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subḥāna lladhī ʾasrā bi-ʿabdihī laylan mina l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi ʾilā l-masjidi l-ʾaqṣā lladhī bāraknā ḥawlahū li-nuriyahū min ʾāyātinā ʾinnahū huwa s-samīʿu l-baṣīru
Immaculate is He who carried His servant on a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose environs We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verse 1
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
1. “Glory be to Him Who took his servant by night from Masjid-ul-Har am to Masjid-ul-’Aqsa the precincts of which We have blessed that We show him (some) of Our signs. Verily, He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
The ascension of the Prophet (S) to Heavens is the most sacred of the journeys throughout history. The first verse of this Surah discusses the issue of the journey by night of the Prophet (S) from Masjid-ul-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) to Masjid-ul-’Aqsa (Bayt-ul-Muqaddas) which has been a precursor for /Mi‘raj/, the most sacred trip. This trip took place within one night and for a short time. Such a trip could have never been in the least possible given the conditions of the time and through ordinary means which were available in those days, in which case, the miraculous and extraordinary nature of it was obvious.
At first, the verse says:
“Glory be to Him Who took his servant by night from Masjid-ul-Har am to Masjid-ul-’Aqsa the precincts of which We have blessed…”
By using the phrase /masjidul’Aqsa/ here meant Bayt-ul-Muqaddas which is the farthest Mosque, for, at that time, no other mosque existed farther than that. We had blessed its entire surroundings with material, spiritual, worldly, and religious blessings. For, that was the place of worship of the highly-esteemed prophets as well as the place for the descending of the revelation which was a sacred point, with flowing streams surrounded by fully fruit-bearing trees.
Nonetheless, it is with deepest regret that as a result of the crimes of Israel and America as well as the entire over-oppressive enemies of Islam and their betraying mercenaries, demolitions have been carried out around that sacred place and deadly fire-arms cause thousands of crimes everyday there. Their beautiful landscapes, which are natural, are turned into semi-burned ruins and heaps of corpses of oppressed human beings, who are killed in cold blood, are to be found there everywhere.
The Holy Qur’an implies that Allah’s objective in this extraordinary night trip was to expose to him His sings of power, and wonders of creation. His sight-seeing tour from Mecca to Masjid-ul-’Aqsa during a single night, as well as his elevation to the skies and his witnessing of the prophets and, finally, his eventual access to the Bayt-ul-Ma‘mūr, and Sidrat-ul-Muntah a, as well as a host of other things are all the signs of Allah’s Omnipotence.
The Prophet (S) had formerly acquired full knowledge of Allah’s magnitude, yet this tour of the skies tended to widen the scope of his observation as to those explicit signs which, in turn, enabled him further to guide human beings. The verse says:
“…that We show him (some) of Our signs…”
Definitely, it is widely known in the Islamic circle of scholars that the Prophet (S), while in Mecca, was taken by the power of Allah on a night from Masjid-ul-Har am to Masjid-ul-’Aqsa in Bayt-ul-Muqaddas from where he ascended to the skies to note the signs of the magnitude of Allah in the wide open spaces, and then he returned to Mecca on the same night. It is also widely believed among the Muslim scholars that he performed such a sightseeing tour of the earth and the skies with both body and soul coupled with each other.
We shall, Allah willing, discuss further the issue of “Mi‘raj” following our discussion of Surah An-Najm. In the end of the verse, the Qur’an says:
“…Verily, He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
Allusion is here made to the fact that if Allah selected His prophet for such a glorification, it was not undue, for his words and deeds were so decent and deserving that such a mission was well in line with his aptitude. The Almighty had thus seen and heard him and approved him for such an assignment.