Umm Haniʿ narrated: “Gabriel, upon him be peace, came to the Prophet with a mount called al-Buraq—smaller than a mule yet larger than a donkey, and each time it lifted a hoof it landed at the farthest point its eye could see. He seated the Prophet upon it and travelled with him by night to Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem).”

The verb asrā (“to travel by night”) stems from sarā, and this journey is among the Prophet’s unique honours and miracles. In Jerusalem he met the earlier prophets. He then ascended to the heavens—that is, he was raised from Bayt al-Maqdis into the sky in the company of Gabriel. The term miʿrāj means “ascent.” Thus he was taken by night from Mecca to Bayt al-Maqdis, and from Bayt al-Maqdis he was carried up into the heavens. Gabriel escorted him, passing the inhabitants of each heaven; at every level Gabriel sought permission to enter and it was granted. They reached the seventh heaven, and from there rose beyond the heavens to the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary (sidrat al-muntahā). There Allah spoke to him by revelation as He willed, prescribing the five daily prayers—initially setting them at fifty in every day and night. Moses, upon him be peace, advised our Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to ask his Lord for a reduction, for his community would not be able to bear fifty prayers daily. The Messenger of Allah kept returning to his Lord, seeking a reduction, until they were finally fixed at five.