Beyond the limits of human perception

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) undertook a night journey from Mecca in Arabia to Jerusalem (Isra), then ascended to the heavens (Miraj) and back before dawn. Miraj is traditionally observed on 27th Rajab, one year before the Hijrah to Madina (621 AD). This event was rejected by infidels, yet believed by those who embraced Islam, though its awe still has not fully sunk in.

Pre-Islamic Arabia was centred around Mecca, which served as a religious and commercial hub. Arabs practised polytheism, with a narrow base of monotheism, amid honour-kinship arrogance, female infanticide, superstition and endless tribal feuds, yet possessed eloquence of language. They stayed peripheral to the influence of Byzantine Christian and Sassanid Zoroastrian civilizations.

Arabs were tribally brutalised, morally broken, spiritually hollow, reaching the edge of transformation, which coincided with the mission of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Meccans resisted his message and persistently mocked believers, saying they follow none other than a man who was bewitched (Quran 25:8). The event puzzled both infidels and believers, as their understanding of the universe was inadequate. Infidels rejected it, while believers, despite their limited worldview, accepted the Prophet's (PBUH) miraculous journey.

Even before Miraj, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was declared "a mercy to all worlds" (Quran 21:107), and his rank is reflected in this journey: "He was taken by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, to show him the signs of His Lord" (Quran 17:1). He then ascended to other realms until reaching the ultimate cosmic horizon – the limit of all created existence marked by Sidratul-Muntaha, the Lote tree (Quran 53:14).

What manifested before Prophet (PBUH) beyond this limit was defined by divine decree: "The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress. Indeed, he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord" (Quran 53:17–18). This unique proximity was bestowed solely upon Prophet (PBUH), placing him between creation's utmost boundary and divine presence. His glorious status is affirmed where "He and His angels send blessings upon him, and command believers to do the same" (Quran 33:56).

Miraj challenges human conceptions of distance, speed, space and time, while the idea of a horizon remains intact. Prophet (PBUH), accompanied by Angel Jibril, rode on the Buraq - a celestial steed that moves from horizon to horizon in one stride - an occurrence beyond human imagination. The journey was completed within part of one night, but unfolded across realms where time flows differently - "a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count" (Quran 22:47) - making it impossible to reconcile time across those realms.

Prophet (PBUH) later described his journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension through seven heavens, encountering earlier Prophets at different realms. He was also shown both Paradise and Hell, describing punishments meted out to Hell's inhabitants associated with their sins: neglectors of obligatory prayers, backbiters, adulterers and usurers.

Miraj addresses humanity's deepest and troubling questions: Was the universe created? Is there a Creator? Are Hell and Paradise real, entailing final reckoning? For believers, the answer is yes. For others, the existence of different realms, Hell and Paradise, despite their denial, remains worth pondering.

Prophet Muhamamd's (PBUH) eyewitness account reaches where scientific inquiry stops - at cosmic horizons. Miraj breaks through, revealing ordered realms, divine purpose and moral accountability. This convergence of revelation and rational inquiry invites both believers and skeptics urging them to see the Lord's signs: "Have they not looked at the heaven above them, how We structured it and adorned it? And the earth - We spread it out and cast therein firmly set mountains... Indeed, in that are signs for those of understanding" (Quran 50:6-7)."

Miraj surpasses human perception and reveals "existence" beyond our understanding of reality. Human perception of reality is shaped by the brain and ends at a boundary called a "horizon". At sea level, it fades within five kilometers, and in Earth's orbit it ends at two thousand kilometers. While our perception of the universe is generated using a telescope, we do not see the universal itself. Instead, we detect ancient light and radiation that allows us to estimate the limit of observable universe spanning ninety-three billion light years, while the entire universe (observable plus unseen) may potentially continue, which the event of Miraj does not violate.

Science admits the cosmic horizon exists, what lies beyond remains unreachable. Yet, the Quran marks Sidrat al-Muntaha as the farthest boundary of all the created realms. It does not describe what lies beyond but affirms that the Prophet's (PBUH) sight was confined to the Lord's prescribed limit. Miraj's awe emerges not from knowledge, but from its deliberate edge.

Like these cosmic boundaries, philosophers have debated the limits of perception. Kant argued that human senses and mind shape appearances, while reality-in-itself (noumena) remains inaccessible to human grasp. Similarly, Husserl emphasised that all experience is cognitively horizon-bound - what is unseen is not denied, only unreachable. Merleau-Ponty refined this view, suggesting that every act of seeing both reveals and conceals. Human knowledge does not fail at creation's edge; it collapses at its defined limits.

Miraj bridges human experience with divinity, as Prophet (PBUH) was granted close proximity to the Lord. This nearness was extended to believers through the act of Salah. As Quran says, "Prostrate and draw near" (Quran, 96:19). The divine status of Salah cannot be overstated, as it was ordained directly by Allah to the Prophet (PBUH), not through earthly revelation.

Pointedly, al-Ghazali argued that Salah progresses from an obligation, survives through habit and reaches fulfillment only when it becomes a conscious presence before God. Iqbal captures this poetically: "One heavy prostration grants salvation beyond a thousand light ones."

Ek sajda jisay tu giraan samajhta hai,

Hazar sajdon se deta hai aadmi ko najat

This conveys the idea that prayer ascends only when it transcends habit and becomes true presence.

Pray now - before it's someone else's turn to pray for us.