The Ismaili View of Mi‘raj: Prophet Muhammad's Neoplatonic Ascent
The Ismaili View of Mi‘raj: Prophet Muhammad's Neoplatonic Ascent
The Prophet's Spiritual Journey through the Hierarchy of Existence
“You must have also heard about the Mi‘raj (the celestial ascent) of the Holy Prophet. People say that he rode on a horse up to the heavens and that that was his Mi‘raj. This is the foolish idea of the masses. God does not dwell only in heaven; He is to be found everywhere. The night of Mi‘raj is the one on which the Prophet revisited his original abode. Only the wise and the intelligent will understand the parables of the prophets. The unintelligent ones will take stories at their face value.”
— Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III
(Dar-es-Salaam, September 29, 1899)
In the traditional, exoteric (zahir) understanding of Mi‘raj (ascension), Prophet Muhammad⁽ˢ⁾ first travelled on a “Night Journey” (al-Isra) from the Ka‘bah in Makkah (‘the sacred masjid’) to the site of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (‘the farthest masjid’) on the winged horse Buraq. In Jerusalem, after leading all the Prophets in prayer, the Prophet ascended upon Buraq through the seven heavens in what is known as Mi‘raj (ascension), until the Prophet experienced a direct encounter with God. However, in Ismaili prophetic philosophy, the popular zahiri narrative of the Night Journey and Mi‘raj is symbolic of a deeper, esoteric (batin) understanding, or ta’wil.
What is the real meaning of the Prophet’s Night Journey (al-isra) from the “Holy Mosque” to the “Farthest Mosque”?
The Qur’an mentions the Night Journey of Prophet Muhammad⁽ˢ⁾ as follows:
Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go by night from the sacred masjid (al-masjid al-haram) to the farthest masjid (al-masjid al-aqsa) of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs.
سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
« Holy Qur’an 17:1 »
According to the guidance of Mawlana Hazar Imam, Shi‘i Ismaili Muslims are obligated to learn the esoteric meaning of specific parts of the Qur’an:
“It is important that if you recite or know parts of the Qur’an, you should be able to explain their meaning. Do not forget that our branch of Islam is an esoteric branch of Islam. Esoteric means that what is written is there, but its meaning is not there to everyone. It is there only to those who are part of our Jamat. And it is important, therefore, that if you learn parts of the Quran, you should be able to explain the esoteric meaning of those parts.”
Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni, Bombay, November 22, 1967
Fortunately, the esoteric meaning of the Qur’an has become widely available through recently recovered and edited Ismaili primary sources written by previous Ismaili Imams and Da‘is. On this point, Mawlana Hazar Imam has also said: “More than ever, today, we must be able to publish authoritative documents based on primary sources. There is no point in us rereading and rereading and rereading third hand or fourth hand documents” (Guidance to Ismailia Association Pakistan, Karachi, September 1960).
This article surveys various Ismaili primary sources to explain the esoteric meaning of the Prophet Muhammad⁽ˢ⁾’s Night Journey and Mi‘raj.
In the Fatimid book Kitab Ta’wil al-Shari‘ah (manuscript at the Institute of Ismaili Studies), al-Qadi al-Nu‘man (d. 974) reports that a man once asked Hazrat Imam al-Mu‘izz⁽ᶜ⁾ (the 14th Ismaili Imam and 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph) to explain the Prophet’s Night Journey mentioned in the Qur’an. The questioner specifically inquired about the true meaning of the Prophet’s journey from the “sacred place of prostration” (al-masjid al-haram) to the “farthest place of prostration” (al-masjid al-aqsa),” mentioned in Qur’an 17:1:
Imam al-Mu‘izz⁽ᶜ⁾ replied to the man as follows:
The Sacred Mosque (al-masjid al-haram) is the [Universal] Soul (nafs) and the Farthest Mosque (al-masjid al-aqsa) is the [Universal] Intellect (‘aql).
المسجد الحرام هو النفس والمسجد الأقصى للأنبياء هوالعقل
Imam al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh, Ta’wil al-Shari‘ah, ed. Nadia Eboo-Jamal, 5:37
According to the ta’wil (spiritual interpretation) of the Ismaili Imams, the Prophet’s Night Journey was NOT a physical or bodily journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. In reality, the two places of prostration (masjids) that the Prophet journeyed through are the Universal Intellect (al-‘aql al-kull) and Universal Soul (al-nafs al-kull). In Ismaili philosophical theology, the Universal Intellect is the first spiritual creation of God and the most perfect of all created entities; the Universal Soul is the second spiritual creation of God that comes into existence through the Universal Intellect. God creates all things, including the spiritual and material worlds, through the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul - His two greatest creations (read more). In modern times, Mawlana Hazar Imam speaks of the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul as the “Light of Imamat” (Nur al-Imamah). Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw (d. after 1070), the eminent Ismaili hujjah of the Imam, explains the metaphysical and soteriological importance of recognizing the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul as follows:
The return of humankind is to the [Universal] Intellect and the judgment (reckoning) of the human being has become necessary because of the Intellect. Do you not realize that there is no reckoning (judgment) promised for other animals who lack a share of the intellect? The [Universal] Soul is the effect of the [Universal] Intellect and the subsistence of every effect is due to its own cause. The subsistence of the particular souls is through the Universal Soul. Thus, the particular souls must return to their Universal [Soul] and that Universal [Soul] must return to the [Universal] Intellect because of whom it [i.e., the Universal Soul] exists. As God said: “Verily, to Us is their return and upon Us is their reckoning” (Qur’an 88:25-26). These two are the hierarchical ranks (darajat) towards God, the Exalted.
Nasir-i Khusraw, (Zad al-Musafir, Tehran: Miras-i Maktub 2015, 177-178)