Isra' and Mi'raj

The Israʾ and Miʿraj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج, al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj) are the names given to the narrations that the Islamic prophet Muhammad ascended to the sky during a night journey, had a vision of afterlife, and returned. It is believed that expressions without a subject in verses 1-18 of Surāh an-Najm and some verses of the 17th chapter of the Quran, commonly called Surāh al-’Isrā’, allude to the story.

Ibn Sa'd summarizes the earliest version of the written stories; According to him, the angels Gabriel and Michael accompanied Muhammad to a place in the sacred precinct of the Kaaba, between the well of Zamzam and Maqam Ibrahim. There, a ladder (miʿrāj) is said to have been set up by Muhammad and Gabriel, with whose help they ascended to heaven. When he reached the top, Muhammad is said to have met the previous prophets. According to one version of the tradition, Gabriel held Muhammad's hand tightly and ascended with him to heaven. When he reached the Sidrat al-Muntaha mentioned in Sura 53, verse 14, Muhammad saw heaven and hell. So, he was required to perform the original fifty prayers, but negotiated with God to reduce the prayers to 5 and was granted the Last two verses of Al-Baqarah, known as the treasure from God's throne.

The framework and the details are elaborated and developed in various miraculous accounts, some of which are based on hadith—alleged reports of the teachings, deeds, and sayings of Muhammad—compiled centuries after his lifetime. In mystical accounts, the Journey is often interpreted as an individual spiritual ascencion.

Hans Wehr says that the 27th night of the month of Rajab chosen for the Miraj is not based on a report and is an arbitrary choice; Ibn Sa'd recorded that Muhammad's Mi'raj took place first, from near the Kaaba to the heavens, on the 27th of Ramadan, 18 months before the Hijrah, while the Isra' from Mecca to Bayt al-Maqdis took place on the 17th night of the Rabi' al-Awwal before the Hijrah as two different, unconnected events. In Ibn Hisham's account, the Isra' came first and then the Mi'raj, and he put these stories before the deaths of Khadija and Abu Talib. In contrast, Al-Tabari placed this story at the beginning of Muhammad's public ministry, between his account of Khadija becoming "the first to believe in the Messenger of God" and his account of "the first male to believe in the Messenger of God".

The 27th night of the month of Rajab, is one of the most celebrated holy days and nights in the Islamic calendar.