Prepared for recital by Abdal Hakim Murad

Introduction

The earliest Muslim historians recorded the events of the Ascension in some detail. During the most difficult period of his ministry in Mecca, the Holy Prophet was miraculously taken on a night journey (isrā’) from the Meccan sanctuary to the sanctuary of Jerusalem. Here he prayed with some of the prophets of earlier ages, after which he experienced an ascension (miʿrāj) as he was carried up by the Angel Gabriel through the seven heavens into the Divine Presence.

This book attempts to provide a first appearance in the English language of a distinctive and much-loved genre of Muslim literature. The Ascension of the Prophet ﷺ, often seen as the culminating event of his life, is a story which carries within itself a wide range of characteristically Islamic themes. Down the centuries it has inspired scholars and poets to reanimate the hearts of their listeners by rehearsing its great concerns, and it is to be hoped that this same reanimation will be possible today in our Anglophone context.

The story allows the hearer to recall some principles which are integral to Islam’s place in the history of religion. The Meccan Sanctuary, the ‘first worshipping-place of mankind’, is connected to the holy location which is now the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which following the arrival of the multi-ethnic Islamic community became the ‘house of prayer for all nations’ foretold in the Gospels, and which remains the third holiest pilgrimage destination in Islam. In this place, the Prophet ﷺ affirms and prays with Jesus, John, Abraham, Moses and other great figures of the earlier monotheisms, thus signalling that Islam’s appearance is a moment of inclusion and embrace, as the scripture tells us: ‘We make no distinction between any of His
messengers.’ (2:136)

The Prophet’s ﷺ subsequent ascent through the ‘seven heavens’, whose true nature evidently defies exact accounting, also shows him as affirming and embracing the earlier prophets. At last he reaches the mysterious Lote Tree and the degree of Two Bows’ Lengths, where ‘the heart did not falsify that which it saw’ (53:11). After this ultimate spiritual encounter with the One Lord, he retraces his journey, bearing several gifts, one of which is the five-fold prayer which to this day is incumbent upon all followers of his way.

From the earliest times Muslim scholars strove to conserve the hadith narrations which preserved the memory of this decisive event. There are long accounts in the anthologies of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, which have served as the basis for the present volume. Qur’anic commentaries also furnished additional details when dealing with the relevant verses. 

The classical poets of Islam loved to incorporate sections describing the Ascension within their longer works; these included Sanā’ī (d.1140), Niẓāmī (d.1209), ʿAṭṭār (d.1221), and Jāmī (d.1492). In addition, scholars and poets composed innumerable works dedicated exclusively to the subject, some of which were succinct, while others became long and very elaborate. The philosopher Ibn Sīnā (d.1037) wrote a Meʿrāj-nāme (Book of the Miʿrāj) to explore the story’s metaphysical significance, while his Sufi contemporary al-Qushayrī (d.1072), perhaps in response, wrote a non-philosophical Kitāb al-Miʿrāj in which he celebrated the story as a classic narrative of spiritual ascent from the shadows of our world, through intermediary levels of being, to the One. Perhaps the most popular text in the Arabic world was the Qiṣṣat al-Miʿrāj (Miʿrāj Story) of Jaʿfar al-Barzanjī (d.1764), a celebrated Shāfiʿī mufti of Madina. This text, which exists also in Swahili translation, is still widely and enthusiastically recited at gatherings. Elsewhere in Africa there are Miʿrājiyyas in languages such as Peul, Fulani and Wolof.

In the Persian language, scholars and saints also composed a large number of Miʿrāj works, some of which were in prose, while others took the form either of verse or a medley of prose and poetry. Among the best-known were works by Aḥmed Aflākī (1360), Tāj al-Din Aḥmedī (d.1412), Jamāl al-Din ʿAlavī (d.1590), and ʿAlī Nabṭīnī (d.1650). Many Indian writers also celebrated the same subject, in a long literary tradition which extended from Ḥamīd al-Din Nāgūrī (d.1274?) to Muḥammad Idrīs Kāndahlawī (d.1974) and beyond.

In the Turkic languages the process seems to have begun with the Central Asian poet Ḥakīm Atā (d.1186), followed by many others, reaching a peak in the eighteenth century Ottoman world. One very popular Ascension book was written by Ismāʿīl Ḥaqqī Bursevī (d.1725), whose text is still reprinted regularly. The most artistically elaborate was by the Bosnian poet Sābit (d.1712). Many regard the text of Ganī-zāde Meḥmed Nādirī (d.1627) as the finest in Turkish; this was the work of a chief religious judge of the Ottoman Balkans, whose work was emulated by several later poets. ʿAbdülbāqī ʿĀrif (d.1713), was a madrasa director in Istanbul and a chief inspector of the charitable endowments (awqāf) in Mecca and Madina; his text was recited at the Eyüp mosque in Istanbul annually for many years. In the twentieth century another Miʿrājiyya (Miraciye) was authored by Fatima Kamile Hanım (d.1921).

To educate the broader population about the Ascension, Islamic cultures evolved forms of ceremonial recital. These varied very considerably. In the Ottoman universe, for example, the date of the Miʿrāj, the 27th of the month of Rajab, was commemorated by specialized reciters known as miʿrāc-ḫān, who might be financially supported by a waqf endowment established specifically for this purpose. Often two such reciters sitting on elevated chairs (kursī) would preside in the larger mosques, taking it in turns to sing the text, using the rhythms and modes of classical Ottoman oral culture, while the congregation joined in the chorus. At the key moment where the Prophet ﷺ is offered a goblet of wine and a goblet of milk, and chooses the latter, cups of milk might be passed around for the audience to drink. These traditions are currently enjoying a renaissance in Turkey. Related customs are traditional throughout the Muslim world, notably in Egypt, East Africa, and Indonesia. Particularly notable is the annual recital at the Kensington mosque in Cape Town, broadcast live on local radio.

The present work, entitled simply al-Miʿrājiyya, follows the traditional sequence mapped out originally by the hadith literature and subsequently developed for public artistic recitation by religious scholars and cantors. Containing sung and spoken elements, it is designed for recital by a small group of vocalists (with the congregation joining in ad lib), and is intended only as a general guide, as improvisation lies at the heart of this tradition. The tunes are adapted from familiar Celtic folk melodies, as classical Middle Eastern and Indian singing, with its complex rhythms and its system of modes and microtones, can be difficult for Muslims in the West to master easily, and can be challenging also for audiences. However, free rhythms and microtones are not unfamiliar to the sean nós and other traditions of a capella song present in the Gaelic world, and some vocalists may wish to experiment with this convergence, which is reflective perhaps of other deep historical links between Europe’s Atlantic fringe and the Middle East, visible, as is often noted, in the flowing decorative motifs of the Book of Kells. It is also pleasing to note that the Celtic open-ended drum, the bodhrán, is very similar to equivalents in the Islamic world such as the daff and the bendir, and can be played in a similar way, with one hand controlling timbre and pitch. 

It is hoped that this modest effort will help to engage audiences brought up in the West with the timeless and beautiful story of the Prophetic
Ascension. 

Abdal Hakim Murad

Published by Muslim Academic Trust