|
THE
ASCENSION
The
Ascension is one of the greatest miracles of the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. The Prophet
realized a spiritual perfection and full refinement
through belief and worship and, as a reward, God took him
to His holy Presence. Escaping from the imprisonment of
‘natural’ laws and material causes and rising beyond
the limits of bodily existence, the Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings, crossed distances swiftly and
transcended all dimensions of the material world until he
reached the holy Presence of God.
Multi-dimensional
existence
Atomic
physics has changed many notions in physics and
established that the material world is a dimension or an
appearance of existence. Besides this world, there are
many other worlds or dimensions of existence, each of
which has its own particularities. Einstein put forward
the notion that time is only one of the dimensions of
existence. Science has not yet drawn the final conclusions
about existence and new findings and developments
continually change our view of it. Therefore, especially
in our day, it is completely illogical to question the
event of Ascension. People have difficulty in
understanding how one can penetrate all time at the same
moment as a single point. In order to understand this
subtle matter, consider the following analogy.
Imagine
that you are standing with a mirror in your hand, with
everything reflected on the right representing the past,
while everything reflected on the left represents the
future. The mirror can reflect one direction only since it
cannot show both sides at the same time as you are holding
it. If you wish to reflect both directions at the same
time, you will have to rise high above your original
position so that left and right directions are united into
one and nothing remains to be called first or last,
beginning or end.
In
the Ascension, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, must have moved with the speed of the spirit
and he traveled through all time and space and all
dimensions of existence in a very short period. During
that heavenly journey, he met with the previous Prophets,
saw angels and beheld the beauties of Paradise and the
terrors of Hell. He also observed the essential realities
of all the Qur’anic issues and the meanings and wisdom
of all the acts of worship. He went as far as the realms
where even the greatest of angels, Gabriel, cannot reach
and was honored with vision of God’s ‘Countenance’
free from any qualitative and quantitative dimensions and
restrictions. Then, in order to bring humanity out of the
darkness of material existence into the illumined realm of
belief and worship, through which they could realize a
‘spiritual’ ascension each according to his capacity,
he returned to the world where he was made subject to all
kinds of persecution.
(NOTE:
Belief in the Prophet’s Ascension is the result of
belief in the pillars of faith and draws its light and
strength from those pillars. For sure, the Ascension
cannot be proved independently to irreligious atheists who
do not accept the pillars of faith, because it is
impossible to discuss the Ascension with those who neither
know God, nor recognize the Prophet, nor accept the
angels, and who deny the existence of the heavens.
Firstly, those pillars must be proved. Since this is so,
in the following we shall address the believer who, since
he deems it unlikely, has doubts about the Accession.
However, from time to time we shall turn to the atheist
who is the third party in our discussion and is in the
position of listening, and speak to him.
The
Qur’an declares:
Glorified
be He Who carried His servant by night from the
Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) to Masjid al-Aqsa,
the neighborhood of which We have blessed, that We
might show him of Our signs. Surely He is the
All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (al-Isra’, 17.1)
Then
he drew nigh and came down, till he was two bows’
length or even nearer, and He revealed unto His
servant what He revealed. The heart (of His servant)
lied not (in seeing) what he saw. (al-Najm, 53.8-11)
In
the Name of God, the merciful, the Compassionate.
Glory
be to Him Who transported His servant by night from
Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa’, the environs
of which We had blessed, so that We might show him
some of Our signs. Surely He is the One Who is the
All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (al-Isra’, 17.1)
It
is naught but a revelation revealed. One with mighty
power taught it, one exalted in wisdom and strength:
he rose, while he was in the highest horizon. Then
he approached and came nearer. He was at a distance
of two bows’ length or even nearer. And He
revealed unto His servant what He revealed. The
heart did not falsify what he saw. Will you then
dispute with him concerning what he saw? Surely he
saw him (another time when) he (Gabriel) descended,
near the Lote-tree of the farthest limit, beside it
is the Garden of Abode. It was when what enveloped
the Lote-tree enveloped it. The eye did not waver,
nor did it stray. Truly did he see some of the
greatest signs of his Lord. (al-Najm, 53.4-18)
Out
of the vast treasury of the first mighty verse above, we
shall only describe two points which the pronoun He in
Surely He is refers to as a principle of eloquence, since
they are included in our present concern here.
After
mentioning the journey of the noble Beloved of God, upon
him be the best of blessings and most perfect peace, from
Masjid al-Haram in Makka to Masjid al-Aqsa’ in
Jerusalem, which was the beginning of his Ascension, the
Wise Qur’an concludes: Surely He is the One Who is the
All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. Together with this phrase
itself, the pronoun in the Surely He is, which alludes to
the furthest point of the Ascension indicated by the
verses from sura al-Najm (sura 53), refers either to
Almighty God or to the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings.
If
it refers to the Prophet, according to the rules of
rhetoric and the relationship between the pronoun and its
antecedent, the meaning is this: this journey, which is
apparently particular, is in reality so comprehensive and
signifies such universal ascent that the Prophet, upon him
be peace and blessings, heard and saw during it all the
signs of the Lord and the wonders of Divine art which
caught his sight and encountered his ears as the results
of the manifestations of Divine Names in universal degrees
as far as the Lote-tree of the farthest limit and the
distance of two bows’ length. Thus, through its
conclusive phrase, the verse describes that particular
journey as the key to understand a (higher) journey that
is universal and full of extraordinary events.
If
the pronoun in Surely He is, refers to God Almighty, the
meaning is this: in order to call a servant of His on a
journey to His presence and entrust him with a duty, after
sending him from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa’,
which is where the Prophets gather, and causing him to
meet with them and showing that he is the absolute,
indisputable heir of the principles of the religions of
all the Prophets, He took him through both the external
and inner dimensions of His dominion as far as the
Lote-tree of the farthest limit and the distance of two
bows’ length.
For
sure, he was a servant and that journey was a particular
ascension. However, since he was given a Trust which is
connected to the whole of the universe, was accorded a
light which would change the colour of the universe, and
also had with him a key with which to open the door to
eternal happiness, Almighty God describes Himself as the
One Who hears and sees all things so that His
world-embracing, comprehensive and all-encompassing wisdom
in the Trust, the light, and the key, might be observed
and understood.
|
