Isra'
and
Mi'raj

One evening the Messenger had been visiting with his cousin, Umm Hani,

the daughter of Abu Talib,

and after they had prayed 'Isha together

Umm Hani asked him if he would like to stay there,

which he did.

But after a very short sleep he woke up

and decided to visit the Ka'aba,

which he loved to do in the night time.

Then, while he was praying at the Ka'aba,

the Messenger felt very tired,

and decided to lie down and sleep in the Hijr,

but he was woken by what proved to be Jibril

nudging him with his foot.

So the Messenger stood up,

and Jibril took him by the arm

and led him towards the gate of the Mosque,

outside which was a very strange beast.

It was white,

and looked like something between a mule and an ass,

except that it had large wings like a bird.

And when it flapped its wings as it ran,

each stride took it

as far as the eye could see.

And the beast was named Buraq

after the lightning

which it was as fast as.

And Buraq carried the Messenger

northwards, past Yathrib

and all the way to Jerusalem.

And there the Messenger prayed

in the way that Jibril had taught him,

and earlier Messengers,

Ibrahim, Musa, 'Isa and others

came and prayed behind him.

And after that he went through the extraordinary experience that we know as

the Mi'raj,

where Buraq flew him up through the heavens

to stand close before Allah.

After which, Buraq flew him back to Makkah,

where he arrived back just a few hours after he had left.

Now when he told people what had happened to him,

they laughed and made fun of him,

thinking him crazy.

After all,

everyone knew that the journey to Jerusalem

would take at least a month.

But the Messenger's companions didn't doubt him.

As Abu Bakr said to those who challenged him

"If the Messenger said it, then it is true".

But there was more than Abu Bakr's trust in the Messenger

to persuade those who laughed at his story.

Because as Buraq carried him back from Jerusalem to Makkah

they flew over caravans

making the same journey overland below,

and the Messenger could describe them, and tell who was coming

and when they would arrive.

And over the weeks that followed,

sure enough,

those caravans turned up at Makkah

just as the Messenger had said they would.

Which was not enough to persuade most of the Qureysh to change their minds,

though it did strengthen the hearts

of those who already trusted the words of the Messenger,

those who already believed in his Message.

What happened in Jerusalem?