Masjidul Aqsa – Isra

One of the greatest miracles in the early part of the life the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the is the Isra wal Mi’raaj. What does Isra wal Mi’raaj mean? And what happened during the Isra and Mi’raaj? Insha’Allah, in today’s khutbah, we will discuss Isra and in the next one, we will discuss Mi’raaj. Isra means a journey taken during the night and Mi’raaj means the ascension. Isra refers to the miraculous night journey taken by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from Makkah to Masjidul Aqsa. So, the Prophet ﷺ went from Makkah to Jerusalem and came back as well, all within one night.  

The Isra has been mentioned in the Qur’an. Allah says,  

 

سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ 

"Glory to (Allah) who took his servant for a journey by night from Masjid Al-Haram to Masjid Al-Aqsa whose surroundings we have blessed to show him some of our signs. Indeed, He is the All-hearing, All-seeing". [17:1] 

 

Before we talk about the Israa, the miraculous night journey from the Kabah to Masjidul Aqsa, it is important to know how Allah prepared the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for the blessed journey. There is long hadith which explain what happened, but in summary; angel Jibraeel opened up the chest of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and washed his heart with Zamzam water. Then Angel Jibraeel brought a golden tray full of wisdom and faith, and having poured its contents into my chest, he closed it. This was to strengthen the Prophet’s heart for what he was about to see during the Israa and Mi’raaj. Before we explain what happened during Isra, the actual night journey, it is important to emphasise that we also need to work on our hearts. We need to work on our heart in order to prepare ourselves to go through the trials of life. We need to seek knowledge, so we know how to fight the many diseases of the heart, such as jealousy, hatred, envy and wishing bad for others and good for ourselves. We need to seek knowledge in order to improve our character, so then we are not always using negative language, so that we are not always replying rudely to our elders, so that we are not always negatively impacting those around us. No doubt it is a life-long struggle, but the more we work on ourselves the more we will succeed through the trials of life.  

So, the journey of Isra started when angel Jibraeel brought a riding beast called Al Buraaq, which travels at lightning speed. The Buraaq took the Prophet ﷺ from the Kabah to Masjidul Aqsa. The Buraaq was then tied up and the Prophet ﷺ went inside Masjidul Aqsa and prayed two rak’ah. He turned around and saw all the other prophets lined up praying behind him as well. The Prophet ﷺ was the imam of all Prophets and of every single ummah. All the prophets prayed in one line, where there were more than 120,000 prophets.  

 

So, just to summarise, Isra refer to the blessed journey when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ went from the Kabah to Masjudul Aqsa. The Prophet ﷺ led more than 100,000 prophets in prayer in Masjidul Aqsa. No doubt that this journey was a special miraculous gift from Allah to the Prophet ﷺ and to the rest of the Ummah.

There are multiple lessons we can take from Isra, the night journey from the Kabah to Masjidul Aqsa. The first one is to show the importance of Masjid-Al-Aqsa in Islam. We should really study the virtues of Masjidul Aqsa and the history around it. Watch some talks and even reliable Islamic documentaries on the Masjidul Aqsa. We should all make du’a to Allah to enable us to pray in Masjidul Aqsa. For the senior people in the audience, we should sincerely go one step further and maybe talk to travel agencies that take people to Masjidul Aqsa and really visit the blessed land. People like travelling to so many countries, and Masjidul Aqsa should be one of them. It is not that expensive. Honestly speaking, after Jumu’ah or work, make a call to one of the travel agencies and just inquire about it.  

 

Another lesson we learn from the Isra, the blessed night journey from the Kabah to Masjidul Haram is that when anyone goes through struggles for the sake of Allah, Allah will reward you in this dunya and most importantly in the akhirah. What struggle did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ go through before the Isra and Mi’raaj? The Prophet ﷺ was oppressed on a daily basis, attacked by his own people, he lost many family members, the Prophet ﷺ and his followers were under a siege for three years, where they couldn’t eat for days on end. But then Allah rewarded Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by showing him many miracles during the Isra, the blessed journey from Makkah to Masjidul Aqsa.  

Additionally, Allah will reward you for your struggles by raising your rank in this dunya and in Jannah. So, when you share good things on social media, and yes it might be a struggle because your friends might not like it or you might lose some followers, don’t worry, Allah is raising your rank. When you boycott products that will prevent the oppressors from oppressing our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, yes, it is a struggle, but do not worry, Allah is raising your rank. For the adults in the room, when you pick up that phone and call a travel agency that takes people to Palestine, that struggle of being brave and going to Masjidul Aqsa will be rewarded by Allah by increasing your rank in this dunya and in the akhirah. So, brothers and sisters, Allah will reward you for your struggle.  

In conclusion, Allah rewarded the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by taking him on a blessed journey known as Isra, from the Kabah to Masjidul Aqsa. We should continue our study on the virtues of Masjidul Aqsa.  

 

We ask Allah to free Masjidul Aqsa, to give us the ability to visit Masjidul Aqsa. And we ask Allah to grant us patience during hardship and use it as a means to raise our ranks in this dunya and in the akhirah. Ameen.