Wasim Kempson – The Night Journey
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to
Allah. May the peace and blessings of Allah
be upon his final messenger, Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
Assalamu alaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
So Alhamdulillah, I'm
I also feel very blessed and very happy
to be here
in
the one of the houses of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala amongst my beloved brothers.
I ask Allah subhanahu ta'ala to bless every
moment that you spend in this masjid. I
ask Allah Jala Wa'ala to grant us all
beneficial knowledge
and also the ability to
act upon that beneficial knowledge. Allahumma ameen.
Now the conference, however long you have been
here,
as it been advertised, it is the seerah,
the life of our beloved Nabi sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and you.
And I think that
establishing a link between these two
is really important
in the life of every Muslim,
because we don't want to feel separate
from the life
of the greatest man, alaihissahu salam, who ever
lived.
We don't want to feel as though there
was a gap between his teachings,
what he gave to us,
the
guidance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave to
the prophet alaihi sallallahu alaihi sallam and ourselves.
We don't want to feel that there's this
big chasm or this big gap between the
2.
We want to bridge
that gap or whatever feeling that you have
between the 2.
You want to be able to read about
the life
and understand the life of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
so that it means something a great deal
to you. That it impacts your life, it
raises your iman,
you're able to pass on that noble and
beautiful knowledge to your family and so on.
So establishing that connection between the two
is really important. And I think it's really,
masha'Allah, for an excellent
title
for the conference.
And I hope that, insha'Allah to Allah, throughout
the duration
of the two and a half days or
so,
that whatever time that you spend here,
at the very end, you, inshallah,
are able to,
you know, strengthen your link
to the beloved Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Now I'm not sure if the lectures or
the advice that's been given to you is
done chronologically, that is done in order, historically
in order.
But nonetheless,
the reminder of the time that we have
here together insha'Allah ta'ala is about Al Isra'u
Wali Mi'raj.
The night journey and the ascension.
And Al Isra'
is one part of the journey and the
Mi'raj
is the other part of the journey. You
can call it one journey if you like,
but they are 2 different
realities
in what we are talking about here.
Unlike everything,
context,
perspective
is key.
It's very important
so that when you read
about this incident,
because it is one of the most important
incidents,
I think, Allahu'alaam,
personally in the life of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam.
No doubt
when the revelation first
it first started with the prophet alaihis salam,
everything changed for him alaihis salam, no doubt.
And the years that followed
with the revelation coming to Him, alaihi sallam,
things were changing.
The trials, tribulations.
But the isra and the miraaj, the night
journey and the ascension into the skies and
heavens,
if you look at the
timing of it
and we try to imagine the impact
that that would have on a human being,
more so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, it
allows us
to understand
somewhat
how blessed and virtuous
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was. And also
how much Allah Jallahu Alaihi wasallam loved His
Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Now us, as when we go through the
Seerah
and we read through the events and they
are essentially when you're reading the seerah, the
reading is life, alaihis salaam, you don't want
it just to be a set of facts.
This year this happened. This year that happened.
This year this happened. Although that's important for
you to know,
but you want to feel engaged with the
story.
You want to feel engaged with the events,
even though you've read it before.
Because there are many books that you read
and you don't read it ever again.
You read an autobiography of a certain individual,
the life story of another person, you read
it once and that's it.
But the life of prophet alaihis salaam, you
want to read it again and again and
time after time.
And that each time that you read it,
you want to feel emotionally engaged
even more each time that you read
it. That's one of the goals, one of
the objectives that we want
in reading about the life of the Prophet
alaihis salatu wa sallam.
11, 11 and a half years have passed
since
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
first
received
the first revelation
in the Cave of Hera.
11, 11 and a half years have passed.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has
gone through a number of trials,
tribulations,
unimaginable.
But nonetheless, you will read them and you
will see what these trials and tribulations are.
The journey itself,
it is a matter of iman for us
to believe in, to accept,
to have certain and conviction
upon,
as opposed
to orientalists,
as opposed to have or those who have
doubts about Islam will question this and question
that.
Even
from the,
I don't even want to give that title,
but amongst their own circles, from the greatest
of minds
that they have.
The greatest or not necessarily the greatest, but
the most well known atheists.
And that they talk about
in discussions
that you believe
that a man went on
what was an animal
and traveled
from Makkah
and almost flew
and made that journey
to Masjid Al Aqsa and then returned,
Not before going up into the skies and
the heavens and returning that
you believe a man made that journey.
The person says this in a flippant way,
in a mocking manner, that how can you
believe such a thing? The same individual,
the same individual who believes that they have
such a great mind, who believes nothing created
nothing and then that nothing created everything.
So those disbelievers who have this approach
will mock
at times
and have this doubtful approach
concerning
this particular and amazing journey that the Prophet
alaihis salallahu alaihis salallam, he went on
You may have more nuanced arguments concerning that
here,
I'm not talking about specific Orientalists,
Montgomery Watt and Muir, These
are names you may or may not have
heard of.
These are orientalists,
British orientalists who existed or lived maybe more
than a 100 years ago looking carefully at
the life of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam
and looking
at the verses of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
saying that
In the Quran it says
Masjid Al Aqsa.
Okay, let's Where's Masjid Al Aqsa? There was
no thing as that you can a masjid
at the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, islam had not reached those lands.
What Masjid are you talking about? There was
no Dome of the Rock.
There was no, as you might know, Masjid
Qibili or Musa Al Maghribi. All these Masjid
that are in the compound of Al Aqsa
at the moment. What Masjid
are you referring to or is the Quran
referring to? This would be the approach of
the orientalists.
Now not to go too much into the
rebuttal of these
shubuhat
or doubts that the Orientalists brought about when
talking about this journey.
But for us as Muslims, alhamdulillah, answering and
understanding this journey
is first and foremost beginning with the Quran
that we have iman, certainty and conviction in.
And similarly more than 22 companions of the
Prophet
narrating the story in detail from different perspectives.
And when they're all brought together,
give us a beautiful
detailed
picture
of every step of the incident.
We don't need to question anything.
But nonetheless, that they have brought up these
false shubuhat,
and not understanding that for something or a
place to be called a masjid doesn't necessarily
mean that you need 4 walls and a
roof.
That the compound itself is a place
which was a place established
as or for Ibad.
Whether you look at the narrations
saying that it was obviously built after Masdud
al Haram by Arba'un al Sena of 40
years,
whether it was
Adam
or Ibrahim
this was a place of worship
and the fact that
this place may not have looked like in
its original form, but yet nonetheless is still
a place of worship. It's still a masjid.
So refuting such
shallow arguments, alhamdulillah, is easy for the Muslim.
But when we look at the incident itself,
well, as I said, the backdrop is really
important. If you look at the
alayhis salam
and the journey that he had gone through
his whole life
and how Allah
had protected Musa
even as a baby.
Being thrown into the river,
into the small basket, whatever it was that
he was placed into the river then to
be subhanAllah saved and to be brought up
in the house of Firaun,
subhanAllah,
the one who wanted to kill him.
Musa alaihis salaam went through a number of
stages in his life
until
then when Allah
saved Banu Israel,
them
in front of the sea.
To enter the sea would be, of course,
destruction for them to be drowned
and for them to turn back facing the
army of Firaun.
But no Israel saw 2 outcomes, of course.
Destruction in the sea or destruction at the
hands of Firaun on the land.
And when they
almost raised their hands
in surrender,
that's it. We've been caught. We've been captured.
That Musa alaihis salam in his response, so
powerful,
No.
That my Lord is with me and He
will guide.
He will give us a solution.
If you look at again the backdrop to
the story of Musa alaihis salam
and all that he had been through, how
Allah
had protected
Musa
time after time after time. The level of
iman and conviction
for him to say that at that time
only Musa alaihis salam would understand
the certainty of faith in saying such a
statement.
But as a Muslim, when you read the
story and you understand the backdrop and how
he when it reaches that stage, you have
an appreciation
for that particular statement of Musa alaihi salatu
wasalam.
Likewise, when we look at this incident,
when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
upon first receiving the revelation,
calling His people,
and they rejected Him.
In fact when he first received the revelation,
alaihis salatu sallam, he was in a state
of fear, no doubt, in a state of
fear.
But the first person he goes back to
is his wife Khadija
and she is there to console him.
The wife of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
for more than 25 years,
the mother of 6 of his children.
An emotional
support
that none will know the reality of,
except the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
She was there for him from the very
start, the first one to believe in him.
To be the emotional support
that he needed, alayhis salatu salam.
And this was the rahmah, no doubt, of
Allah
to give that support
to the prophet
And it's key for us to know this.
Why?
It's key because this incident of al Isra
wal Mi'raj
occurs
not too long after
the passing
of Khadija.
Radiallahu anha. She passed away.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did not
marry anybody else
while Khadija was alive radiAllahu anha.
And throughout them years that came after
that Aisha radiAllahu anha mentioned,
She said there was no one that I
was more jealous of
than a woman that was no longer with
the Prophet and that was khadeeja, khadeeja radiaallahu
anha.
The attachment and the love that the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had for Khadeja.
So she has passed away maybe a year
prior to this incident, radiAllahu
anha.
Added to that,
that Abu Talib,
the uncle
of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
the full brother of his father.
His father, Abdullah,
the one who was most like his brother,
his father was Abu Talib.
And upon the death of Abu al Muttalib,
who is the grandfather
of the prophet who has looked after the
prophet for a couple of years, between the
ages of 6 8,
upon his deathbed
he said that my son, Abu Talib, will
take custody
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, 8 years
old.
And so
the one whom was
more like a father figure
in the life of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam more than anybody else would have
been Abu
Talib. He was a non Muslim.
He did not accept Islam.
But throughout the years he was there to
support him,
to educate him, to do what he could
for the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And
even upon receiving the revelation,
he
stood by
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He stood
by his nephew.
He made sure best he could that no
harm, no physical harm would come to him.
So far we're looking at what more than
40 years,
more than 40 years,
42 years, 43 years, he was there, stood
by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
as that kind of outer support,
fatherly figure support
for the prophet alaihi wasallam.
He also passed away at a very similar
time to Khadija, radiAllahu anha,
both in the 10th year
after the mission, or the first time that
the Prophet had received revelation.
Amun Husun, it is named in the seerah,
the year of sadness.
Because
both Khadija
had passed away
and Abu Talib, upon ghayd alayhis salam.
The prophet would have felt that.
That somebody so much That natural love he
had for his uncle died upon
disbelief.
And if anyone who has experienced somebody very
close to them to die upon disbelief,
that will impact your heart like you can't
imagine.
That you cannot make du'a for them. You
cannot do nothing for them.
Added to that, from the closest people
that were to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, the poorest of people, the most vulnerable
of people,
were killed for their belief.
They believed in the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam and they were martyred for that.
No doubt this would have
played very heavily
on the heart
of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
That they were banished out from their people
for more than 3 years.
They were boycotted for more than 3 years
between the 7th 10th year.
So the Muslims and specifically the prophet alaihi
sallallahu salam
had gone through
trials like you can't imagine.
His first two sons, Al Qasim, Abdullah,
both died as young children, that he had
to bury them both.
For a father to bury 1 of his
children,
nobody can explain that,
but the one
who experiences that, if they are able to
put that in words.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did that for
2 of his sons.
Prior to the israelah and the mihraj, and
I think this is important to mention and
when I'm saying context,
because it will make you appreciate
this particular journey so much more.
That after these incidents,
his people rejected him The emotional support,
that very close emotional support of Khadija radhiyalaan
was no longer there.
The protection
after Allah
of Abu Talib amongst the other tribes, again,
was no longer there.
He goes to Ta'if sallallahu alaihi wasallam
to speak to Banu Taqif,
the closest people, tribes to Makkah.
They humiliate the prophet
in calling the children,
the young Shabaab, to pick up stones and
whatever they could choose to hurl and throw
at the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam to run
him out of Taif.
And that the prophet alaihi wasallam
along with Zayd ibn Harid
radiyaan
that his legs and his arms were cut
due to the
stones that were thrown at him
Eventually, he returned to Makkah
and if he was to return to Makkah
straightaway,
no doubt the Quraysh,
they were ready.
They were absolutely ready to do what they
could to kill the prophet, alaihis salam.
But the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
sought protection and a non Muslim,
mutir ibn al Adi,
he gave protection to the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam for him to return.
And this continued
up until one particular night.
So this is in brief
what the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had
faced
from the very start of the call.
Loss of life,
loss of beloved ones,
people attacking Him,
losing beloved friends.
You cannot imagine.
It's like he, alaihis salatu salam, had gone
to all or
done whatever he
could
to proclaim the message
of La ilaha illallah.
Worship Your Lord alone.
Quite simple. Leave off these false gods
and worship the 1 Who created you.
Worship the 1 who sustains you.
Worship the 1 who is deserving of all
worship. La ilaha illallah Muhammad Rasool Allah. That
is the simple call,
but they did not accept that.
And so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
in a time where it's probably the lowest
time that you can imagine up until this
time now,
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has gone
through,
at this stage
is what left to do.
The people of Makkah,
they don't accept Islam apart from a few.
The closest people, at ta'if,
they are ready to kill the prophet
What is left?
Who is left there for you?
And in a situation in your life possibly,
where
no medicine can help you,
Your parents can't help you.
No money can help you.
No worldly matter that is presented in front
of you. If the whole world, they came
together to help you,
the help that you need
is not a help
that can be given from anything or anyone
on this earth.
The only help
that can help you is the help of
Allah
That is the only thing that can help
you, And that there may be periods and
times in your life that you will recognize
that.
That the only thing that can help me,
the only one that can help me,
because you realize
that this everything that is in this dunya
is restricted,
has limits,
and can only go so far
that the true help
is the help of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So at this time,
the prophet is
sleeping in the house of Umihane, his auntie,
Close to the Haram, close to the Kaaba.
He is awoken.
Jibril
comes to the prophet
and wakes up the prophet alayhi salatu salam
and takes him close to the Kaaba.
And
there, his chest is opened
and his chest, his heart is cleaned
and filled with Hikma,
with wisdom
and knowledge and
iman.
Allah
sends Jibril.
And what do you know about Jibril, alaihis
salam?
The one who delivers
the wahi, the revelation to the prophets
The one whom informed
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
that the one who delivered the message to
you was the same one who delivered the
message to Musa alaihi wasallam.
So Jibril,alayhis salam,
he takes the prophet,alayhis salaam, to salam
on a journey.
Al Burak,
an animal which is
larger than a donkey, smaller than a horse
And there it is brought to the Prophet
alaihis salam. Here the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam
is awake.
He is not dreaming, he is not sleeping.
This is a physical experience for him, alaihi
salaahu alaihi wa sallam.
When did it happen?
Allahu'alaam.
There is no fixed and certain knowledge as
to exactly when this Isra wal Mi'raj happened.
Sorry to,
because then you may not know, I want
to celebrate this night. We don't celebrate this
night because we don't know the date
and it is not something that is really
celebrated inna al Islam.
So we don't know exactly when it was,
whether it is in the Rajab, or Rabbi
Athani in Ramadan, Allahu Alam. Allah knows best
when it was, but it occurred, of course.
So this animal there, Al Boraq
Have you heard of Al Barak before?
Bark is what? It's lightning, right? This animal
is called barak.
This animal moves so quickly,
as the prophet alaihis salam describes
that the journey or the movement is that
when it
moves forward its hoof, it moves like the
distance that you can see upon the horizon.
That's how fast it moves. SubhanAllah.
So just as the prophet, alayhis salam, is
about to get onto this animal,
it rains itself up.
And there Jibreel
says, Usput,
that stay still.
That there is one who is going to
ride you, no one better than him,
meaning the Prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam.
So it calms down
and it goes on this journey,
and it takes the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam from Makkah, Masjidul Haram.
As I mentioned earlier, the first verse in
Surah Al Isra,
Glory be to Allah
The one who took the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam at night time.
The servant, the slave
of Allah
meaning al Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam. From
the Masjid that we all know in Makkah
to Masjid Al Aqsa.
Which is the distance of at least a
month.
It takes at least 1 month
for any normal person on a caravan, on
a camel or a horse that you have,
to travel from Makkah
to Al Aqsa. It takes a month.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam went on this
journey and returned the same night.
The same night.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has taken
to Masjid Al Aqsa.
Here we can see
that the prophet
being asleep in the house of Umihaneh radiAllahu
anha.
Who knows what is going on in the
mind of the prophet sallallahu alaihis salam at
this particular time?
The trials and tribulations that I mentioned to
you that they occurred,
he is living under first and foremost the
protection
of Allah
That Allah
will protect you from the people.
And that Allah Azzawajal allowed that this individual,
muti ibn Abi, would be there with his
tribe
to ensure that no harm would come to
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So it's
almost like a temporary
stay of execution, you might say,
for the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam being there in Makkah.
And so then the prophet al Islam goes
on this journey, is taken to this
Masjid Al Aqsa,
but at the time is under the rule
of who? The Byzantines,
the Romans,
the Christians.
And so there when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam arrives,
the animal, the buraq, is tied up.
And there the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam arrives
in this
sacred
and blessed
sanctuary.
Al livibaarakna
hawla.
As Allah
tells us, in this sanctuary which is blessed
all around it,
a place,
al aqsa and the surrounding areas,
sham
is mentioned in many ahadith.
Many narrations.
Certain
and important incidents
will occur
in this in this place.
The ad dajjal,
the greatest fitan to afflict Bani Adam in
the future will occur one day,
but in this area will be the place
that he will be killed
by 'Isa Banu Mariam alayhis salam.
But that is yet to happen.
So we're talking about an extremely important place,
a place that with iftar salah is offered
in this sanctuary
is equal to 250
salah.
So there the Prophet alaihi sallam arrives in
Al Masjid Al Aqsa.
Now you may know this story
and many of the narrations, it is at
least understood
that here the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
led the anbiya
led the prophets in salah.
There is also a second understanding
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam leading the
prophets in prayer
did not occur immediately
upon arrival of Masjid al Aqsa,
but rather
when the Mi'raj,
when the ascension
finished and that the prophet after
meeting the prophets,
then came back to earth,
then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam led
the prophets in prayer.
So whether it occurred
at the beginning before the ascension, before the
Mi'raj or after the Mi'raj,
does not really impact anything,
doesn't change the ruling
on anything.
But it is important to mention
that the prophet alaihis salam did lead the
prophets in
in prayer.
Now remember
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
had gone through all of those trials and
tribulations,
But this journey
is a journey
of honoring the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
It is a great reward,
a great virtue, a blessing,
a mercy given to our beloved Nabi
that no human being had ever gone
and will ever experience such an experience.
The things that he
that he saw, that He experienced.
That upon returning,
that when He salallahu alaihi wa sallam would
hear the verses of the paradise,
would hear the verses of the Hellfire,
after seeing their reality,
can you imagine how the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam would feel?
You know when
you have
read verses and you read things in the
Sira,
and then for the first time you go
to Makkah and then the first time you
go to Al Madinah.
You see the Haram with your own eyes,
you see Madinah for the first time, You
may go to Uhud
and you can see this is where the
Sahaba, where they were. This is where the
Prophet
where he fought.
Is it the same
when you were just reading the stories
and the sierra in a book, when you
went there and to see it with your
own eyes?
And then you return back to your home
and the next time that you read the
Battle of Uhud,
how much more engaged you will be when
reading the story of Uhud. Why? Because you
were there.
You saw where the Sahaba
from them Hamza
where he was buried, and Musa'ib ibn Umayr
They were buried there. You saw it with
your own eyes,
the feeling and the the increase of your
conviction certainty,
because you saw it with your own eyes.
So here the prophet alaihis salam is blessed
on this particular journey with so many things
and some of them we will
describe. Now because the journey is so vast,
so many things for us to mention, we
of course cannot do it in such a
short time. But we take lesson from it,
we take some benefit from it, in the
hope
that the next time I go to read
about the story
of Al Isra wal Mi'raj,
maybe I can take that much more benefit
from it. Because I sat in a gathering
where I heard some things that maybe I
didn't hear before or there was a take
on the story
that I didn't hear before. I wasn't I
didn't hear it like that before. And this
is how Allah allows you to benefit
from beneficial knowledge,
sound authentic knowledge.
So the prophet
saw signs of Allah
As Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions in Surat
Najm.
Now we know that the great signs of
Allah
were shown
to many prophets,
to Ibrahim alaihis salam, to Musa alaihis salatu
salam, similarly our beloved Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Moreover, the signs and what he saw and
experienced
like nobody else.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
is
taken up
into the the skies, the heavens,
Not the jannah that, insha Allah ta'ala, everybody,
we hope, will be there. We ask Allah
jalala to make us from its inhabitants, I
mean. But the skies and the heavens in
that
Allah created.
And that at each level
of the skies or heavens that we are
talking about,
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he met a Prophet,
that he saw a Prophet.
And so for example,
as the hadith of Anas radiAllahu anhu,
and there are many, as I mentioned, more
than 22 companions
that they mention
this particular incident from
from different
perspectives
and different
viewpoints.
So in the first, Jibril
goes up with the Prophet
and nobody enters any of these skies or
heavens
except with permission
that each of these heavens, they have horas,
they have gods, they have malaykal.
And that they, sought permission
that they go into that and that they
enter that, and they said, who is seeking
permission?
It is Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. What a
blessed individual, a blessed Prophet,
allow permission.
For the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam then to
be introduced
to Ab al Bashar,
the father of humanity.
Adam
and that they exchange salems,
They exchange words with one another.
And the same
occurrence
happens
in each of the heavens,
that permission is sought
to go into the next heaven,
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and
2nd meets Yahya
and Isa and in the 3rd, Yusuf
and in the 4th, Idris and in the
5th, Harun
and in the 5th Harun
the 6th, Musa and in the 7th, Ibrahim
Now the order of the prophets in these
levels is not in terms of the order
of who is greater than the other.
This is not the case.
But on each occasion that the Prophet
meets each of the prophets
and exchanges salaam between them.
And here it is explained that the prophet
meets the arwah, meets the souls
of these Prophets,
whom Allah
allows for the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to
meet and to greet.
Except for
except for Isa, alaihi wasallam.
For there, Isa, alaihi wasallam
is there
physically in his body,
because he alaihis salam did not die.
They did not kill Him nor did they
crucify Him, but
it was made to appear to them so.
So Isa
did not die
and was alive,
and did the Prophet
met Isa physically.
So on this journey,
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi salam had
a meeting with these great prophets.
Again looking back as we mentioned, what the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam experienced before.
Here Allah is
giving a great mercy and a blessing
for the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam to
see this.
Is this a journey of khawf
up until now? Is this a journey of
fear?
Yes, it is a journey of the unknown,
but here
the lesson for the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
is not of punishment and fear,
but it is one of expectation.
Of one
of intrigue to know what is happening next.
And we also know that on this journey,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
beyond
the 7th heaven,
is shown
Baytul Ma'amur.
The place of worship where 70,000
angels
that they enter and they worship Allah every
single day.
70,000
enter Baytul Mamur to worship Allah jalawala
and then the next day 70,000.
That those angels will not get another opportunity
to come back because of the sheer amount
of
Each day there are so
many
angels that they won't have the opportunity to
come back.
That Allah
allowed the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to
see that.
And to go to
that low tree upon which that no human
being
will go beyond.
That beyond that was a light.
And it is here that when the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was asked, did he
see his Lord? He said,
It is light that I saw.
So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam reached a
place, a stage where no
human being could go beyond.
And that on this journey that the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam received
the
command to establish the 5 daily prayers. Khamsu
Allah salah.
Fifty prayers.
Then went on return to to meet Musa
and then you may well know the story
that Musa
asked the Prophet
what been what had been obligated with regards
to salah
and that the prophet salallahu alaihis salam had
accepted 50
without any debate, without any questioning, 50 salaah.
But then Musa alaihis salaam said that your
people will not be able to bear 50.
I was with the people who could not
bear that.
Go back to our Lord and to ask
for takfiq,
for a lessening,
for a lowering of the number.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went
back to Allah, rubbu alalameen.
Jalluwala,
to lighten the load of the salawat,
it was lowered lowered down to 40.
Only to go back to ask for a
lightning
lightning in the number of salawat.
And this happened a number of times until
it reached 5.
Then Musa
said go back to ask for takthif,
a lowering and lightning of the load.
But the prophet
said, I cannot ask for any more.
So the 5 salawat was then incumbent upon
the Ummah, until
the end of time.
But on this journey, as I mentioned a
little bit earlier,
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
shown aljannah
walnar,
the paradise.
It's naeem, it's blessings.
The hellfire,
the punishment of the hellfire.
The punishment of all those who are involved
in certain sins,
like backbiting
or Erkil or Riba or the one who
consumes Riba
or the one who commands everybody with good
and forgets himself.
And the punishment of the one who fornicates.
So, Allah showed
these things
that this is what would happen
to the disobedient
servants
in the hereafter.
So when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
in the hadith
of Aisha radiAllahu anha,
in a hadith which is Rawahul Bukhari.
When he sees his companions
sitting amongst each other.
And they are, they're talking, just as people
talk.
And some of them they begin to laugh.
And so here the prophet alaihis salam,
he says,
That if you knew what I knew,
if you knew what I knew
That you would laugh just just little
and that you would you would cry so
much.
Now we can understand in light
with what the prophet had
experienced
on the Isra wal Mi'raj.
Something
that the prophet alaihi sallam would never forget
for the rest of his life.
What he had seen and what he'd experienced,
no human being had seen or experienced.
When he would tell his companions
about fearing Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
staying away from the punishment of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had seen that
punishment.
And that to have hope in Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala,
to have
reliance and trust
upon Allah jaluwala. He had seen the reality
of that. That in the darkest and most
difficult of times,
when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
in that very difficult situation as we had
explained, that the
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then gave that
great blessing.
Took him out of that and granted him
this journey.
So in times where as I mentioned to
you before,
where all seems lost,
don't feel that the all is lost.
That there is no impossible.
That just around the corner,
just a short time away,
there is something waiting for me.
There is something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
will help me out of this situation.
And
in a similar narration,
in a narration which is narrated by Abu
Dhalil al Ghifari
in hadith in Sunun al Tir Midi, wahasinun
alalbani rahimahullah,
that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
That I because I've I seen or I
see that what you don't see.
That I hear what you do not hear.
That the
earth
is
moaning and groaning
because of what
has happened, and it has a right to
do so.
And that there is no place that 4
fingers that they can be placed on the
floor
And that there is no placement like this,
except that there is an angel prostrating itself
to Allah
If you knew
what I knew,
that you would laugh
less frequently
and that you would cry
more frequently,
That you would not even If you knew
what I knew, you would not enjoy the
time that you have with your wives
in in that private time.
You would not even enjoy that, because of
the reality that I know.
Walakharajtumillasuadati
tajra'uunillah.
That you would go out onto the plains,
you would be calling upon Allah
to save you,
if you knew what I knew.
Now in light of what the prophet alaihi
wasallam experienced on this journey,
one can only imagine the conviction
of such a statement.
And I think
how to bring that example close to us,
And I think I've already mentioned
it. That each time that you go to
Al Haram, each time you go to Makkah
and you go to Madinah,
maybe there are personal times that you have
there, that you are looking at the Masjid,
or you're looking at Jabal Uhud, or that
you're looking at the the Masjid,
and you try to think about what happened
there once upon a time, and that you
are walking in the same footsteps,
the same air that you are breathing,
that people gave their lives for Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
You can somehow
There's almost a tangible feeling
of what you have right there.
This is a worldly experience.
This is maybe the best kind of example
I can mention.
And of course what the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam, of course we don't want to bring,
there's nothing in line with that at all.
But again, the sierra and you.
The life of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and you. We want to bridge these gaps.
We want to be able to, when we
read the sierra,
to experience and walk through
as though I am with the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
As though I am there with Abu Bakr
as Siddiq, as though I am there with
Umrahman Al Khattab.
That when
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
is in the house of Al Arakan
with Sahaba
and Hamza radhiallahu anhu that they hear a
knock on the door.
And then they said who is at the
door?
And they says
Umre Blakatab is at the door
And he has his sword with him
And when Umar radiAllahu anhu, when he has
his sword with him,
that can mean only one thing.
He want to feel what is happening here.
He want to have that emotion about how
the Sahaba would
feel. Only for them to hamza to say:
If he's bringing something,
we will bring like it as well.
He has brought something,
we will bring the
same. And so we see the prophet alaihis
salam ask for the door to be opened,
and not for the sahaba to surround the
door.
But But the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to
walk toward, walk towards Umar ibn Khattab himself.
For him to be the one to face
what is going to be faced. Yabnal khatab.
O son of khatab, what is it that
you have? Only for him to declare his
al Islam.
So when we take these these incidents,
knowing the backdrop and everything about it,
one finds themselves wanting to read the story
again
and again
and again, because you feel yourself immersed in
it.
You want to feel part of it.
You want to somehow
feel as though that you are
part of the story somewhere.
Because the sierra of the Prophet alaihis salam,
yes,
it finishes at the time when the Prophet
alaihis salam passes away.
But holding up the liwa over Islam, or
riot to Islam, holding up the flag, if
you want, of al Islam,
or the flag of La ilaha illallah does
not end there.
But it continues
and you want to feel as though that
you are carrying that as well.
More than 1450
years later,
that you are part of Islamic history,
That you are part of those
that want to be mentioned
They stood up for La Illa Illallah Muhammad
Rasulallah
That reading such incidents
are not just things that are to be
read in the books and that when you
close the book and then it stays there.
But these are, is a continuing living story
for us.
Did you see yourself
as somehow a peace in that story that
came much
much later?
And I ask that Allah
allows us to be from those people who
truly uphold
the reality of La ilaha illallah
And to know what it means to make
a sacrifice
in living by La ilaha illallah
And that Allah protects us from Adulallah, from
misguidance.
That Allah protects us from inharaf
in in all these forms of misguidance and
misinterpretation.
We ask Allah to protect us from an
ifaq, from hypocrisy.
We ask Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la to protect
us from al jahl.
That, you know, the darkness of al jahl
and ignorance.
Imagine a person doesn't know
the reality
and the story
of the greatest man to ever live, the
prophet Muhammad alaihi sallam,
who shaped and formed, by Allah's permission,
the world that we are living in now.
Allah
decreed
that the coming of the Prophet alaihi salaam
would shape and form the rest of humanity
and would be the source, by Allah's permission,
of us knowing
alhaquwalbatil,
of that what is truth and that what
is falsehood.
And being able to identify,
being able to know that what is beloved
to Allah and what is hated by Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So the seerah anew,
the life of the Prophet alaihis salam was
taught to the Sahaba.
Just as they would learn the Quran, they
would teach their children,
their young children, the story of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
To know your Prophet.
To know your Messenger,
to know the Most Beloved.
For him to be the Most Beloved to
you, alayhi salatu salam,
then you must know him.
To know Him is to love Him,
and to be ignorant of Him means to
be far away from Him.
To be ignorant
means that you cannot truly have
a true love
for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
If you want to gain the love of
Allah
If you are serious,
truly serious,
you want to be a serious Muslim.
I don't want to add another word, a
serious Muslim. You want to be a Muslim.
Another phrase, another thing. You want to be
a Muslim?
You want to gain, achieve the love of
Allah Tabarakahu ta'ala?
Then you need to follow and know the
Prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam. They cannot be
separated.
Don't believe that you can achieve a path
to Allah
without knowing and following the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. They go hand in hand.
You follow and love the prophet alaihi wasallam,
you will gain the love of Allah to
Barakahu ta'ala. We ask Allah
to make us from those who truly love
and follow the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And
we ask Allah to barakah
to make us from those who achieve
and have the love of Allah to barakah
to a'la.
It almost sounds like an ending, but I'm
not finished.
I want to finish insha'Allah in
that when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
and there's so much more to mention,
he returns to Makkah.
And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam without
any hesitation,
he tells his people. He tells Umwehane
He tells the people around him the journey
that he went on just last night, which
takes more than a month to get there
and a month to come back.
And the Kufar of the Quraysh rubbing their
hands in glee and happiness
that we used to claim
insanity.
But we will have an argument for it.
Now they believe they have an argument to
say,
indeed,
Muhammad alaihi sata salam
has now gone insane to make such a
claim.
Abu Jahal, Abu Allahab, they come together.
They go to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and they follow him around going to the
Muslims
and the al nazthalatih
to Aqsaam.
The people are of 3 types.
The first type are those,
aladinakazebu,
those who denied it.
They denied what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
what he claimed.
And then there were al mutaradidun.
There were those who were a little bit
doubtful.
Hadith al Islam, they were new Muslims.
They weren't sure.
Really? Is this being claimed?
Some of them may be very few in
number. Said, no. We don't believe that.
And
the 3rd group,
Al Mu'minoon Haqqah.
Those true believers.
The believers who truly believed,
no doubt about what had happened.
And at the head of them
was Abu Bakr as Siddiq.
So they go around and they're looking for
Abu Bakr.
If Abu Bakr denies,
if Abu Bakr has a doubt, the rest
will fall like dominoes.
Because we know that Abu Bakr is
the closest of companions
who was like a pillar that could not
be shaken.
So they went to Abu Bakr Sadiq radiAllahu
anhu.
Do you know what your
your companion, he is claiming?
He says radiAllahu anhu. And what is he
claiming?
He is claiming, and Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
that he went from Masjid al Haram
all the way to Aqsa, went up into
the heavens, only to return and to come
back. He
does this in one night.
He said
If this is what He says I believe
Him
without hesitation,
without a question,
without a fluttering.
And as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
concerning Abu Bakr,
Abu Bakr
he said he was an individual when I
showed him al islam,
he was an individual the very least who
showed
any form of doubt or questioning. The moment
I said to him, I showed him at
Islam,
he says I follow You You Rasulullah.
Abu Bakr radiAllahu Anhu was that individual and
because of this mokkifa, because of this incident,
which is mentioned in the Sahih al Al
Hakim
That for this reason here the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasalam said, Abu Bakr
as Siddiq, the truthful one.
This was the incident that Abu Bakr
attained, was given the name
as Siddiq,
the one who affirmed the truth.
Because he believed, as he mentioned, radhiallahu anhu,
I believe in something which is far greater
than that. That he receives revelation
from a sama'
even further than that.
So if this is what he claims I
believe in it.
And then shortly after this,
as we know that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
made preparations
to meet with the people
who came at the time of Hajj,
especially from the people of Al Madinah.
That the first agreement of 'Aqaba,
a number of people that embraced Islam,
12 of them.
And then the following year they brought more
of them, 70.
And that they were there to support the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
We have believed in
you. We believe there's 70 of them.
And an agreement was set up.
An agreement was set up. And I'll finish
with this inshaa'aat.
That these,
the Ansar, as we know them,
that they had an agreement that they would
protect the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
and they would do everything to help the
Prophet, alaihi wa sallam, if he moved and
lived with them in Al Madinah.
One of them he said, before we sign
this agreement,
before we sign this agreement,
I have one question.
That when we sign this agreement with you,
we will become the enemies of everybody.
Everybody in Makkah, outside Makkah, we will immediately
become their enemies because we are with you,
Rasulullah.
And when it is the case, it is
and victory is going to be given to
you insha'Allah.
That when you are given victory,
that you will leave us and you will
go back to Makkah.
They had just embraced Islam and they were
thinking, this individual,
if we make this sacrifice,
we want to be with you for the
rest of our lives.
We want You to stay with us in
Al Medina.
And so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
upon hearing this, he smiles.
He says to them: A demo done. He
said: Blood is blood.
And he said: After everything,
after everything is all over and is given
to us by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I am from you
and you are from me.
I from you and you from
me. Medina will be my home and I
will never leave you.
And you can see that the Ansar radiAllahu
anhu, the support that they gave to the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So after this isra
wal miraj,
after all preceded
how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
But as you
well know, that the ending
of the Makkan period is not the ending
of the life of the prophet alaihi wa
sallam.
We have another almost 11 years
to go through in seeing some of the
most severest times and trials and tribulations that
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that he
went through. The Battle of Badr, the battle
of Uhud, the battle of Kandak,
the treaty of Hudaybia,
Fathu Makkah,
and the list goes on.
So we ask
Allah
to grant us beneficial knowledge.