The Night Journey and Ascension: How Jewish Folklore Became Sunni Doctrine

In Sunni Islamic tradition, the Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj (الإسراء والمعراج‎) refers to two separate but interconnected miraculous events that are said to have occurred in a single night — the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ) and the Ascension (al-Miʿrāj).

According to Sunni accounts, this journey began in Mecca, when Muhammad is said to have been visited by the angel Gabriel, who brought a celestial creature called al-Burāq, described as a white, winged steed “larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule.” Muhammad was then said to have traveled by night from Mecca to Jerusalem on the back of al-Burāq, to the site known today as al-Masjid al-Aqṣā (literally “the Farthest Mosque”), identified in their tradition with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There, he reportedly led all previous prophets in prayer.

After the Night Journey, the Prophet, still accompanied by Gabriel, is said to have ascended through the seven heavens. In each heaven, he is said to have met earlier prophets:

1. Adam
2. Jesus (ʿĪsā) and John (Yaḥyā)
3. Joseph (Yūsuf)
4. Idrīs (Enoch)
5. Aaron (Hārūn)
6. Moses (Mūsā)
7. Abraham (Ibrāhīm)

At the summit, Muhammad reached the “Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary” (Sidrat al-Muntahā). There, he is said to have entered into the Divine Presence (maqām al-qurb), where God ordained the Contact Prayer (Salat) for him, commanding him and his people to perform this ritual fifty times a day. After receiving this command, upon his descent, Moses convinced him that it was not achievable, so Muhammad returned to ask God to reduce the requirement. This process went back and forth a few times until it was reduced down to five Contact Prayers (Salat) a day.

Problems With This Narration

Anachronism

Nowhere in the Quran does God command the followers of His Book to treat the site of the ancient Jewish Temple where the Al-Aqsa Mosque currently resides as a sacred destination. The reverence later attached to Jerusalem as a “holy mosque” arose not from revelation but from Umayyad statecraft, particularly under Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān (r. 685–705 CE). During his reign, a civil war divided the Muslim world: while the Umayyads controlled Damascus, Jerusalem, and the Levant, their rival ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr held Mecca and Medina. To undercut Ibn al-Zubayr’s religious authority and redirect pilgrimage traffic away from Mecca, ʿAbd al-Malik constructed the Dome of the Rock and promoted fabricated traditions proclaiming Jerusalem as a divinely sanctioned alternative center of worship.

One such narration—transmitted through Abū Hurayrah—states:

The problem is chronological as well as theological: the Al-Aqsa Mosque referred to in this hadith did not exist during the Prophet’s lifetime. The Second Temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was not completed until 691–692 CE, under ʿAbd al-Malik’s direction—more than half a century after the Prophet’s death. How, then, could Muhammad have traveled to or endorsed a mosque that had not yet been built? The hadith, therefore, stands exposed as an anachronism, rooted not in divine revelation but in Umayyad political propaganda.

Questionable Sources and the Influence of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār

The narration that ascribes sanctity to al-Masjid al-Aqsa and elevates it as one of the three mosques worthy of pilgrimage is transmitted through Abū Hurayrah—a companion whose prolific narrations dominate Sunni ḥadīth collections, yet whose reliability has long been scrutinized due to his close association with Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, a Yemeni Jew who converted to Islam during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.

Kaʿb was infamous for introducing Isrāʾīliyyāt—tales drawn from Jewish and rabbinic lore—into early Islamic storytelling. Even early Muslim historians acknowledged his penchant for embellishing narratives with Biblical legends, often offering them as explanations for Quranic verses or prophetic sayings. Abū Hurayrah was among his most attentive listeners, and many of his reports reflect Kaʿb’s Judaic worldview—that the Temple Mount was the “navel of the earth” and the locus of creation, ideas taken directly from rabbinic cosmology.

Given this connection, it is hardly coincidental that the ḥadīth about the “three mosques” surfaces through the very transmitters most influenced by Kaʿb’s lore—ideally suited for the Umayyads’ political interests to elevate Jerusalem as a spiritual rival to Mecca.

The presence of such language and motifs from these prevalent Isrāʾīliyyāt Hadith reveals their true lineage: not divine revelation but borrowed mythology, filtered through converts who repackaged Jewish eschatology for political utility. The result was a fusion of Jewish propaganda with ʿAbd al-Malik’s political needs—a sacred geography that has no relevance to the Quran, yet is foundational in rabbinical Judaism.

Isrāʾīliyyāt: The Echo of Foreign Theology

When one reads the ḥadīth account of the Night Journey and Ascension, it is difficult to miss the scent of this foreign theology. The story does not depict the Quran’s Omnipotent and Omnisicent God but the negotiable deity of rabbinic folklore—one who issues decrees only to be persuaded, reasoned with, and ultimately corrected by human counsel. Nowhere in the Quran do prophets negotiate back and forth with God or talk Him down from a command. Such scenes are alien to its uncompromising vision of divine sovereignty. As God declares:

[21:23] He is never to be asked about anything He does, while all others are questioned.

Yet in the ḥadīth, we are told that God first commanded fifty prayers, which was unreasonable and had to be talked down by Moses’s better judgment to a more manageable figure of five. This portrayal reverses the order of authority: a prophet correcting the Creator, as if divine judgment were excessive and human compassion superior. It is, in tone and structure, a midrashic drama, not a Quranic revelation—one that flatters human cleverness instead of exalting divine wisdom.

This motif of haggling with Heaven is deeply rooted in Jewish scripture and Talmudic thought. In Genesis 18, Abraham negotiates over Sodom, reducing the threshold for mercy from fifty righteous men to ten. In Exodus 32:14, after the Israelites worship the golden calf, Moses doesn’t simply repent but pleads to talk God down from His anger and effectively change His mind:

The verb נָחַם (naḥam) means “to repent,” “to relent,” or “to change one’s mind,” vividly depicting a God who reverses His own will—a notion fundamentally at odds with the Quran’s vision of unchanging omniscience and perfect decree.

Rabbinic literature expands this theology, celebrating the righteous who “prevail upon Heaven,” reasoning with God until He yields. Divine will, in this worldview, is elastic—molded by human persistence. But God, according to the Quran, does not deliberate or regret. His wisdom requires no correction; His knowledge precedes every act.

Thus, the ḥadīth version of the Miʿrāj, in which Muhammad ascends and descends repeatedly to renegotiate the prayers under Moses’ guidance, mirrors not Quranic monotheism but rabbinic dialogue theology—a theology that exalts argument over submission, and negotiation over surrender. Such depictions not only contradict the Quran’s depiction of divine authority, but they are blasphemous, for they reduce God to a being that needs to be corrected by His creation.

The Hadith is Blasphemous

The Quran repeatedly affirms that God’s word and judgment are unchangeable. His decrees are final; His wisdom requires no correction.

Such verses make it inconceivable that God could issue a command only to reconsider it after advice from His own creation. The God of the Quran is never tentative or uncertain; He is omniscient, perfectly aware of the capacity and limits of His creatures.

To suggest, then, that God initially imposed an unbearable burden and that Moses corrected Him is to invert the divine hierarchy—placing human judgment above divine wisdom. Such a notion is not humility before God; it is blasphemy. It imagines the Creator as fallible and the creature as His teacher. The Quran’s God does not learn from man; He fashions man and knows him better than he knows himself.

Thus, the Miʿrāj narration that depicts God as retracting His decree after negotiation is not a tale of mercy—it is a theological insult. It dethrones omniscience, recasts revelation as negotiation, and transforms the all-wise Creator into a being who must be reminded of human frailty. No doctrine could be further from the Quran’s uncompromising monotheism. Beyond its theological contradictions, the Miʿrāj narrative also collapses under the weight of its presumed chronology.

Chronological Problem

Sunni historians generally place the Night Journey and Ascension in the tenth year after the beginning of the Prophet’s mission, around 620 CE—just two or three years before the Hijrah (emigration to Medina). Yet when we examine the order of revelation, both Sūrat al-Najm (53) and Sūrat al-Isrāʾ (17)—the two chapters describing this event—belong to the early-to-middle Meccan period. Sūrat al-Najm is traditionally listed as the 23rd revelation, while Sūrat al-Isrāʾ is the 50th.

Further, the hadith claim that the Night Journey was the moment when the Prophet received the command for the five daily Contat Prayers (Salāt) contradicts the Quran itself, which contains numerous references to prayer long before this event. Even the earliest revelations presuppose that the Contat Prayers (Salāt) were already a known and established practice. For example, the first revelation is attested to be Sura 96, while the third revelation was Sura 73, and the fourth revelation was Sura 74, and all these revelations mention the obligation of the Contact Prayer (Salāt).

[96:9] Have you seen the one who enjoins.
[96:10] Others from praying?

[73:20] Your Lord knows that you meditate during two-thirds of the night, or half of it, or one-third of it, and so do some of those who believed with you. GOD has designed the night and the day, and He knows that you cannot always do this. He has pardoned you. Instead, you shall read what you can of the Quran. He knows that some of you may be ill, others may be traveling in pursuit of GOD’s provisions, and others may be striving in the cause of GOD. You shall read what you can of it, and observe the contact prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and lend GOD a loan of righteousness. Whatever good you send ahead on behalf of your souls, you will find it at GOD far better and generously rewarded. And implore GOD for forgiveness. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

[74:40] While in Paradise, they will ask.
[74:41] About the guilty.
[74:42] “What brought you to this retribution?”
[74:43] They will say, “We did not observe the contact prayers (Salat).

If the Contact Prayer (Salāt) was only instituted during the Ascension, how could the earliest believers already be commanded to perform it? The Quran clearly shows that prayer was integral to the faith from the very start of revelation.

Moreover, this idea—that the ṣalāt originated at the Miʿrāj—violates a broader Quranic theme: all ritual practices (manāsik) were inherited from Abraham, not introduced by Muhammad. The Quran presents the Contact Prayer (Salāt), the Obligatory Charity (Zakāt), and the Pilgrimage (Hajj) as part of the original religion of Abraham.

The Quran uses the word manāsik (rites or rituals) to describe these inherited practices, repeatedly linking them to Abraham:

God answered this prayer by teaching Abraham the Contact Prayer (Salāt) itself (21:73), confirming that these rituals predate Muhammad and were simply reaffirmed through him.

Thus, the Quran presents a seamless continuity: the rites of worship are Abrahamic in origin, and Muhammad was commanded not to innovate new rituals but to restore the original religion of Abraham—the millet Ibrāhīm.

Nowhere does the Quran indicate that Muhammad needed to be taught the Contact Prayer (Salāt) or that it was revealed anew at some later stage. Rather, he was commanded to continue the same rites passed down through Abraham, which existed even before the Quran.

The Miʿrāj story, therefore, not only contradicts the Quran’s timeline—it undermines its very theology of continuity, suggesting a new law where the Quran insists there was restoration. Beyond these theological and chronological contradictions, the hadith narrative also fundamentally misidentifies the very location it describes. When we examine the Quran’s own reference to the ‘Night Journey,’ it bears no resemblance to the fantastical ascension described in the ḥadīth literature—starting with the location itself.

Not Two Locations

As mentioned above, according to ḥadīth literature, many Muslims believe that around 621 CE, the Prophet Muhammad rode a winged white creature called al-Burāq from Mecca to Jerusalem, arriving at what later became known as al-Masjid al-Aqṣā. This narrative identifies the “Farthest Mosque” of Quran 17:1 with the mosque in Jerusalem:

But this interpretation faces an obvious historical impossibility: the mosque in Jerusalem did not exist during the Prophet’s lifetime. It was constructed by the Umayyad Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik in 691–692 CE, roughly sixty years after Muhammad’s death. How, then, could the Prophet have traveled to a building that would not exist for another generation?

The reality is that the term al-Masjid al-Aqṣā ( ٱلْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى ) in 17:1 does not refer to a structure in Jerusalem at all, but to something far more universal. Understanding this requires returning to the literal meaning of the phrase.

The word masjid comes from the root “س ج د” (s-j-d) — “to prostrate.” With the prefix “م” (m), it denotes a place of prostration. Thus, while “mosque” is a later architectural interpretation, the Quranic meaning is broader: any place of prostration to God.

The adjective al-Aqṣā derives from ق ص ي (q-ṣ-y), meaning “to be distant.” The prefix “أَ” makes it superlative: “the farthest.” Hence, al-masjid al-aqṣā literally means “the farthest place of prostration.”

Where, then, is the farthest place of prostration? The Quran answers: everything in the heavens and the earth prostrates to God—not only humans, but the stars, sun, moon, and every living being. Therefore, the farthest place of prostration must be beyond this universe.

The word “heavens” (samāwāt, سَمَاوَات) here is plural, indicating multiple levels or realms. The Quran repeatedly teaches that there are seven heavens—or universes—each governed by its own laws:

These verses depict the cosmos as seven nested universes, layered one upon another. The Quran describes our universe as “the lowest” (al-dunyā) adorned with stars (41:12), indicating we exist in the innermost layer. If the universes are layered outward from our position, the first universe would be the outermost—the farthest boundary of creation itself. In this cosmology, the farthest place of prostration would therefore be beyond the innermost universe in which we reside, in the highest realm closest to God’s presence.

This understanding aligns perfectly with Sūrat al-Najm (53), which describes the Prophet’s ascent to the “highest horizon” where he received divine revelation:

[53:1] As the stars fell away.
[53:2] Your friend (Muhammad) was not astray, nor was he deceived.
[53:3] Nor was he speaking out of a personal desire.
[53:4] It was divine inspiration.
[53:5] Dictated by the Most Powerful.
[53:6] Possessor of all authority. From His highest height.
[53:7] At the highest horizon.
[53:8] He drew nearer by moving down.
[53:9] Until He became as close as possible. 
[53:10] He then revealed to His servant what was to be revealed. 
[53:11] The mind never made up what it saw. 
[53:12] Are you doubting what he saw? 
[53:13] He saw him in another descent.
[53:14] At the ultimate point.
[53:15] Where the eternal Paradise is located. 
[53:16] The whole place was overwhelmed.
[53:17] The eyes did not waver, nor go blind.
[53:18] He saw great signs of his Lord.

Here, the “ultimate point” (al-muntahā) literally means the point of comprehension—the boundary of creation where human perception ends. The masjid al-aqṣā, the farthest place of prostration, thus corresponds not to a physical site on earth but to this spiritual horizon, where Muhammad’s soul approached the Divine Presence.

1	ʿinda	عِندَ	At
2	sid’rati	سِدْرَةِ	(the) point of understanding / comprehension (of)
3	l-muntahā	ٱلْمُنتَهَىٰ	the utmost boundary.

Thus, the farthest place of prostration for a human on earth is paradoxically the closest possible point of nearness one can go before the Creator.

1	fakāna	فَكَانَ	And He was
2	qāba	قَابَ	(at) a short distance (of)
3	qawsayni	قَوْسَيْنِ	two bow-lengths
4	aw	أَوْ	or
5	adnā	أَدْنَىٰ	lower / nearer.

In light of this, the “Masjid al-Aqṣā” of Quran 17:1 is not in Jerusalem, nor anywhere on earth. It represents the cosmic locus of prostration, the boundary where Paradise begins (53:15)—the ultimate meeting point between the created and the Creator.

1	ʿindahā	عِندَهَا	At it (located)
2	jannatu	جَنَّةُ	(the) Paradise (of)
3	l-mawā	ٱلْمَأْوَىٰٓ	the abode.

Once the Quran is read on its own terms, it becomes clear that the ‘Night Journey’ was not a physical trip from Mecca to Jerusalem at all, but a spiritual revelation from the lowest world to the highest.

Additionally, it is worth noting that the term āyāt (signs/آيَاتِ) in this verse is the same word used to also refer to the verses of the Quran. This linguistic connection reinforces the idea that the Prophet was not shown physical wonders or geographic locations, but rather divine revelations. What he “saw” were the signs of his Lord—the very āyāt that became the Quran itself.

The Quran Was Revealed to the Prophet at Masjid al-Aqṣā

The Quran affirms that its revelation was not a gradual discovery by the Prophet but a deliberate act of divine transmission—an event both precise and transcendent. It was sent down in its entirety during a specific, sanctified time and implanted directly into the Prophet’s heart at the farthest place of prostration (al-Masjid al-Aqṣā), as described in Sūrat al-Najm.

This verse establishes two critical facts. Firstly, the Quran was revealed in the month of Ramadan. Secondly, it was the entire scripture and not just a portion, verse, or chapter. Other passages reinforce this instantaneous descent.

[97:1] We revealed it in the Night of Destiny.
[97:2] How awesome is the Night of Destiny!
[97:3] The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months.
[97:4] The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by their Lord’s leave, to carry out every command.
[97:5] Peaceful it is until the advent of the dawn.

[44:2] And this enlightening scripture.
[44:3] We have sent it down in a blessed night, for we are to warn.

Together, these verses depict a single cosmic event: a complete revelation descending in one night—the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr)—within the month of Ramadan.

Revelation to the Prophet’s Heart

But the Quran also clarifies where this revelation first landed: it was not handed to Muhammad as parchment or words spoken aloud, but infused directly into his heart by the Honest Spirit (Rūḥ al-Amīn).

[26:192] This is a revelation from the Lord of the universe.
[26:193] The Honest Spirit (Gabriel) came down with it.
[26:194] To reveal it into your heart, that you may be one of the warners.

This moment — the implantation of divine speech into the Prophet’s heart — corresponds to the spiritual ascent and proximity described in Sūrat al-Najm:

[53:6] Possessor of all authority. From His highest height.
[53:7] At the highest horizon.
[53:8] He drew nearer by moving down.
[53:9] Until He became as close as possible. 
[53:10] He then revealed to His servant what was to be revealed. 

These two descriptions—one of revelation, the other of nearness—refer to the same encounter. The Quran leaves no ambiguity about the medium of this transmission: it was Gabriel (Jibrīl) who delivered the revelation to the Prophet’s heart by God’s command, as confirmed in the following verse:

[2:97] Say, “Anyone who opposes Gabriel should know that he has brought down this (Quran) into your heart, in accordance with GOD’s will, confirming previous scriptures, and providing guidance and good news for the believers.”

This affirmation unites Suras 2, 17, 26, and 53 into one coherent narrative. The Masjid al-Aqṣā (the farthest place of prostration) is not a structure in Jerusalem, but the cosmic locus where revelation occurred: the place at which God revealed His word to Muhammad’s heart.

The Descent of the Quran and the Gradual Release

The Quran distinguishes between two stages of revelation: the complete revelation of the Quran (tanzīl) and its gradual release over the 23 years from the Prophet’s heart that eventually formed the written scripture manifested in this world.

This distinction preserves the integrity of both truths: the complete descent in the higher realm, and the gradual unveiling within the flow of time.

[96:1] Read, in the name of your Lord, who created.
[96:2] He created man from an embryo.
[96:3] Read, and your Lord, Most Exalted.
[96:4] Teaches by means of the pen.
[96:5] He teaches man what he never knew.

The True al-Masjid al-Aqṣā

This distinction is essential. The Quran was sent down all at once in the month of Ramadan, on the 27th night—the Night of Destiny—and then revealed in stages throughout the Prophet’s mission. This explains how he could already possess the scripture within his heart from the earliest period, while verses continued to manifest progressively thereafter.

This understanding also resolves the riddle of Sūrat al-Isrāʾ (17:1). The “journey” described there was not a nighttime voyage across the earth, but a journey of consciousness—from the Sacred Masjid (the earthly place of prostration, Mecca) to the Farthest Masjid (the celestial place of prostration, beyond the seven heavens). It was here, in that highest horizon, that the Quran was placed into the Prophet’s heart.

This aligns perfectly with the Quran’s own internal logic:

• The revelation occurred in a single night in Ramadan (2:185, 44:3, 97:1).
• It was sent into the Prophet’s heart by the angel Gabriel (97:4, 26:193–194).
• It occurred at the farthest place of prostration at the boundaries of the outermost universe (17:1, 53:7–10).

Thus, al-Masjid al-Aqṣā was not a man-made building in Jerusalem, but the divine station of revelation—the place where God’s Word entered creation through the Prophet. The Quran was not brought down to a city, but to a soul that ascended to the edge of the seven universes, and through that soul, to the world.

Conclusion: The Testimony of God vs. the Narrations of Men

When all evidence is weighed, the Miʿrāj of the ḥadīth collapses under its own contradictions. It asks us to believe that the Prophet traveled to a mosque not yet built, received a command already known, and engaged in a negotiation foreign to the nature of the God described in the Quran. It turns a sublime revelation into folklore, and a moment of divine inspiration into a spectacle of mythic ascent.

But the Quran presents a wholly different testimony. It describes not a bodily journey across desert and sky, but a journey of revelation—the descent of divine speech into the Prophet’s heart. This occurred at the farthest place of prostration (al-Masjid al-Aqṣā), the celestial station of nearness where God revealed to His servant the Quran.

It was here, in the realm of pure inspiration (waḥy), that the Quran was given in full — during the month of Ramadan, on the Night of Destiny—and then gradually released over the Prophet’s lifetime to guide humanity.

Thus, the true Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj were not a voyage from Mecca to Jerusalem, but a passage from the earthly to the divine, when the Word of God entered creation through the Prophet’s heart. It was the moment when heaven bowed to earth, not the other way around. And so, we are left with a choice between two testimonies: the narrations of men, or the testimony of God Himself in His own Book.

The Prophet himself was commanded to declare that his only authority was this revelation—“this Quran has been inspired (ūḥiya) to me.” It is the same term used in 53:10.

The Quran, therefore, identifies itself as the very content of that revelation—the true event of the Night Journey and Ascension. Everything else—the embellishments, the legends, the claims of political and sectarian narrators—are shadows cast by men who could not grasp the majesty of a purely spiritual encounter.

For those who believe in the Scripture as it was revealed, the testimony stands clear: God alone is witness, and the Quran alone is His uncorrupted word. That is the only Miʿrāj worthy of faith—the ascent of the messenger to the farthest place of prostration to receive the Quran into his heart so that he can preach it to the people.

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