(The night journey and the ascension of prophet Muhammad)
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of t he Worlds, the One Who exists without a place. To Him belong the endowments and proper commendations. May Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and Companions and protect his nation from what he fears for them. May the Lord of Heavens and Earth grant us the sincere intentions and guide us to the acceptable deeds.
Thereafter, Allah sent the prophets as a mercy to the slaves and supported them with miracles to indicate the truthfulness of their message. Of all the prophets, our Prophet, Muhammad, was blessed with the most miracles. Al-Isra' and al-Mi^raj are among the many miracles of Prophet Muhammad.
The miracle of al-Isra' is confirmed in the Qur'an. In Surat al-Isra', Ayah 1, Allah said:
which means: [Praise be to Allah Who enabled His slave, Muhammad, to make the journey at night from Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is surrounded by a blessed land.] This journey is also confirmed in the sahih hadith. As such, there is scholarly consensus (ijma^) Prophet Muhammad journeyed in body and soul the night of al-Isra' from Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to Masjid al-Aqsain Jerusalem. Moreover, these scholars indicated the person who denies al-Isra' is a blasphemer for belying the explicit text of the Qur'an.
Before the Prophet took this night journey, the ceiling of the house in which he was staying was opened, and Jibril descended. He cut open the chest of Prophet Muhammad and washed that open area with Zamzam water. Then he emptied something from a container into the chest of the Prophet to increase his wisdom as well as the strength of his belief. This was done to prepare the Messenger of Allah for that which he had yet to see in the upper world from among the wonders of the creation of Allah.
We start with the Name of Allah. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and may Allah raise the rank of our Master Muhammad, and protect his nation from what he fears for it.
Allah Said in Suratun-Nisa’, Ayah 64:
" وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا".
This Ayah means:
“If when they are unjust to themselves, they come to you and ask Allah for forgiveness, and the Messenger asks forgiveness for them, Allah will forgive them and have mercy upon them.”
There is consensus among the scholars that it is sunnah to visit the grave of the Prophet, sallAllahu ^alayhi wa sallam, both for he who lives in al-Madinah and he who travels there for the express purpose of visiting the Prophet’s grave, and doing so is a great act of obedience. Qadi ^Iyad and an-Nawawiyy both reported the scholarly consensus (Ijma^) on this issue. It is sunnah for the visitor to also have the intention to travel to pray in the mosque of the Prophet.