Question: - Some Muslims believe that Miraj (ladder / ascension) meaning the journey to the skies is nothing. This was a dream of Muhammad ji. Majority believe it to be true. The people at the time considered it to be an outright lie. Muhammad Sahib told, “When I walked alone towards God, I crossed seventeen curtains. The duration from one curtain to another was five hundred years”, that is, it took a person five hundred years to go from one curtain to the other. “Sitting on a mule-like (Buraq) animal, climbing up the stairs, we went up.” When Muhammad ji told all these and other experiences to his companions, Hazrat Abu Bakr immediately accepted it. But several Muslims renounced the Muslim faith. One thing that they found hard to accept was when Muhammad said, “All this happened in such a time that when I (Muhammad) was about to mount Buraq, my foot hit a bowl filled with water. Half of its water spilled. When I returned after travelling all the skies, I stopped it from tipping over and saved the rest of the water.” Is it true?
Answer: - Whatever Prophet Muhammad saw in the journey of the skies is all true. His foot hitting a bowl of water, then stopping the bowl from tipping over on his return and saving the rest of the water from spilling, keeping the bowl upright. The time taken to cover the distance between each curtain to be five hundred years, seeing the congregation of prophets above, leading them in prayer, seeing Baba Adam laughing and crying, etc; everything is true. (Author)
Example: -
Prophet Muhammad undertook Miraj (journey to the skies). He travelled the entire sky in a moment and came down. On return, he shared his experience with the people. Some accepted it, but the majority did not.
Emperor Rum did not believe this at all. Considering Muhammad Sahib's statements to be an absolute lie, he continued to disbelieve him for a long time. One day a (fakir) Muslim ascetic came in front of the Emperor and said, “God has all the power. He can show whatever He wants and do whatever He wishes. Why do you not believe in the Miraj of Prophet Muhammad? The Miraj of Prophet Muhammad is true.” That ascetic tried to explain to the Emperor in many ways, but the Emperor did not accept any of his explanations. That ascetic asked the king to get a big pot of water. The pot was sent for. At the behest of the ascetic, water was filled in it and it was kept in the field. He asked the emperor to dip his head in it and take it out. The courtiers were surrounding them from all sides. The Emperor put his head in the water and immediately took it out. As soon as he removed his head, he got very angry with that ascetic and said, “This ascetic had tormented me a lot.” The ascetic said, “All your men are standing here; I have not done anything to you. I was standing away from you. Ask these people!” The people also said, “Yes sir! This ascetic was standing away from you. He has not done anything.” The Emperor was astonished to hear this from his men. He said, “When I immersed my head in the water, at that time I saw that I had become a woman. I am wandering here and there in a field. There is no one ahead or behind. A short distance from there, some cultivators were doing farming. I went to those people in the same (female) form. Finding me alone and ownerless, they asked me to come along to their village. On reaching there, they married me off to a young man. I started living with him. In that same form, I gave birth to many boys and girls. Even I grew extremely old. In the form of that same old woman, one day I went to bathe in the pond. As soon I took my head out after immersing in the water, I found myself standing here and realised that I am Emperor Rum. I also found you people standing as you were. I am amazed what all has happened in that moment. I became a woman, gave birth to many children, grew old, went to bathe in the river and returned to the previous state after taking a dip. What is this miracle? That I saw all this in a moment.” That ascetic said, “It is God’s power. He can do whatever He wants.” Then that Emperor believed Muhammad’s statement about Miraj.
Answer: - He was Allah Kabir in the guise of a Jinda Baba, and he is also known as Al-Khijr. God wants man to remain theist, so that he can get his welfare done by performing true worship at some point.
There is evidence in the Puranas that a king took his daughter to Brahma ji (in Brahma’s Lok above) to ask for a worthy husband for his daughter and to set a date for her marriage. This is an incident of Tretayug. The height of people in Tretayug was more than thirty feet. The duration of Tretayug is twelve lakh ninety-six thousand (12 lakh 96 thousand) years. This incident occurred in the middle of Tretayug. Brahma said, “Go down. Marry the girl to Balram. An era has passed on the earth while only a few moments have passed here.” When the king came down to the earth, no one from his family was alive. The height of the girl was much more than that of Balram. It is written that the king was surprised. Balram was fifteen feet tall. The girl’s height was thirty feet. Balram (brother of Shri Krishna) picked up a plough and putting it on the girl’s head, pressed down with it, and made her of the same height as himself. Then they got married. That king also stayed in Shri Krishna’s kingdom.
Everything is possible in the path of God. To disbelieve is to insult God.
The aim of a devotee should be to get rid of the suffering of birth and death. Attain salvation by taking the mantra of true worship from a Complete Guru and following all the rules. Do not fall for the words of a hypocritical guru. They entrap innocent people. They say, “Give this much donation, also give this much money separately. I will perform a religious ritual for the removal of your crises” The religious rituals performed by those who do not have the right to give Satnaam and Saarnaam are of no use.
Another evidence: -
Two Mahatmas were performing their spiritual practices in a forest outside a city. One had been doing his spiritual practice, after leaving home, for forty years. The other one had been doing his spiritual practice only for the past two years. An angel from the court of God used to spend some time every day with those two worshippers. The ashrams of both the worshippers were in the forest to the east and west of the village. The elder Mahatma's place was in the west and the younger one’s place was to the east of the village.
Every day the angel used to discuss about God with both of them for an hour. Both the Mahatmas used to have a good time. One day, the angel said to Lord Vishnu, “Lord, two supreme devotees of yours live outside Kapila city.” Lord Vishnu said, “One of them is a supreme devotee, and the other one is fake.” The angel thought that the mahatma who has been doing spiritual practice for forty years must be the staunch devotee because he has a long beard and long dreadlocks (hair) on his head, and forty years is also a long time. The angel said, “O Lord, the one who has been worshipping you for forty years must be the ultimate devotee.” Lord said, “No, the other one who has been engaged in spiritual practice for two years.” Lord said, “Angel! Did you not believe what I said?” The angel said, “Lord, that is not the case, but my insignificant intellect believes that even the older Mahatma is a good devotee.” Shri Vishnu ji said, “Go to the earth late tomorrow. Both will ask the reason of your late arrival, then tell them that today the Lord had to pass an elephant through the eye (hole) of a needle. I have come after seeing that (Leela) divine act. Hence, I am late. From their answers, you will also find out who the supreme devotee is?” Earlier, every day the angel used to go to the elder devotee at around 8am and to the younger one at around 10am. The next day, the angel reached the elder devotee at 12pm. When he asked the reason for his late arrival, the angel said, “Today at 11:30am, Lord had to perform a (leela) divine act. I have come after watching it.” The devotee, who had been doing spiritual practice for forty years, asked him, “What (leela) divine act did the Lord perform? Please tell me.” The angel said, “Shri Vishnu ji performed a miracle. He passed an elephant through the eye (hole) of a needle.” Hearing this, the elder devotee said, “Angel! Tell such a lie that a person who hears it can believe it. How can an elephant pass through the hole of a needle? Show it in front of me.” The angel understood that God was telling the truth. He is not a devotee, but an animal. He does not even believe in God that He is Omnipotent. God can do what man cannot. This devotee’s devotion is futile and spurious. Bidding him farewell, the angel departed and came to the younger devotee. When the younger devotee asked the reason for his late arrival, the angel hesitantly told him the reason lest the younger devotee should say something foul. He said, “O Devotee, what can I say? God performed a miracle, a wonder. I was spellbound on seeing it. God passed an elephant through the eye (hole) of a needle.” Hearing this, the younger devotee said, “What is there to be surprised about in this? God can pass the whole earth through the eye of a needle, let alone an elephant.” The angel embraced the younger devotee and said, “Blessed are your parents from whom you are born. I salute your unshakable faith in God.”
A devotee should have full faith in God that God can do whatever He wishes.
Also read: Miraj of Prophet Muhammad