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rotten smelly one but they make option for the latter. The licentious women were also there
hanging from their breasts.
5. The ‘Night Journey’ raised a good deal of stir among the people and the sceptical audience
plied Muhammad with all sorts of questions. He told them that he saw the camels of Makkan
merchants to and fro. He also guided them to some of their animals that went astray. He
informed them that he had drunk some of their water while they were fast asleep and left
the container covered.
The disbelievers, however, found it a suitable opportunity to jeer at the Muslims and their creed.
They pestered the Prophet (Peace be upon him) with questions as to the description of theMosque
at Jerusalem, where he had never gone before and, to the astonishment of many, the Prophet’s
replies furnished the most accurate information about that city. He supplied them with all the news
about their caravans and the routes of their camels. However, all this increased in them nothing but
flight from the Truth, and they accepted nothing but disbelief.
For the true Muslims, however there was nothing unusual about the Night Journey. The All-Mighty
Allâh, Who is Powerful enough to have created the heavens and the earth by an act of His Will, is
surely Powerful enough to take His Messenger beyond the heavens and show him those signs of His
at firsthand which are inaccessible to man otherwise. The disbelievers on their part went to see Abu
Bakr on account of this event, and he readily said: “Yes, I do verify it.” It was on this occasion that
he earned the title of
As-Siddiq
(the verifier of the truth).
The most eloquent and most concise justification of this ‘Journey’ is expressed in Allâh’s Words:
·
“... in order that We might show him (Muhammad) of Our
Ayât
(proofs, evidences, signs,
etc.)” [17:1].
The Divine rules as regards the Prophets goes as follows:
·
“Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he be one of
those who have Faith with certainty.” [6:75]
To Moses, his Lord said:
·
“That We may show you (some) of Our Greater Signs.” [20:23]
In order that:
·
“He be of those who have Faith with certainty.”
The Prophets, after seeing Allâh’s Signs, will establish their Faith on solid certainty too immune to be
parted with. They are in fact eligible for this Divine privilege because they are the ones who will bear
burdens too heavy for other ordinary people to carry, and in the process of their mission, they will
regard all worldly ordeals and agonies too small to care about.
There are simple facts that emanate from this blessed Journey, and flow along into the flowery
garden of the Prophetic biography; peace and blessings of Allâh be upon its author, Muhammad. The
story of ‘the Night Journey’ as we see in the Noble Qur’ân is epitomised in the first verse of the
Sûrah
Isra’
(Chapter 17 — The Jourby Night) then there is a quick shift to uncover the shameful
deeds and crimes of the Jews, followed by an admonition saying that the Qur’ân guides to that
which is most just and right. This arrangement is not in fact a mere coincidence. Jerusalem was the
first scene of the Night Journey, and here lies the message directed to the Jews and which explicitly
suggested that they would be discharged of the office of leadership of mankind due to the crimes
they had perpetrated and which no longer justified their occupation of that office. The message
suggested explicitly that the office of leadership would be reinstituted by the Messenger of Allâh
(Peace be upon him) to hold in his hand both headquarters of the Abrahamic Faith, the Holy
Sanctuary in Makkah and the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem. It was high time for the spiritual
authority to be transferred from a nation whose history got pregnant with treachery, covenant-
breaching and aggression to another nation blessed with piety, and dutifulness to Allâh, with a
Messenger who enjoys the privilege of the Qur’ânic Revelation, which leads to that which is best and
right.
There, however, remains a crucial question waiting to be answered: How could this foreseen
transition of authority be effected while the champion himself (Muhammad) was left deserted and
forsaken stumbling in the hillocks of Makkah? This question per se uncovered the secrets of another
issue which referred to a phase of the Islamic Call and the appearance of another role it was about
to take up, different in its course and noble in its approaches. The forerunners of that new task took
the shape of Qur’ânic verses smacking of direct and unequivocal warning accompanied by a severe
ultimatum directed to the polytheists and their agents:
·
“And when We decide to destroy a town (population), We (first) send a definite order (to
obey Allâh and be righteous) to those among them [ or We (first) increase in number those
of its population] who are given the good things of this life. Then, they transgress therein,
and thus the word (of torment) is justified against it (them). Then We destroy it with
complete destruction. And how many generations (past nations) have We destroyed after
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