Sidrat al-Muntaha

Sidrat al-Muntaha is an immense tree at the highest heavens at the boundary that created beings cannot pass. It was there that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ reached on the night of the Ascension and saw Jibril in his true form. Near it the five daily prayers were prescribed. The Quran mentions it in Surah an-Najm.

Sidrat al-Muntaha — the Quran described the second vision of Jibril by the Prophet ﷺ: 'And he certainly saw him in his descent at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, near it is the Garden of Refuge, when there covered the Lote Tree what covered it' (53:13-16). 'Sidra' is a tree (lote/Ziziphus) and 'al-muntaha' is the furthest limit.

The Furthest Boundary — scholars explain that this name (Sidrat al-Muntaha) means it is the boundary which created beings cannot reach: what ascends from earth stops there and what descends from above stops there. A threshold beyond which the knowledge of angels and humans cannot go. Near it is 'the Garden of Refuge.'

What the Prophet ﷺ Saw There — reaching Sidrat al-Muntaha during the Ascension, the Prophet ﷺ was shown wonders. The hadiths (Bukhari and Muslim) report that he described the tree with an indescribable greatness, its leaves like elephant ears and its fruit like clay jars, covered by a splendour that cannot be expressed. From near it spring four rivers including two visible ones (some commentary refers to the Nile and Euphrates meaning blessing) and two hidden ones in Paradise.

The Prescription of Prayer — at this heavenly apex of the Ascension, the five daily prayers were prescribed upon the Prophet ﷺ and his community: fifty then reduced to five while retaining the reward of fifty (Bukhari and Muslim).

Sidrat al-Muntaha is Quranic (53:14-16). Its detailed description (its size, leaves, fruit and rivers) comes from the authentic hadiths of the Ascension (Bukhari and Muslim). Its meaning (the boundary where created beings stop) is scholarly interpretation. Note: some details of 'the four rivers' are the subject of scholarly interpretation; but the essence — the boundary tree and the vision in the Ascension and the prescription of prayer — is firmly established.

Sidrat al-Muntaha represents the limit of created beings before the infinity of the Creator: even at the highest heavens there is a threshold beyond which created beings cannot go. A lesson in humility: knowledge has limits and what lies beyond them belongs to God alone. At this highest point a human ever reached, the most precious daily gift was deposited: prayer, a direct bond between the servant and his Lord.

à proximité du Lotus de la limite (Sidrat al-Muntahâ)

53:14

Le Lotus était recouvert de choses extraordinaires.

53:16