The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 273
VIII - Expansion of Preaching 273 A summary of the details mentioned in Ḥadīth pertinent to the Isrā’ are as follows: One night the Holy Prophet sa saw that an angel came to him and an animal larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, named Burrāq , which was extremely beautiful, white coloured, and of a long body, was presented before him, and he was mounted upon it. It took the Holy Prophet sa to Jerusalem. The steps of this animal would move in such speed as every step would take the sight to its final limit. The Holy Prophet sa reached Jerusalem very quickly, where he tied this animal in quarters where past prophets would tie it. Then the Holy Prophet sa entered the mosque, where a company of past prophets, in which Abraham as , Moses as and Jesus as have been especially mentioned, were already present. The Holy Prophet sa offered his Ṣalāt with them, in which he led the congregation, and the other prophets followed. After this, Gabriel as (as this angel was Gabriel as ) presented the Holy Prophet sa with two cups. In one of them was milk and in the other was alcohol. The Holy Prophet sa chose the cup of milk and rejected the alcohol, upon which Gabriel as said, “You have understood that which is natural, for if you had taken the cup of alcohol, your community would have gone astray”. 1 In various other narrations, further details of this have been mentioned as follows: When Gabriel as brought Burrāq before the Holy Prophet sa , and he began to mount himself, it glimmered, upon which Gabriel as said, “Halt, halt. By God, to this day, no man of such greatness has mounted upon you. ” At this, it began to perspire profusely in embarrassment, and stood silently. After this, the Holy Prophet sa mounted himself upon it, and along with Gabriel as he started off towards Jerusalem. En-route, the Holy Prophet sa encountered an old lady, and when he asked Gabriel as , “Who is this?” Gabriel as said, “Move forward, move forward. ” When the Holy Prophet sa moved forward, after some time, someone called him from one side of the path saying “Muḥammad come here!” But Gabriel as once again said, “Come on, move forward. ” When the Holy Prophet sa moved forward, after some time, he met a group of people on the way, who 1 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābut-Tafsīr, Tafsīru Sūrati Banī Isrā’īl, Bābu Qaulihī Subḥānalladhī Asrā bi- ‘Abdihī. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 4709 * Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitābul-Īmān, Bābul-Isrā’i bi-Rasūlillāhi sa ilas-Samāwāti wa Farḍiṣ-Ṣalawāt, Ḥadīth No. 411, 416 * Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitābul-Īmān, Bābu Dhikril-Masīḥ bin Maryam wal-Masīḥid-Dajjāl, Ḥadīth No. 430