Volume 2005, Number 24 (2005) Year 19, Issue No. 24 September 2005

Inspirations Lessons & Examples Learnt from Mohammad's (PBUH) Accession To The Heavens Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who Heareth and Seeth (all things. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; and peace and respectful salutations be upon whom He was distinguished with ascension to the seven heavens and chosen to be the seal of prophets, imam of all messengers and mercy to all creatures, our Master Mohammad peace be upon Him, his family and his entire companions. The miracle of ascension to the seven heavens was a bestowal of Honors on our messenger Mohammad (PBUH), a rest and satisfaction to his honorable and tired heart, rejuvenation to his firm well and assurance of Allah’s support, protection and victory after facing different forms of torture and harm from Quraish, the last of which the severe hatred and violence from Thaqeef when he approached them for help and support for spreading the new religion. Thaqeef’s response was so rude. They tempted the abusive ones to throw him with stones until bleeding his heels in addition to excessive abuse. He took shelter at the garden of Abu Rabee’ah to get some rest praying to Allah complaining and requesting such as: “If You are not angry with me, then I do not care” Allah wanted to bestow Honors on His prophet by allowing this journey for him in order to strengthen his heart, wipe off his pains and sadness, show him His Greater Signs, and to let him know that he is the Imam of all Prophets and Messengers of Allah by praying at Bait Al Maqdis being their Imam. It implied that this religion is Allah’s last word to His creation, and the harm and torture the Prophet (PBUH) faced is Allah’s Sunnah towards His prophets, picked choice and beloved. Prophets face the highest degree of affliction then their followers who strongly struggle for the right. During this journey, the prophet (PBUH) knew that the message of right he is carrying to the worlds shall spread all over the earth and thus conquer all the evil powers. This miracle obviates the noble and honorable supreme situation of the prophet (PBUH) being the seal of prophets and messengers, and the book sent down to him is the last and most perfect of the holy books that confirms them all. Thus, the messenger of Allah (PBUH) was the closest to Allah, The Supreme, Most High, Full of Majesty, Bounty and Honor. He passed through all the heavens one by one, passed ahead of the horizons of the universe and the dominions, reaching a point no other prophet or close angel ever reached, a lofty station that Gabriel himself did not reach. He was And was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer; So did (Allah) convey the inspiration to His Servant; (conveyed) what He (meant) to convey. The (Prophet's) (mind and) heart in no way falsified that which he saw. Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he saw? For indeed he saw him at a second descent, Near the Lote-tree beyond which none may pass: Near it is the Garden of Abode. Behold, the Lote-tree was shrouded (in mystery unspeakable!), (His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see, of the signs of his Lord, the Greatest!  The heaven he reached is the farthest to which no other prophet ever mounted. His prayer as Imam of all the prophets is an undoubtedly clear evidence of his noble situation above them all with the greatest dignity and rank, and he is the heir of all previous messages, and that Allah perfected His favor and religion by him. Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets. It could not be anything else, since Allah took the covenant of prophets to believe him and order their followers to believe him and follow the Light sent down with him Behold! Allah took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying: "I give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you A Messenger, confirming what is with you; do you believe him and render him help." Allah said: "Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses". The miracle of The “Night Journey and Ascension to the Heavens” draws to the Muslim nation the road for spiritual dignity and heartily ascending to the horizons of repentance, remorse, righteousness and steadfastness. It starts as stated in the noble Hadith – splitting open the Prophet’s (PBUH) chest, washing the heart with Zamzam water, then filling it with wisdom and faith. Washing the heart in particular indicates that it is the container of faith and gratitude. Once hearts are good, the entire body is good. Hearts should be the home of rightfulness only leaving no space for other things as stipulated in the noble Hadith “There is a morsel of flesh in the body, if it is good then the entire body is good, and if it is corrupted then the entire body is corrupted, that is the heart”. People with good hearts avoid evil deeds and sins and run towards faith and righteousness becoming like a Quran walking on earth, giving light for the rescue path saving humanity from corruption and seduction. If hearths are full of faith they can stand most strongly against all sorts of infidelity irrespective of their power But they never lost heart if they met with disaster in Allah's way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. And Allah loves those who are firm and steadfast. . The incident of splitting open the prophet’s (PBUH) chest urges the Islamic nation all over the times to keep on remembrance of Allah, gratefulness, and repentance, washing their hearths from loving this world and uprooting the feeble (loving this world and hating to die). Enemies have conquered us only when we lost true faith from our hearts and obeyed the devil following his temptations and loving this world which leads to forgetting the Hereafter. It also urges the nation to go back to worship, obedience and follow the prophet (PBUH) and his companions in strength of faith filling up the hearts and certainty which leads to freeing hearts from sins in order to become the best of Peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. Slavery to Allah paves demonstrated by the “Night Journey and Ascension to the Heavens” paves the path for the Muslim nation to good pleasure and forgiveness from Allah and then the paradise in the Hereafter, That to thy Lord is the final Goal victory, consolidation, glory, and prosperous life. This is the condition of faithful people; migration towards Allah He said: "I will go to my Lord! He will surely guide me!, running hastily towards Allah Hasten ye then (at once) to Allah: I am from Him a Warner to you, clear and open!, since those faithful are always in a spiritual rise, permanent psychological advancement and full happiness as expressed by a knowledgeable “If kings knew about our happiness they would have fought us for it”. This blessed journey draws to us the road for gaining Allah’s good pleasure through Jihad for the purpose of securing consolidation for Islam all over the world, fighting for protecting the religion and Muslims. When the prophet (PBUH) in his ascension to the Heavens passed by a group of reapers, whatever harvest they cut down grows up immediately as if it was not reaped, asked Gabriel about them and was told that these are Mujahids who are rewarded for the deeds 700 times Nothing do they spend in the least (in His Cause) but He replaces it: for He is the Best of those who grant Sustenance. Jihad is the highest rank of Islam since it is the evidence of the true faith and the fruit of self restraint and real pure obedience to Allah slso the beneficial trade with Allah O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty? That ye believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: that will be best for you, if ye but knew!. In the contract of faith, Allah did buy from believers their persons and goods for the price of the paradise, Allah hath purchased of the Believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise): they fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in Truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur-an: and who is more faithful to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. Mujahids have almost endless merits, such as “they live, finding their sustenance in the Presence of their Lord”; secure from the Great Terror and safe from testing in their graves. This journey also demonstrates to us most explicitly the rank of prayer in Islam which was ordained during the night of accession to the heavens, and is the Second pillar of Islam after faithful belief in Allah and His messenger (PBUH). In the prayer a Muslim washes his sins five times every day while standing in the majestic court of Allah, humbling requesting support, guidance, rationality, straightness and steadiness. Abu Ali Aldaqqaq made a beautiful expression about this journey: “Our prophet (PBUH) brought the accession journey in reality to us, as to us praying has the same rank of accession. Accession was in three stages: from the sacred mosque to the farthest mosque, from the farthest mosque to the Lote-tree, then to the distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer; and to us praying has three stages: standing, bowing and prostrating which is the closest approach. The five Prayers were ordained in the Heaven at the night of accession to purify Muslims and to allow them to call for support, mercy, victory and patience ye who believe! Seek help with patient Perseverance and Prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.. Primitiveness was the prophet’s choice when he selected milk instead of wine. This is a true indication that the Great Islam is the religion of primitiveness. In Anas (Allah well-pleased with him) statement quoting from Muslim “I entered the mosque, prayed two rak’ah ,went out then Gabriel (PBOH) brought one glass of wine and another glass of milk, when I chose the milk Gabriel (PBOH) said: You have chosen the primitiveness”. Primitiveness here means Islam and steadfastness because Islam responds to genuine humane primitiveness desires by means of belief, worship, manners ethics virtues and road of life. Primitiveness cannot reflect happiness, peace, security, peace of mind, purity and loftiness except with Islam. Human being cannot be a source of security and wellbeing unless his primitiveness and spirit are engaged with the everlasting Islam. Humanity shall remain astray from the true path until they respond to this right religion Our religion is) the Baptism of Allah: and who can baptize better than Allah? And it is He Whom we worship. In Islam, wine is the source of all the abominations, the symbol of evil, the deviation from sound primitiveness, straight thinking and noble happy life. Humanity becomes most miserable once follows evil and fights the call of primitiveness leading to Allah  ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life. Deviation from this results in massive folly, sins, distress, puzzle, straying and subservience "But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment. He will say: "O my Lord! why hast thou raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)?" (Allah) will say: "Thus didst thou, when Our Signs came unto thee, disregard them: so wilt thou, this day, be disregarded." One of the important and great lessons that the prophet’s (PBUH) journey started from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, not from the Sacred Mosque to the Lote-tree, a crystal clear indication of the high rank of this mosque with Allah, and consequently Muslims must sacrifice anything for it and its protection. Muslims need not be weary and faint-hearted towards invaders who occupied Jerusalem and the Islamic land of Palestine. This loss happened due to the Muslim nation’s departure from the brilliant rules of Islam as indicated in the glorious verses of Quran and the holy Hadith. The other most obvious indication is the transfer of the world’s leadership to the nation of Mohammad (PBUH) since the message sent down to him indicates the transfer of leadership in guidance, reform, knowledge and justice to his nation. This message was well carried and demonstrated by the kind companions and followers of the prophet (PBUH) which lead the world to a real humane universal civilization for many centuries. It is hoped that the Muslim nation feels and understands the greatness of the message they are honored with, and carry it most carefully to all mankind. The (Qur-an) is indeed the Message, for thee and for thy people; and soon shall ye (all) be brought to account.  Could the occasion of the accession to the heavens be a start of incentive to this nation for reform and retrieval of power, dignity and prosperity. For this, we celebrate the occasion of the accession to the heavens to pleas Allah – It is His to create and govern. Allah will certainly aid those who aid His (cause); for verily Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will; (They are) those who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end (and decision) of (all) affairs. Final Words: This is volume 24 of Sharia & Law Journal. It is full of jurisprudential and legal researches which we hope will meet the satisfaction of all readers and researchers in jurisprudential and legal studies and help them in finalizing their studies and researches. In addition to research papers, this volume also contains some of the most important ruling of the UAE Supreme Court, legislative fatwas and judicial principles made by the Department of Fatwa and Legislation, Ministry of Justice & Islamic Affairs, UAE, in addition to the recommendations concluded by the 14th annual conference of The Faculty of Sharia and Law college “Islamic Financial Institutions: Current Aspects & Future Prospects” held at Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry during the period 7-9 Rabi II, 1426H corresponding to 15-17 May 2005 and was attended by a number of specialists with valuable research papers gathered in five volumes. These volumes are available with the Printing Department of UAEU. The good news for those interested: All volumes of the Sharia & Law Journal are now available on line on the following web site: http://sljournal.uaeu.ac.ae Also all research papers presented in the previous annual conferences of the Faculty of Sharia and Law are also available on the following web site: http://slconf.uaeu.ac.ae Researchers may benefit from the contents therein, but they have to refer to the source for the protection of authors and the Journal’s intellectual property rights. Dr. Mohammad Abdul Raheem Sultan Al Olama Editor in Chief