What were al-Isrāʾ and al-Miʿrāj, the Night Journey and Ascension?

Al-Isrāʾ was the Prophet's ﷺ journey in one night from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā in Jerusalem, affirmed explicitly in the Qurʾān: "Exalted is He who took His servant by night..." (Qurʾān 17:1); al-Miʿrāj was his ascent through the heavens, where he met earlier prophets and saw the greatest signs of his Lord (Qurʾān 53:13–18), and where the five daily prayers were made obligatory after being reduced from fifty, as reported in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Ahl al-Sunnah hold that this occurred in body and soul while he was awake, not merely as a dream, which is why the Quraysh rejected it, and the sīrah records that Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq affirmed it without hesitation. Scholars differ over the exact date — many opinions are recorded, and none is established with certainty — so the widespread practice of singling out 27 Rajab for special prayers, fasting or celebration has no basis in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ or the practice of the Salaf.

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