Hundred Questions - Reality of Mi`raj (Ascent)
Reality of Mi`raj (Ascent)
Q76 Had the mi`raj of the Prophet taken place physically or in a spiritual state? Please also tell us why it became necessary for God to carry him to the masjid-i aqsa (Farthest Mosque)? Why were the miracles which were to be shown to him by God, not shown in the masjid-i haram (Sacred Mosque, i.e. Ka`bah), but were shown in masjid-i aqsa?
A76
- Mi`raj is the name of the inner unveiling and the spiritual ascension, which is the result of zikr-u `ibadat. Divine proximity and closeness is in an internal and spiritual way, not in a physical way. By the higher world (`alam-i `ulwi) is meant the world of spirituality, which is found in a non-spatial state.
- When God is not contained in the heaven and earth and is contained only in the heart of the faithful servant (bandah-yi mu'min), then after the preference of this throne of the heart, the question of any other throne cannot arise and all those verses in which there is the mention of God's establishing equality on the throne (istawa `ala'l-`arsh), need ta'wil. From this it necessarily follows that in Islam, it was the Prophet who observed the miracles and wonders of the throne of the heart first and in the brightest light, and the mi`raj had taken place in this way.
Your second question is related to the verse, which is in the beginning of the chapter "The Children of Isra'il" (17) in which the carrying of the Prophet from the masjid-i haram to the masjid-i aqsa is mentioned. It should be known that according to the Qur'an, masjid has two meanings: one is the place of prostration, which means a mosque and a house of worship, and the other is zikr-u `ibadat as mentioned in verse (7:31). Therefore, masjid-i haram means that sacred supreme Name (ism-i a`zam) which was given to the Prophet in the beginning, and masjid-i aqsa means that miraculous ism-i a`zam of spiritual height and farthest [spiritual] elevation which was given to him later on, i.e. at the time of spiritual mi`raj. In this sense, this zikr-i ilahi i.e. ism-i a`zam is called masjid-i aqsa, or the farthest mosque, in which were hidden abundant spiritual and luminous miracles.
In the ta'wili background of ism-i a`zam are hidden the ranks of Prophethood and Imamat. Thus in the depth of meaning (ma`nawiyyat) all Isma`ili ta'wils gather together and in which the wise find no contrariety. That is, the ta'wil of masjid-i haram, which is mentioned in Wajh-i din, does not differ fundamentally from this ta'wil (See Discourse 18, verse 28:57).
Note: For more details, read my article "Mi`raj-i ruh (Ascent of the Soul)", translated from Urdu into English by Jan-i `Aziz Faquir Muhammad Hunzai.
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