Mab'as and Me'raj - A Brief History

The day of Mab’as, 27th Rajab, Monday, is the birth date of Islam. It is the day when Muhammad Rasulullah SA became Prophet and Messenger of God. When Jibraeel came with the Message to Rasulullah, Rasulullah called Maulatuna Khadija to Islam and she became the first to answer the Da’wat; she is the first Muslima and Mumina. The next day, after praying the five farizat namaz, Rasulullah presented Islam to Maulana Ali SA. And Maulana Ali SA at a very young age became the first man to accept Islam – the first Muslim and the first Mumin. For eight whole years after that Rasulullah lead Imamat with Maulana Ali SA on his side and Maulatuna Khadija behind them. The Mu’jiza of Rasulullah in establishing Islam – the Mu’jiza of the Qur’an— is celebrated on the day of Mab’as. Rasulullah established Islam for the next 23 years – 13 years in Makka and the final 10 in Madina. The revelation of the entire Qur’an, establishing the timeless and all-encompassing Shari’at and spreading Islam till the far corners of Arabia in just 23 years is the remarkable and unmatched feat of our Nabi Muhammad Rasulullah SA. The night of Isra’ and Me’raj, though on the eve of the 27th of Rajab, was many years after the Rasulullah’s Mab’as, after Islam was established. Isra’ in Arabic is night journey. As narrated in the very first ayat of Surat al-Isra’ (quoted above), Rasulullah SA travelled from Masjid-e-Haram in Makka to Masjid-e-Aqsa in Baitul-Muqaddas Jerusalem, where he lead all the anbiyaa’ in prayer. This spiritual event marks Rasulullah’s maqaam amongst all the anbiya. The journey and the events narrated also have a much deeper meaning that is expounded on in the kitaabs of Da’wat. Me’raj in Arabic refers to the act of being elevated – in the case of Rasulullah, being elevated from Masjid-e-Aqsa to the seven heavens. All anbiya’ are given divine knowledge, but the knowledge revealed to Rasulullah on the night Me’raj was more than any Nabi before. As the Qur’an describes it, Rasulullah was closer to Allah Ta’ala than the two sides of a bow (ثم دنى فتدلى فكان قاب قوسين او ادنى). 

It was the day of Mab’as in 1352H that Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA appointed Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA as his Mazoon and Mansoos. A few years earlier on the same day Syedna Burhanuddin was given the sharaf of haddiyyat by Syedna Taher Saifuddin and the ‘alaamat ‘Muhammadun Rasulullah’ (محمد رسول الله). Read further, “MAB’AS & ME’RAJ – A Lesson for Today” in Sijill Articles.