The Gift of Worship from Miʿraj by Hajja Rukiye Sultan

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Madad Ya Sayyidi Ya Rasul Allah ﷺ, wa Mashayikhina Sheikh Nazim Adil Al-Haqqaniق, Sheikh Muhammad Ar-Rabbaniق

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuhu

Tariqatuna as-sohbah, wa-l khayru fi-l jam‘iyyah.
Our Way is through sohbah, and all goodness is in gathering.

Mubarak the month of Rajab, now it is nearly finished. Mubarak the night of Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj.

Alhamdulillah, we are reaching Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj. We are praying to Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla, and we hope that Mahdi (AS) is coming soon. All the signs are pointing to this. It is not that he will be preparing for a long time when he comes.

There is a Hadith Sharif from the Prophet ﷺ saying that when Mahdi (AS) comes, he will be ready in one night, and all the world will know him and hear him. Whoever believes in him will be more happy than the others. It is a long story, and all of you know about it, in sha’ Allah.

We are hoping to follow him and be together with him in these nice and good days, as the good tidings from the Prophet ﷺ were told in many Hadith Sharif about the time of Mahdi (AS). Of course, there will be some difficulties before that, but in the end there will be great pleasure and happiness with Islam and iman, in sha’ Allah.

The night of Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj is one of the most holy nights of the year in the Hijri calendar. The Prophet ﷺ was taken from Makkah to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Sidrat al-Muntaha, and after that there was a meeting with Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla.

In every sky that the Prophet ﷺ travelled, he saw different Prophets (AS) welcoming him and giving him good tidings. At this time, the prayers were ordered fifty times a day. Hazrat Musa (AS) was in the sixth sky, and he was telling the Prophet ﷺ to ask Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla to reduce them to five times a day.

These five times a day are like fifty times, because “al-hasanatu bi ‘ashrati amthaliha”, every good thing you do, you take ten rewards.

The thing I want to talk about is the Witr prayer. The Prophet ﷺ was praying two rak‘ats under the Throne, and then he heard the voice of Hazrat Abu Bakrر. He was asking the Prophet ﷺ to pray for him.

When the Prophet ﷺ was nearly giving salam in the second rak‘at, he got up and prayed one rak‘at for Hazrat Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر. Before he went to ruku‘, Hell was opened and shown to the Prophet ﷺ. He was seeing the people in Hell, so he was making “Allahu Akbar” again and reading the du‘a of Qunut, and then finishing the prayer after that. This is the wisdom of Witr Wajib.

It is obligatory on us. Although Wajib is less than Fard, you should still pray it. Even when you are praying what you owe, the prayers you missed before and are making up for them, you have to count the Witr Wajib or the Shafi‘i wal-Witr.

The Shafi‘i people pray two rak‘ats, give salam, and then pray one single rak‘at again. But in our Hanafi madhhab, we pray the three rak‘ats together. In any case, when you are making up your prayers that you missed before, you have to count the Witr Wajib also together with what you missed in the past.

After Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Prophet ﷺ was in the Divine Presence, giving salams to Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla:

“At-tahiyyatu li’Llahi wa’s-salawatu wa’t-tayyibatu.”

“All greetings belong to Allah ﷻ, and all prayers, and all pure things.”

The answer from Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla came:

“As-salamu ‘alayka ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.”

“Peace be upon you, O Prophet ﷺ, and the mercy of Allah ﷻ and His blessings.”

Then the Prophet ﷺ answered:

“As-salamu ‘alayna wa ‘ala ‘ibadi’Llahi’s-salihin.”

“Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah ﷻ.”

Then all the angels and whoever was in the skies said:

“Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa’Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasuluhu.”

“I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah ﷻ, and I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is His servant and His Messenger.”

This was also presented to us to recite in the prayers every day. If we do not recite this, our prayer is not complete. SubhanAllah. This is the conversation from Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla, the greetings from the Lover to His Beloved Prophet ﷺ. So it was meant for us to read it in every prayer before we give salam.

It was also ordered to recite salam on the Prophet ﷺ and Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) together, and then our prayer is completed and we give salam.

So many secret things happened in the Mi‘raj, so many stories. One of them is with Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) when he greeted the Prophet ﷺ. There were so many small, small children next to him.

The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Who are these children?” He replied, “These are the children of your Ummah. They died small, and I teach them Qur’an and look after them until Qiyamah. They will make intercession for their parents and their relatives. I asked this duty for myself.”

It is very sad to have your children pass away, but SubhanAllah, it is also very fortunate that until Judgment Day, Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) is looking after them. On Judgment Day, they will make intercession for their parents and relatives and be a means for them to enter Paradise. Anyway, this is a sad story.

On the day of Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj, the Prophet ﷺ came back to his place and his bed was still warm. In the morning, he was telling about his Night Journey. Of course, the unbelievers, the mushriks of Quraysh, were making fun, saying that he was getting hallucinations, going here and there, and that this was not real.

They came and told Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر that his man was now telling so many stories from his mind, doing this and that. Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر said that on that day he received the title of Siddiq, that whatever the Prophet ﷺ says is true, with no doubt and not a single point of question. What he was saying was right and true.

We are fortunate to be in a Tariqah that after the Prophet ﷺ, he is our Imam and Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Way. We are asking for the blessings, in sha’ Allah, of the night of Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj. I think we sent some writings of what to pray. In sha’ Allah, Mubarak for all of you.

Make du‘a. Du‘a is worship by itself. You have to make lots of du‘a on this night. It makes you close to Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla. You go into sajdah and make du‘a for yourself, your family, your beloved ones, for dunya, and even more for Akhirah.

For dunya, everything is for a short time. Good and bad pass, but we have to get ready for Akhirah. So make sure you ask more for Akhirah than for dunya.

May Allah ﷻ give us the certainty shown by Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر, so that we accept the truth without hesitation and doubt.

May He ﷻ allow the gifts of the Night of Miʿraj to remain alive in our daily prayer, and carry us safely to Him at the end.

Al-Fatiha.

• Hjh Rukiye Sultan

Guide to the upcoming Israʾ Miʿraj here.

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