Mairaj
Qur’aanic Verse 17.1:
Transliteration:
1. Subhana allathee asra biAAabdihi laylan mina almasjidi alharami ila almasjidi al-aqsa allathee barakna hawlahu linuriyahu min ayatina innahu huwa alssameeAAu albaseeru
Translation:
1. Glorified He is Who took His worshipper on a night journey from the Sacred Place of Worship (at Mecca) to the Distant Place of Worship (at Jeruslem), the precincts of which We have blessed, so that We may show to him some of Our signs. It is He indeed Who hears, sees everything.1
Study Note:
1. This is all that the Qur’aan says about the much-discussed Mairaj of our Prophet (peace on him). The ahaadeeth tell us plenty about it. The Muslims are in a dilemma as to whether they should be content with the little that the Qur’aan says on it or should they refer to the lot that the ahaadeeth ‘disclose’.
One famous story about the Mairaj that the ahaadeeth ‘disclose’ is that Allah Almighty had prescribed, during its course, many more times of Salah per day than the five in vogue now. The story goes that as our Prophet was on his way back after receiving the divine directive, Prophet Moses met him and told him that his Ummah won’t be able to perform the Salah that many times. So our Prophet goes back and pleads for less number of Salah. The Prophet had to make several such to-and-fro trips till at last he got the prescription for the five-time Salah.
Now, what is the implication of that story which the ahaadeeth make us believe in? It implies that Prophet Moses understood human nature better than the Creator Himself!
The ahaadeeth are admittedly man-influenced and error-prone. It’s nothing but shirk to put them on the same pedestal as the Qur’aanic Verses. In this particular case, Allah did not think it necessary for the Ummah to know what divine signs He showed our Prophet during Mairaj. If He did think it necessary, he would certainly have mentioned those signs in the Qur’aan. For, Allah says, everything necessary for human guidance is mentioned therein.
The signs shown during the Mairaj were necessary for the Prophet personally. He was chosen as the leader of the Ummah. In that capacity, he had to have not even an iota of doubt in his mind about the genuineness of the stupendous Mission he was given.
So let us not speculate about the signs our Prophet was shown during Mairaj. Those signs were not meant for mankind in general.
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The above is extracted from yet-to-be-published Qur’aanic Studies - Volume XXVIX. It will be published, in due course, inshaAllah on the website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in continuation of Volumes I to XXVIII already published and freely available thereon.
Mohammad Shafi
Author of ‘ISLAM & INTEREST‘
January 30th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
“The Aqsa Mosque” means “the farthest place where there is prostration,” many billions of Light Years away. This verse informs us that Muhammad, the soul, was taken to the highest Heaven to be given the Quran (2:185, 44:3, 53:1-18, & 97:1).
We cannot read Jerusalem in arabic Quran.
In the century after Muhammad’s death, politics prompted the Damascus-based Umayyad dynasty, which controlled Jerusalem, to make this city sacred in Islam. Embroiled in fierce competition with a dissident leader in Mecca, the Umayyad rulers were seeking to diminish Arabia at Jerusalem’s expense. They sponsored a genre of literature praising the “virtues of Jerusalem” and circulated accounts of the prophet’s sayings or doings (called hadiths) favorable to Jerusalem. In 688-91, they built Islam’s first grand structure, the Dome of the Rock, on top of the remains of the Jewish Temple. They even reinterpreted the Qur’an to make room for Jerusalem. The Qur’an, describing Muhammad’s Night Journey (isra’), reads: “[God] takes His servant [i.e., Muhammad (pbuh)] by night from the Sacred Mosque to the furthest mosque.” When this Qur’an passage was first revealed, in about 621, a place called the Sacred Mosque already existed in Mecca. In contrast, the “furthest mosque” was a turn of phrase, not a place. Some early Muslims understood it as metaphorical or as a place in heaven. And if the “furthest mosque” did exist on earth, Palestine would have seemed an unlikely location, for that region elsewhere in the Qur’an (30:1) was called “the closest land” (adna al-ard).
But in 715, the Umayyads built a mosque in Jerusalem, again right on the Temple Mount, and called it the Furthest Mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque). With this, the Umayyads inserted Jerusalem into the Qur’an
Mohammad Shafi responds:
The Qur’aanic Verses quoted by you (2:185, 44:3, 53:1-18, & 97:1) are all mutashabihaat. Their interpretation is known only to Allah Almighty. Let us not speculate on them. But, yes, Jeruslem is also a human interpretation. I should indeed avoid it. Thanks. Allah bless you!
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
I know the contents mentioned below is out of the topic under discussion, but quoted here to share the understanding aout Mutashabihaat verses.
Is the Quran meant for everyone to understand? Or are some parts inaccessible to mere human beings?
Verse 3:7 is one of the most commonly mistranslated verses; it is extremely important, since it deals with these very questions. Different interpretations of this verse can lead to two totally different conceptions of Islam!
Yusuf Ali’s translation of this critical passage represents the orthodox understanding:
He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: in it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meaning except God. And those who are firmly endowed by knowledge say: ‘we believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:’ and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.
Read the other translation of the verse:
The traditional rendering suggests that some Quranic verses can never be understood fully.
He revealed to you this scripture, consisting of straightforward verses, which are the essence of the scripture, as well as verses with multiple meanings. Those who harbor doubt in their hearts will pursue the multiple-meaning verses to create confusion, and to seek their meanings. No one knows their meaning except God and those who are deeply rooted in knowledge. They say, ‘We believe in this; it all comes from our Lord.’ Only those who possess intelligence will take heed. (3:7)
COMMENTARY ON 3:7
The Arabic word we have translated as “multiple meanings” is “mutashabihat.” The word comes from “shabaha” (”to became similar”).
The word can be confusing for a novice. Verse 39:23, for instance, uses “mutashabihat” for the entire Quran, referring to its overall similarity — in other words, its consistency. In a narrower sense, however, “mutashabihat” refers to all verses which can be understood in more than one way. The various meanings or implications require some special qualities from the person listening to or reading the Quran: an attentive mind, a positive attitude, contextual perspective, the patience necessary for research, and so forth.
It is one of the intriguing features of the Quran that the verse about “mutashabih” verses of the Quran is itself mutashabih — that is, possessing multiple meanings. The word in question, for instance, can mean “similar,” as we have seen; it can mean “possessing multiple meanings”; it can also mean “allegorical” (where one single, clearly identifiable element represents another single, clearly identifiable element).
As you may have noticed, interpretation of the last part of 3:7 depends on how one punctuates the verse. (There is no punctuation in the original Arabic text.)
If one stops after the word “God,” then one will assume, as centuries of Sunni and Shiite scholars have, that even those who possess deep levels of knowledge will never be able to understand the “mutashabih” verses. However, if the sentence does not stop there, the meaning will change to the opposite: Those who possess knowledge will be able to understand the meaning of allegorical or multiple-meaning verses.
Here are five reasons we prefer the second understanding of this verse.
REASON ONE: The passage clearly emphasizes the unhealthy intentions of those who fail to understand multiple-meaning verses. With the disease of doubt in their hearts, they try to confuse others by focusing on their own faulty interpretations of these verses. We believe the passage emphasizes this point because the Quran tells us elsewhere that only sincere believers possess the qualities necessary to understand the Quran (as emphasized in 17:46; 18:57; and 54:17).
REASON TWO: The Quran tells us repeatedly that it is easy to understand. (It does so at many points, including 5:15; 11:1; 26:195; 54:17; and 55:1-2.) If one punctuates this verse in the traditional way, there is an apparent contradiction – the Quran is, at least in some places, impossible for any human being to understand — and Muslims maintain that the Quran does not contradict itself.
We believe the Quran broadcasts a very clear, coherent message. However, there is sometimes a problem with our receiver. If our receiver does not hear the broadcast or cannot understand it well, then something is wrong with our receiver and we have to check it. If the signal is weak, we need to recharge our batteries, or reset our antennas. If we do not receive a clear message, we need to set our tuning to the right station in order to get rid of the noises and interference from other sources. We may, of course, ask for some help from knowledgeable people or experts for this task. If the receiver does not work at all, then we have to make a sincere effort to fix the broken parts. However, if we believe that the problem is in the broadcast, then nobody can help us.
REASON THREE: It is beyond dispute that the Quran encourages believers to study its words with patience. It advises us not to rush into understanding without sufficient knowledge (20:114). Nevertheless, it claims to be easy to understand (see REASON TWO, above). This, however, is not a contradictory position!
Experience with the book suggests that both of these statements are accurate. Although it can be explored for a lifetime without conquering all of its subtleties, the Quran, as a whole, is in fact quite easy to understand, revolving as it does around three basic ideas:
• There is only one God.
• This life is a test.
• There will be an accounting for each individual after death.
We believe the Quran really is comprehensible and worthy of sustained, careful study, just as it promises. We believe that whoever opens his/her mind and heart as a monotheist and takes the time to study it, will understand it, and that this understanding will be enough for salvation. We believe that such people will also be inspired to explore it deeply, and will find ample rewards for doing so.
REASON FOUR: In order to believe in all the verses of the Quran, one does not need to be deeply rooted in knowledge. To be a “believer” is a sufficient condition to believe all the verses. However, one needs to have deep knowledge of the Quran in order to understand “mutashabih” (multiple meaning) verses accurately. Therefore, 3:7 mentions a narrow category (those who deeply rooted in knowledge) in relation to those multiple meaning verses.
REASON FIVE: If we follow the orthodox punctuation and translation of 3:7, then, we must, by logical extension, establish a clear definition of what the “mutashabih” verses are … in order to avoid trying vainly to understand them or teaching others based on them. We thus need a definitive list of the “mutashabih” verses in order to avoid being among those who are condemned in this verse. There is a problem, however: No one has ever been able to compile such a definitive list! What could the criteria for the list possibly be? Surely one person’s lack of understanding of a verse should not make a verse “taboo” for all other people. If that were the case, the lowest degree of understanding would be the common denominator for understanding and interpreting the Quran! In this Alice-in-Wonderland school of Islam, there would be a perpetual race towards ignorance!
Unless one is committed to determining the truth by majority vote, then one may want to reflect upon the five reasons listed here for interpreting the verse as we have.
(A side note: There are a few Sunni commentators who support our understanding of this verse. For instance, the classic commentary of al-Baydawi prefers this understanding. Please note that Yusuf Ali also acknowledges this fact in the footnote of 3:7: “One reading, rejected by the majority of Commentators, but accepted by Mujahid and others, would not make a break at the point marked Waqfa Lazim, but would run the two sentences together. In that case the construction would run: ‘No one knows its hidden meanings except God and those who are firm in knowledge. They say’, etc.” )
Mohammad Shafi responds:
Your interpretation seeks to negate the distinction made by the All-knowing Allah Himself between muhkamaat and mutashabihaat. All Verses are muhkamaat, as per your understanding, for raasikhoona fil ilm like yourself. The distinction is only for the others like me who do not have ‘…an attentive mind, a positive attitude, contextual perspective, the patience necessary for research, and so forth’
But, my friend, I cannot, despite all my inadequacies, agree to your interpretation! For, then, I would be committing the unpardonable sin of shirk by equating the creatures (raasikhoona fil ilm) to the Creator. The Creator knows everything, so do the raasikhoona fil ilm, you say. I cannot buy that at any cost, although you may condemn me as one of those unintelligent fellas.
My unintelligent mind tells me that the mutashaabihaat describe concepts, like burning in the Hell-fire without dying, which my poor mind is incapable of understanding. These concepts pervade the whole lot of things that are unseen by human beings, and include Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, His angels, His Arsh, Paradise, Hell etc. etc. I know you understand all these perfectly; but I do not. I just accept what the Qur’aan tells me about them. And I consider it preposterous on my part even to try to interpret these things by my inadequate opinions.
And, to my unintelligent mind, my friend, your reading of Verse 3.7 in such a way as to equate Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to the human raasikhoona fil ilm undoes all that the Qur’aan teaches.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Dear brother I am trying to understand the True Islam based on Quran.I believe the guidance comes from Allah only. It may be either reading,thinking or mutual sharing of understanding. If some thing acceptable to me might not be acceptable to you. We are responsible as per 17:36. We cannot say or believe or substitute any translation equal to Quran. Are you sure about your translation convey the devine meanings? I KNOW YOU WILL NOT CLAIM THIS. We cannot equate any translation to Quran , similarly any human raasikhoona fil ilm to Al Mighty Allah.
By making a translation I don’t think you are making a substitute for Quran. What you are doing is trying to convey the meanings which is revealed to you. Similarly I cannot claim my understanding is correct
Iam trying to share some knowledge i got from others as per the commandment ” DO NOT CONCEALED THE TRUTH”.
20.114 Most Exalted is GOD, the only true King. Do not rush into uttering the Quran before it is revealed to you, and say, “My Lord, increase my knowledge.”
The words of any sentence in my posting, if it hurts you, really I am sorry for that.
February 6th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
I completely endorse what you have stated in your last comments above. Yes, I was hurt. Your interpretation whereby you equated rasikhoona fil ilm with the Creator did hurt me. If my previous comments were a little acerbic in tone, it was only to convey that feeling of hurt. I am otherwise fully aware that like any other human being I am capable of making mistakes. You know that. I have frankly admitted my mistakes previously.