PART 2 · THE MAKKAN PERIOD · الْعَهْدُ الْمَكِّيُّ
STAGE 4 · THE YEARS OF HARDSHIP
الْإِسْرَاءُ وَالْمِعْرَاجُ
Chapter 14: al-Isrā’ and al-Mi‘rāj
A night journey to Jerusalem and up through the heavens — and the gift of the five prayers
Sheikh Mohamed Fawzyالشيخ محمد فوزي
© 2026 Sheikh Mohamed Fawzy. All rights reserved. Version 1.7
The Night Journey الْإِسْرَاءُ
From Makkah to Jerusalem in one night
سُبۡحَٰنَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَسۡرَىٰ بِعَبۡدِهِۦ لَيۡلٗا مِّنَ ٱلۡمَسۡجِدِ ٱلۡحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلۡمَسۡجِدِ ٱلۡأَقۡصَا ٱلَّذِي بَٰرَكۡنَا حَوۡلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنۡ ءَايَٰتِنَآۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡبَصِيرُ ١
Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
Surat al-Isrā’ 17:1سورة الإسراء: ١
al-Isrā’ الْإِسْرَاءُ
The journey by night on earth: from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā in Jerusalem.
al-Mi‘rāj الْمِعْرَاجُ
The ascent up through the heavens, the same night.
When? Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm lists six opinions. It rejects the earliest three, since Khadījah died before the five prayers were made obligatory, and places it in the last year or so before the Hijrah, without fixing the month.
The journey begins الْبُرَاقُ
A white animal called al-Burāq
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «... ثُمَّ أُوتِيتُ بِدَابَّةٍ دُونَ الْبَغْلِ وَفَوْقَ الْحِمَارِ أَبْيَضَ». فَقَالَ لَهُ الْجَارُودُ هُوَ الْبُرَاقُ يَا أَبَا حَمْزَةَ قَالَ أَنَسٌ نَعَمْ، يَضَعُ خَطْوَهُ عِنْدَ أَقْصَى طَرْفِهِ «فَحُمِلْتُ عَلَيْهِ» ...
The Prophet ﷺ said: “…Then I was brought an animal, white, smaller than a mule and bigger than a donkey.” — al-Jārūd asked Anas: “Is that al-Burāq, Abū Ḥamzah?” Anas said: “Yes. Each of its steps reaches as far as its eye can see.” — “I was carried on it…”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3887Sahih
The Burāq is from the unseen; we describe it only as the hadith does and do not draw it. “Each step reaches as far as its eye can see.” Allah made the journey fast.
In al-Aqṣā إِمَامُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ
He led the prophets in prayer
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «... وَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي فِي جَمَاعَةٍ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ فَإِذَا مُوسَى قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فَإِذَا رَجُلٌ ضَرْبٌ جَعْدٌ كَأَنَّهُ مِنْ رِجَالِ شَنُوءَةَ وَإِذَا عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ - عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ - قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي أَقْرَبُ النَّاسِ بِهِ شَبَهًا عُرْوَةُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ الثَّقَفِيُّ وَإِذَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ - عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ - قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي أَشْبَهُ النَّاسِ بِهِ صَاحِبُكُمْ - يَعْنِي نَفْسَهُ - فَحَانَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَأَمَمْتُهُمْ» ...
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “…And I saw myself among a group of the prophets. There was Mūsā, standing in prayer — a slim man with curly hair, as if he were one of the men of Shanū’ah. And there was ‘Īsā ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, standing in prayer; the person who most resembles him is ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ūd al-Thaqafī. And there was Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, standing in prayer; the person who most resembles him is your companion” — meaning himself. “Then the time for prayer came, and I led them in prayer.…”
Sahih Muslim 172Sahih
The prophets prayed behind him: the message of Mūsā, ‘Īsā and Ibrāhīm is one — worship Allah alone — and Muḥammad ﷺ is the last messenger who completed it.
The hadith does not name the place; many scholars (e.g., Ibn Kathīr) hold it was in Bayt al-Maqdis.
The ascent الْمِعْرَاجُ
Meeting the prophets in the heavens
- Heaven 1 Ādam — “Welcome to the righteous son and the righteous prophet.”
- Heaven 2 Yaḥyā and ‘Īsā, the two cousins.
- Heaven 3 Yūsuf.
- Heaven 4 Idrīs.
- Heaven 5 Hārūn.
- Heaven 6 Mūsā.
- Heaven 7 Ibrāhīm, the father of the prophets — then Sidrat al-Muntahā, the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.
Source: the hadith of Mālik ibn Ṣa‘ṣa‘ah in Sahih al-Bukhari (3887), in summary — tap Takhrīj on the next slide for the chain.
The great gift فَرْضُ الصَّلَاةِ
From fifty prayers to five
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «... ثُمَّ فُرِضَتْ عَلَيَّ الصَّلَوَاتُ خَمْسِينَ صَلَاةً كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. فَرَجَعْتُ فَمَرَرْتُ عَلَى مُوسَى، فَقَالَ بِمَا أُمِرْتَ قَالَ أُمِرْتُ بِخَمْسِينَ صَلَاةً كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. قَالَ إِنَّ أُمَّتَكَ لَا تَسْتَطِيعُ خَمْسِينَ صَلَاةً كُلَّ يَوْمٍ، وَإِنِّي وَاللَّهِ قَدْ جَرَّبْتُ النَّاسَ قَبْلَكَ، وَعَالَجْتُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَشَدَّ الْمُعَالَجَةِ، فَارْجِعْ إِلَى رَبِّكَ فَاسْأَلْهُ التَّخْفِيفَ لِأُمَّتِكَ. فَرَجَعْتُ، فَوَضَعَ عَنِّي عَشْرًا، فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى فَقَالَ مِثْلَهُ، فَرَجَعْتُ فَوَضَعَ عَنِّي عَشْرًا، فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى فَقَالَ مِثْلَهُ، فَرَجَعْتُ فَوَضَعَ عَنِّي عَشْرًا، فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى فَقَالَ مِثْلَهُ، فَرَجَعْتُ فَأُمِرْتُ بِعَشْرِ صَلَوَاتٍ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ، فَرَجَعْتُ فَقَالَ مِثْلَهُ، فَرَجَعْتُ فَأُمِرْتُ بِخَمْسِ صَلَوَاتٍ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ، فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى، فَقَالَ بِمَا أُمِرْتَ قُلْتُ أُمِرْتُ بِخَمْسِ صَلَوَاتٍ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. قَالَ إِنَّ أُمَّتَكَ لَا تَسْتَطِيعُ خَمْسَ صَلَوَاتٍ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ، وَإِنِّي قَدْ جَرَّبْتُ النَّاسَ قَبْلَكَ، وَعَالَجْتُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَشَدَّ الْمُعَالَجَةِ، فَارْجِعْ إِلَى رَبِّكَ فَاسْأَلْهُ التَّخْفِيفَ لِأُمَّتِكَ. قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَبِّي حَتَّى اسْتَحْيَيْتُ، وَلَكِنْ أَرْضَى وَأُسَلِّمُ قَالَ فَلَمَّا جَاوَزْتُ نَادَى مُنَادٍ أَمْضَيْتُ فَرِيضَتِي وَخَفَّفْتُ عَنْ عِبَادِي».
“…Then the prayers were made obligatory upon me: fifty prayers every day. I came back and passed by Mūsā. He said: ‘What were you commanded?’ I said: ‘Fifty prayers every day.’ He said: ‘Your nation will not be able to do fifty prayers a day… go back to your Lord and ask Him to lighten it for your nation.’ I went back, and He removed ten…” — and so on, until — “I was commanded five prayers every day… I said: ‘I have asked my Lord until I feel shy; but I am pleased and I submit.’ When I went on, a caller called out: ‘I have carried out My obligation, and I have lightened it for My servants.’”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3887Sahih
Other obligations came down to earth through Jibrīl; the prayer was made obligatory directly in the heavens. Five in number — fifty in reward.
The next morning تَكْذِيبُ قُرَيْشٍ
“Describe Jerusalem to us!”
When he told Quraysh, they refused to believe him — Jerusalem was many days away by caravan. They asked him to describe it, as they knew it from their trade trips:
عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: «لَمَّا كَذَّبَنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ، فَجَلَّى اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ» ...
Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: “When Quraysh called me a liar, I stood in the Ḥijr, and Allah showed Bayt al-Maqdis clearly to me, so I began telling them about its signs while I was looking at it.”…
Sahih al-Bukhari 4710Sahih
al-Ṣiddīq
When people came to Abū Bakr with the news, he said: “If he said that, then he has spoken the truth.” That is why he was called al-Ṣiddīq.
Source: ‘Ā’ishah’s report in al-Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim (4461, 4513) — told here in summary. al-Ḥākim graded it authentic, and al-Albānī included it in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (306); some scholars criticised one of its narrators, Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Ṣan‘ānī.
Lessons دُرُوسٌ وَعِبَرٌ
What we learn
1
After hardship, honour
After the Year of Sorrow, Allah honoured him with this journey.
2
The prayer is special
It is the only obligation Allah made obligatory directly in the heavens — guard it.
3
al-Aqṣā is ours
The Night Journey links al-Masjid al-Ḥarām with al-Masjid al-Aqṣā forever.
Review مُرَاجَعَةٌ
Quick quiz
Score: 0 / 4
1.Where did al-Isrā’ go to?
Correct (al-Isrā’ 17:1).
To al-Masjid al-Aqṣā in Jerusalem.
2.How many prayers were first made obligatory?
Right — then reduced to five (al-Bukhari 3887).
Fifty at first, then five.
3.Which prophet advised him to ask for less?
Correct.
It was Mūsā.
4.How did he prove the journey to Quraysh?
Yes (al-Bukhari 4710).
Allah showed him Bayt al-Maqdis and he described its signs.
Five prayers — a gift from above the heavens
ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam ﷺ
NEXT · Chapter 15: The Pledges of al-‘Aqabah · بَيْعَتَا الْعَقَبَةِ