Prophet's (s) Mi'raj the oldest one of which is made by Ahmad Musa, one of the famous painters of this period. Pictures of the Prophet's (s) Mi'raj reached their pinnacle of illustration in the next period of painting in [[Iran]] which was the school of Harat. Many books have been found from this period especially at the time of Shahrokh which have pictured the Prophet's (s) Mi'raj. One of these books is Mir Haydar's ''Mi'raj Nama'' in Uyghur language which has depicted different moments of Prophet's (s) Mi'raj. In a picture, Shah Muzaffar Siyah Qalam has depicted the Prophet (s) at the time of Mi'raj riding the human-faced [[Buraq]] which is accompanied by [[Gabriel]].

One of the most famous works of painting at the time of Safavids is a Khamsa of Nizami belonging to the time of [[Shah Tahmasb]] which is a drawing of the famous scene of the Prophet's (s) Mi'raj painted by Sultan Muhammad. This work, together with three other works attributed to him, are placed in the illuminated manuscript of Nizami's Khamsa ordered by Shah Tahmasb Safavi and its painting and calligraphy have been made between 942/1535 and 947/1540. Its calligrapher has been Shah Mahmud Nayshaburi, the famous calligrapher of 10th/16th century. In this work, the picture of the Prophet (s) whose face has been covered with a white mask is depicted riding Buraq among the great crowd of angelic creatures with 15 angels and Gabriel is guiding him flying ahead of Buraq.

{{the Prophet (s)}}