Laylatul Me'raj - The Night Of Ascent

On the 27^th night of Rajab, Allah bestowed upon His servant, Mohammed Rasulullah (SAW), the sharaf of isra and me'raj. Isra is the name of the night journey from Masjid al-Haraam (Kaaba) to Masjid al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem. There, 124,000 anbiyya (prophets) awaited his presence and he led these, the best of creation in prayers to the Creator of the Worlds.

Then, the Prophet ascended to the heavens, a journey that is called me'raj, and witnessed what there was in each heaven, including a firishta in the form of Amirul Mumineen, Ali (SA). Jibrail, his companion, was asked to halt at Sidratan Muntaha, beyond the 7th Heaven, whilst Rasulullah went further still to be in the presence of Allah. It is said metaphorically, that Rasulullah was made so close to Allah that it was as if he was within the pupil of Allah's eyes.

Rasulullah descended to Masjid al-Aqsa again, having seen what was beyond the experience of ordinary mortals and returned with many gifts, one of which was the number of prayers believers would recite per day.

Great was his honour amongst the messengers
On the night that he undertook that blessed journey
From one sacred place (Kaaba) to another (Al-Aqsa)

In al-Aqsa, this Messanger of Allah,
The pride of the prophets, led them all in prayer

On this night, mumineen pray a namaz that is 22-rakat long.

Yawmal Mab'ath - The Day Of Elevation

On the 27^th day of Rajab, 9 years before me'raj, a noble and trustworthy man named Mohammed ibn Abdullah al-Mustafa (SAW) was elevated to prophethood. Jibrail came to the Rasulullah (SAW) in the cave of Hira with the first verse of revelation:

" Read! In the name of your Lord, who created"
Al-Quran: 96

And from then on to his departure from this world, divine inspiration and revelation continued to descend upon his pure heart.

This is the day when all mumineen, even the youngest of babies fast in the prayer that Allah would also elevate their station in His path.   The fast is also commonly known as "Motius Sawalaat", which means "Answerer of prayers", in supplication to Allah.

The Du'at Mutlaqeen (AQ) observed a tradition of doing a waaz on this day, describing the eminence of Rasulullah's me'raj and mab'ath. Syedna Taher Saifuddin followed this tradition and held waaz majlis on this day. During the course of one such majlis in 1352H, he designated his son as his successor.

The 52^nd al-Dai al-Mutlaq, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) has continued in this tradition and delivers a profoundly moving waaz each year on this day.