MI'RAJ UN-NABI ﷺ: {Part 3} THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN ALLAH TA'ALA AND PROPHET MUHAMMAD ﷺ
One the night of Mi'raj, when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ reached the Arsh, Allah Ta'ala welcomed His Beloved ﷺ by reciting salutations upon Prophet ﷺ. Once in La Makaan, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had a conversation with Allah Ta'ala. There is little mention of the conversation between Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ, in The Holy Quran, and in the hadith and narrations.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'And He revealed to His servant whatever He wanted to reveal'
(Surah An-Najm. verse 10)
In the Arab culture, a secret conversation is called wahi. At Qaaba Qausain in La Makaan, the conversation between Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ was a wahi. When Allah Ta'ala had the conversation with Prophet ﷺ, the closeness was without Hazrat Jibreel(alaihis salaam) and any other angels. It was only Allah Ta'ala and His Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
In Tafseer e Ahmadiyya, Hazrat Mulla Jiwan(Rahmatullah Alaih) narrates that on the night of Mi'raj, Allah Ta'ala had ninety thousand dialogues with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Some were to be kept secret, some were instructions and some were news. Allah Ta'ala instructed Prophet ﷺ to reveal thirty thousand dialogues to his ummah, thirty thousand of the dialogues to his ﷺ selected closest, and thirty thousand of the dialogues were to be kept secret between Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ. In a hadith, Prophet ﷺ has said that there are times when he ﷺ and Allah Ta'ala are in seclusion and the conversations are a secret.
Muhaddith Allama Balki(Rahmatullah Alaih) narrates that if these secrets are revealed, the entire' creation will die. The creation does not have the courage to face the consequences of these secrets.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'Undoubtedly, We offered the Trust to the Heavens and the earth and the Mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were afraid of it, and man bore it. Surely he is the bearer of cruel hardship, the ignorant'
(Surah Ahzab. verse 72)
The Sufis say that the 'Trust' refers to the secret dialogue between Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ on the night of Mi'raj. The Heaven, the earth and mountain were afraid to bear the consequences of these secrets. But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had the courage to accept those secrets and thus, Allah Ta'ala revealed those thirty thousand secrets to Prophet ﷺ. If even one of those thirty thousand secrets is revealed, the world will come to an end.
However, the thirty thousand dialogues, which were to be revealed only to the selected closest, some reached the mankind.
A few of these dialogues will be discussed.
It is impossible to describe the conditions when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ presented himself to Allah Ta'ala at La Makaan, on the night of Mi'raj.
It is customary to take a gift when visiting someone. When Prophet ﷺ was very close,' Allah Ta'ala asked Prophet ﷺ, 'O Beloved! What have you brought as a gift?' This is how the conversation started.'
Assalam wa alaikum could not be said because it is a dua 'Allah Ta'ala keep you safe'. You don't say that to Allah Ta'ala.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied, 'O Allah! What is that, which is worthy of presenting in your court?'
When gifts are presented, it is something the recipient does not have. Now! What is something that Allah Ta'ala does not have?
Prophet ﷺ said, 'attahiyaatu lillaahi wassalawaatu wattayyibaatu'. 'Ya Allah! I have brought worship (ibadat) with me'. Allah Ta'ala does not worship, so Allah Ta'ala does not have worship. 'attahiyaatu lillaahi'-bodily worship, 'wassalawaatu'-charity, 'wattayyibatu'- verbal worship. Prophet ﷺ presented all his worship as a gift to Allah Ta'ala.
When gifts are presented, there is an expectation of a gift in return. Allah Ta'ala presented three gifts to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,
'a) 'assalaamu 'alayka 'ayyuhan-Nabiyyu'- peace be upon you. Allah Ta'ala is sending salutations (salaam) upon Prophet ﷺ. The deviants propagandize that sending salutations upon Prophet ﷺ is shirk. How would they account for their belief now?
b) 'wa rahmatullaahi'-the mercy of Allah Ta'ala, and
c) 'wa barakaatuhu'-the blessing of Allah Ta'ala be upon you.
Allah Ta'ala presented Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with salutations, mercy and blessings.
When gifts are presented to the beloved, it is likely that the beloved may not be satisfied. The beloved would want more from the belover. Hence, Prophet ﷺ asked for more from Allah Ta'ala. Then, Allah Ta'ala presented Prophet ﷺ with 'assalaamu 'alaynaa wa 'alaa 'ibaadillaahis-saaliheen'- peace be upon you and the true pious slaves. [alayka is singular and alaynaa is plural]. When 'alaynaa' (plural) is used, the salutation is also on the true pious slaves of Allah Ta'ala.
Prophet ﷺ said, 'O Allah! There are pious and sinners in my ummah. The pious are yours and the sinners are mine'. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ always supplicated for the sinners in his ummah. He ﷺ didn't forget the sinners of his ummah when he met Allah Ta'ala. Prophet ﷺ displayed love for the sinners of his ummah. He ﷺ told Allah Ta'ala that he came on the journey of the Mi'raj for the sinners of his ummah. 'Give salutations, mercy and blessings for the sinners too'. Since, sinners are mine, include them in 'assalaamu 'alayka'.
It is narrated in a hadith, that Allah Ta'ala permitted the angels to listen to this portion of the conversation. When the angels saw the immense love Prophet ﷺ had for his ummah, they recited, 'Ash-hadu 'an laa 'illaaha 'illallaahu wa 'ash-hadu 'anna Muhammadan' 'abduhu wa Rasooluhu'-'we testify that none has the right to be worshipped, but Allah Ta'ala and we testify that Muhammad ﷺ is the slave and his apostle'. In a nutshell, the angels said that there is none like Allah Ta'ala, and there is none like Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Allah Ta'ala said to Prophet ﷺ that the angels have witnessed this conversation. From now till the Day of Resurrection, your ummah will also have this Mi'raj. In their Mi'raj (Namaaz) they would recite this words (kalimaat).
[Namaaz is the Mi'raj of the Mu'min].
Hence, this kalimaat has been included in the Namaaz, resembling the Mi'raj of Prophet ﷺ.
Allah Ta'ala instructed Prophet ﷺ to inform his ummah that this conversation was historical. Such a conversation Allah Ta'ala never had with anyone or Prophet ﷺ had such a conversation with anyone. Allah Ta'ala instructed Prophet ﷺ to tell his ummah to recite this kalimaat in their Mi'raj (Namaaz).
So, we repeat this conversation of Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ in our every Namaaz. Whilst performing Namaaz, the Mi'raj of Prophet ﷺ shall be remembered. With the sadqa of Prophet ﷺ, this shall become our Mi'raj.
This kalimaat recited in every Namaaz becomes the Mi'raj of the ummati.
Imaam Ghazali(Rahmatullah Alaih), Imaam Fakhruddin(Rahmatullah Alaih), Imaam Hajar Asqalani(Rahmatullah Alaih), and Imaam Badruddin Ayni(Rahmatullah Alaih) have narrated that a person performing Namaaz, in attahiyyat position, shall not only recite this kalimaat as a repeat of the conversation between Allah Ta'ala and Prophet ﷺ, but the intention shall be of presenting our gift in the court of Allah Ta'ala.
If a Mu'min prays with such a level of sincerity, and imagining the Namaaz to be his Mi'raj, then the Mu'min gets the luminous and splendours attention of Allah Ta'ala. He achieves the closeness of Allah Ta'ala when he recites 'Attahiyyaatu lillaahi wasslawaatu, wattayyibaatu'. He shall then feel the presence of Prophet ﷺ in the court of Allah Ta'ala, and then recite 'assalaamu 'alayka 'ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu'. This is the Namaaz of a Mu'min.
Imaam Ghazali(Rahmatullah Alaih) writes that anyone in the attahiyyaat position of the Namaaz, shall have a belief that Prophet ﷺ is present in the court of Allah Ta'ala and then recite 'assalaamu 'alayka 'ayyuhan-Nabiyyu'.
Namaaz is for Allah Ta'ala and salutation (salaam) is for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
There are people who don't believe in reciting salaam upon Prophet ﷺ after Namaaz. But Allah Ta'ala makes them recite salaam upon Prophet ﷺ in the Namaaz. How and where will they escape?
They propagandize that saying 'Ya Rasoolullah' is shirk. 'Ya Rasoolullah' means Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the apostle of Allah Ta'ala. 'Ayyuhan-Nabiyyu' also means apostle of Allah Ta'ala. Hence, 'Ya Rasoolullah' and 'Ayyuhan-Nabiyyu' have the same meaning. According to the deviants, this 'shirk' is permissible in Namaaz, but impermissible outside of Namaaz.
Why are these deviants so misguided? Why do they distance so much from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?
Namaaz is where you have to think of Prophet ﷺ. A Namaaz is no Namaaz without the thought of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
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This article is an abridged English translation of an Urdu sermon delivered by his eminence, Peer Syed Imroz Dean Saifi, Hanfi, Maturidi of Masjid Anwaar e Madina, Surrey BC Canada
If there is an inaccurate translation, please pardon it and not let it be a means to negatively reflect on the honoured presenter.
