that the Journey took place with both soul and body, for the word “servant” (ʿabd) applies to the two together. Moreover, had it been a mere dream, the unbelievers of Quraysh would not have rushed to deny it or deem it outlandish, since there would have been nothing extraordinary about a dream. Their immediate rejection therefore proves that he informed them he had been taken while awake, not asleep.

As for the wording found in Sharik’s report from Anas—“Then I woke up and found myself in the Ḥijr” (1)—this is counted among Sharik’s inaccuracies, or else it may be understood in the sense that moving from one state to another is termed an “awakening.” The same usage will appear in ʿĀ’ishah’s ḥadīth when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to al-Ṭāʾif and its people rejected him; he said, “So I returned distressed and did not come to myself until I was at Qarn al-Thaʿālib.” Likewise, in the report of Abū Usayd, when he brought his infant to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the ritual of taḥnīk, he placed the child on the Prophet’s thigh while the Prophet was speaking with the people. Abū Usayd then lifted the boy. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ later “awoke,” did not find the child, and asked about him. They replied that he had been taken away, so the Prophet named him al-Mundhir (2). Interpreting the word in this manner is preferable to declaring the narration erroneous, and Allah knows best.

Ibn Isḥāq relates (3): “Some members of the household of Abū Bakr told me that ʿĀ’ishah, Mother of the Believers, used to say, ‘The body of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was not missing; rather, Allah transported his soul.’” He also said: “Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah narrated to me that whenever Muʿāwiyah was asked about the Prophet’s Night Journey he would reply, ‘It was a true vision from Allah.’”

Ibn Isḥāq continues (4): “Their statements were not rejected, because al-Ḥasan said that the following verse was revealed about the matter: ‘We made not the vision which We showed you except as a trial for the people’ (al-Isrāʾ 17:60). Likewise, Abraham, peace be upon him, said, ‘O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you’ (al-Ṣāffāt 37:102). And the ḥadīth states: ‘My eyes sleep while my heart remains awake’ (5).”

Ibn Isḥāq adds (6): “Allah knows best which of the two possibilities it was; in either case the Prophet came and beheld whatever he beheld of the commands of Allah Most High, in whatever…"