A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled until they reached the city of the Hallowed House, and he entered it by its southern gate.   He dismounted the Buraq, and tied it at the gate of the mosque, using the ring by which the prophets tied it before him.   One narration states that Jibril ( a.s. ) came to the Rock and placed his fingers in it, piercing it, then he tied the Buraq using the spot he had hollowed out.   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) entered the mosque from a gate through which the Sun and the Moon could be seen when they set.   He prayed two cycles of prayer and did not tarry long before a large throng of people had gathered.   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) recognised all the prophets, some standing in prayer, some bowing, some prostrating.   Then, a caller called out to the prayer and the final call to prayer was made.   They rose and stood in lines, wai...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) noticed a fragrant wind and asked, “O Jibril, what is this sweet scent?”   He replied, “This is the scent of the lady who combed the hair of Pharaoh’s daughter and that of her children.   As she combed the hair of Pharaoh’s daughter, the comb fell, and she said, ‘In the Name of Allah, may Pharaoh perish!’   Whereupon, Pharaoh’s daughter asked, ‘Do you have a Lord other than my father?’   She said ‘Yes.’   Pharaoh’s daughter said, ‘Shall I tell my father?’   She said ‘Yes.’   She told him, and he summoned her and asked, ‘Do you have a Lord other than me?’   She replied, ‘Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah.’   This woman had two sons and a husband.   Pharaoh summoned them, and he began to entice the woman and her husband to renege on their religion,...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) met Ibrahim (a.s.).   He said, “I stepped forth and greeted him, whereupon he honoured me, and received me well.   Then he spoke to me, saying, ‘Welcome to you, O virtuous son and righteous Prophet.   Tonight, you are to be honoured in that you will witness the splendour of the Lord of the Universe, and you will be admitted to behold all manner of sacred displays.   As for your nation, it is the last of all nations, and it will be a very weak nation, so do not neglect to intercede with your Lord on their behalf.’   And he continued, ‘O Muhammad, give salam to your nation from me and convey to them my advice: the world is of a passing nature and rapid in its decline.   In the eyes of the Eternal Lord, it is but base and contemptible matter.   He attributes to it not even the value of a fly’s wing.   Tell them not to waste their lives in the pursuit of its vain bea...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) recalled, “After this, I came upon a person all drowned in Light.   He was seated upon a throne in an attitude of awesome dignity, and before him were a multitude of little children.   I asked Jibril who was this person of such light, majesty and awe, and who all the children with him were.   The angel answered me, ‘This is your great-grandfather, Ibrahim.   He loves you and the entire nation that believes in you.   He once prayed to the Lord of the Worlds that he might be of service to your nation, and the Lord Heard his supplication.   He Gave him all these little children who are the little boys and girls from your nation who die before reaching adulthood.   Allah Almighty has Entrusted Ibrahim with their upbringing and education.   Until the Day of Judgement, he will be instructing them in proper behaviour and training their minds in the useful sciences. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where he was met by some of Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) creatures who said, “Peace be upon you, O First One!   Peace upon you, O Last One!   Peace be upon you, O Gatherer!”   Jibril ( a.s. ) said to him, “Return their greeting,” and he did.   Then he saw them another time and they said the same thing.   Then he saw them a third time, and again they greeted him.   He asked, “Who are they, O Jibril?”   He replied, “Ibrahim, Musa, and ‘Isa.”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) then passed by Musa ( a.s. ) again as he was praying in his grave at a place of red sand hills.   He was tall, with long hair and brown complexion, similar to one of the shanu’a , the Yemeni men of pure lineage and manly virtue.   He was saying with a loud voice, “You have Honoured him and Preferred him!”   Then the Prophet (...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place until they came to a valley in which the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) breathed a sweet, cool breeze fragrant with musk and he heard a voice.   He asked, “What is this, O Jibril?”   He replied, “This is the voice of Paradise saying, ‘O my Lord, Bring me what You have Promised me for too abundant are my rooms, my gold-laced garments, my silk, my brocades, my carpets, my pearls, my coral, my silver, my gold, my goblets, my bowls, my pitchers, my couches, my honey, my water, my milk, my wine!’   And He Says, ‘You will have every single muslimin and muslimat , every mu’minin and mu’minat , and everyone who has believed in Me and My Messengers and did excellent deeds without associating a partner to Me nor taking helpers without Me.   Anyone who fears Me will be safe, and whoever asks of Me, I shall Give him, and whoever lends Me...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where the Prophet (s.a.w.) heard someone calling him from his right, “O Muhammad, look at me; I want to ask you something!”   But the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) did not respond.   Then he asked, “Who was that, O Jibril?”   He replied, “That is the herald of the Jews.   If you had answered him, your ummah would have followed Judaism.”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) continued travelling, and he heard someone calling him from his left, “O Muhammad, look at me; I want to ask you something!”   But the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) did not respond.   Then he asked,  “ Who was that, O Jibril? ” He replied, “That is the herald of the Christians.   If you had answered him, your ummah would have followed Christianity.”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) continued travelling and then passed by a woman with bare arms, deck...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ As the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was travelling, mounted on the Buraq, he saw a devil from the jinn who was trying to get near him holding a firebrand.   Everywhere the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) turned, he would see him.   Jibril ( a.s. ) said to him, “Shall I teach you words which, if you say them, his firebrand will go out, and he will fall dead?”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said yes.   Jibril ( a.s. ) said, “Say:   بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَعُوذُ بِوَجْهِ اللهِ الْكَرِيمِ ، وَبِكَلِمَاتِ اللهِ التَّا مَّاتِ الَّتِيْ لاَ يُجَاوَزُهُنَّ بَرٌّ وَلاَ فَاجِرٌ مِنْ شَرِّ ما يَنْزِلُ مِنْ السَّمَاءِ وَمِنْ شَرِّمَا يَعرُجُ فِيْهَا وَمِنْ شَرِّمَا ذَرَأَ فِي اْلاَرْضِ ، وَمِنْ شَرِّمَا يَخرُخُ مِنْهَا وَمِنْ فِتَنِ اللٌيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمِنْ طَوَارِقِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ إِلاَّ طَارِقًا يَطْرُقُ بِخَيْرِ يَا رَحْمَن.   “ A’uudzu bi wajhillahi al-kariim, Wa bi kalimaatillahi at-taammaat, al-Latii laa yujaawizu...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where he saw a people who wore loincloths on the fronts and on their backs.   They were roaming the way camels and sheep roam about.   They were eating thistles and Zaqqum, the fruit of a tree that grows in hell and whose fruit resembles the head of devils, and white-hot coals and stones of Jahannam.   سُوۡرَةُ الصَّافات أَذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ نُّزُلاً أَمۡ شَجَرَةُ ٱلزَّقُّومِ (٦٢) إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَـٰهَا فِتۡنَةً۬ لِّلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (٦٣)   Is that the better entertainment, or the Tree of Zaqqum?   For We have truly Made it (as) a trial for the wrongdoers. (Surah asw-Swaffat:62-63)   He asked, “Who are these, O Jibril?”   He replied, “These are the ones who did not meet the obligation of paying swadaqah from what they possessed, whereas Allah ( s.w.t. ) never kept anything from them.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where he came to a plank in the middle of the road which not even a piece of cloth nor less than that could cross except it would be pierced.   He asked, “What is this, O Jibril?”   He replied, “This is what happens to those of your ummah who sit in the middle of the road and cut it,” and he recited:   سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعرَاف وَلَا تَقۡعُدُواْ بِڪُلِّ صِرَٲطٍ۬ تُوعِدُونَ وَتَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِهِۦ وَتَبۡغُونَهَا عِوَجً۬ا‌ۚ … (٨٦)   “And squat not on every road, breathing, threats, hindering from the path of Allah those who believe in Him and seek to make it something crooked …” (Surah al-A’araf:86)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Muhammad ibn Yusuf asw-Swalihi ash-Shami’ ( r.a. ), in his great book, al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj , wrote, “Know that each of the hadits of the companions on this subject contains what the other does not.  Therefore, we consulted Allah ( s.w.t. ) and concatenated them, thus rearranging the account into a single text so that it would be sweeter to attentive ears and in order for its benefit to suit all occasions.   If someone says, ‘Each hadits of the Mi’raj differs from the next, and the Ascensions may number according to the number of their accounts: why then did you make all of them into a single account?’   I say, as the author of Zad al-Ma’ad ,” referring to Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ( r.a. ), “said, ‘This is the path of the feeble-minded among the literalists of the Zhahiri school who are authorities in transmitted texts.  If they see in the account a wording tha...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where he passed by a large tree whose fruit seemed like a thornless berry, of the kind that gives shade to men and cattle.  Under it, an old man was resting with his dependents.  There were lamps and a great light could be seen.  The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) asked, “Who is this, O Jibril?”   He replied, “Your father, Ibrahim.”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) greeted him, and Ibrahim ( a.s. ) returned his greeting, and asked, “Who is this with you, O Jibril?”   He replied, “This is your son, Ahmad.”   He said thus, “Welcome to the unlettered Arabian Prophet, who has conveyed the Message of his Lord, and acted with perfect sincerity with his ummah !  O my son, you are going to meet your Lord tonight, and your ummah is the last and the weakest of all communities.  Therefore, if you are able to have your...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “My Lord has Preferred me over everyone else; He has Sent me as a Mercy to the worlds and to all people without exception, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; He has Thrown terror into the hearts of my enemies at a distance of a month's travel; He has Made spoils of war lawful for me while they were not lawful for anyone before me; the entire earth has been Made a ritually pure place of prostration for me; I was given the words that open, those that close, and those that are comprehensive in meaning; my ummah was Shown to me and there is none of the followers and the followed, but he is known to me; I saw that they would come to a people that wear hair-covered sandals; I saw that they would come to a people of large faces and small eyes as if they had been pierced with a needle; nothing of what they would face in the future has been kept hidden from me; and I have been ordered to perform fif...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ As the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was in al-Hijr, at the House, the semicircular space under the waterspout which is open on both sides on the northwest side of the Ka’bah, lying down at rest between two men; his uncle, Sayyidina Hamzah ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ); and his cousin, Sayyidina Ja’far ibn Abu Thalib ath-Thayyar ( r.a. ); Jibril ( a.s. ) and Mika’il ( a.s. ) came to him.   With them was a third angel, Israfil ( a.s. ).   They carried him until they brought him to the spring of Zamzam, where they asked him to lie on his back and Jibril ( a.s. ) took him over from the other two.   Another version says, “The roof of my house was opened, and Jibril descended.” He split the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) chest from his throat to the bottom of his belly.   Then Jibril ( a.s. ) said to Mika’il ( a.s. ), “Bring me a tast of water from Zamzam so that I will purify his heart and expand his breast.”   A “ tast ” is a vessel, usual...