Night of Miraj among Muslims (Isra and Mi`raj)

The Muslim world lives according to the lunar calendar, and accordingly, holidays fall on floating dates every year The month of Rajab is the seventh month and one of the four forbidden months in Islam This is the first of three sacred months that were exalted by the Almighty due to important historical events that occurred during this time In Rajab you cannot quarrel, fight, incite conflicts and sin It is also called the month of sowing The following Sha'ban is the month of nurturing the sprouts, and Ramadan is the month of harvesting Rajab can be called the first step to spiritual purification Believers fast during this period The punishment for sins committed this month increases seventy times, as does the reward for righteous deeds Rajab celebrates one of the most important Muslim holidays - the Night of Miraj Two important events happened to the Prophet Muhammad that night Isra, which translates from Arabic as “traveling by night,” was the first of these When darkness descended on the world, the Prophet Muhammad, after evening prayer, rested peacefully in the gloomy coolness near the northern wall of the Kaaba, a shrine located in the courtyard of the Holy Mosque in Mecca On the black celestial canvas, as if from a bag with a large hole, a pinch of silvery points of stars spilled out, whose dim flicker colored the thick darkness The silence of the night that reigned at this sleepy hour was broken only by rare gusts of dry wind The heat of the day, like a frightened beast on soft paws, backed away and retreated to the desert - the time allotted to it had come to an end, and it was necessary again, like thousands of times before, to cede the battlefield to the cold A bright light cut through the thick darkness with a shining sword and the angel Jibril descended from heaven to the prophet He led behind him an unprecedented red-spotted animal with soft ears and huge black eyes The unusual celestial beast was named Burak - “lightning fast” Behind his back were two arrows of tightly folded wings That night, Muhammad had to overcome a huge distance of one and a half thousand kilometers and reach the mosque in Quddus (Jerusalem) Muhammad climbed onto Burak and the animal spread its wide wings The beast made one test swing, then another, forcefully pushed off from the earth's firmament with strong paws and easily soared into the skies In the blink of an eye, Burak, rushing like an arrow over the sleeping desert, which was silent, carried the prophet to Palestine According to legend, on the way, Muhammad stopped the animal at the behest of his heart He descended from his back and said prayers in Medina and in the homeland of Isa (Jesus) At Qaddus, Jibril offered him a cup of wine and milk Muhammad chose the second This was only the beginning of the prophet's journey Many events occurred in the life of Muhammad that became turning points in his destiny Miraj is the most majestic of them, because it was at this moment that the prophet came as close to God as possible The word "Mi'raj", which comes from "guruj", which means "to go upward", is literally translated from Arabic as "ascension" Every prophet had his own Miraj, but Muhammad's Miraj eclipsed them Let's go back to that very night when Muhammad drank milk from the offered cup After this, accompanied by Jibril, he passed through the seven heavens and ended up in Sidrat al-Muntaha, where he met with eight prophets, whose prayer he led After this, the angels painlessly cut open Muhammad's chest, removed the living heart from it and completely cleansed it After the prayer, Muhammad descended from heaven, again mounted Burak and the beast carried him back to Mecca According to legend, when the prophet returned, his bed had not yet cooled down, and the jug, which overturned at the moment of his departure, did not even have time to splash water Perhaps his journey really only took a fraction of a second, or perhaps the universe itself was resting while the Miraj of Muhammad took place, in whose honor Allah granted the prophet and all Muslims the fivefold prayer Muslims spend this night in vigil and prayer The day before, they visit their relatives, congratulate them on the holiday, and give generous alms to the poor Alcohol is prohibited on this holiday Prophet Muhammad chose a cup of milk rather than wine In Miraj, Muslims repent of their sins and try to forgive everyone against whom they harbor evil in order to cleanse their hearts