The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 2 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'iL IBN KATHiR 69
Amidst clapping and whistling of disbelief and derision at this report, the
news spread quickly over Mecca.
People then went to Abii Bakr, God bless him, and told him that Muhammad
(SAAS) was saying such-and-such a thing.
He responded, "You are telling lies about him!"
They replied, "No, we swear it, he is saying that."
"Well," said Abii Bakr, "if he said that, he spoke the truth."
He then went to the Messenger of God (SAAS) who was surrounded by the
pagans of Mecca, and asked him about that. He told him of it all and Abii Bakr
asked him to describe Jerusalem, so that the polytheists would hear him and
recognize the veracity of what he had told them. In thefabzh collection the account
has it that it was the polytheists who asked the Messenger of God about that.
He said, "I then began telling them about His signs, and I became somewhat
confused. And so God made Jerusalem clear to me until I could see it beyond
'Uqayl's house, and I described it to them."
He (Ihn Ishaq) went on, "In his description he was correct."
Ibn Ishaq recounted the information we gave earlier about him telling them of
his having passed by their caravan and of having drunk their water.
And so God provided proof for them and illuminated the straight path for
them. Some did believe because of their conviction from God, while others
disbelieved despite the proof they had.
As God Almighty said, "And we only made the visions we have shown you as
a test for the people" (sirrat al-Isra"; XVII, v.60). That is, they were a way of
testing and trying them.
Ihn CAbbas said, "These were visions perceived by the eye that were shown to
the Messenger of God (SAAS)."
This view, that of the majority of scholars both ancient and more recent, holds
that the night journey was both a physical and a spiritual experience for the
Messenger of God (SAAS). This is shown in the clear accounts of his making a
journey and of his ascending on the ladder, and such-like. God therefore stated,
"Glory be to Him who took his servant by night from the 'sacrosanct mosque' to
the 'further mosque' whose precincts we have blessed, to show him our signs"
@rat al-Isrz"; XVII, v.1). Such evocation of glory would only occur for truly
great and extraordinary signs. And this proves that it was by both body and spirit,
and the word "servant" gives expression to both of these together.
Also, if it had been a dream, the Quraysh polytheists would not have promptly
expressed their disbelief and outrage. For that would not have been so important
a matter. And so it shows that he did tell them that he had been taken on his
night journey while awake, not asleep.
And then there is the statement of Shurayk, from Anas: "Then I awoke and
found myself inside the hqr, the sacred enclosure." This is either to be considered
an error of Shnrayk, or it must be concluded that the movement from the one
state to the other is to be noted as "wakefulness".