![Photo: Surah Al Isra (The Night Journey), (Chapter 17:1)
or Bani Israil (The Children of Israel)
Bismi Allah Ar Rehman Ar Raheem.
" Glory to (ALLAH) Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-inorder that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah Al Isra 17:1]
Introduction to Surah 17 - Al Isra or Bani Israil
Let us now consider the whole Surah 17, by itself. This Surah opens with the mystic Vision of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet: he was transported from the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah)to the Farthest Mosque (of Jerusalem)in a night and shown some of the Signs of ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la). The majority of Commentators take this Night Journey literally, but allow that there were other occasions on which a spiritual Journey or Vision occurred. Even on the supposition of a miraculous bodily Journey, it is conceded that the body was almost transformed into spiritual fineness. The Hadith literature gives details of this Journey and its study helps to elucidate its meaning. The Holy Prophet was first transported to the seat of the earlier relevations in Jerusalem, and then taken through the seven heavens even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time.
The reference to this great mystic story of the Miraj is a fitting prelude to the Journey of the human soul in its spiritual growth in life. The first steps in such growth must be through moral conduct-the reciprocal rights of parents and children, kindness to our fellow-men, courage and firmness in the hour of danger, and sense of personal responsibility, and a sense of ALLAH's Presence through prayer and praise.
The Miraj is usually dated to the 27th night of the month of Rajab (through other dates, e.g., 17 th of Rabi'1, are also given)in the year before the Hijrah. This fixes the date of the opening verse of the Surah, through portions of the Surah may have been a little earlier.
"Glory to (ALLAH)Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah 17:1]♥
The reference is to the Miraj for which see Introduction to this Surah.
Masjid is a place of prayer: here it refers to the Ka'bah at Makkah. It had not yet been cleared of its idols and rededicated exclusively to the One True God. It was symbolical of the new Message which was being given to mankind.
The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah, at or near which stands the Dome of the Rock. This and the Mosque known as the Farthest Mosque (Masjid Al Aqsa)were completed by the Amir 'Abd al Malik in A.H. 68. Farthest, because it was the place of worship farthest west which was known to the Arabs in the time of the Holy Prophet: it was a Sacred place to both Jews and Christians, but the Christians then had the upper hand, as it was included in the Byzantine (Roman) Empire, which maintained a Patriarch at Jerusalem. The chief dates in connection with the Temple are: it was finished by Solomon about B.C. 1004; destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar about 586 B.C. ; rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah abour 515 B.C. ; turned into a heathen idol-temple by one of Alexander's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C; restored by Herod, B.C. 17 to A.C 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor Titus in A.C. 70. These ups and downs are among the greater Signs in religious history.
ALLAH's knowledge comprehends all things, without any curtain of Time or any separation of Space. He can therefore see and hear all things, and the Miraj was a reflection of this knowledge without Time and Space.
In this and the subsequent verses, the reference to ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la)is generally in the first person and plural. But in the first and the last clause of this verse it is in the third person singular: "Glory to ALLAH, Who did take His Servant. ..", "He is the One. ...". In each of this two instances, the clause expresses the point of view of ALLAH's creatures, who glorify Him, and whose hearing and seeing are ordinarily so limited that they can do nothing but glorify Him when one of His creatures is raised up to hear and see the Mysteries. It is they who glorify Him.
Ameen!
Sadaq Allah.
JAZAK ALLAH KHAIR](https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/p180x540/1235882_302755903205987_6115564166131412341_n.jpg)
Surah Al Isra (The Night Journey), (Chapter 17:1)
or Bani Israil (The Children of Israel)
Bismi Allah Ar Rehman Ar Raheem.
" Glory to (ALLAH) Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-inorder that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah Al Isra 17:1]
Introduction to Surah 17 - Al Isra or Bani Israil
Let us now consider the whole Surah 17, by itself. This Surah opens with the mystic Vision of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet: he was transported from the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah)to the Farthest Mosque (of Jerusalem)in a night and shown some of the Signs of ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la). The majority of Commentators take this Night Journey literally, but allow that there were other occasions on which a spiritual Journey or Vision occurred. Even on the supposition of a miraculous bodily Journey, it is conceded that the body was almost transformed into spiritual fineness. The Hadith literature gives details of this Journey and its study helps to elucidate its meaning. The Holy Prophet was first transported to the seat of the earlier relevations in Jerusalem, and then taken through the seven heavens even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time.
The reference to this great mystic story of the Miraj is a fitting prelude to the Journey of the human soul in its spiritual growth in life. The first steps in such growth must be through moral conduct-the reciprocal rights of parents and children, kindness to our fellow-men, courage and firmness in the hour of danger, and sense of personal responsibility, and a sense of ALLAH's Presence through prayer and praise.
The Miraj is usually dated to the 27th night of the month of Rajab (through other dates, e.g., 17 th of Rabi'1, are also given)in the year before the Hijrah. This fixes the date of the opening verse of the Surah, through portions of the Surah may have been a little earlier.
"Glory to (ALLAH)Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah 17:1]
The reference is to the Miraj for which see Introduction to this Surah.
Masjid is a place of prayer: here it refers to the Ka'bah at Makkah. It had not yet been cleared of its idols and rededicated exclusively to the One True God. It was symbolical of the new Message which was being given to mankind.
The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah, at or near which stands the Dome of the Rock. This and the Mosque known as the Farthest Mosque (Masjid Al Aqsa)were completed by the Amir 'Abd al Malik in A.H. 68. Farthest, because it was the place of worship farthest west which was known to the Arabs in the time of the Holy Prophet: it was a Sacred place to both Jews and Christians, but the Christians then had the upper hand, as it was included in the Byzantine (Roman) Empire, which maintained a Patriarch at Jerusalem. The chief dates in connection with the Temple are: it was finished by Solomon about B.C. 1004; destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar about 586 B.C. ; rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah abour 515 B.C. ; turned into a heathen idol-temple by one of Alexander's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C; restored by Herod, B.C. 17 to A.C 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor Titus in A.C. 70. These ups and downs are among the greater Signs in religious history.
ALLAH's knowledge comprehends all things, without any curtain of Time or any separation of Space. He can therefore see and hear all things, and the Miraj was a reflection of this knowledge without Time and Space.
In this and the subsequent verses, the reference to ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la)is generally in the first person and plural. But in the first and the last clause of this verse it is in the third person singular: "Glory to ALLAH, Who did take His Servant. ..", "He is the One. ...". In each of this two instances, the clause expresses the point of view of ALLAH's creatures, who glorify Him, and whose hearing and seeing are ordinarily so limited that they can do nothing but glorify Him when one of His creatures is raised up to hear and see the Mysteries. It is they who glorify Him.
Ameen!
or Bani Israil (The Children of Israel)
Bismi Allah Ar Rehman Ar Raheem.
" Glory to (ALLAH) Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-inorder that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah Al Isra 17:1]
Introduction to Surah 17 - Al Isra or Bani Israil
Let us now consider the whole Surah 17, by itself. This Surah opens with the mystic Vision of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet: he was transported from the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah)to the Farthest Mosque (of Jerusalem)in a night and shown some of the Signs of ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la). The majority of Commentators take this Night Journey literally, but allow that there were other occasions on which a spiritual Journey or Vision occurred. Even on the supposition of a miraculous bodily Journey, it is conceded that the body was almost transformed into spiritual fineness. The Hadith literature gives details of this Journey and its study helps to elucidate its meaning. The Holy Prophet was first transported to the seat of the earlier relevations in Jerusalem, and then taken through the seven heavens even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time.
The reference to this great mystic story of the Miraj is a fitting prelude to the Journey of the human soul in its spiritual growth in life. The first steps in such growth must be through moral conduct-the reciprocal rights of parents and children, kindness to our fellow-men, courage and firmness in the hour of danger, and sense of personal responsibility, and a sense of ALLAH's Presence through prayer and praise.
The Miraj is usually dated to the 27th night of the month of Rajab (through other dates, e.g., 17 th of Rabi'1, are also given)in the year before the Hijrah. This fixes the date of the opening verse of the Surah, through portions of the Surah may have been a little earlier.
"Glory to (ALLAH)Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did Bless-in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One heareth and seeth (all things)."
[Surah 17:1]
The reference is to the Miraj for which see Introduction to this Surah.
Masjid is a place of prayer: here it refers to the Ka'bah at Makkah. It had not yet been cleared of its idols and rededicated exclusively to the One True God. It was symbolical of the new Message which was being given to mankind.
The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah, at or near which stands the Dome of the Rock. This and the Mosque known as the Farthest Mosque (Masjid Al Aqsa)were completed by the Amir 'Abd al Malik in A.H. 68. Farthest, because it was the place of worship farthest west which was known to the Arabs in the time of the Holy Prophet: it was a Sacred place to both Jews and Christians, but the Christians then had the upper hand, as it was included in the Byzantine (Roman) Empire, which maintained a Patriarch at Jerusalem. The chief dates in connection with the Temple are: it was finished by Solomon about B.C. 1004; destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar about 586 B.C. ; rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah abour 515 B.C. ; turned into a heathen idol-temple by one of Alexander's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C; restored by Herod, B.C. 17 to A.C 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor Titus in A.C. 70. These ups and downs are among the greater Signs in religious history.
ALLAH's knowledge comprehends all things, without any curtain of Time or any separation of Space. He can therefore see and hear all things, and the Miraj was a reflection of this knowledge without Time and Space.
In this and the subsequent verses, the reference to ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'la)is generally in the first person and plural. But in the first and the last clause of this verse it is in the third person singular: "Glory to ALLAH, Who did take His Servant. ..", "He is the One. ...". In each of this two instances, the clause expresses the point of view of ALLAH's creatures, who glorify Him, and whose hearing and seeing are ordinarily so limited that they can do nothing but glorify Him when one of His creatures is raised up to hear and see the Mysteries. It is they who glorify Him.
Ameen!
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