to be the heavenly mosque, and then ascends to
heaven (miraj literally means “ladder”). During
his ascent through the heavens with Gabriel,
Muhammad meets former prophets—Adam, John
the Baptist, JesUs, Joseph, Enoch (idris), Aaron,
moses, and abraham—who each acknowledge
his remarkable status. As his journey continues
the visions of the punishments suffered by the
inhabitants of hell and the rewards of the blessed
in paradise reflect major eschatological themes in
the Quran. After being advised by Moses during
his descent from the highest heaven to ask God
for a reduction in number of prayers, Muham-
mad eventually returns to his umma with the five
daily prayers.
While there is debate in the Muslim world
as to whether Muhammad’s journey took place
in body or spirit, it represents a mandate for
Muhammad’s superiority in status over the former
prophets as the Seal of the Prophets. Many Mus-
lims celebrate the Night Journey and Ascent every
year on the 27th of Rajab (the seventh month on
their calendar). Sufis, in particular, understand
this story as a model of human devotion to God
and, conversely, God’s devotion to his creation,
to be emulated in their own spiritual quests for
union with the divine. Among the most famous
Sufis who are said to have undertaken an ascent to
heaven are abU yazid bistami (ninth century) and
rUzbihan al-baqli (d. 1209).
See also angel; aqsa mosqUe; dome oF the
rock; prayer; sUFism.
Margaret LeemingFurther reading: Annemarie Schimmel, And Muham-
mad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in
Islamic Piety (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1985); Michael Sells, Early Islamic Mysticism:
Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic, and Theological Writings
(Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1996); Abu Abd al-Rah-
man Sulami, Subtleties of Ascension: Early Mystical Say-
ings on the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey, the Isra
wa Miraj. Translated by Frederick Colby (Louisville,
Ky.: Fons Vitae, 2007).
Night of Destiny (Arabic: Laylat al-Qadr;
Persian: Shab-i Qadr/ Shab-e Qadr;
alternate meaning: Night of Power)
If ramadan is the most sacred Islamic month, Lay-
lat al-Qadr is the most sacred night in that month.
The Arabic word qadr can mean both destiny and
power; Muslim commentators have differed over
which is the correct meaning. The phrase occurs in
Sura 97 of the qUran, which is called al-Qadr. The
first verse in this chapter states, “Indeed we have
revealed it on the Night of al-Qadr... the Night
of al-Qadr is better than a thousand months” (Q
97: 1, 3). Some commentators have identified this
passage with the event of Muhammad’s receiving
the Quran in its entirety via angels who brought
it down to him from heaven. This belief seems to
contradict earlier accounts, which hold that the
Quran was revealed gradually during the last 23
years of Muhammad’s life. To reconcile the two
views Muslim commentators have proposed that
the angels first brought it down on one night
from the Preserved Tablet (God’s heavenly book)
to the lowest level of heaven and that from there
gabriel revealed it gradually to mUhammad in
mecca and medina. Still others say that the event
refers only to Muhammad’s first revelation at the
Mountain of Light Hira outside of Mecca. Euro-
American Islamic studies scholars have pointed
out that the celebration of a single moment of
revelation may have been inspired by pre-Islamic
Jewish and Christian traditions of revelation, such
as the revelation of the torah at Mount Sinai and
the birth of JesUs. Shiis have added yet another
level of meaning to this night, for they believe it
is also when Fatima (ca. 605–633), Muhammad’s
daughter and mother of the imams, was born, and
when ali ibn abi talib (d. 661) was martyred.
The holiday falls on one of the last odd-num-
bered nights in Ramadan; Sunnis usually observe
it on the 27th and Shiis on the 23rd. Devout
Muslims customarily go to mosques to celebrate
it, spending the entire night there in prayer and
listening to Quran recitations. Some even go on
retreat for up to 10 days at the end of Ramadan.Night of Destiny 529 J