The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 539
PT. 15 BANI ISRĀ'ĪL laid and Prayers were made obligatory, which seem to have taken place in the first year of the Call (Bukhārī, chapter on Tauḥīd; Jarir, vol. 15, p. 4). The second or the better known Mi'raj took place about the fifth year of the Call when the five prescribed Prayers were made obligatory and chapter 53, containing a description of it, was revealed (or it may have taken place even earlier and may have been subsequently referred to in Ch. 53). The Isrā', however, is quite a separate event which undoubtedly occurred in the eleventh or twelfth year of the Call when the Prophet was living in the house of his cousin, Ummi Hānī, after the death of his wife, Khadijah, which took place in the tenth year of the Call after the Prophet had come out of the Valley (a) of Abū Ṭālib. In addition to this strong historical evidence, other relevant circumstances also lend support to the view that the two incidents are quite distinct and separate from each other: (1) The first evidence in this connection is furnished by the Quran itself. It gives an account of the Prophet's Mi'raj (Spiritual Ascension) in chapter 53 but makes no reference to his Isra' (Night Journey to Jerusalem), while in the present Surah it speaks of his Isra' but omits all allusion to his Mi'rāj. This shows that the two incidents took place separately and, therefore, could not be mentioned together. It is inconceivable that the Quran should have mentioned the concluding portion of this incident in one Surah and the first portion of the selfsame CH. 17 incident in another Surah five years later. (2) The second evidence which supports this inference is the fact that there was only one person, namely Ummi Hānī, who was present with the Prophet during the night when the Isra' (Spiritual Night Journey to Jerusalem) took place and she speaks only of his visit to Jerusalem and makes no mention of his journey to the heavens. She was the first person whom the Prophet informed of his Night Journey to Jerusalem and at least seven collectors of traditions have given her account of the incident on the authority of four different reporters who have reported the incident from her. All these four reporters concur in saying that the Prophet went to Jerusalem and returned to Mecca the same night. If the Prophet had spoken of his Ascension to the heavens also, Ummi Hāni could not have failed to refer to it in one or other of her reports. But she does not do so in any of her reports, which conclusively shows that during the night in question the Holy Prophet made the Isra' or the Spiritual Night Journey to Jerusalem only and that the Mi'raj did not take place on that occasion. So the Isrā' or the Prophet's Spiritual Night Journey to Jerusalem should not be confused with the Mi'rāj or his Spiritual Ascension to heaven. 1747 (3) All the different reporters of this incident may be placed in three categories: (a) those who speak of the Prophet's Ascension direct to heaven and make no mention of his Journey to Jerusalem; (b) those who speak