In the name of GOD, the most Gracious, most Merciful



.First of all I want to thank Mr. Samer Islamboli and Mr. Shareef Hadi for this great discussion. In this article I would like to show my opinion about the night journey and elevation of prophet Mohammad (PBUH).



(Glory be to Him Who made HIS servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest mosque of which WE have blessed the precincts, so that WE may show to him some of OUR signs; surely HE is the Hearing, the Seeing) . The Noble Quran, Chapter 17, Verse 1

By reading this verse, I see that it is difficult to conclude that the farthest mosque is in Palastine due to the following reasons:-



1- AL-Aqsa mosque was built in Salah Al-Deen Al-Ayyobi era



2-When Omar Ibn EL-Khattab came to Palastine for the first time, there was no mosque, thus he prayed in an empty space.



3- About Solmon temple, The Roman emperor Titus ordered its destruction in 70AD



4- Let's observe together dear brothers that part of the verse (WE may show to him some of OUR signs)



Now let's read together dear brothers the noble verses in chapter 53:



(The Lord of Mighty Power has taught him,The Lord of Strength; so he attained completion, And he is in the highest part of the horizon. Then he drew near, then he bowed , So he was the measure of two bows or closer still. The heart (and mind) was not untrue in (making him see) what he saw. What! do you then dispute with him as to what he saw? For indeed he saw him at a second descent, At the farthest lote-tree; Near which is the garden, the place to be resorted to. When that which covers covered the lote-tree; (His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord ) The noble Quran, Chapter 53, Verses 5 - 18



Now while reading the pervious noble verses, you can conclude the following:



1- The verse (The heart (and mind) was not untrue in (making him see) what he saw clarifies that the journey (or what they call as the elevation) was in a matterless manner (soul journey) as the mind sensation is different than other sensations : (And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart (and mind), all of these, shall be questioned about that) The noble Quran, Chapter 17, Verse 36



2- (For indeed he saw him at a second descent)  refers to seeing Gabrail in his real form for the second time (as the first time was when Mohammed was ordered to deliver the message) and we can observe that it was at the farthest lote-tree which is far beyond our planet.



3- ( Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord ) clarifies very clearly the signs which were pointed out by chapter 17 ( so that WE may show to him some of OUR signs;) , And saying that Mohammed (PBUH) went with his body from Mecca to Palastine then he was elevated to the heavens is impossible because the noble Quran has denied this. As the noble Quran denied the posibbility of body elevation to the heavens as it was discussed earlier in this site. And for saying that the Journey took place from Mecca to Palastine only without any elevation to the heavens, then I shall ask about the verses in chapter 53. What are they pointing then?



So what is the conclusion of this article till now:



The conclusion is that the journey is the journey of the soul and not the body of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and it started from Mecca.



So what is the farthest mosque???



Let's read the noble verse again togethrt dear brothers:



Glory be to Him Who made HIS servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest mosque of which WE have blessed the precincts, so that WE may show to him some of OUR signs; surely HE is the Hearing, the Seeing) . The Noble Quran, Chapter 17, Verse 1



Observe the following:



1- The word (farthest) came without any limitation. That means that the verse didn't say from the Sacred mosque to the farthest mosque that Mohammad can reach but it came without any limitation which means it is the farthest mosque for Mohammad (PBUH) , for us and for evey time and place.



2- The journey started from Mecca and ended at the farthest mosque which might mean that this mosque is actually far beyond our planet. That means it might be at the farthest lote-tree or at any point where no mosque can be built beyond (and who knows it might be at paradise) . That mosque is placed there for praising GOD at that place.



So the final conclusion of this article:



There is no elevation of body to the heavens (No Me'raj) but there was a journey only. And it was the journey of the soul and not of the body of Mohammad (PBUH) . It started from Mecca and ended at the farthest mosque in the universe which is located at the heavens.







At the end I want to say that this is only an opinion. It might be either right or wrong. And may GOD almighty forgive me if I was mistaken.



Peace and mercy of GOD be upon all of you