Tonight will be the 27th of the sacred month of Rajab, and according to the majority view, that is the day when Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, traveled on his Night Journey (Israa) to Jerusalem, and then ascended from there to the Heavens (the Mi’raaj). Here are some important lessons and rulings for the seeker, that ulamaa have gained through study of the hadiths of the Israa:
The Life of Prophets:
The Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said that during his Israa, he passed over the Prophet Moses standing in his grave, praying (1). Then when he arrived at Jerusalem, all the Prophets came there in their bodies and clothes, and he led them in Salaat (2). Then when he ascended into the Heavens, he saw some of the Prophets there once more, as is well known.
From this we can take the following:
1) Proof that the Prophets are alive after their death, and that their bodies are still intact. The Prophet salla Allah alayhi wa sallam, told his companions that he will hear the salaat and salaam that the people of future generations will say to him, and they asked him how that is possible, when his body has decomposed, and he said, “Allah has forbidden the Earth to eat the bodies of the Prophets” (3).
2) Evidence that the Prophets can be seen after their death, by those who are awake. It also shows that it is not impossible for the Prophet Muhammad, salla Allah alayhi wa sallam, to go to, and appear to, Muslims in different parts of the world, just as the Prophets went to Jerusalem on that night.
3) Evidence that after their death, Prophets can appear in more than one place at once, or travel miraculously from one place to another. For example, our Prophet saw sayyidna Musa praying in his grave, then in Jerusalem, then in the sixth heaven, all in the same night. (4)
Honoring the Places of the Prophets and Righteous Servants
During the Israa’ journey to Jerusalem, the angel Gabriel said to the Prophet, “Descend and pray in this spot”, so the Prophet prayed there, and then Gabriel said, “Do you know where you prayed?”, and when he answered in the negative, the angel explained that he prayed in the place where Moses rested under a tree, in the city of Madyan (See the Holy Qur’an, verse 24 of surat Al-Qasas). (5)
The Angel Gabriel made the Prophet perform the Salaat in another spot during the Israa, and after the Prophet prayed there, Gabriel explained that it was Bethlehem, where sayyidna Isa was born (6). Then they did the same on Mt. Sinai were God spoke to sayyidna Musa (7), and also in Yathrib (8).
The great shaykh Ahmad Al-Dardir wrote, “From this we take the permissibility of seeking blessings from the traces of the Prophets and the Righteous.”
The Imam of the Azhar, shaykh Saleh al- Jaafari al-Husayni, explained that this was because the Prophet descended while on his journey, and got off the Buraq, for the sake of the piece of land on which Moses sat, thus honoring Moses and showing respect to him, and giving thanks to Allah Most High.
The other ruling that we can take from that is the permissibility to visit the grave of Prophet Muhammad and pray next to him.
Shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari wrote that the above hadiths showed how Allah Most High honored the places of Moses, and the Prophet was instructed to pray there by the angel Gabriel. And likewise, the Qur’an honored the place of Abraham, and instructed us to pray there. The Qur’an says, “And make the Maqam Ibrahim a place of Salaat” (Surat al-Baqara, verse 125), and in a variant reading it says, “And they took from the Maqam Ibrahim a place of Salaat“. Thus the Qur’an is telling us that previous nations prayed in this maqam, which is where the Prophet Abraham stood while building the Kaaba, and that we should also pray there.
Shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari writes, “So how could we not then go to the Prophet – salla Allah alayhi wa sallam- when he is alive in Medina, in a garden from the gardens of Paradise(9) ? And how could we not respect his place, when Allah Most High glorified the place of Abraham and Moses, alayhim assalam?” (10)
Furthermore, it is important to note that neither Madyan, Mt. Sinai, or Bethlehem are on the way from Mecca to Jerusalem, which means that Gabriel made the Prophet travel to them only for the sake of visiting them and honoring them. This is clear refutation of those who say it is not permissible to travel solely to visit the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.
When I went to Umra, I saw that the place where sayyidna Muhammad – salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam- was born, is now a library, and pilgrims are barred from entering it, and a large sign outside tells us that the Prophet never commanded us to visit the place of his birth and that praying there is shirk! However the Prophet himself prayed where the Prophet Isa was born, and if the Salaat is done to Allah alone, then how could it be shirk?!?! They are keeping the Muslims from imitating the Prophet! The place of his birth is more deserving of honor by Muslims than that of sayyidna Isa, and more deserving of performing Salaat there in praise of Allah, thanking him for sending us His Mercy unto mankind.
Should You Fast on the 27th of Rajab?
First of all, no one knows for sure if the 27th of Rajab is really the day of the Israa’ and Mi’raj.
Shaykh Yusef al-Qaradawi says, “Among the prohibited types of fasting is any kind of fasting people initiate on their own without any Shari’ah text or evidence. An example of this is the fasting on the 27th of Rajab thinking that it is the day that followed the night of Al-Israa’ and Al-Mi`raj.” (11)
But there are in fact some reports and traditions about the benefit of fasting that day, and staying up that night. However these traditions make no connection between this day and the Israa and Miraj.
Shaykhul Islam, the imam Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, writes in his Ghunya that scholars have counted 14 nights in which it is recommended to stay up for worship, and among those are the first night of Rajab, the night of the 15th of Rajab, and the night of the 27th of Rajab.
He also relates with his isnad to Abu Hurayra, that the Prophet salla Allah alayhi wa sallam said, “For him who fasts the 27th of Rajab, the reward of sixty months of fasting will be written down for him.”
He says that it is the first day that Gabriel told the Prophet to announce his message to the people, thus it is the first day of the Prophet as a Messenger. Remember that the Prophet fasted on Mondays because it was the day he was born and the day he received the first revelation (12), and fasting on the day he was given the first message to mankind is similar to that, and might explain the merit described in the hadith above.
Al-Jilani also relates with his isnad to Hasan al-Basri the special practice of Ibn Abbas (of seclusion and Salaat from Fajr until Asr) on that day, which he said is what the Prophet did on that day, which shows that this is a special day that should be honored. (13)
And may Allah guide us to honoring His special times, places, and servants.
———-
1. Sahih Muslim
2. Sahih Muslim
3. In the hadith collections of Al-Nasa’i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Al-Bayhaqi.
4. For a more in-depth discussion, see the article Waking Vision of the Prophet: (riyada.hadithuna.com/waking-vision-of-the-prophet/)
5. In the hadith collections of Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Bayhaqi.
6. In the hadith collections of Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Nasa’i.
7. In Sunan Al-Nasa’i.
8. The Prophet changed its name to Teeba, and is now known as Al-Madina al-Munawwara. This was in the hadith collections of Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Nasa’i.
9. Referring to the hadith in Sahih Bukhari: “Between my house and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise” and the hadith in Tirmidhi: “The grave is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, or one of the pits of Hell”.
10. Al-Shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari, Al-Siraj al-Wahhaj fee Qissat al-Israa’ wal-Mi’raj, Cairo: Dar Jawami’ al-Kalim.
11. Quoted in a fatwa on Islam Online.net
12. Sahih Muslim.
- See the chapter called “Majlis: Fee Fada’il Shahr Rajab” in Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani’s Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen