Muhammad's Ascention, Al-Isra

             When we look at the subject of the prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension into heaven, know as Al-Isra, there are few specific details that are constant in the number of versions that exist on the subject. In fact, there are only two passages in the Qur'an that give a direct reference to the episode, leaving the highest concentration of information to the Hadiths. To complicate the subject further, there are a number of different interpretations that exist, these being in regard to some of the more popular versions of the journey. With all of this uncertainty, it would then seem strange that any one event, in the Night Journey, could of helped to unify the entire Muslim faith. Yet, we do see this in the fact that even though the details may be debated, the Night Journey served as a kind of seal on the acceptance of Muhammad, as the greatest of God's prophets.
             The reason that the Night Journey can have at least one unifying factor mainly has to do with the fact that it is mentioned in the Qur'an, making an indefinite version of the journey acceptable to all Muslims. The verse of the Qur'an that gives us the best reference to the Night Journey reads "Glory be to Him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple to the temple that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed that we might show him our signs! For He is the Hearer, the Seer" (Qur'an 17:1). This passage gives only the conformation that the Night Journey occurred, and that
             Muhammad went from the Ka'aba to the farthest mosque in Jerusalem. Many think that the whole body of surah 17 was revealed to Muhammad during the Night Journey, mainly because many of the other verses can be seen as indirect references to the journey. However, when we look at the other verses of the surah, one could debate when these messages were revealed. The only other passage in the Qur'an that gives a direct reference to the Night Journey is surah 53, parts of which ...

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Muhammad's Ascention, Al-Isra. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:13, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/78704.html