Beginning of the Prophetic Mission Roz e Besat & Me'raj - 27 Rajab

The 27th of Rajab holds importance for two reasons - it is when the first Me'raj - the Night of Ascension of the Prophet - took place. It is also the day when the official appointment of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) began. Numerous scholars have written books on this great event in which the physical travel of the Prophet from Makkah to the heavens, visiting the previous Prophets until reaching to the pinnacle of the creation - the Sidratul Muntaha.

The belief of the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt is that the physical Me'raj is one of the necessities of the faith. Thus, if a person does not believe that this event took place with the physical body, he can not be classified as a Shi'a - nor can he benefit from the help and intercession of the guides of the faith - of whom the Prophet is the first.

On 27th Rajab, all the Muslim believers celebrate this as a grand day of Meraj as "Grand Eid" and all the Muslims should be proud to have such a prophet like Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny, to whom Almighty Allah (swt) was also proud and had invited him to visit and talked with very nearer distance as mentioned in the Holy Quran (Qhaba Qhausain 53:9).

Also note that, the Meraj of the prophet has taken place more than once. However, it should be mentioned that Meraj in which the daily Salat was made incumbent, without doubt, occurred before the death of Abu Talib, who passed away in the 10th year of Bessat. Unmistakably, from the ahadith and books of history, it is mentioned that on the night of Meraj, Allah gave the order of the five daily Salat as being mandatory upon the Islamic Nation.

The darkness of the night had spread across the horizon and silence reigned over the face of nature. The time had arrived when the living creatures take rest and sleep so that they might recuperate from their activities of the previous day. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny, was also not an exception to this law of nature and he wished to take rest after offering his prayers in the house of "Umm-e-Hani", the daughter of his uncle and sister of Amir al-Mominin Ali (pbuh) in the blessed city of Makkah. However, suddenly he heard a voice; it was the voice of the Archangel Jibreel (pbuh) who said to him:

"This night you have to perform a very unique journey and I have been ordered to remain with you. You will have to traverse different parts of the world mounted on an animal named Buraq."

The Holy Prophet of Islam, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny began his historical night journey, along with the trusted protector of the revelation, the Angel Jibreel (pbuh) from the house of "Umm-e-Hani", with the aide of his steed al-Buraq.

"After some time, Jibreel (pbuh) stopped Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny and said to perform the Salat. Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny dismounted from Buraq and performed Salat. Jibreel (pbuh) said, 'Do you know where you just prayed?' Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny replied to him in negative. Jibreel (pbuh) said, 'In Tayyibah (Madinah), that place where your travelers will go.' After this, Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him and his progeny got back onto Buraq and continued the journey."