Seerah - The Life of the Prophet (pbuh)

The Journey to the Almighty
The Mi`r\j was in reality a journey to All\h. Mu#ammad r was the
only prophet to have ever been honoured with Divine intimacy. En
route he witnessed many spectacles, details of which are contained in
the traditions that relate the event. In brief he was taken by angels from
Makkah first to Bayt al-Maqdis. Here a large congregation comprising
all the past Prophets u awaited him. He was to lead them in prayer,
which he did. He was then taken to the heavens. On different heavens
he met with various distinguished Prophets. His conversations with
these prophets are also noted in the narratives. He was also made to
see many spectacles of both Paradise and Hell, which he conveyed to
the Ummah to take lesson from.
The final part of this journey was the meeting with the Almighty. This
was a place where even the closest of angels and Prophets had not set
foot. Even Jibr|l u, the Archangel, who was accompanying the
Prophet r throughout the journey, stopped at a station below and
expressed his inability to go any further.
The journeys of Isr\ and Mi`r\j took place within a single moment.
Being miraculous and Divinely ordained, the journey was not bound
by the restrictions of time, space or physics.
The next morning he told the Quraysh about his extraordinary journey.
They refused to believe him. They laughed at the story and sneered at
the Muslims, “Look what he has come out with now!”
People approached Ab[ Bakr t and asked him what he had to say of
it, he unhesitatingly replied, “If Mu#ammad r has said this then it has
to be true. I have believed in things more remote than this.”
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