13 replies to this topic

[Mahdiyah]

Salaam Brs/Srs.

Did Rasuwlallah (php) go to the Israa & Meraaj with his horse Buraaq? I heard he did, but would like to know more - especially about the blessed Buraaq himself.

Fi-Amaanillah.

[Aal-e-Imran]

Yes he did go on Buraq. As far as I know it is a creature from heaven itself. It took the Prophet from his house to the Kabaa and then to Masjid-e-Aqsa and then into the heavens. It was obviously a very fast creature, it wasn't really a horse, in the hadith it's written that it was larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule. And it was so fast that one step it took would take was equal to the distance you could see.

Edited by Ali_Imran, 12 August 2007 - 11:04 AM.

[Ali.0009]

Please post it soon, its been 2 years already

Edited by Ali.0009, 25 February 2009 - 01:09 AM.

[Hassan2jz]

Ali.0009, on Feb 25 2009, 02:09 AM, said:

Please post it soon, its been 2 years already

http://www.al-islam.org/al-miraj/

[jamaldin_alafgani]

The history of Buraq the 'divine vehicle' which is an angelic winged horse is very interesting because this myth of 'divine vehicle' is also available in many other civilizations and religions.

-Merkabah in Jewish tradition
-Vimana in hindu mythology
-Pegasus in greek mythology

...

There is also an interesting theory/hypothesis on 'Chariots of God'.

One thing is sure, the Prophet never went physically in the sky.

[MOHIB E AHLAYBAIT]

jamaldin_alafgani, on Mar 12 2009, 10:29 AM, said:

One thing is sure, the Prophet never went physically in the sky.

Are you saying meeraj wasn't phsyciall but only spiritual??

[jamaldin_alafgani]

MOHIB E AHLAYBAIT, on Mar 12 2009, 10:46 AM, said:

Are you saying meeraj wasn't phsyciall but only spiritual??

First, Allah never speaks about this myth of 'Buraq' in the Quran. It's purely a human made tradition.

Second, the verse 60 of the chapter 17 of the Quran states that it was only a vision.

Third, the verse 90 to 93 of the chapter 17 of the Quran emphasizes the idea of a vision, when the Prophet   answered that he is only a mortal/man messenger, and so he is not able to go to the skies.

There are so many myths in Islam which are included in traditions and are coming from different religions and civilizations.

So be aware of what you are reading even if it comes from a scholar !

Thanks
May Allah bless our souls

Edited by jamaldin_alafgani, 12 March 2009 - 12:03 PM.

[MOHIB E AHLAYBAIT]

And the chapter 17 you quoted is called JOURNEY becuaseeeeeeee???

[jamaldin_alafgani]

MOHIB E AHLAYBAIT, on Mar 12 2009, 12:20 PM, said:

And the chapter 17 you quoted is called JOURNEY becuaseeeeeeee???

The name of every chapter is determined by it's content.

The other name of this chapter is Bani Israeel.

And to answer you why this chapter is called the Journey - Isra, it's because of the first verse of this chapter.

Now you decide if you want to believe if it was a physically journey or a spiritually journey or just a journey through a vision.

Thanks
May Allah bless our souls

Edited by jamaldin_alafgani, 12 March 2009 - 12:50 PM.

[Aal-e-Imran]

Meraj was not a dream, it was a physical journey. Neither was it the journey of the soul alone, that's not meraaj, that becomes mawt.

[jamaldin_alafgani]

Aal-e-Imran, on Mar 12 2009, 02:01 PM, said:

Neither was it the journey of the soul alone, that's not meraaj, that becomes mawt.

Not really !

You have three options :

-a vision/ a dream (The Quran says that)
-physical / the whole body went to the skies (The Quran nullifies this)
-spiritual / soul going out of the body (~ maybe through autoscopy, heautoscopy, astral journey, OOBE)

Thanks
May Allah bless our souls

[Aal-e-Imran]

jamaldin_alafgani, on Mar 12 2009, 03:02 PM, said:

-a vision/ a dream (The Quran says that)
-physical / the whole body went to the skies (The Quran nullifies this)
-spiritual / soul going out of the body (~ maybe through autoscopy, heautoscopy, astral journey, OOBE)

How does the Qur'an nullify the physical ascension? There is nothing special about it if it was just a dream or a vision! You are telling me the Prophet had narrated so much material in regards to the meraaj and at the end he said to his companions: "Oh by the way, it was just a dream!" I have not come across any Shia who believes that it wasn't a physical ascension (unless of course you are not Shia), in fact as far as I know most or at least many of the Sunnis believe it was a physical journey.

[17:1] Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far distant place of worship the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer.

According to the Ahl ul Bayt the mi-raj was a physical ascension, not a vision or dream in sleep or slumber, because even ordinary men see such things in their dreams. It was no doubt a spiritual realization but attained by an actual journey.

Besides Ali ibn abi Talib and the Imams of the Ahl ul Bayt, a great number of reliable companions and scholars such as Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masud, Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari, Hudhayfah and Ummi Hani have confirmed the disappearance of the Holy Prophet from his bed in the house of Ummi Hani. So far as the physical and the dimensional aspect of the journey is concerned, it was undoubtedly physical. There is no logical, reasonable and scientific argument to prove its impossibility. As the end of the ascension was the full realisation of the aosolute, while passing the boundaries of physical realm, under the influence of divine light, his whole physical aspect was totally spiritualised and transcended the properties of substance and corporeality. It was a total transcendence of the Holy Prophet into a spiritual entity. Descension means his reappearance in his physical form. Only those who know and believe that he was a light, the first created being, and the last and final messenger of Allah can understand his ascension to the farthest stage where Allah's cognition is achieved in the highest realm of creation, referred to in this verse as the masjid al aqsa, the environment of which is blessed by His signs shown to the Holy Prophet.

Many a traditionists and commentators has dealt with his ascension at length in detail. A few points discussed by the great scholar Tabrasi in his commentary, Majma-ul Bayan, are stated below.

The physical ascension in the state of wakefulness has to be accepted. There is no doubt in it.

Some of the details given by the traditionists and commentators about what the Holy Prophet did and said during his ascension journey are not reasonable and in agreement with the articles of the faith. There is no room for any proper interpretation except that he visited the heavens, met all the prophets, saw paradise and hell, and fully comprehended the operation of the absolute omnipotent authority of Allah, but all that which is narrated about his talking to Allah seeing Him and sitting with Him on the arsh should be totally rejected because it is out-and-out anthropomorphism which is far from the glory and absoluteness of Allah. [Al-Islam Qur'an]

Read the verse in Arabic, it starts with God praising Himself and the reason He is praising himself as the Glorified one is due to the fact that he carried His servant.

ÓõÈúÍóÇäó ÇáøóÐöí ÃóÓúÑóì ÈöÚóÈúÏöåö áóíúáÇð ãøöäó ÇáúãóÓúÌöÏö ÇáúÍóÑóÇãö Åöáóì ÇáúãóÓúÌöÏö ÇáÃóÞúÕóì ÇáøóÐöí ÈóÇÑóßúäóÇ Íóæúáóåõ áöäõÑöíóåõ ãöäú ÂíóÇÊöäóÇ Åöäøóåõ åõæó ÇáÓøóãöíÚõ ÇáÈóÕöíÑõ

Another important part of this verse is that the journey of the Prophet was both bodily and spiritually, not just a spiritual pilgrimage, and this is confirmed by the word meaning His servant which is used to mean both the body and the spirit. Had it not been so, He would have said meaning his (Muhammad's) soul only. In Surah al‑Najm, the event of the Me'raj is explained in more detail.

From the time the Prophet Muhammad told the Quraish, `I saw the angel of revelation (when he received the first revelation) in his original and pure state', all the Quraish rose up to mock him.

The Qur'an, in response to the thoughts of the ignorant people replies:

"Will you then argue with him about what he saw? He certainly saw him (Jibra'il) during his other ascent to the Lote‑tree (in the seven heavens) near which is Paradise. When the tree was covered with a covering, (Muhammad's) eyes did not deceive him, nor did they lead him to falsehood. He certainly saw the greatest (signs) of the existence of his Lord. " Surah al‑Najm, Verses 12 to 18. [Me'raj - The Night Ascension]

Tafseer of Ibn Kathir [for those who are not Shia]:

Musa bin `Uqbah said, narrating from Az-Zuhri: "The Isra' happened one year before the Hijrah.'' This was also the opinion of `Urwah. As-Suddi said: "It happened sixteen months before the Hijrah.'' The truth is that the Prophet was taken on the Night Journey when he was awake, not in a dream, and he went from Makkah to Bayt Al-Maqdis riding on Al-Buraq.

As for ayah 17:60, Aqa Mahdi Puya says:

The purpose of the revelation of this verse is to give comfort and encouragement to the believers in order to neutralize the effects of the disheartening events which had already happened, or were expected to happen. Allah encompasses the people. Such insignificant events do not affect His all -embracing authority and omnipotence. The dream or vision does not refer to mi-raj because it was neither a disheartening event nor a trial for his ummah. It was a highest honour and glory bestowed on His habib (most beloved friend). According to the Ahl ul Bayt it refers to the dream (monkeys sitting on the Holy Prophet's pulpit) which Allah showed to him about a tribe (Bani Umayyah) from among his followers who had destroyed the spirit of Islam after him; that was a time of trial for the true believers. The Holy Prophet saw in his dream that like those Jews who did not believe and were cursed by Dawud and Isa (Ma-idah: 78 and 79) his followers would also deviate from the right path. but would not be able to harm the true faith because his Ahl ul Bayt would he there to safeguard the religion of Allah from the mischief of the deviating monkeys. [Al-Islam Qur'an]

Tafseer of Ibn Kathir for the same ayah:

Ibn `Abbas said: "This is the vision that the Messenger of Allah saw with his own eyes during the Journey by Night, and the cursed tree is the tree of Zaqqum.'' This was recorded by Al-Bukhari. Allah said: (The sight (of Prophet Muhammad ) turned not aside (right or left), nor it transgressed beyond the limit (ordained for it)) (53:17) Sight (Al-Basr) is a physical faculty, not a spiritual one, and he was carried on Al-Buraq, a shining white animal. This too indicates a physical journey, because the soul does not need a means of transportation of this nature.

Wassalam

[MOHIB E AHLAYBAIT]

^ Thanks bro, I couldn't find the time to post in detail, but you did a great job...