Advice of Scholars - MI’RAJ NIGHT (III)

The next morning he went to Ka’ba and related his mi’râj. Hearing this, the disbelievers scoffed at him. “Muhammad’s gone crazy for good,” they said. And the ones who had been thinking of becoming Muslims grave up. Some of them, amused, went to Abû Bakr’s house. They knew he was a clever, experienced and calculating merchant. As soon as he came to the door, they asked him: “O Abâ Bakr! You went to Jerusalem many times. You must know well. How long does it take to go from Mekka to Jerusalem?” Hadrat Abû Bakr said, “I know well that it takes more than a month.” The disbelievers were pleased with this reply and said, “So will a wise and experienced man say.” Laughing, mocking, being happy because Abû Bakr had the same opinion as they did, they said: “Your master says that he went to and came back from Jerusalem in a night. He is completely mad now,” and showed their sympathy, reverence and trust for Abû Bakr. Upon hearing the blessed name of Rasûlullah, Abû Bakr ‘radiyallâhu anh’ said, “If he says so I believe him. He for sure went and came back in a moment,” and went back in. The disbelievers were all stupefied. Hanging their heads, they walked away, saying, “How amazing! What a strong sorcerer Muhammad is! He bewitched Abû Bakr.” Clothing himself immediately, Abû Bakr went to Rasûlullah. In the big crowd he said aloud, “O Rasûlallah! I congratulate you, your blessed mi’râj! Infinite thanks to Allâhu ta’âlâ because He has honoured us with being the servants of such an exalted prophet as you are. He has blessed us with seeing your shining face, with hearing your sweet words that please hearts and attract souls. O Rasûlallah! Every word you say is true. I believe in you. I am ready to sacrifice my life for you!” These words of Abû Bakr’s bewildered the disbelievers. Being at a loss as to what to say, they dispersed. This strengthened the hearts of a few people with weak îmân who had been doubting. That day Rasûlullah called Abû Bakr “Siddîq.” Being given this name, he was promoted to a higher grade. All this exasperated the disbelievers. They could not bear the Believers’ strong îmân, their believing right away whatever he said, their gathering around him and protecting him. In order to rout and disgrace Rasûlullah, they attempted to test him. “O Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’! You claim to have gone to Jerusalem. Tell us now! How many doors and how many windows does the masjid have?” were some of their questions. As the Prophet answered each, Hadrat Abû Bakr said, “Right, O Rasûlallah! It is true, O Rasûlallah!” But in actual fact, out of his embarrassment, Rasûlullah would not even look at a person in the face. Afterwards, he stated, “I had not looked around in Masjid-i aqsâ. I had not seen what they asked about. At that moment Hadrat Jabrâil brought Masjid-i aqsâ before my eyes. [Like watching television], I saw, counted, and answered their questions at once.” He said that he had seen travellers riding camels on his way and that he hoped, inshâallah, that they would arrive on Wednesday. On Wednesday, just before sunset, the caravan arrived in Mekka. They said that something had happened like the blowing of the wind and that a camel had fallen down. This situation strengthened the Believers’ îmân but aggravated the disbelievers’ enmity. The book Rûh-ul-bayân, quoting from the book Tafsîr-i Husaynî, and the book Bahr, in the section dealing with imâmat, say, “One who does not believe that Rasûlullah was taken from the city of Mekka to Jerusalem [to Beyt-ul muqaddes] will be a disbeliever. One who does not believe that he was taken to the heavens and to unknown places will be dâl and mubtadi’. ” That is, he will be a heretic.