The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 262
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 262 Mi‘rāj. 1 The journey mentioned in chapter Banī Isrā’īl 2 refers to the Isrā’. The circumstances and details of both of these are completely separate from one another. For example, whilst mentioning the Isrā’ in chapter Banī Isrā’īl, the Holy Qur’ān does not even remotely allude to the heavens, and in the account of Sūrah Najm, Jerusalem is not mentioned at all. Similarly, a close analysis of Aḥādīth also proves that the M‘iraj and Isrā’ are different. As such, Bukhārī, which is agreed upon as the most authentic book after the Holy Qur’ān in Islāmic literature, contains separate chapters for the Isrā’ and Mi‘rāj , and has implied that both of these are two different occurrences. 3 The purpose behind indicating separate beginnings for these two journeys, also hints towards the reality that these two journeys were separate from one another. In other words, where it is mentioned that during the Isrā’ the Holy Prophet sa was given a tour from Makkah to Jerusalem, with relevance to the Mi‘rāj the words which are recorded are that the Holy Prophet sa was taken into the heavens from Makkah. Therefore, the commencement of both these journeys separately took place from Makkah, which evidently manifests the fact that both these occurrences are quite separate and distinct from one another. 4 In addition to this, the Ḥadīth of the Mi‘rāj has been mentioned at six different places in Bukhārī, and similarly the Ḥadīth of the Isrā’ has also been mentioned at numerous places. Moreover, on various occasions, due to the imprudence of various narrators, to some extent, although the details of the M‘iraj and Isrā’ have been partly intermingled, in the allusion of the Mi‘rāj , nowhere has it been mentioned that the Holy Prophet sa went to Jerusalem. Quite the contrary, in this entire narration the ascension of the Holy Prophet sa has been mentioned from Makkah directly to the heavens, 5 which conclusively proves the extrication 1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābut-Tauḥīd, Bābu Mā Jā’a fī Qaulihī ‘Azza wa Jalla wa Kallamallāhu Mūsā Taklīmā, Ḥadīth No. 7517 2 Banī Isrā’īl (17:2) 3 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Ḥadīthil-Isrā’, Ḥadīth No. 3886 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Ḥadīthil-Mi‘rāj, Ḥadīth No. 3887 4 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Ḥadīthil-Isrā’, Ḥadīth No. 3886 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Ḥadīthil-Mi‘rāj, Ḥadīth No. 3887 5 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābuṣ-Ṣalāt, Bābu Kayfa Furiḍatiṣ-Ṣalawātu fil-Isrā’, Ḥadīth No. 349 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Bad’il-Khalq, Bābu Dhikril-Malā’ikati. . . , Ḥadīth No. 3207 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Aḥādīthil-Anbiyā’i, Bābu Dhikri Idrīs as , Ḥadīth No. 3342 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābul-Manāqib, Bābu Kānan-Nabiyyu Tanāmu ‘Ainuhū wa lā Yanāmu Qalbuhū, Ḥadīth No. 3570 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābul-Mi‘rāj, Ḥadīth No. 3887 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābut-Tauḥīd, Bābu Mā Jā’a fī Qaulihi Azza wa Jalla wa Kallamallāhu Mūsā Taklīmā, Ḥadīth No. 7517