Al-Isra

One year before the migration (hijrah) of the Prophet Muhammad to Madinah, the conditions at Makkah were extremely adverse. It looked as if the history of Islam might come to an end even before it could take any definite shape. At that very juncture, God arranged to show the Prophet a very great sign—a demonstration, in fact, that Islamic history would not only run its due course, but that certain conditions would also be created to ensure that what it brought to the world would be preserved and thus remain eternally alive. This was because it had to become the authentic source of God’s religion for all nations till the Day of Judgement. God so willed that the Prophet Muhammad be taken from Makkah to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Palestine (Jerusalem). This was the first stage of a journey (mi‘raj), which was spiritual rather than physical, in nature. Here, at al-Masjid al-Aqsa, God had also gathered all the previous prophets. Together, they engaged in congregational prayer, with the Prophet Muhammad leading them. This instance of the Prophet Muhammad leading the prayer symbolized God’s decision that the shariah of the previous prophets were no longer an authentic source of divine guidance. Now, all the nations should have to draw upon the religion presented by the Prophet Muhammad in order to have the authentic knowledge of God’ religion. For this important happening, which came to be known as The Night Journey, or isra’, Palestine was the most suitable place, its having been the centre from which the majority of the previous prophets had issued their call of Truth. Hence God’s selection of this particular area to announce His decision.

The implication of the above-mentioned event was that the Children of Israel, the Jews, were deposed from the position of the ‘bearers of the Scriptures’ in favour of the Children of Ishmael (Banu Isma‘il). This event took place in accordance with the way of God, who has always chosen a particular group for the declaration of the truth. This is the greatest honour one can have in this world. However, this selection is not based on race or community. A group is entitled to this honour only if it is able to demonstrate the necessary competence. The moment its competence becomes questionable, it must forgo its entitlement to this honour. This happened in the case of the respective communities of Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus—without exception. This is the law of God, moreover, for any future community and there can be no exception to it for anyone. To qualify for this position, the chosen group must treat God as the sole guardian, (wakil), and, placing their full trust in the one and only God, should leave all their affairs to Him. When man discovers God in all His majesty and power, it is but natural that he should make God his guardian. One who attains the true realization of God will make God his everything, and will lead the life of a true believer in the present world. In order to lead such a life, man has to find God as the greatest reality, that is, the Creator and Lord of all creation. Moreover, only those who attain this status in the realization of God can properly discharge the responsibility of calling upon others to the truth. To preach the word of God, it is absolutely necessary to be completely selfless, for total concentration cannot be developed in a man unless all his hopes and fears are attached to God; God should be his everything.

The ‘corruption’, or fasad, referred to here occurred among the Children of Israel after the advent of Moses. This happened in two stages. The details of the first instance of corruption are found in the Old Testament books of Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The details of the second instance of corruption are found in the words of Jesus in the New Testament in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Prophet Muhammad was taken from Makkah to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, in order to be shown ‘the sign of God.’ One of these signs is also the history associated with al-Masjid al-Aqsa. The above verse just means a place of worship situated at a distance. It is called the farthest place of worship, because it was situated at a distance of 765 miles from Makkah. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, in this context, refers to the Jewish place of worship, that is, the Haykal Synagogue. This Jewish synagogue, built by Solomon in 957 BC, was razed to the ground in 586 BC by the king of Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar II. After a long period of time, the Jews rebuilt their place of worship. This was gain reduced to ruins in AD 70 by the Romans. This history is a manifestation of God’s Law which lays down that if a community entrusted with the Holy Scriptures discharges the obligations attached to them, then it is given a high status in this world, as well as success in the Hereafter. If it fails to do so, it is made subject to oppressive communities, which make it a victim of their tyranny and exploitation. The manifestation of this law has occurred again and again in the case of former bearers of the scriptures. Two important events of direct relevance have been referred to here, so that a lesson may be taken from them. In the beginning God blessed the Children of Israel and delivered them from the Pharaoh’s tyranny and permitted them to occupy Palestine and establish their rule there. But then, corruption set in among the Jews. They started engaging in polytheistic practices, became the victims of differences and schisms, and separated into different groups. As a result of this repeated disobedience to God, the Children of Israel had to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, who established his dominion over Palestine. Thereafter, he chose a member of the royal family of the Jews and appointed him as his representative to rule over them. But, the Jews, considering this subordinate state damaging to their national pride, rebelled against it. This was despite being advised against rebellion by one of their prophets, Jeremiah. The King of Babylon became so incensed that once again, in 486 B.C., he attacked Palestine with all his military might. The Jews were not only totally defeated, but their temple in Jerusalem, which was the last sign of their glory, was also completely demolished.

Various calamities inclined the Children of Israel to turn back to God once again. They were then given divine assistance through the agency of Cyrus, the King of Iran, who attacked and captured Babylon in 539 B.C., having defeated its ruler. Cyrus showed his favour to the Jews by allowing them to leave Babylon and return to their native place, Palestine. There, after a long time, they constructed their temple once again. However, the corruption, which had prevailed in the previous generation of the Jews, began to set in in the new generation also. In the meantime, they faced many vicissitudes. Their own prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus, who rose from among them, criticized their behaviour, revealing the irreligiousness they indulged in in the name of religion. This enraged the Jews. They went so far as to kill John the Baptist and were prepared to crucify Jesus. Then the wrath of God descended upon them once again. In the year 70 A.C., the Roman King, Titus, attacked Jerusalem and destroyed it completely. The Jews recognize these events as a part of their history, but when they mention these historical facts, they attribute them to the oppression of tyrants. The Quran, however, very clearly attributes them to the behaviour of the People of the Book themselves. This shows that political conditions are always subject to moral conditions. No tyrant oppresses any community unless the corruption of the religious and moral conditions of that community gives him the opportunity to do so, i.e. it allows him to make them his victims.

The Quran calls upon all human beings to accept the Oneness of God, or tawhid, that is, belief in the one God and surrender to His will. It can truly be said that no other matter can be more correct, more reasonable and more natural. Undoubtedly, the Oneness of God is the greatest reality and also the greatest truth. This position of the Oneness of God necessarily makes it the standard by which all human beings should be tested and the basis on which some should be treated as right and others as wrong, some as successful and others as failures. But, in the present world this standard is seemingly not upheld and the testing of human beings is not, apparently, done on this basis. But this is due only to God’s hidden way of applying His law of testing. For individuals, death, and for the general mass of the people, the Day of Judgement are the final limits of the test period. As soon as this limit is reached, human beings will be separated into two different groups: those who believed in one God in the full sense, and met all the demands of that belief, will find themselves in paradise, while those who did not, will find themselves in hell.

The system of night and day shows that it is the way of God that there should be darkness first and, thereafter, light should take its place. In God’s eyes, both of them are equally important. Just as there are benefits in light, similarly, there are benefits in darkness. If there were no distinction between night and day, how would man allocate his time and how would he alternate work with rest? Man should neither be afraid of darkness, nor should he constantly hanker after light, because eternal light is not possible in this world of God. One whose desires are such had better leave this world and go in search of another world. It is strange that this is the greatest weakness of man: he never wants to have to face any period of darkness, but immediately wants to have light. His undue haste is a sign of this weakness. Haste is, in fact, the equivalent of not reconciling with the plan of God. And not reconciling with the plan of God is the real cause of all human destruction. God wants man to be patient about acquiring the immediate luxuries of the world, so that he should keep to the right path on his journey towards the Hereafter. But man, due to his hasty nature, rushes to acquire ephemeral worldly luxuries, which prove to be impediments to his continuing his onward journey. Man’s desire for instant gratification is the greatest reason for his being deprived of the bounties of the Hereafter. This is likewise true of the world, where real success is achieved by means of patience and not by a hasty approach. The Prophet Jeremiah advised the Jews that they should recognize the political domination of the King of Babylon for the present, and in the initial stage devote their efforts to constructive work and the preaching of God’s word. He said that thereafter a time would come when Almighty God would give them the means of achieving domination and power. But, in their impatience, the Jews were not willing to accept his advice. Eager to enter the stage of ‘light’ before passing through the stage of ‘darkness’, they immediately started a political struggle against the King of Babylon. Since, in accordance with the system of God, it was not possible for them to succeed, only dishonour and degradation awaited them.

In ancient times superstitious people tried to predict their fate by observing the flight of birds or the revolution of stars, or through different charms. In the present day, even those who do not believe in such superstitions, attribute their fate to some mysterious cause or the other. They think that it is some external factor which truly influences their destiny. God, however, says that the human fate is not linked with the birds or the stars: neither is it connected with any external thing; indeed, the fate of every man hangs upon his own deeds. Whatever a man thinks or does is being recorded throughout his existence. On the Day of Judgement, therefore, man will find his life history written in the shape of a diary, which contains all matters, both great and small. God raised prophets among the various communities and revealed the scriptures to them. He did this so that people should be aware in advance of the unforeseeable Day of Reckoning. Now it is for every man to decide what fate he wants to face in the future: eternal paradise as a result of his following the path of guidance, or an eternity in hell as a result of his straying from that path.

The conduct of the leading group of a community is the chief indicator of the level of honesty or corruption of the community’s members. Only this group has the understanding and resources to influence their inferiors. Only they can bear the cost of leadership. This is why the reformation of the prominent group amounts to the reformation of the whole community and the corruption of this prominent group amounts to the corruption of the whole community. If a study is made of communities right from the time of Noah to the present day, the history of each community will confirm the correctness of this general principle. Those leading lights, or elders of the community, who exploit the people to establish their leadership, teach the community emotionalism instead of realism; they teach the community to live in wishful thinking, instead of admitting the truth. In short, instead of making the community attentive to God, they turn it away from God by making it attend to worldly concerns. By thus misleading the community, they bring about its destruction. When leaders of this kind dominate a community, it is to be expected that God has taken a decision to destroy it. Every event of this type happens by God’s will, for no deed or misdeed of any person or community is hidden from Him.

In the present world as man travels towards his ultimate destination, he finds himself standing before a fork in the road. One side leads to the path of immediate gains, while the other is a path on which everything is to be given on merit. One who follows the first path chooses instant benefit (‘ajilah), whereas one who follows the other path chooses the Hereafter (akhirah). On the one hand, man has before him the way of opportunism, which leads him straight to immediate honour and wealth. On the other hand, there is the way of infinite love of truth, the credit for which man will receive only when he begins his life after death. If a man has a grievance, one way of dealing with it is to become vindictive and vengeful. The other option is to forgive and, offering prayers to God, leave the whole matter in His hands. Similarly, man may spend his wealth in fulfilling his desires and furthering his ambitions, or he may spend it for the cause of God. Likewise, there are two different ways of dealing with life’s contingencies: one is to fulfil one’s own desires, while the other is to dedicate oneself to the worship of God. One is to give importance to appearances, the other is to give credence to the reality of the unseen; one is the way of expediency, while the other is the way of principle. The former bears the mark of impatience while the latter makes manifest the virtue of patience. The first way is associated with temporary gain followed by eternal deprivation. The second way is that of temporary loss followed by everlasting honour and success.

Be it in this world or in the Hereafter, success results from availing of the opportunities provided by God. For those who have made success in the life Hereafter the goal of their lives, God has made such dispositions as will facilitate the spiritual journey leading to that success in the next world. One can see that in this world some people are ahead of others, while some are lagging behind. Some have more and some have less. These are ways of telling us in the language of symbols, that there is no limit to opportunities in this world of God. The harder one works the more one achieves. Similarly, the more one is involved in Hereafter-oriented activities, the greater the reward one will receive in the Hereafter. Furthermore, whatever one receives in the next world will be eternal, while whatever one receives in this world will be ephemeral in nature.

For the human being God is everything. He is his Creator, Lord and Sustainer. But God remains in the unseen, He does not come before man to gain recognition. This means that when one acknowledges one’s helplessness vis-à-vis the greatness of God, one does so out of choice rather than as a result of some visible compulsion. In this respect, the case of elderly parents is somewhat similar in nature to that of God. The parents have no material power over their children. When the children treat their parents well, they do it of their own free will and not because of any material pressures. This is the real test of man in the present world. Here he has to adopt the way of truth and justice, without being forced to do so. He has to perform of his own free will and at his pleasure such deeds as he would perform if God appeared before him in all His Omnipotence. Such voluntary action poses a serious test for man. However, God has made it easy for man by his special Grace. He does not test man with the severity of a master who becomes overly exercised about petty things. If a man is basically loyal to God, He excuses his petty lapses. If a man turns over a new leaf after doing something wrong, He pardons him, regardless of how great a sin he may have committed.

A man has a right to spend on himself whatever he earns by his own hard work. However, the Islamic law lays down that he should avoid the habits of a spendthrift; he should spend his wealth on actual necessities and not on vanity or display. Secondly, everyone must realize that others have a right to his earnings—be they relatives, neighbours, travellers or needy persons. If one is to spend one’s wealth according to the will and pleasure of God, one must first of all economize by refraining from pointless spending. Indeed, extravagance is a weapon used by Satan to induce one to neglect one’s duties towards the poor and needy.

Islam favours moderation in all matters. According to Islam, the middle way, i.e. avoidance of extremes, is the best way. ‘The best of matters is their moderation.’ The same advice has been given in respect of expenditure. Man should not be so niggardly as to degrade himself in the eyes of others, but neither should he spend so much as to leave himself with nothing. It has been recorded in the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, that one who adopts the way of moderation will not be a pauper. Lack of moderation with regard to wealth generally develops in a man because he loses sight of the fact that the Giver is God. It is He Who in His wisdom gives less to one and more to another. God’s dictum on this subject has been recorded in a divinely inspired tradition (hadith qudsi) of the Prophet Muhammad, ‘There are some among My servants for whom poverty is better, that is, too much of wealth will lead them astray. If I were to make them wealthy, their faith would suffer. And there are some among My servants for whom being wealthy is better. If I were to make them paupers, their faith would suffer.’