The Night Journey and Ascension

In a single night before the Hijra, the Prophet ﷺ was transported from Mecca (the Sacred Mosque) to Jerusalem (the Farthest Mosque) — this is al-Isra' — then raised through the seven heavens to the outermost boundary of creation — this is al-Mi'raj. Riding al-Buraq and guided by Jibril, he led the prophets in prayer in Jerusalem, met Adam, Musa, 'Isa and Ibrahim in the heavens, and reached Sidrat al-Muntaha. It was there that the five daily prayers were prescribed. This is one of the rare miracles of the Prophet ﷺ explicitly mentioned in the Quran.

The account opens with a verse (Surah al-Isra', 17:1) in which God declares He took His servant on a night journey from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem, whose surroundings He has blessed, to show him some of His signs. That night, the angel Jibril brought the Prophet ﷺ a mount, al-Buraq — described as a white animal, between a mule and a donkey, placing its hoof at the furthest limit of its sight. Carried by it, the Prophet ﷺ reached Jerusalem.

At the Farthest Mosque the prophets were gathered, and the Prophet ﷺ led them in prayer — a sign of his place at the head of the prophetic lineage. He was then presented with three vessels, one of milk, one of wine, one of water; he chose the milk, and Jibril told him he had been guided to the natural disposition (fitra), he and his community.

Then came the Ascension (al-Mi'raj): from heaven to heaven, the Prophet ﷺ was raised, meeting at each level a prophet — Adam, then 'Isa and Yahya, Yusuf, Idris, Harun, Musa, and finally Ibrahim leaning against al-Bayt al-Ma'mur. He reached Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Lote Tree of the Uttermost Boundary, beyond which no creature passes — the vision evoked in Surah an-Najm (53:13-18).

At the end of this Ascension, God prescribed for the community fifty prayers a day. On the repeated advice of Musa, who knew the weakness of people, the Prophet ﷺ asked for a reduction, and the number was brought down to five prayers — carrying, in reward, the value of fifty. In the morning, back in Mecca, his account was met with mockery; but he described Jerusalem and the approaching caravans with an accuracy that silenced those who were testing him.

The levels of this account must be carefully distinguished. The central fact — the night journey — is Quranic: Surah al-Isra' (17:1) affirms the journey to al-Aqsa, and Surah an-Najm (53) evokes the vision near Sidrat al-Muntaha. The detail (al-Buraq, the prophets of the heavens, the fifty prayers reduced to five) comes from authentic hadith: Bukhari (no. 349, 3887, 7517) and Muslim (no. 162). Two honest clarifications: the famous date of 27 Rajab has no solid basis — Ibn Kathir writes explicitly 'la asla lahu' (nothing establishes it), and ancient sources diverge. Some versions (like that of Malik ibn Sa'sa'a) do not mention the Jerusalem stop and pass directly to the Ascension; Ibn Kathir explains that transmitters sometimes abbreviated, and he holds it to be one and the same journey, not several. We report what the sources say, signal what is established and what is not.

The Night Journey links the two sanctuaries — Mecca and Jerusalem — and places the Prophet ﷺ at the head of all the prophets. Its most concrete fruit for every Muslim today is the five daily prayers: the only act of worship prescribed not on earth, but at the highest of the heavens — a daily reminder of that night when the sky opened.