 Alhamdulillah, just to begin, I want to say, just before I came up here, that there is a brother in the house tonight, or maybe more than one, maybe a brother and a sister, who is Muslim inside his soul, but he has not found the words to come out on his tongue yet. So he knows who he is and when I saw him, he's from the same background as me and when I saw him, I remembered myself 21 years ago. The first time I came inside a Masjid to find out more about Islam, I left saying la ilaha illallah, alhamdulillah, the greatest night of my life. So everybody, I just want you all to make a dua for that brother that Allah guides him to the best thing. Inshallah tonight or very soon when Allah wills. Say, I mean, alhamdulillah. So alhamdulillah, tonight we're speaking about the Isra and the Miraj. And the Isra and the Miraj is a story we all know. But as Allah SWT says, وَذَكِرْ فَإِنَّذِّكْرَةَنْ فَعَلْ مُؤْمِنِينِ Remind because remembrances, benefit the believers. And in reality, as I've said before that the Isra and the Miraj in reality is a love story. It's a love story that goes all in a circle. It's a love story of love for Allah, for His Rasul, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And it's a love story of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's love for his ummah, for all of us. And this, that love that we find from Rasul sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is what makes us know who Allah is. It makes us love Allah more. And that love is actually coming from Allah. So it's just going all over the place, alhamdulillah. And when you're talking about the Isra and the Miraj, we have to really open the story. How does it unfold? What's the background to it? The background is this scenario in which the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has just left Thayf. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was stoned going into Thayf to call the people to Islam in the Meccan period. They had been persecuted there for almost 12 years, 11 to 12 years. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam after he got his revelation and he was preaching to the people to become Muslim, a small group of his companions around him were Muslim. But the persecution got so much they boycotted his entire tribe. And after this time, we know he faced the loss of his beloved uncle who was protecting Abu Dhabi and his beloved wife, Khadija, so after these years of boycott in which he had almost they were starving. They would eat the leaves from the trees and it would give them blisters. On their on their lips. He said that there were times when I did not have enough to eat except for what Bilal, Rada Lawan, who could hide underneath his armpit. We just had a great meal today. And our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, not one night, not two nights, he passed months and weeks, weeks and months with nothing to eat except what someone could hide and bring to him. Why? Because he had something that he wanted to take to the rest of the world. And he had something that was destined to reach the heart of all of us here tonight. And all of the Muslim ummah and that is la ilaha illallah. And so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went through such immense suffering. And when he went, he tried to take that message to Ta'if that let's see if someone outside of Mecca will help me with this message. And so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went there and as we know they rejected him and they stoned him until his shoes were filled with blood and blood was coming from his face. And they made two lines outside of the town. And as he tried to walk, they would stone him on either side and he would fall down to his knees and they would pick him up from his under his arms and push him further along. Finally, he reached outside of the town and collapsed inside a garden. And this is where he makes this historic dua to Allah swt. And this is where we begin from. He raises his hands to Allah swt. And Allah swt, he says He says, oh Allah, to you I complain of the weakness of my strength and how little and the fact that I have no other trick or device left. I have no other strategy left. And I complain to you of my being belittled in front of people, in front of those people of life almost merciful of those who show mercy. You are the Lord of those people who are weak and you are my Lord. Who will you leave me towards? Who will you leave me towards? Towards someone who I don't know who will basically mistreat me or to an enemy who you have given power over me as long as you're not angry with me. Oh Allah, as long as you're not angry with me, then I don't care. Then I don't care. But your ease will be easier on me. Relief will be easier on me. And then he proceeded to say a dua bring the mic closer. And so he then proceeded to finish that dua in such a beautiful way. Now just imagine how the heavens must have rocked at hearing the best of creation complaining like this to Allah swt. We've never seen a dua like this from the Prophet ﷺ. And we know that the Allah even sent the angel of that mountain to offer. I'll destroy these people of da'if if you want. The Prophet ﷺ said no. Because if they don't believe maybe their next generation will believe. And subhanAllah within that same generation they all became believers. Allah wakba. And it was in this situation of such difficulty and distress that he came back and some time passed and they say it was about some months perhaps 11 to 16 months before the hijra that the Prophet ﷺ had this experience. It was a full body experience in his waking state in which he was sleeping. Some say he was sleeping. Some reports say he was sleeping inside the hijra of the Kaaba. Some say in his house. Some say in the house of his cousin. And he was awoken. They said that the roof was taken off. An angel Jibril came down not entering through the door. Literally the roof came off and he came inside. Why? To show this is not some normal situation. This is not a normal type of revelation that he's bringing down. And he came and he woke the Prophet ﷺ and asked him to rise. And then Jibril ﷺ he ordered him to get up. According to some narrations ordered him to make tawaf and make some prayer. And Jibril ﷺ there are different narrations about the details of the Isra and the Me'raj. Why are there different narrations? Because back then it was very early in the Meccan period. There were not that many companions memorizing the hadith. There wasn't that many people who were recording. They were very very persecuted. They had no time to relax. And so different Sahaba heard different reports. And this is how it's come down to us today. And it is said that before one of the narrations even mentions the splitting of his chest. That just like when he was a child and the angels came and opened his chest and extracted his heart and cleansed it with zamzam and ice. And poured into it iman and hikmah faith and wisdom. And it is said the Ulama say that happened when he was a child with Halima Sa'diyah in order for him to grow up as a righteous and a perfect youth. And it is said that now his heart was being prepared for what? For to meet with Allah swt. To meet with Allah swt. Because not everybody not every heart can handle that meeting. These days something small surprises us we say oh gosh. Now just imagine you're being called by Allah swt. For a meeting. And then the Prophet s.a.w. Was told was Burak was brought. Now Burak as we know how he's described. That it is a steed, Burak is a steed meaning a heavenly mount that is bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule. And this Burak is the same flying steed that was ridden on by the previous prophets. It is said that Ibrahim s.a.w. Used to be given the Burak by Allah to come to see Hajar al-Ismail in Mecca when he was in Palestine. So he would come back and forth in that way. And Burak was brought towards him in another narration. There are different narrations. In one narration Burak when the Prophet s.a.w. Tried to come on top of him. Burak was unfamiliar with who this was. And so Burak became a little skittish as horses and writing nouns do. And Jibril s.a.w. to tell him have some shame. There has been no one of the servants of Allah who has ridden you that is more noble than him. Than the Prophet s.a.w. And he became when he realized it was Rasulullah s.a.w. It is said that Burak froze and began to sweat. And the Prophet s.a.w. He rode the Burak and they subhanAllah. One of the things about a leader, when you go to seek a leader you have to take that journey. Musa s.a.w. When he was given the appointment to come to the burning brush to receive the Torah. Musa s.a.w. had to go through the jungle. He had to go through mountains. He had to go through all these things to finally reach that place on the mountain top at a certain time. Given like a deadline. The Prophet s.a.w. So Musa s.w. was the one who was seeking and Allah s.w. was the one who was sought. Here the Prophet s.a.w. was in his house sleeping. And rather Allah sent the conveyance right to his doorstep. I mean right through his roof. Showing the station of our Prophet s.a.w. And then when Burak took off it is said that Jibril s.a.w. was flying with Burak. And we know that the Burak, it comes from the word Burq. Burq means lightning. He was traveling at the fastest speed. That even as far as the eye could see he could make that in one single leap. Meaning cover from here to the horizon. As far as the eye can see. And that too when you're up. And so Burak would go at such a speed and there's so many amazing things. Now this is just to stop here for one second. This is the truth. This is the Haqq. And SubhanAllah even from here sometimes Muslims only hear wait a second. Just because some atheist scientist says Oh Muslims believe that Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse. It's because in their life they've lost belief and all they have are mythologies. And all they have are Harry Potter. And all they have are these types of myths and stories and legends. But those things even come from the fact. The idea. Where is it even inspired from? From the idea that there is a Lord who can do whatever he wills. And create whatever he wills. And so for us Muslims even this alone is an act of imam to understand that the Burak what it was and that no one can explain who Burak how what exactly Burak is like. But we believe it with all of our hearts. And SubhanAllah Burak as he took him through the sky the night sky just imagine how tranquil and how peaceful and blessed that night must have been. And as he's going through SubhanAllah this which is showing that SubhanAllah every day you should have a good car a good vehicle because Allah sent the best of vehicles for the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And as he's going through it there are reports that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would stop on the way to Jerusalem every once in a while. At first he stopped at one place. And Jibril Alaihi Wasallam will tell him to a light to come off and pray to Rakhaz. And so he would come off and he stopped at Midian. Midian is where Musa Alaihi Wasallam and his tree was. And then it is said that they went to Thursineen. It is said that they went to Bethlehem, Bethlehem. Right? Where Isa Alaihi Wasallam was born. Where Jesus was born. And it's said then he also passed the road which Ibrahim and Ismail used to take to Mecca. And so what was the point of stopping on all these places to show that these are all of our sacred places too. The place where Musa Alaihi Wasallam was. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said to the people of the book, we are more deserving of Musa than you are. And he stopped at the place where Jesus was born. Why? To connect the dots. It was about saying and recognizing that all these places are not the holy places of some other religions. And Muslims have just what came at the end. All of those places are from Allah. All of those places are for Islam. And then the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam what did he do? He as he went, they finally arrived by night at Masjid al-Aqsa. Masjid al-Aqsa being what? The furthest masjid. This is where Allah SWT says as we heard the ayat today. Glory be to the one who took his servant on a journey by night from the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to the Masjid al-Aqsa, the furthest masjid, the furthest temple, which is the place of worship built by Suleyman Alaihi As-Salam in one single night. Right? That Masjid al-Aqsa Allah says that we blessed all around it. Not just the one building itself. That one masjid, that one area. No, Allah blessed all around that area. That's the holy land. In order to show him our signs. And indeed, Indeed Allah is all hearing and all seeing. What is he all hearing and all seeing? In this case, the Mufasireen, they say Allah was hearing what? The dua of the Prophet S.A. When he was alone in the garden asking for help. And Allah is Basir. He's seeing everything. He's seeing what people are doing to his beloved Rasul S.A. But don't think that he abandoned our Rasul S.A. No. No. He sees everything that's happening. And this is why S.A. the one of the Ulemar, Allah Naqibi, actually mentions that the Sameer and the Basir actually also has a chance of referring to the Prophet S.A. Because of the fact that the Prophet S.A. would hear the speech of Allah and according to some narration see Allah on that day. And so the Prophet S.A. as he comes out. Now just imagine the way that we understand Masjid al-Aqsa today. It has the dome of the rock. Don't picture that because that wasn't there. That was built after the Muslims came. And Masjid al-Qibli what we call Masjid al-Aqsa. It's not a building. People get this wrong. You have these forwards going around. That this is the Masjid al-Aqsa. No, that's Masjid al-Aqsa. No. The entire platform, that entire raised platform, the Temple Mount is what is Masjid al-Aqsa. It's a whole place is a Masjid. And so the Prophet S.A. came there and it had actually been abandoned and not used by the Romans for centuries by that point as a disrespect to the previous Ahl al-Kitab. And the Prophet S.A. came there and he says as I came in in one narration he says I recognized some, there were people there. Some were in Ruku'a. Some were in Qiyam. Some were in Sujood. He said I recognized them as the prophets. The Prophet S.A. had not seen the prophets before but something came in his heart these are the prophets. Allah put that in his heart. And when those people were done when all the prophets were there there were some of the prophets that he had heard about in the Quran and some that Allah did not mention before. All the prophets were gathered there. A number that we don't even know only Allah knows. And as soon as they were finished then Subhan Allah what happens? But a call for prayer is given. This is not the adhan but a call to pray is given. And the Prophet S.A. is naturally told to lead and the Prophet S.A. goes forward and all the prophets come behind him to pray. Which shows what? The rank of our beloved Rasul S.A. You know when you're among equals and it's time to pray what does everybody say? No, you lead. No, no, please, please, please, you do. No, no, no, not me. I mean you lead, you lead. Because nobody wants to feel like they're better than anybody else but all the prophets knew that this was the one to lead because this is the one Rasulullah S.A. that they had all been waiting for. This is the Rasul S.A. That when they heard there was going to be this ummah, the best ummah to ever come to the face of this earth they said, oh Allah, they all made dua let me be the Prophet of that ummah. Allah didn't accept that dua. They said, okay, if I can be the Prophet of that ummah let me be part of that ummah. And the only one that will get that is Isa, Jesus Christ peace be upon him. And so now when they see this Prophet just imagine the delight that they have that they have gone on from this world and yet Allah brings them back brings their souls back in body and flesh to pray with the Prophet S.A. And when S.A. this is why S.A. you think now the Rasul S.A he was treading on earth but look how he was dealt with by the people on earth. Look how he was treated but there was one place where he was appreciated. There was one place where people were longing to see him and they had never seen him yet but they respected and loved him so much and that was the people of the S.A. the people of the heavens. And when he came he led them in a prayer showing the unity of Islam and the fact that the Khilafat the custodianship of the message of Allah was being passed from all of those previous prophets to our beloved Rasul S.A. And then as he finished Jibril S.A. brought a tray with a two vessels one vessel full of milk and one vessel full of wine. Now this was a time when it was not haram to drink wine so you could it's halal if I give you two halal options you have options and yet the Prophet S.A. he still chose the milk. Milk what does it represent? Milk is unadulterated unadulterated it is pure there's no interference in it wine has to you know be vinegar and then you know it basically has to go bad and then become wine showing that there's something pure about Islam and when he took that milk he just naturally avoided wine even before it was haram and Jibril S.A. a sapt al fitra he says you have chosen the natural way and in one report Jibril S.A. Gabriel says had you chosen the wine your ummah would have gone astray your ummah would have been not astray one sip of the Prophet S.A. determines what? the guidance of the ummah had the Prophet S.A. drank wine on that day maybe there would have been Muslims who came and said look our Prophet drank wine that time I'm just doing that now and Subhanallah even the small actions of the Prophet S.A. are connected to our guidance one little thing the Prophet S.A. does could determine the fate of the ummah and so we don't realize how intimately connected we are to Rasulullah S.A. how intimately connected just like as as you can say as a child an infant running around and the mother is watching over the infant that infant is completely oblivious running around maybe hurting itself knocking into things making noise and yet not worried about feeding not worried about getting changed and yet there is a mother or a father over that child the Prophet S.A. had more love for us than that watching over us making sure that every little action does not misguide his ummah in the future and the Prophet S.A. then when he had chosen this is when they made what that was the Isra the night journey then came time for the Meir Raj that was the ascension and what does that show us that shows us that sometimes we have to do the horizontal journey in this world we have to take the journey when you do your part and you take that journey Allah will take the vertical journey for you to go up to Allah Spana Ta'ala in our hearts and so the Prophet S.A. was taken then with Angel Jibril A.S and he went through the skies in some in some narrations as well it was at Meir Raj it was actually steps that were leading up and so the Prophet S.A. then went and we know the story about the different prophets he meets at the different levels but let's talk a little bit about the things that he sees as he's flying through the heavens first he sees many different things many wondrous things the Prophet S.A. saw heaven and hell he saw it making noise and he saw even the Angel that stands over Hellfire Malik Khazan and Nar and that Angel never smiled since it was created because of the job that it has and he was told that if it would have smiled for anyone it would have been for you O Rasulullah so I saw him but it doesn't smile and the Prophet S.A. he saw people being punished in various ways he saw people being punished now imagine in Ummah he loves and cries for all night how did he how do you think it feels to see people from his Ummah being punished and so he saw people who had wondrous dishes of meat available to them maybe steaks barbecue what we don't know what roast and yet there was rotten putrid meat and they were going to eat that meat instead of the the pure wholesome fresh meat and it was told he said what's happening here and he was told that these are the people who leave their halal spouses in this world and go towards haram zina and the Prophet S.A. people S.A. getting their heads smashed the Prophet S.A. women hanging from their chests those people who commit zina and then kill their children after the Prophet S.A. people being fed fire eating fire just imagine into their bellies and he asked what is this and he said these are the people who eat the wealth of orphans who eat the wealth of orphans how many times in our cultures do we deprive our daughters of their inheritance our sisters of their inheritance subhanAllah don't think it's just the orphans and oh we don't do that in our cultures do our women get their inheritance and the Prophet S.A. people who were getting their tongue and lips cut off with scissors and he said these are the people men of love protect us these are the people who preach to other people but they don't follow what they preach men of love protect us and he saw people scratching their faces and these are the people who backbite other people when you're with each other and you say oh this person oh this person is so dumb this person look how she looks look how they are they're like this they're like that scratching your face on the day of judgment do you want to be doing that and so subhanAllah why did the Prophet S.A. filled him with concerns so when he came back he told us about these sins and so he wasn't shown these things as a type of a morbid entertainment no he was shown so that he could get concern and bring this to us so we could be safe on the day of judgment that we don't end up in that situation and the Prophet S.A. we know he was shown the dajjal as well the Prophet S.A. in some reports the Prophet S.A. was also shown as he flew over the grave of Musa A. on a red hill which we don't know exactly where that is today it's not marked he saw Musa A. praying inside his grave how does that mean you're up in the sky you're looking through a grave and you're seeing a Prophet praying inside his grave Allahu Akbar and the Prophet S.A. when he was flying through the skies a beautiful a fragrant smell filled his nostrils and he said what is that beautiful fragrance that fragrance is paradise and Jibril A. said that is nashitah ibnatu fir ibnati fir'am that is the lady who used to comb the hair of the daughter of Pharaoh so he said what's that what do you mean that's the smell of the lady what does that mean and Jibril A. to hold in this story and said fir'am was the greatest tyrant we know that he was a great oppressor there's never been a greater tyrant than fir'am who even declared himself God and oppressed the Bani Israel and he used to forbid anyone from worshipping anyone other than him however his daughter fir'am's daughter who was like a princess she had a servant that servant used to comb the hair of that princess of the daughter of fir'am combing the hair at night perhaps and one day she dropped the comb on the ground and she bent down to pick it up and said Bismillah and picked it up just like when you might just say Bismillah and the daughter of fir'am turned and said what did you just say in the name of Allah do you take a do you take a God besides my father and what did that lady say the the the servant she said my Lord and your Lord is Allah that's a time of great test when you're asked you're tested on your faith and you say my Lord and your Lord is Allah not just this is my belief and you have your belief I have my belief my Lord and your Lord is Allah she said I'm going to tell my father she told fir'am in the house in the palace of fir'am there's a person who believes in Allah so that lady was brought and fir'am brought not only her but brought her husband and her children and a cauldron was brought as well like a type of a big an iron pot and there was a fire that was stoked underneath it burning and he asked this lady do you take a Lord other than me and she said my Lord and your Lord is Allah in front of fir'am and he said bring the husband and the husband was taken and thrown alive inside that flame until he burned to death and that lady did not recant her faith even hearing the cries and screams of her husband burning to death she did not recant her faith and then fir'am saw she's not giving up he took the first child and he threw that child in the cauldron and one by one that lady lost all of her children and then the lady the last child that she had was a nursing a newborn baby and she said fir'am I have one request from you I have a haqq on you now kings are arrogant so when they hear someone saying oh you have a request from me before I kill you what is it and she said when I die I want you to take my ashes and bones and my husbands and my children and wrap us up in one cloth and bury us together he said this is a haqq you have on me I'll do this for you and as he began to take away the guards came to take away the baby emotion now finally got to the mother and she started to get emotional and resist and the prophet to some tells us that the baby itself spoke oh my mother be patient for you are on the haqq and she let her she watched her child being thrown in and then she herself did not recant and she was thrown in do you know there are Muslims today who go through these things do you know what our brothers and sisters in China are going through do you know what our brothers and sisters in some other places are going through just to say la ilaha illallah this is a timeless story it is a story of believers holding onto their faith at all costs and then she gets into the cauldron and she burns as well and of course they were wrapped up and buried so now tell me why is it perhaps why can we speculate why does the prophet to some smell a beautiful fragrance why is it a fragrance that she represents why why you have the shuhada they're martyrs they're shuhada but why a smell what do you think about it I thought about this and Allah knows best but anyone who has gone through any type of that disaster they say that this the smell of burning flesh of a human is the worst thing the most nausea and she had to she had to see that of her own children and yet Allah decided to perfume the whole heavens with her smell because of her iman that the Rasul says have to stop and say what is this what is this woman's name we don't know this is a nameless woman an unsung hero that all we can do is say Allah akbar may Allah grant her even higher at higher station when we hear these words just remember that the heroes the people who stand up for iman in the umma in since the previous umma they're not always the popular people they're sometimes they're the people you would think oh lady who combs the hair don't look down on people every believer la ilaha illallah is in their heart and then the Prophet ﷺ he then goes up to all the skies and in the first sky they come towards the gate and the gates of jannah are closed and jibril alai salam he knocks on that gate and a voice comes and says who is it he says jibril he says is there anyone with you he says muhammad and he said have you been has he been sent for and jibril alai salam said yes and so the doors open marhaban welcome those doors are closed because it's showing the the status of the Prophet ﷺ that there are no analysis allowed in the Prophet ﷺ it opens as though they are expecting him when you say that name muhammad ﷺ doors of jannah start to open when we hear that name what does it do for our hearts does it open our hearts and the Prophet ﷺ goes inside and he sees adam alai salam jibril tells him this is your father adam he says salams to him the Prophet ﷺ said salams to him and adam alai salam said welcome to a righteous son and a righteous prophet and after some time he goes to the second heaven the second sorry sky and the same thing takes place they knock who is it jibril has someone with you muhammad ﷺ is he sent for yes he was sent for meaning it's time it's time and then the gates are opened and he sees who he says aisa alai salam jesus and yahya john the baptist as they call him today alai salam two cousins and the Prophet ﷺ said they used to look alike they were resembling each other as cousins daughters of two sons of two sisters and they say marhaban welcome to a righteous brother and a righteous prophet and they meet each other for some time and then after the Prophet ﷺ goes to the third heaven where he sees they go to the same process knocking and then the gates are opened and the gates are open they say and he sees yusuf alai salam joseph yusuf alai salam the Prophet ﷺ says first thing he described he says he was given half of beauty when you see you know when you see a really stunningly beautiful person you can't help but notice that they're beautiful it doesn't mention anything he says Prophet ﷺ said immediately he was given half of beauty but it is said the Prophet ﷺ was given all of beauty but his beauty was so much that had we understood what his true beauty was we wouldn't have been able to pardon no one would have been able to handle it in this world that's why they say that when the ladies saw yusuf alai salam they cut their hands out of wonder at how beautiful someone could be and it is said that if the ladies had saw Muhammad ﷺ that they would have cut their hearts they would have cut their hearts and the Prophet ﷺ who was welcomed welcomed to a righteous prophet a righteous brother and a righteous prophet and then he went to the fourth sky and the same interchange took place at the gates and he saw Idris alai salam who said welcome to a righteous brother and a righteous prophet and then he went to the fifth sky where he saw Harun alai salam where he said welcome to a righteous brother and a righteous prophet and finally he came to the sixth heaven to the sixth sky which is called Samal and when that door opened low and behold he saw Musa alai salam Musa alai salam welcomed him and said to him welcome to a righteous brother and a righteous prophet now the Prophet ﷺ stayed with him some time and it is said in some narrations that Musa alai salam advised that when you're going up for your discourse go easy on the umba you know it asked for ease for your umba that Musa alai salam advised him now as the Prophet ﷺ was parting from Musa alai salam he saw Musa alai salam crying now the question is this there are no tears in Jannah why would you cry in Jannah it's a place for all your pain and sadness is over then he was asked Musa alai salam was asked why are you crying in Jannah he said I'm crying because this young man who was sent after me more people from his umba will enter Jannah than my umba this is the love that a Prophet has it doesn't separate even when he leaves the world even when he's in Jannah and all his problems are over his mind his heart is still attached to his umba so imagine the heart of our Rasul ﷺ where he is now worrying about us and the Prophet ﷺ and this is not done out of jealousy but it's because every single Prophet is so attached to his own people who he called that he can't bear to see people that he invited to the deam go astray this is the other question I have to ask when we see the followers of Musa alai salam who claim to follow him do we want them to go to Jannah or do we want bad for them we should want good for the followers of all the previous Prophets even if they're not following them properly even if they're doing the wrong things we should want that they are guided to Islam and that their Prophet originally will be happy to see at least they came into our umba Alhamdulillah and then SubhanAllah and then they went up to the seventh sky and the door was opened and low in the hole was Ibrahim al-Islam who is obviously the father of all the prophets the forefather and this is where he said say salams to your father Abraham and this is showing how the deen of Islam came full circle and reconnected to its Abrahamic roots that Islam is the true expression of the Abrahamic what they call the Abrahamic tradition now Hamdulillah it's the Muhammadan tradition Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and then the Prophet went beyond and he was shown four rivers as we know two rivers that were apparent and two that were hidden he saw the Nile and the Euphrates even up there in Jannah he saw the Nile and the Euphrates but allama say because if these two rivers are supporting so much life they are supporting so much life here on earth and if you look at that between those rivers there is the cradle of Islam when you look between the Euphrates in Iraq and the Nile in Egypt that the cradle of Islam is inside there and then he saw also two hidden rivers he saw Salsabil a river of paradise and he saw the stream that leads to Kauthar al-Kauthar and just and just remember we know we all know the Surah Allah says indeed we have given you the Kauthar do you know why the Kauthar was given to the Prophet because the Prophet in the Medin period they were persecuted and SubhanAllah he had one son and both of his sons actually they died in their infancy he lost his son and when he was being persecuted by the Quraish he would walk into the Masjid in the Masjid al-Haram to pray and the Quraish would mock him and they would say can you imagine how low they were when he was going through the loss of his son they said this man don't worry about him his deen will not survive because he lost his son so next generation deen won't survive he and they said he's cut off he's abdar they used to call him you're abdar you're cut off you don't have a son imagine how hurtful that is yes you're doing your dawah but now personally they're attacking you like this they're personally attacking you and they would come one of them would come into the face al-Asim and Wael would come to the face of the Prophet and say I hate you to his face in a time when he was grieving and this is where Allah Sparantara says indeed we have given you al-Kawthar Allah gave Kawthar to the Prophet as a consolation for the pain he was going through and now finally he gets to see al-Kawthar that Allah promised him subhanAllah and what is the rest of the Surah of Kawthar he says verily the one who hates you he will be cut off and look Allahu Akbar that the two sons of that man because somebody could ask well the Prophet ﷺ didn't have children I mean sons living on and yet that man al-Asim and Wael his two sons they lived on so how can he be up to how can he be cut off in his lineage because those two sons became Muslim when those two sons became Muslim they joined Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam spiritual lineage so it's like we're all coming from the lineage of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam even though he did not have through sons a lineage because he's like our spiritual father more than that and so this was Kawthar that he saw and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam there's so many other things but we we'll have to choose what we speak about he then goes to the Bait al-Ma'mur now the way that we have a Kaaba in this world exactly above our Kaaba in the cosmos is the Bait al-Ma'mur it is the it is the celestial house it's like a mirror Kaaba with a Kaaba in the world and a Kaaba in the sky and that Kaaba is Subhana there are so many angels at every time making tawaf thousands and tens of thousands of uncountable numbers of angels making tawaf all the time and it's so big and so crowded that in all of existence of the of the of the universe from the beginning until Allah destroys it on the day of judgment every angel will only get one chance to go around Subhana and so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam sees that and sees Ibrahim A.S. leaning upon it leaning upon it and then he hears he goes to a place where he hears the screeching of the pens and that sound is what it's the pens writing down the fate and the destiny in the loha in the Kitab where it's preserved all of our destinies he's hearing them being written and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam which tells us what that whatever happens to you in life was meant to happen to you so look forward and ask Allah for the best and if something bad happened then you just say ask Allah for something better because that destiny was being written long before us and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he subhanAllah this is where he comes to the furthest low tree Sidhu al-Muntah the furthest low tree is the extent towards to which the created universe goes after that point why do they call it the Muntah Muntah is the place of the Nihaya it's the place at the end nothing can go beyond that nothing goes beyond it no living creature has ever stepped there and the ilm of every single created creature stops at that point and so yet the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is called even beyond that and he describes the tree the low tree he says it was so big you could walk in its shade for 500 years that leaves are like the are like the ears of elephants of course these are just approximations how do you describe something that's even beyond your imagination so he's just describing it in the way that people would understand and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he then subhanAllah he goes even beyond that and then when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam goes there that's when he goes into the divine discourse with Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam what was said between the master and the servant nobody knows exactly because that person that you love the most sometimes you have the intimate discourses discussions when two people are really close and you see them talking so so so you can't know what's going on between beloved and the lover between husband and wife so many different conversations that take place in the night once they're they're dead and gone nobody knows what happens it's a secret that's buried with them now this is a secret that we'll never know and what we we also don't know exactly there was a difference between the sahaba did Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam see Allah on that night or not even the sahaba there was a difference of opinion but many of our olama said yes the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did see Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam then came back we know he came with 50 prayers Allah made farad on his umma 50 prayers when he met Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said listen I have tried out people before I have had an umma before I have an experience with Bani Israel they're not going to be able to follow 50 prayers go back and ask for something less so he goes back and Allah reduces it to 40 and then he goes back to Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in his descent and Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said go back your umma's too weak they cannot take it so he goes back and it's reduced to 30 and he goes back again on Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's advice to 20 to 10 finally to 5 and when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is advised now by Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that get less because Musa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's umma they only pray twice a day he says they couldn't even handle that so it's an honor that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said I'm not going to go below five now and then a voice came out I have made this obligatory on my on this umma and that the reward of those five will be the 10 of the like so you get 50 so next time you're thinking about sleeping in the Fajr just think about where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had to go to get that command every other command came from the skies down to the earth and this command came from the Subhan of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had to go and get it straight from the heavens and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he came down and said some of the Ulema also say why did he keep going back and forth to Allah to get accustomed to being in the presence of Allah so on the day of judgment when he makes shafa'a for us he will be able to he'll be intimate if intimately familiar with Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that there won't be that sense of awe why for our sake when he intercedes for our sins and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came down and as we know he passed by the caravans of the Quraish that were in the middle of their journey and he passed by them and he saw one of them breaking one of their jars of water in the middle of the night he saw one of them losing a camel he even went and he took a sip of their water as if time had stopped for him time did stop for him and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam went back and it is said that he went back in his bed was just the way he left it and no one knew that he left the next morning the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam subhanAllah he awoke and he went outside and he was looking very downcast because he was thinking how will I tell people what I've just seen they'll reject it so Abu Jahl saw the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam looking downcast and never one to miss an opportunity to put down our Prophet he came to pretend do you know those people who pretend that they're sympathetic with you oh what happened what's wrong the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said I was taken on a journey by night to Masjid al-Aqsa Abu Jahl said overnight he said yes he said you mean the journey that we take 30 days to go and 30 days to come back you made in a single night he said yes he said if I bring people here will you say the same thing because he didn't want to go and then maybe the Prophet will deny it he said if I bring other people here will you admit this he said yes so he gathered the people around and he said did you go to Jerusalem overnight and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said yes and they all started to laugh and jeer and they said okay we know you haven't been to Jerusalem then describe it for us and so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam began to describe Jerusalem but he went there during the night time so at some point he didn't see all the different things and some of the Quraish the elder Quraish they had traveled that far because they were traders and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam it said that the image of the Masjid Aqsa came into the eyes of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as though he saw it and they asked him how many gates does the Masjid have and he could count one, two, three this is how many gates and he described it and they said that this has got to be magic and then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam even told them that your caravans that are coming back they're at this distance they'll arrive at this time and one of them has broken one of their jars that they're carrying one of them lost a camel and lo and behold when that time came and the next day the caravans in the coming days they arrived exactly when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said they came to Abu Bakr rather Anhu and now what happened was the Muslims who saw this many of the Muslims of course had complete faith but many of the some of the Muslims who had weak Imam because of the persecution the Quraish really cured the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam look your Prophet says he went to Aqsa overnight they didn't even talk about the Bilalaj and some of the Muslims actually lost their faith so you have to hold on to your faith and who was the one who affirmed it they went Abu Bakr they came to him said your Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says that he went there and back overnight Abu Bakr said did he really say it they said yes they said if he said it then I believe it if he said it then I believe it because I believe something greater than that I believe that he gets revelations from the sky down to the earth and this is why he's called a Siddique the great verifier of the truth sometimes you don't have to do anything very much you don't have to be super Muslim all the time better than everybody else but it's something that's inside here if anything else have your firm belief in the truth of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Abu Bakr did not surpass people because of how much he prayed and fasted as one of the Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said but because of something that was inside his heart and so Subhanallah this is all going to show us that as we this is the journey and this is the next day the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam gathered all the believers together and they prayed their first prayer together do you guys know which prayer that was which prayer was the first prayer they all prayed sorry louder Fajr no it wasn't Fajr Fajr no it wasn't Hajr it was it wasn't Fajr because it was dark at that time and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not tell everybody yet it was next it was the next one it was Dhohar so Dhohar prayer was the first prayer that the Muslims prayed together Jibril Alaihi Wasallam himself came to show the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam the timings and the method of the prayer and the believers all followed and he did this Dhohar Asr Maghrib Isha then again Fajr and right back until it was two days of praying and this is how the Ummah started their prayers and has been going on and on and on until our prayer just today Hamdullah unbroken chain of prayers now spread all over the world and they say that the reason why Dhohar prayer was the first prayer was because it was time to show in the in the daytime in the sun they're not hiding anymore that Islam is now here to eclipse all the other ways and philosophies it's come to bring that good news and so Subhanallah what do we understand from all there's so many lessons from the Isra on the Meraj but the one thing that we know from the beginning is that this shows the status of our beloved Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam don't let anyone put any idea or doubt inside your heart about the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he suffered for our sake he went through all of this torture for our sake and what it tells you is that in your life you may go through many many hardships but when you go through difficulties on earth for the sake of Allah and you're honest to Allah and Allah sees what you're going through even the heavens will get involved to bring you your justice to bring you your relief that when you have expended all your energy for the sake of Allah this is why we started with the dua of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam after he had tried everything then it comes sometimes the relief does not come until you've tried everything that you have give it your everything whether it's in any aspect of your life in your marriage in your job in raising your children in holding on to your faith and also this Subhanallah that when these things when sometimes you know the fact that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came back as we know the great poet Allah ma iqbal Rahmat Alayhi he said this is the difference between a prophet and a saint if a saint goes up to heaven and sees the beauty of Jannah and leaves behind the world he's happy he doesn't want to come back a prophet returns our prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was the one who returned he could have stayed there and saw and everything could have been better for him but he chose to come back why for our sake and don't think it got easier for him when he went back he came back to Badr he came back to the Hijrah leaving his homeland he came back to Badr to Uhud to burying three of his daughters and one son losing his companions he came back to struggle more but he had the believers and prayers with him when we have Sulla in our lives this is when Islam began to expand Hijrah happened very shortly after the relief came to the Muslims but new tests will come but you know what you'll be strong enough to handle them because you're holding on to your prayers you're holding on to the love of Allah and Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam you'll become strong enough to handle anything that Allah puts in your way through your faith with Allah and just remember as well that the victory did come the physical victory of coming back to Mecca the moral victory of forgiving his enemies at the end of his life but the spiritual victory has to come in your life first don't think that you're going to be successful first in the world and then later on will become religious no commit yourself to Allah and following the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam right now and then the victory will come don't try to chase after the dunya we victory before the spiritual victory strive for Allah's sake and just remember subhan Allah that no matter how much we go through no matter how much we go through that this is the sunnah of Allah on earth that those who love Allah and his Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam will go through tests and it does not mean that Allah has forsaken you rather it's the opposite it means that you are beloved to Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam it means that you are close to Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and that Allah wants the best for you but it takes imam to understand that don't expect the rest of the world to understand why do you people go through earthquakes why do you people go through oppression because we know that there is something waiting for us from Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam accept this inshaAllah May Allah guide those who are seeking guidance and may Allah make us of those who act upon the advices of the Isra'al-e-Biyaraj and stamina prayers. JazakAllah khairan and I apologize. Inshallah. Ya Allah, thank you so much for every single blessing that you've given us. Ya Allah, thank you for creating us. Thank you for giving us faith. Thank you for giving us health and our families. Thank you for letting us say la ilaha illallah. Thank you for your Qur'an. Thank you for sending us your beloved Rasul sallallahu alayhi sallam. Thank you for making us part of his ummah. Thank you for letting us gather together to hear about one chapter of his life. Thank you for sending him and all of his sacrifices. O Allah, increase the rank and the reward and the salats and the salams on our beloved Rasul sallallahu alayhi sallam for everything that he had to go through to get this to us. O Allah, make us of those who carry the banner of deen in our own hearts, in the hearts of our families, our communities, and the entire world. Ya Allah, do not let us stop spreading this message of Rasul sallallahu alayhi sallam until we go back to meet him in al-sardos. Ya Allah, make it easy for us, guide our families, keep our youth within the fold of the deen. Ya Allah, everyone who is going through oppression, anxiety, depression, ya Allah, any type of trauma or abuse, ya Allah, relieve them all from their suffering. All of those in this land and in the Muslim world. Ya Allah, all those victims of the earthquake and any other disasters, ya Allah, make it easy for them. Ya Allah, all those people who have passed away in your path, ya Allah, with la ilaha illallah in their hearts, keep them genital for those. Ya Allah, guide our youth, make our children on the right path. Do not let them go astray. Ya Allah, in this land, ya Allah, let us be good examples to people. Ya Allah, let us be those people who when other people look, they say, what a beautiful thing a Muslim is. What a beautiful example they have and what a beautiful prophet they must have had. Ya Allah, make us of those who people get to know about Rasulullah, so I sent them through our behavior and through our love. Ya Allah, make us of those, ya Allah, not of those who people look at and they turn away from Islam, ya Allah, but people who they look at and are guided to the right, ya Allah. Make us to salute every person in our society, ya Allah. Make a part of the solution where everyone will give us tests every single way for our sake and for our benefit in the benefit of the entire Allah, ya Allah. As-Salaamu Alaykum. As-Salaamu Alaykum. JazakAllah. Okay, alright. I apologize for going on a little longer. As-Salaamu Alaykum.