A priest tells the Emperor of Rome about Israa’ wal Mi’raj

By Mawlana Junayd Makda Sahib

A priest tells the Emperor of Rome about Israa’ wal Mi’raj

The Emperor of Rome, Heraclius, once summoned Abu Sufyaan (the uncle/cousin of our beloved Nabi ﷺ) who was at the time a non-Muslim and questioned him about our beloved Nabi ﷺ.

Abu Sufyaan cleverly chose to discuss Israa’ wal Mi’raj thinking it would cast doubts in Heraclius’s mind.

He said, “This prophet claims to have travelled from Makkah to Baitul Maqdis and back to Makkah in one night, returning home before the break of dawn!”

A Christian priest, standing near to the Emperor, heard the words of Abu Sufyaan and exclaimed, “ Yes, I know which night it was!”

Looking at him, Heraclius said: “What do you know of him?”

The priest explained that this incident took place at a time when he was residing in Baitul Maqdis.

He explained that every night before sleeping it was his routine to close the doors of Baitul Maqdis.

That night, however, while closing all the doors, he was unable to close one of them! Some people who were nearby tried helping him but it just wouldn’t move!

“It seemed as if we were trying to move a mountain from its place,” the priest explained. He told the emperor that in the end, we had to leave the door open.

In the morning he saw in one corner of the Masjid that a hole had been carved in the stone. It was evident an animal had been tied to it.

Seeing all this, the priest said to his companions, “It looks like this door was deliberately kept open for the arrival of a prophet and that the prophet had (been and) performed Salah in this Masjid!”

(Tafseer Ibn Katheer)

Moral:

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