The Night Journey

After the hardest season came the highest honour. One night, as he ﷺ slept near the Ka'bah, Jibril (as) woke him, and his chest was opened and his heart washed once more, as in childhood, then filled with faith and wisdom. A white mount was brought, smaller than a mule, larger than a donkey, called al-Buraq, whose every stride reached the limit of its sight.

Glory be to the One who took His slave by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed: the Qur'an's own words for that ride. In Jerusalem, at the site of the prophets' temple, the messengers of all the ages were gathered, and Muhammad ﷺ was put forward to lead them in prayer: the seal of the prophets, imam of the prophets, in the city of the prophets.

Two vessels were offered him there, milk and wine. He chose the milk, and Jibril (as) said: you have been guided to the fitrah, the pure natural way, and so has your ummah. The detail is small and enormous: this religion would be the religion of wholesome nature, not intoxication.

Every part of the journey answered a wound of the Year of Sorrow. Stoned in Ta'if, he was given the heavens. Mocked by Quraysh's chiefs, he led the prophets. Stripped of earthly protectors, he was carried by Allah's own summons. The believers learned a pattern written into this night forever: with hardship comes ease, and the lowest valleys of the path often border its highest stations.