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The Night Journey and the Ascension was a great blessing
bestowed upon Muhammad, the Prophet of God. It was a journey beginning at
the Holy Masjid in Mecca , then moving overland
to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem
and finally continuing up through the seven heavens into the presence of God,
the Almighty. As we travel up through the seven heavens with Prophet
Muhammad, it is important to remember that the places he visits are not part of
Paradise .
In the English language, we generally use the word heaven to
mean the spiritual plane of eternal happiness, the reward for a righteous life
and the opposite of hell, the place of eternal punishment. However, this
was not always the case; the word heaven comes from the Old English word heofon,[1] used
to denote the sky, which is the area above the earth where the celestial bodies
are. Eventually, heaven lost its original meaning and came to
imply Paradise . In Arabic, however,
there have always been two separate words used, sama andjennah.
The word sama is used for the skies above us, and they are part of
the temporary world which will be destroyed on the Day of Judgement. The
wordjennah, however, denotes Paradise , the
land of eternal bliss, the permanent home of the righteous believers, and the
opposite of Hell.
“Then He completed and finished from their creation as seven
heavens in two Days and He made in each heaven its affair. And We adorned
the nearest heaven with light sources to be an adornment, as well as to
guard. Such is the Decree of Him the All-Mighty, the All-Knower.” (Quran
41:12)
“Their Lord gives them glad tidings of a Mercy from Him, and
that He is pleased, and of Gardens (jennah) for them wherein are everlasting
delights. They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with God is a
great reward.” (Quran 9:21-22)
The Wonders of God
Prophet Muhammad ascended into the heavens from the rock now
housed in the familiar golden dome that has become the symbol for Jerusalem . This is
a journey that no other human had ever made or has made since. It demonstrates
God’s ability to bring the seemingly impossible into being. Here, the
concepts of time and space as we know them do not apply, and it is beyond our
human capabilities to understand the true omnipotence of God. In his
sayings and traditions, Prophet Muhammad described the size of the heavens; the
first heaven, as compared to the second, is similar to a small ring in the
desert, and he continued this narrative until he described the sixth heaven as
being the size of a ring in the desert compared to the seventh heaven.
The magnitude of this is unimaginable. Our earth, and what we call the
universe, is contained within the first heaven. Even with the scientific
knowledge of the 21st century, we have no idea how big this is, how far
the universe extends, or what wonders it contains.
Prophet Muhammad travelled with the Angel Gabriel up into
the heights of the heavens. Together they came to the gate of the first
heaven, where Angel Gabriel sought permission to enter. The gatekeepers
asked, “Who is it?” to which Gabriel replied, “It is I, Gabriel”.
The gatekeepers then asked who was accompanying him; when they were told it was
Muhammad, they asked if he had been given his mission to guide all of mankind
to the worship of One God. Angel Gabriel answered in the affirmative, so
the angels welcomed Prophet Muhammad, called his arrival a pleasure, and opened
the gate.
Greeting the Prophets
Prophet Muhammad tells us that he saw his father Adam, the
father of all of mankind. He greeted him with the greeting of all
Muslims, - Assalamu alaikum(may peace be upon you). Adam returned
the greeting and expressed his faith in Muhammad’s prophethood. He called
him his pure son, the pure prophet. Imagine the pleasure that this
meeting must have given to both men. After thousands of years, Adam was
able to see his son Muhammad, the greatest of his descendents. Muhammad
was able to look into the eyes of the father of mankind. The wonders
however were only just beginning. Angel Gabriel and Prophet Muhammad then
ascended to the second heaven.
At the gate, Angel Gabriel again sought permission to enter.
When the gatekeepers learned Prophet Muhammad had been given his mission
and was trying to enter, they welcomed him and opened the gate. There
Prophet Muhammad saw the two cousins, Prophet John (known in Christian
traditions as the Baptist) and the Messenger of God, Prophet Jesus;
Prophet Muhammad exchanged greetings with them.
Prophet Muhammad and Angel Gabriel ascended once more to the
gates of the third heaven. At each gate, the same exchange took
place. When the gatekeepers had established that it was Angel Gabriel in
the company of Prophet Muhammad, who had indeed been given his mission, they
gave permission to enter. Here, in the third heaven, Prophet Muhammad met
Joseph and described him as an embodiment of half of all beauty.
As Prophet Muhammad met the Prophets in each heaven, he
exchanged greetings with them, and this was always Assalamu alaikum, the
greeting of peace used by all those in submission to the One True God. In
the fourth heaven, Prophet Muhammad met Prophet Idris, whom God described in
Quran (19:57) as being elevated to a very high level. In the
fifth heaven, he met Prophet Aaron, the brother of Moses. At each
meeting, the Prophets expressed their faith in Muhammad’s prophethood. In
the sixth heaven, Prophet Muhammad met Moses.
Whenever Prophet Moses is mentioned in the Quran or in the
narrations of Prophet Muhammad, we know that something important is about to be
described. After the two Prophets had exchanged greetings and Prophet
Moses had expressed his faith in Muhammad’s prophethood, Moses started to
weep. When he was asked why, he replied: “A young man has come after me,
and more of his followers will enter paradise then my followers”.
Until the advent of Islam, Prophet Moses had had the largest
following of any Prophet. Moses cried, and from this, we can understand
that there was a type of rivalry between the Prophets; but it was not a
competition filled with jealousy or envy. Rather, it was filled with
compassion. As we move further into the journey, we will see the love and
compassion Prophet Moses had for Muhammad and his followers. Prophet
Muhammad and Angel Gabriel then ascended into the seventh heaven.
Footnotes:
[1] Webster’s
Online dictionary.
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