(17) Certainly he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord [5] .

(17) Certainly he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord [5] . Time of Mi’raj In several hadiths, the night of ascension was mentioned to be the 17th night of Rabi’ al-Awwal or the 27th night of Rajab , and in another narration, it is also documented to be the 17th or the 21st night of the month of Ramadan [6] . Method of Mi’raj There are different opinions on whether the Prophet’s journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and thence to Heaven was physical, simply spiritual, or both.

However, since the Holy Prophet (PBUHH) had mentioned that: “During the Mi`raj, I met with the various Prophets; I saw the Angels; Heaven and Hell were shown to me; I was brought to the Arsh and reached to Sidratul Muntaha.

I also met people in Heaven who were being showered with the blessings of Allah and also I saw people in Hell who were being punished by the harshest types of punishment; I was also informed as to why they were in such a state.” Thus, it is not possible that the Prophet (PBUHH) went to the Mi’raj in the physical body made of clay alone (as the physical body cannot travel through these various stages). In view of this, the journey was embarked upon by both the physical body and the spiritual.

It is documented that on that night, Gabriel descended on that noble Prophet and brought him a riding animal named “Burāq [7] ” and the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) rode on it and moved towards Jerusalem.

He stopped at several places and offered ritual prayers on the way; one in Medina; the place of emigration to which the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) migrated years later; one in Kufa Mosque; the other in Sinai and Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus Christ (PBUH) – and thereafter, he entered Al-Aqsa Mosque and prayed there. And he ascended to Heaven from there.

In the hadiths, it is mentioned that on that night, the material world presented itself to him in the form of a beautiful and pretty woman, but the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) did not pay attention to it and passed by it.

The Events on Mi’raj According to the narration reported by Ali ibn Ibrahim in his commentary from Imam Sādiq (PBUH), who reported the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) saying: “I passed by a group of people who had dishes of lawful and unlawful meats in front of them, but they were eating the unlawful and abandoned the lawful one.” I asked Gabriel: Who are these?