Introducing Meraj - The heavenly journey of the last Prophet

The enmity and the constant refusal of the non-Muslims to recognize the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) hurt and saddened him.  To console, to make the beloved Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) happy and to make the people realize the true status of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), Allah Ta’ala summoned Him into His presence, gave him a tour of all the skies, the heaven and the hell and favored Him with His Vision.  The Holy Quran has referred to this heavenly journey as Isra and the Hadith have referred to it as Meraj.  Isra means to journey in night and Meraj means perfection, zenith etc.  The journey from the Ka’aba to Baitul Muqaddis has been called Isra and the journey from Baitul Muqaddis to the heavens, Sidratul Muntaha and beyond is called as Meraj.

 

The verse of the Holy Quran:

 

Glory to (Allah) Who did take His Servant for 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).  Surah Isra (17:1)

 

This verse describes the journey clearly mentions the journey from the Ka’aba to Baitul Muqaddis; “some of Our Signs” means the journey of the heavens and beyond them.  (Madarij Un Nabuwwa, Vol.  1, Pg No: 158)

 

The journey (with the body and soul together and not the soul only) from the Ka’aba to the Baitul Muqaddis and from there to the heavens, the tour of the heaven and hell and the Vision of Allah Ta’ala with the physical eyes, all this happened only in a small part of the night.  This heavenly journey happened in 12 Nabvi (the years before Hjrah) 27th of Rajab, after the journey of Taif and before the migration to Medina.  Most of the scholars write that the Meraj was granted to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) 34 times; among them once together with His body and soul (Zurqani Sharh Al al Mawahib Ladunniya, Vol.  8, Pg No: 13, Madarij Un Nabuwwa, Vol.  1, Pg No: 157).  The person who denies the Meraj of the body and the soul is a “Fasiq” (sinner) and an innovator in religion (Bida’ati).  Mulla Jivan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) says: Meraj occurred in a state of wakefulness, for both the body and the soul.  This is the position of the Ahle Sunnah, so anyone who says that Meraj was granted only to the soul or was granted in sleep, that person is misguided, misguides others and is a Fasiq.