The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 542
CH. 17 BANI ISRĀ'ÏL PT. 15 right course which is in perfect that several Companions of the harmony with a pure, unsullied Prophet and some of the later nature. If thou hadst accepted water scholars of Islam have, on the basis or wine, thou and thine followers of this verse, declared the Isra' to be Iwould have been lost. " Then Adam a vision. For instance, Ibn Isḥāq and and the other Prophets were presented Ibn Jarīr report that when Mu'awiyah to him, and the Holy Prophet led was asked concerning the Isrā', he them in Prayers. After this Gabriel said that it was a vision which came explained to him that the old woman out to be true (Manthūr, vol. 4, p. he saw on the way was an embodied 197). 'A'isha is also reported to have representation of the life of this world held the same view. (Hishām and and only as much was left of the life Mas'ud, vol. 1). of the world as was left of the life of that old woman. As for the person who called him from across the road, he was Iblis, the enemy of God. The party of men who greeted him were the Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus' (Ibn Jarir). This tradition serves as a key to resolve this whole allegory. It gives the most reliable and correct account of the Isra'. It shows that the Journey to Jerusalem was no physical act but only a vision. This is clear from the following facts: (a) It is stated in this tradition that during the Night Journey to Jerusalem, the Prophet saw an old woman, a person standing on one side of the road, and three cups full of water, wine and milk (of which the Prophet chose the last), and Gabriel told him what all these things signified. The explanation and interpretation by Gabriel of the things the Prophet saw shows that the Journey was only a vision, for it is only things seen in visions that need interpretation and explanation. (b) The Night Journey has been spoken of as a vision in the present Surah (v. 61). Accordingly, we find (c) We learn from the ḥadīth that when the Holy Prophet spoke of his Night Journey to Jerusalem he was asked to give a description of the Temple at Jerusalem. The Prophet is reported to have said that at that time God presented before his eyes an embodied representation of the Temple and he was thus able to describe it as demanded of him (Ibn Kathir, vol. 6, p. 18). (المسجد الاقصى) The Vision of the Prophet referred to in the present verse implied a great prophecy. His journey to the Distant Mosque meant his Migration to Medina where he was to build a Mosque which was destined to become later the Centre of all Faiths and Dispensations and the Holy Prophet's seeing himself in the Vision leading other Prophets of God in Prayers signified that the new Faith Islam was not to remain confined to the place of its birth but was to spread all over the world and the followers of all religions were to join its fold. His going to Jerusalem in the Vision may also be understood to mean that he was to be given dominion over the territory in which Jerusalem was situated. This prophecy was fulfilled 1750