It is likewise an essential tenet of creed that the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was taken on the Night Journey and raised to the heavens in both soul and body, while fully awake and not in a dream. Some people assert that only his soul traveled and that his body never left Mecca, claiming that the Journey and Ascension happened merely in spirit; such statements are false. In reality he was transported—body and soul together—on the Buraq, and the entire event occurred while he was awake. Had it happened only in spirit, or been nothing more than a dream, what distinction would it have from any other vision? Allah, exalted and sublime, says: “Glory be to the One who took His servant by night” (Q 17:1).

The word “servant” (ʿabd) refers to the union of soul and body; it is never applied to the soul alone, nor to the body alone. Allah did not say, “who took the soul of His servant,” but rather, “who took His servant,” and a servant is the composite of body and soul. Allah—majestic and exalted—is incapable of nothing; He has power over all things.

He further said: “The five daily prayers were made obligatory for him, and he observed them in Mecca for three years. He used to perform each prayer as two units; but when the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—migrated, the four-unit prayers were completed to four, except for Fajr, in which the recitation is lengthened, so it remained…"