The Miraculous Night.....

“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 Who heareth and seeth (all things).”

Surah Al-Isra’ 17:1

If you had asked me many years ago, what is ‘isra’ mikraj, I would have given you a blank face. Reason being, I really did not have a clue what it is and neither did I bother to find out. I was, in fact, an ignorant fool.

So how did I found out about isra’ mikraj? The Wise Owl of course! One day he had asked me, “sister do know what happened on isra’ mikraj?” I gave him my most innocent look and shook my head. Honestly…. I didn’t know. So, this is what the Wise Owl imparted to me.

The night of isra’ mikraj is the night where our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW had, miraculously travelled from Masjidil Haram in Makkah to Masjidil Aqsa in Jerusalem, on an animal called ‘buraq’. Buraq has been described as a white animal, smaller than a mule but larger than a donkey, with wings attached to its thigh. It travels at a speed of lightning. Just the other day my hubby commented, that the animal character ‘hippogriff’ in the Harry Potter movie, is similar in description to the buraq.  Hhhmmm…could it be that J.K. Rowling was trying portray the buraq? Food for thought. Anyway, back to my story…..

So why is the night of Isra’ Mikraj special anyway? Well, that night has been described as a miraculous night because our Prophet Muhammad SAW had ascended to heaven from Masjidil Aqsa. That night is also called ‘night of ascension’. This event is reported to have taken place one year before the Prophet SAW’s migration to Madinah, on 27th Rajab.

Prophet SAW was accompanied that night, by the Angel Gabriel. It is also reported that prior to the journey, Prophet Muhammad SAW’s chest was cut open and his heart was washed clean with zam zam water, to cleanse away any impurities.

“The Prophet said, "While I was at the House in a state midway between sleep and wakefulness, (an angel recognized me) as the man lying between two men. A golden tray full of wisdom and belief was brought to me and my body was cut open from the throat to the lower part of the abdomen and then my abdomen was washed with Zam-zam water and (my heart was) filled with wisdom and belief.”

Sahih Bukhari

One of the books that I read stated that the rock that Prophet SAW stepped on before ascending to heaven, wanted to follow the Prophet SAW up but it was instructed to stay on earth. That rock known as the ‘floating rock’, is situated inside Masjidil Aqsa. Truth or myth? I honestly don’t know but I can understand why the rock wanted to follow. I would too if I was there!

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW was taken up from the first to the seventh heaven until he finally was given the privilege to meet his Maker. It was then that the 5 daily prayers was made compulsory upon us. Did you know that we were commanded to perform 50 prayers a day but Prophet Moses AS asked Prophet Muhammad SAW to beg Allah Al Mighty to reduce it until finally it was reduced to 5. As it is, we struggle to perform our daily 5, so imagine if it was 50!

It was also then, that the tahiyyat, that we recite in our salah, originated. Tahiyyat is recited in the 2^nd and last rakaat of salah. Tahiyyat means greeting and it is actually the conversation that took place between Prophet Muhammad SAW and God Al Mighty during the night of isra’ mi’raj.

“attakhiyatu mubarokatuhu shalawatu toyyibatu ila assalamu alaika ayyuhan nabiyu wa rahmatullahi wa baratuhu assalamu alaena wa ala ibadi sholihin asyhadu ala ila ha ilallah wa asyhadu anna muhammadar rasoolullah allah huma shola ala muhammad wa ala ali muhammad kama sholaita ala ibraheem wa ala ali ibraheem wa barik ala muhammad wa ali ali muhammad kama barokta ala ibraheem wa ala ali ibraheem fil alamina inaka khamidum majjid.”

            “The Prophet (pbuh) said to God Almighty,

“All kinds of greetings, prayers and goodness belong to Allah.”Its meaning is “I present all of the greetings and glorification of the beings with their states and tongues, all of the natural blessedness and glorification of all blessed things like seeds and semen, all of the worshipping of conscious beings like human beings, all of the worshipping and glorification of all prophets and saints to you as a gift; they all belong to you.”

Upon this greeting, God Almighty said to His Prophet (pbuh), “Peace, the mercy of Allah and His blessings be on you, O Prophet!” Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Peace be on us and on the righteous servants of Allah.” Jibril witnessed this talk at Sidra al-Muntaha when Allah ordered him to be a witness by saying, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.”

Hadith

It was also that night, when Prophet SAW was given the last two verses of surah Al-Baqarah.

“Prophet (pbuh) were given three things in Ascension: He was given five daily prayers, the last part of the chapter of al-Baqara (Amanarrasulu) and the promise that the sins ofthe people from the ummah of Muhammad would be forgiven except those who died associating partners with Allah.”

Sahih Muslim

“285.The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith.Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His apostles."We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His apostles." And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys."

286 . On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear.It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear.Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness.Have mercy on us.Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."

            Surah Al Baqarah 2:285-286

There were many events that were unfolded that night.  Prophet Muhammad SAW was shown heaven and also hell. He witnessed many other scenes that had happened and will happen.

To me, the night of isra’ mikraj is very special as it explains to me everything I want to know about the origin of salah. Now, I know that our salah came directly from God Al Mighty and the physical acts as well as all the recitations in it, was taught by Allah SWT to Prophet Muhammad SAW that night. As Muslims, we must know our history especially the origin of salah. The purpose of salah is for us to remember our Maker and also to thank Him. I find that when we understand the purpose and reasoning behind each act of worship, then it will make us appreciate it better. Now, whenever I recite the tahiyyat during salah, I would immediately imagine the conversation that took place between Prophet Muhammad SAW and God Al Mighty and salah has become more meaningful to me.

But hey, don’t simply take my word about the events that took that took place during night of ascension. Do your own reading and research as I may not be the best narrator of events. What I can do however, to help kick start your research, is to share with you the hadith regarding isra’ mikraj…..

“Narrated Abbas bin Malik: Malik bin Sasaa said that Allah's Apostle described to them his Night Journey saying, "While I was lying in Al-Hatim or Al-Hijr, suddenly someone came to me and cut my body open from here to here." I asked Al-Jarud who was by my side, "What does he mean?" He said, "It means from his throat to his pubic area," or said, "From the top of the chest." The Prophet further said, "He then took out my heart. Then a gold tray of Belief was brought to me and my heart was washed and was filled (with Belief) and then returned to its original place. Then a white animal which was smaller than a mule and bigger than a donkey was brought to me." (On this Al-Jarud asked, "Was it the Buraq, O Abu Hamza?" I (i.e. Anas) replied in the affirmative). The Prophet said, "The animal's step (was so wide that it) reached the farthest point within the reach of the animal's sight. I was carried on it, and Gabriel set out with me till we reached the nearest heaven.

When he asked for the gate to be opened, it was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel answered, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has Muhammad been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed. What an excellent visit his is!' The gate was opened, and when I went over the first heaven, I saw Adam there. Gabriel said (to me). 'This is your father, Adam; pay him your greetings.' So I greeted him and he returned the greeting to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious son and pious Prophet.' Then Gabriel ascended with me till we reached the second heaven. Gabriel asked for the gate to be opened. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel answered, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel answered in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed. What an excellent visit his is!' The gate was opened.

When I went over the second heaven, there I saw Yahya (i.e. John) and 'Isa (i.e. Jesus) who were cousins of each other. Gabriel said (to me), 'These are John and Jesus; pay them your greetings.' So I greeted them and both of them returned my greetings to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.' Then Gabriel ascended with me to the third heaven and asked for its gate to be opened. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel replied, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed, what an excellent visit his is!' The gate was opened, and when I went over the third heaven there I saw Joseph. Gabriel said (to me), 'This is Joseph; pay him your greetings.' So I greeted him and he returned the greeting to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.' Then Gabriel ascended with me to the fourth heaven and asked for its gate to be opened. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel replied, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed, what an excellent visit his is!'

The gate was opened, and when I went over the fourth heaven, there I saw Idris. Gabriel said (to me), 'This is Idris; pay him your greetings.' So I greeted him and he returned the greeting to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.' Then Gabriel ascended with me to the fifth heaven and asked for its gate to be opened. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel replied, 'Gabriel.' It was asked. 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed, what an excellent visit his is!' So when I went over the fifth heaven, there I saw Harun (i.e. Aaron), Gabriel said, (to me). This is Aaron; pay him your greetings.' I greeted him and he returned the greeting to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.' Then Gabriel ascended with me to the sixth heaven and asked for its gate to be opened. It was asked,'Who is it?' Gabriel replied, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. It was said, 'He is welcomed. What an excellent visit his is!'

When I went (over the sixth heaven), there I saw Moses. Gabriel said (to me),' This is Moses; pay him your greeting. So I greeted him and he returned the greetings to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.' When I left him (i.e. Moses) he wept. Someone asked him, 'What makes you weep?' Moses said, 'I weep beCause after me there has been sent (as Prophet) a young man whose followers will enter Paradise in greater numbers than my followers.' Then Gabriel ascended with me to the seventh heaven and asked for its gate to be opened. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel replied, 'Gabriel.' It was asked,' Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel replied, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel replied in the affirmative. Then it was said, 'He is welcomed. What an excellent visit his is!'

So when I went (over the seventh heaven), there I saw Abraham. Gabriel said (to me), 'This is your father; pay your greetings to him.' So I greeted him and he returned the greetings to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious son and pious Prophet.' Then I was made to ascend to Sidrat-ul-Muntaha (i.e. the Lote Tree of the utmost boundary) Behold! Its fruits were like the jars of Hajr (i.e. a place near Medina) and its leaves were as big as the ears of elephants. Gabriel said, 'This is the Lote Tree of the utmost boundary.' Behold! There ran four rivers; two were hidden and two were visible. I asked, 'What are these two kinds of rivers, O Gabriel?' He replied, 'As for the hidden rivers, they are two rivers in Paradise and the visible rivers are the Nile and the Euphrates.'

Then Al-Bait-ul-Ma'mur (i.e. the Sacred House) was shown to me and a container full of wine and another full of milk and a third full of honey were brought to me. I took the milk. Gabriel remarked, 'This is the Islamic religion which you and your followers are following.' Then the prayers were enjoined on me: They were fifty prayers a day. When I returned, I passed by Moses who asked (me), 'What have you been ordered to do?' I replied, 'I have been ordered to offer fifty prayers a day.' Moses said, 'Your followers cannot bear fifty prayers a day, and by Allah, I have tested people before you, and I have tried my level best with Bani Israel (in vain). Go back to your Lord and ask for reduction to lessen your followers' burden.' So I went back, and Allah reduced ten prayers for me. Then again I came to Moses, but he repeated the same as he had said before. Then again I went back to Allah and He reduced ten more prayers. When I came back to Moses he said the same, I went back to Allah and He ordered me to observe ten prayers a day. When I came back to Moses, he repeated the same advice, so I went back to Allah and was ordered to observe five prayers a day.

When I came back to Moses, he said, 'What have you been ordered?' I replied, 'I have been ordered to observe five prayers a day.' He said, 'Your followers cannot bear five prayers a day, and no doubt, I have got an experience of the people before you, and I have tried my level best with Bani Israel, so go back to your Lord and ask for reduction to lessen your follower's burden.' I said, 'I have requested so much of my Lord that I feel ashamed, but I am satisfied now and surrender to Allah's Order.' When I left, I heard a voice saying, 'I have passed My Order and have lessened the burden of My Worshipers." - Sahih Al-Bukhari 5.227

Precious Time.....

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Just the other day, a sister told me, “You know sis, when I was in Makkah, I could perform all those sunnah prayers and sit to recite many verses of the Quran without any problems but when I came back, I found that it is impossible to maintain the same momentum that I had there. I am frustrated because I can only manage to perform the fardh prayers and I can’t seem to have time to recite the Quran. I feel restless and unsettled”.

Aaahhh....Her grouses sounds all too familiar to me. I completely understand her dilemma. I had the exact same problem when I came back from performing hajj. After 42 days of going to the Masjid, eat and sleep, all in that order, coming back home to the rat race really jarred my reality. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep up with the schedule I had when I was in Holy land. I was bogged down with work, kids and everything else. I couldn’t recite the same number of verses from the Quran every night like I used to. I couldn’t perform the same number of sunnah prayers as I wanted to. I was frustrated and devastated. I started to feel suffocated with life, drowning and slowly losing touch with my Maker.

So, what did I do? Same ol’ same ol. Whenever I get stuck, I speak to the Wise Owl. He told me, “sister, life is about making the right choices. You are the master of your own time so you should dictate what you should do. Always check your intention. Your jihad actually starts after coming back from hajj. Be happy”

I often wondered how the Wise Owl became the person that he is. He has tremendous knowledge and he always finds time to do what he wants to do. No…let me rephrase that, he makes time to do what he needs to do. He always finds time for his Maker. How does he do it? What is his secret?

When the Wise Owl said ‘be happy’, I think he meant for me to find my inner peace. I had it when I was in the Holy land but when I came back, somehow, I lost it along the way. I suppose I let myself be sucked into the ‘rat race’ again. I needed to find my inner peace again.

I then knew what I had to do. I needed re-asses my priorities. I needed to make some sacrifices. I knew that my old life style can never accommodate the things that I wanted to do after hajj. So, that was exactly what I did! I changed my whole entire lifestyle. I stopped spending time doing irrelevant things and focused on things that matters.

            “Narrated Abdullah Bin Mas`ud Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said:

"A man shall be asked concerning five things on the day of resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had."Hadith

The Wise Owl was right. We are the master of our own time. We should dictate our own schedule. Sometimes we just have to drop everything, take a step back and take a breather. Only then, we are able see things from a different perspective. It is actually mind over matters.

"The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said, “Lose no time to do good deeds before you are caught up by one of seven calamities awaiting you: a starvation which may impair your wisdom; a prosperity which may mislead you; an ailment which may damage your health; an old age which may harm your senses; a sudden death; the Dajjal (Antichrist); or Doomsday, which is indeed the hardest and most bitter." (at-Tirmidhi, al-Baihaqi)

Making sacrifices is never easy but if you want something so bad, trust me, you would be willing to make it. If that sacrifice will bring you closer to your Maker, then it is worth making it. God always have time for us so we shouldn't we make time for Him. Busy schedule, too much work and other reasons that could possibly take us away from performing sunnah acts and recite Quran, are actually excuses that we tell ourselves, to lessen the guilt. If we can spend one and half hours watching a movie at a cinema, why can’t we spend 20 minutes reciting Quran? If we can make time to go shopping, then why can’t we slot some time to perform sunnah acts? If we can arrange our schedule around our favourite program on tele or soap opera, why can’t we arrange our schedule around doing good deeds? It is a matter of choice actually, pure and simple.

“God said, ‘The offspring of Adam abuse time, (even though) I am Time.” (Hadith)

But who am I kidding? Changes can’t happen overnight hence, we need introduce one small change, one day at a time until we are able to incorporate all the changes that we want to make. Slowly but surely. It is not easy but it can be done. If we keep giving ourselves excuses and procrastinate, then we might not live long enough to affect the change.

“There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good” (Bukhari).

“. For each (such person) there are (angels) in succession, before and behind him: They guard him by command of Allah.Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls).But when (once) Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect.”

Surah Ar- Ra’d 13:11

The above verse is very clear. If we want any changes to be made then we have to affect the changes ourselves. Praying for it but still remaining idle will not make it happen.

So......back to the sister.......... instead of re-telling my whole saga, I simply told her, to remain steadfast, make one small changes at a time and with God’s Grace, InShaa Allah, she will find her precious time and inner peace…..

In the Heat of the Moment....

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”John Ruskin

It has been swelteringly hot these last few days. The heat is so unbearable that my eyes would become watery. I was just mentioning about it casually to my hubby one day. He pondered on my remark, looked at me solemnly and then replied, “what we are experiencing is just heat on earth and yet we feel that it is unbearable, so can you imagine how the heat in Hell would be?”…errrr…Gulp! Ouch!!!

Sigh! As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. I think if we are ever given a glimpse of what kind of heat to expect in Hell, we will not be complaining at all. The thing is I am such a diva when it comes to heat. I am, what people call “Wax Queen” because I melt under the sun. I literally wilt and am practically useless if the heat is too strong for me. I have minimised my whining about the sun and heat considerably over the years but sometimes, ‘in the heat of the moment’, my composure slips. Hey, I am only human, of flesh and blood, I’m made!

The Wise Owl had once told me that nothing is created by chance and nothing happens by co-incidence. God has His own reasons to create everything and everything has its own purpose.

“He cannot be questioned for His acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs).”

Surah Al-Anbiya 21:23

If we think about it, we are pretty hard to please. When it rains every day we complained about the rain and getting wet but when it is hot, we also bemoaned about the weather being too hot. Luckily Malaysia only has 2 types of weather i.e. rain or shine. Imagine if we have 4 seasons weather like UK then, our list of grouses will be so much longer!

When I stopped and thought about it, I realised that I am actually fortunate, despite whatever weather God sends down to earth. When it is hot like it is now, I can still shade in my house and hibernate in an air conditioned room. If it rains, I can still run for shelter and sit comfortably, sipping coffee, whilst smelling the fresh air. We do not have typhoon or earthquake or tornado or other severe weather conditions, unlike in other countries. However hot it may be, we are still the lucky ones.

            The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Do not curse the wind. If you dislike what you see of it, then say, “O Allah, we ask You for the good of this wind and the good of what is in it and the good of what it is ordered to do. We seek refuge with You from the evil of this wind and the evil of what is in it and the evil of what it is ordered to do.”

[at-Tirmidhi]

I have read about war torn countries where people, especially children, die due to severe weather conditions. They do not have a proper shelter or adequate protection against the severe condition. Their fate is very much worse than mine.

Like the Wise Owl said, there is always a reason for everything, we just need to open our eyes wider and search for it. If we are lucky, we will be given insight or knowledge as to the reason for its occurrence, but we are not, then it does not mean that we should just sit and whine.

“It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, May Allaah Be Pleased with him, that the Prophet SAW,  said: “If the weather is very hot, delay the Zuhr Prayer till it becomes (a bit) cooler because the severity of heat is from the raging of Hell. Hell complained to its Lord saying, ‘O Lord! My parts are eating (burning) one another.’ So Allah Allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in the summer. The breath in the summer is at the time when you feel the severest heat and the breath in the winter is at the time when you feel the severest cold.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

 

SubhanAllah! Seriously! After this, whenever I feel like complaining about the weather, I shall remember this Hadith. The severest heat is just Hell letting out a breath!!! What I am experiencing is not even the severest heat. If Hell were to exhale a very deep breath, I know I would be charred or scorched to death!...oooooo just the thought of it is enough to give me nightmares for months…

 

I also found out that severe weather and weather changes are also one of the signs of Qiyamah (Day of Judgment).

 

“Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia becomes meadows and rivers.”

Sahih Muslim #2208, Kitab Al-Zakat

 

So the moral of the story is,  I should just keep my mouth tightly shut, whatever the weather condition is and be thankful to be alive to experience it….