Miraj Night, our Prophet’s ascension (Miraj) and his meeting with our Lord, prayer as the pillar of the religion, and the middle prayer...

May your Night of the Miraj be blessed. May Allah let you reach it again and again. When we say Miraj, what comes to our mind? Our being in the presence of Allah Almighty comes to our mind. That is the Miraj. It is being in the presence of Allah Almighty.

Five times a day we are in the Miraj anyway. Not counting the voluntary prayers. In the prayers we perform — you have given me the sweetener. Sir, we are already in the presence of our Lord.

In that case, what is it about the Miraj that we celebrate?

Even though we are in the presence of our Lord, the Miraj has a starting, an arrival point. What is it? The Prophet (peace be upon him) meeting Allah Almighty, and bringing the five daily prayers to his community as a gift. So we celebrate the festival of this Night of the Miraj, the gift of the day he came. A festival. Prayer was sent to us as an inheritance, as a gift. Yes. Even though in our prayers, in our prayers, we go into the Miraj, even though we are in the presence of Allah Almighty, the Prophet says: Pay attention to the middle prayer. Those who perform the middle prayer perform the prayer, through unveiling (kashf), in the very presence of Allah Almighty. That is the middle prayer.

The middle prayer is not the time of any one of the prayers. If the middle prayer were the time of any one of the prayers, the moments of coming into the presence of Allah Almighty would have to differ from one another. Whereas the differences in prayer are in praying while contemplating one's Lord, and, while praying, the rewards in Allah's sight received by those who mostly pray while contemplating Allah Almighty. Yes. These differ, of course. Those who wander around the market while praying are one thing. Those who do calculations while praying are another. Those who pray in the presence of their Lord are another.

And those who pray in our Lord's presence through unveiling are another. That is the middle prayer. Some people — when I say some people, we could also make this up after it. They could make it up, we could say it. Deviants. I have performed the middle prayer, I no longer need to pray — there is probably such a group too. Because they performed the middle prayer. While a person who performs the middle prayer wants to pray constantly, with longing, these are deviants who, unaware of the middle prayer, say: I performed the middle prayer, so I will not pray anymore; deceived people, or, to degenerate the religion, the sold-out people at their head.

Yes. This one has two (?). There are two of them on the side there. Now, prayer, it says, is the pillar of our religion. Why? Prayer is the pillar of the religion: when a person prays, at least he remembers Allah. Even if he wanders the market, he remembers Allah. Even if he wanders the market, he has fulfilled the thanks for that time. That is, at least, compared to those who do not pray, these do something, they resist, they build something or lay a foundation. Even if the foundation does not rise, even if they do not erect the building, they are working on the foundations. It is a good thing. That is why they call it the pillar of the religion.

People who pray think: Look, I am praying. If I lie, they will blame me. I am praying; if I cheat so-and-so, they will blame me. I am praying; if I look at so-and-so, they will blame me. Such inspirations come to a person's heart, and the person is gradually cut off from evil too. In that case he has taken a step on the way to becoming a servant whom Allah Almighty wants. That is why prayer is the pillar of the religion. In the hereafter, too, people will first be asked about prayer. Yes, if you have performed your prayer, you will have a connection.

A connection. The questions will pass with a connection. That is, the sins of many things will pass covered. When Allah Almighty shows you your sin, He will not show it to anyone else, and He will say: I have forgiven you, go on. Why? Now let us think of it like this.

This state has a presidency.

Whether you say state or say sultan. The sultan. The Owner of the worlds is the sultan anyway.

The sultan has servants. That is, he has subjects. Right? Subjects.

The sultan also has relatives and kin, right? Relatives and kin. Now, will the sultan treat the mistakes made by his relatives and kin the same as the mistakes of the people outside? He will protect his own person, you see. Let us say his child. Or let us say his maternal uncle, his paternal uncle. Sir, let us say his paternal aunt, his maternal aunt. Let us say. His relative.

Allah Almighty has no need of wife and children. But since prayer is obligatory on His community, on His servants, and since it creates a state of closeness and intimacy with Him, He lets those who pray pass. They pass with a connection. Yes. That is why, in Islam, when one says Muslim, the first thing that comes to mind is prayer.

First Allah, then prayer, then hajj, then fasting. Right? These. Zakat you give if you have money. And hajj, if you find the money, you go; this hajj is seen, but fasting and prayer are the first things that come to a person's mind. In that case, it is a form of worship by which Allah Almighty distinguishes from other people those who worship His Being — He has no need of worship — who want to show closeness to His Being, who want to know our Lord, who created the worlds, as Lord; a form of worship. Distinguishing them from other people. Which people? People honored with the religion of Islam, and people living outside Islam.

Now Allah Almighty, in His verse, says We will make Muhammad (peace be upon him) witness over the other prophets, and Islam witness over the other communities. That is what He says. We will make them witnesses. Well, so that I can be a witness over the other communities, I will pray. I will fast. I will give zakat. I will go on hajj. That is, I will fulfill the pillars of Islam, so that Allah Almighty can say to the other people, to those living outside Islam: To you too a prophet came, and you denied the prophet. To you too I sent this Quran, and you turned your backs on the Quran. Look, these did not fall short in worshipping Me.

They performed their prayer, kept their fast, gave their zakat, went on their hajj. Now, can I hold you and these people, sir, as equal? Would that be just? He will say to them with justice. People will tear themselves apart, of course. They will say: Send us back to the world once more, and see how we worship You. He says so in verse 12 of Surah As-Sajdah anyway. But I have entered the circle of the truth of a realm from which there is no return. There is no return again. What will happen? This time the people of faith and those without faith will be separated; but among the people of faith, those who lived with kufr, if they depart with faith in the end, will surely enter the place the faithless enter.

That is, they will enter the place called Hell. But they will not stay there forever with the faithless; after their faith is perfected, they will come out of there. Now our situation: the holiness of this night is prayer. Our Miraj is the Prophet's (peace be upon him) ascension in the Miraj. Did he ascend with the body? Did he ascend in spirit? They argue about it. Argue. There is nothing about this to argue over. Open that thing, would you. You know the place where it says Miraj, open it, let me see. Would you give me a lemon?

Al-Isra — Surah Al-Isra explains so beautifully that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ascended in the Miraj, doesn't it? It explains it completely in Surah An-Najm, sir. The first 18 verses of Surah An-Najm explain the event of the Miraj completely. The first 18 verses of Surah An-Najm, sir. The first 18 verses. It is here too. Yes. Yes. In Surah Al-Isra, Surah An-Najm. As he said, it is in Surah An-Najm. Surah An-Najm is in the 500s. Surah An-Najm.

In Surah Al-Isra too, Allah Almighty says: He took His servant by night.

Let us look at it from here.

525. From here let us read Surah An-Najm.

Surah An-Najm. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Ve'n-necmi izâ hevâ. When it sets, it says; by the star when it sets, by what? now, I would say these verses, let me explain briefly: when it says when it sets, the sun leaving the world; that He created this realm with a program; the sun, the world and the moon turning around their own satellite, that is, the world turning around the sun; by the star, by those stars rising at night, or by that day which it lights up: your companion Muhammad has not strayed and has not believed in falsehood. Now, Allah Almighty swearing by this setting and by the star, His creating the worlds, all these worlds, the seven layers of heaven, creating them in an order and arrangement, in a system; that is, after proving that there is no god besides Him, that He alone, as Lord, that is, as Creator, is Himself the Owner of the worlds, what does He say?

What does He say? Look. Come. Your companion Muhammad has not strayed and has not believed in falsehood. Why? He did not believe in falsehood. Let us open this part up a little for you.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was created before the worlds were created. That is, there were neither the outward worlds nor any other world. There was Allah, and there was His creating the Prophet (peace be upon him) so that His Being would be known. From His light. And from his light there is the creation of these worlds. There is the creation of the heavens, the earth and what is between them. And because He gave of His spirit, there is the creation of people and prophets. For this reason people, as a part of Allah Almighty, have been held as addressees of His Being and created as the noblest of creatures.

We have, He says, made man, made you honorable above the worlds. The reason is that in people there is a part of the spirit of Allah Almighty. Yes. some people of deviant ideas — I won't say that, but people without knowledge — put a spirit into cats and dogs; Allah protect us, they are greatly mistaken and wrong; in many verses Allah Almighty also says that the spirit did not enter cats and dogs. Now in this case, when He says your companion has not strayed: Allah Almighty Himself raised the Prophet (peace be upon him) from the realm of the hereafter. What does he say? I swear by Allah, who holds the hand of power over my soul, he says.

So the Prophet — His raising the Prophet, because He would send him as a mercy to the worlds, so that every word that would come from his mouth would be illuminating over the worlds and not contradict one another; His sending him to people as an example, as a leader, as a light. That is why it is: Ve mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l-âlemîn. I have sent you as a mercy to the worlds. When He says the worlds, the worlds: to all the creatures in what we call the created worlds, the 17 or 18 (?), and at the same time to the worlds in the realm of the hereafter. Who are the worlds there? That he will intercede for people who became Muslims, departed and were sinners: I have sent him as a mercy to the worlds.

Yes. We continue here. Nor does he speak from his own desire, He says. Nor does he speak from the whims of his own nafs. In short, sir, he does not address people with feelings of the nafs. There is also the verse: He does not speak idly. Yes.

What he makes known is nothing other than what is revealed, He says.

That is, whatever he spoke, whatever he says, he does not say of himself; he says what is revealed. Well, does he always speak verses? Yes. His speech in a form we can understand, corresponding to the verses, we call hadith. Unfortunately people have corrupted the hadiths; because they had no knowledge, they invented meanings according to their own heads, and so, with words that do not agree with one another, saying the Prophet (peace be upon him) said this, he said that, with contradictory words they made people swallow these as hadith. And we, you know, sifted the hadiths among the 7300 hadiths selected by Ufuk Marmara.

More than half are superstition. Words that do not agree with one another. Yes. Let me explain this part too, and then move on. Someone says: Hodja, are you smarter than these men? Well, don't you have a mind? Look what Allah Almighty says. He does not speak from his own desire, He does not speak idly, He says. If he speaks the verses — those who, by their own ideology opened up contrary to the verses, invent hadiths to turn the religion into superstition and slander the Prophet (peace be upon him) with hadiths: their words, their falsehoods, if you see them as the word of truth and do not criticize them, and instead set about denying the truth, sir, and try to throw falsehood over the truth, then superstitious intentions like yours turn into the state of people swimming in the circle of ignorance.

Yes. In fact, some of the Companions say this — of course, they would not say it, but they say it in such a way that it is understood well, I mean: The Prophet (peace be upon him) is also a human being, some words come out of his mouth; to the scribe who writes the hadith they say: Do not write everything that comes out of his mouth. And he comes and says the same thing to the Prophet (peace be upon him); and the Prophet (peace be upon him) says to his scribe: I swear by that Being who holds the hand of power over my soul — he writes every word that comes out of his mouth. Why? Corresponding to the verses: look, He does not speak idly, He says; nor does he follow his desire, He says. Yes.

Him, one whose powers are very mighty taught him, it says. Gabriel, it says.

Now I truly laugh at this.

Let us do it like this here. Let us read it together with its mistakes. Because these are verses we have (?).

Yes.

Yes.

This place — to me — would you give me the thing? In the other book. We have not corrected these there. Look what it says: Gabriel, whose powers are very mighty, taught him, it says. Gabriel, Allah protect us. Within the worlds, the one whose powers are very mighty is Allah.

What did we say? The one whose powers are very mighty is Allah. After that come strong people. Yes, I said it is here. I am reading it from this one too.

Here 5, 6, 7 it has taken as one (?), because it says: one strong, mighty and of superior creation, Gabriel, taught him, it says. But there is no creation here, mind you. Allah protect us. The word creation is not here either.

What do we say?

The one whose powers are very mighty, Allah, taught him. Allah. Because it is the verse corresponding to: My Lord educated me, educated me beautifully. Which one is the hadith? My Lord educated me, educated me beautifully. Sir, he says my Lord raised me. My Lord, with revelation. Sir, first: one possessed of power, who at once rose upright. One possessed of power — what does it say again? There it says Gabriel. Gabriel, Allah protect us. What would it matter if Gabriel rose upright?

Gabriel is the prophet of the angels, created from light.

Man, created honorable above the worlds; angels, created from the light of the Prophet; Allah Almighty giving the Prophet a spirit from His part, and creating people from a part of that spirit; indirectly, since each of us is created from the spirit of the Prophet (peace be upon him), all people — but he came as a mercy to the worlds.

Well, now, if Allah Almighty raised the Prophet before he even came to the world, if He first made him aware of certain states, according to what He says, remember, sir — in this case, how do you teach the Prophet (peace be upon him) with Gabriel, peace be upon him?

Yes. It is an astonishing thing, I mean. One possessed of power — we say Allah — who at once rose upright. Well, can Allah be seen? However you imagine Allah according to your mind, so He is. Doesn't Allah Almighty say so? However My servants imagine Me, I am that, He says. Yes, let us say I also imagine Him in human form; I imagine Him in the form in which He first created us. Yes, I make the verse of Allah Almighty manifest, don't I? However you imagine Me, I am that, He says. Apart from this, since Allah Almighty gave man of His part, Allah Almighty, in this book of His, when He said before the spirits He created in that realm of lahut: I am your Lord, people, those created spirits, saw our Lord in human form and, not recognizing Allah Almighty as Creator, awaiting the Lord of their imagination, they denied Him.

Hodja, they said yes, they said yes; they know that they were created, that there is a Lord. So before that Lord, that is, before that Creator. But they denied that Creator and awaited the Lord of their imagination. So Allah Almighty says in His verse: My Beloved, do not mind their denying you; in their time they betrayed Me too, He says. Yes. That is all. The verses are history. What business does your Gabriel have here? A mercy to the worlds is going to come. It will embrace all of humanity. The Quran will come to the Prophet.

Allah Almighty will send His word in full to the Prophet. And He would have taught it with Gabriel, to whom He did not send it. Good heavens.

That is, with Gabriel, to whom He did not give the Quran — He did not give it to them, He did not give it to them. They are robots, robots. Whatever duty they are given, they do it. This world is a likeness and shadow of the hereafter. Angels are without gender. Each of them has its own separate duty. They are without result (?). Without wearying, without tiring, they do the duties given to them. In this case, how could angels of light, programmed in this way, teach the prophet who will come as a mercy to the worlds?

Poor people who pass themselves off as scholars. Yes, we continue.

And he was at the highest horizon, it says. Here again we say Allah. They say Gabriel. We say Allah. Look what it says: He was at the highest horizon. What is the horizon? We call horizon the place where earth and sky seem to meet. Right? What is the highest horizon? The worlds are surrounded by the Throne of Allah. The seven layers of heaven. We say Arshullah, that is, the Throne of Allah. What does it mean? Since everything within is surrounded by the Arshullah, that is, the Throne, when we say the Throne of Allah, it means that the Owner of all these worlds is Allah. For example, this building.

In the building there are rooms, floors and whatnot. The building is not named after its rooms and floors. It is named after the building's name. What is it? Saron's apartment building, right? An example. When Allah Almighty says Arshullah, whatever has been created within the seven layers of heaven, from the atom to the globe, it means they are Allah's creations. So when we say the high horizon, the place where the Arshullah, created within time and space, where time and space end, the place where these worlds, which the Arshullah surrounds with time and space, end, the edge — in the sense of the high horizon. The high horizon.

One possessed of power, Allah, who at once rose upright.

And that Allah was at the highest horizon. He was at the high horizon. Look, it says so.

Then He came near to Muhammad, and came nearer still.

From where? From outside time and space. How do we understand it? Now we will understand. Look how. How will we now understand that it is outside time and space? So much that He was the distance of two bows apart, or even nearer. Allah revealed to His servant what He revealed, it says. From here we understand that Allah Almighty, who is outside time and space, came as near as two bows' distance to the Prophet (peace be upon him), who is within time and space, and revealed. What is revelation? Allah Almighty, who is outside time and space, speaking the verses through communication to His prophets, who are within time and space.

This is called revelation. Revelation. And Allah Almighty, who is outside time and space, explaining the meanings of the verses to the hearts of His servants through inspiration, we call inspiration. Inspiration. That is why Allah Almighty says in the verse: Most people do not know inspiration. Now, in this case, when you ask whether he ascended outwardly or inwardly, how beautifully it proves it. With what? He came near, it says. He was two bows' distance apart. If it had been the spirit, the spirit would find it anyway. It knows no time and space. But here, within time and space, although Allah Almighty, our Lord who is outside time and space, came near to the Prophet (peace be upon him) as close as two bows' distance, the sound does not travel.

What travels? He speaks through communication, through revelation. Why? So that we know that Allah Almighty is free from time and space. Yes.

How does sound come? How do we understand sounds? Air. The air coming from our lungs striking the vocal cords in our throat, being shaped by our tongue, the words, through the air's communication, striking the anvil and hammer in the ear, reaching the brain through the vibrations there like Morse code, and with the words being shaped in the brain, speech comes about. Outside time and space there is no air. What will happen? This time it is through communication, that is, what we call electronic communication, that Allah Almighty speaks to people's hearts.

Now here there is another great event.

There is another event in a form our minds cannot encompass the greatness of Allah. Allah Almighty speaks to whomever He wishes in whatever way He wishes. With what? Through communication.

What is this like? All people are registered in my phone, just as I speak with whomever I wish. I speak, don't I? If its memory were large and you loaded everyone's things onto the card, you would speak. The memory of Allah Almighty is infinite. Whatever has been created, from the atom to the globe, all of it has a signal. He knows from whom, from which one, from which product, from which substance, from which person that signal comes. In this case, just like speaking on the phone, through communication He speaks. Our memory cannot hold this. It cannot hold that capacity of His, those gigabytes either.

Yes.

The One who always keeps the worlds under His rule, who is aware of the worlds. How will it be? It will be like this, of course.

That is what Allah is anyway. He is not from the time of His creations. Allah Almighty has the attribute Al-Hayy. What is it? The One who gives life to His creations but does not show any need for His creations. We continue with the verse. So here this is understood: the Prophet ascended in the Miraj with the body.

How did He open the airs? Just as your rocket that you launch opens the air, as it opens it with a satellite, the mechanism Allah Almighty created is surely not like the satellite you created and made. Sir, Allah Almighty, who creates time within time, together with those devices He created, invited the Prophet (peace be upon him) into His presence. With what? (?) with the Buraq — what kind of device, Allah knows — then with the Rafraf. Look, it does not say he came by himself. There are tools, there are devices. But whether it is granted, Allah knows best.

His heart did not deny what he saw, it says.

His heart did not deny what he saw. Now, these places are all the meaning of the inward.

Meanings.

When Allah Almighty sends us to the outward world, although the realm of the hereafter is in our memory, He locks that place.

Sir, when He takes the spirits from the realm of barzakh, to the realm of jabarut, from the realm of jabarut to the realm of malakut, from the realm of malakut coming as a bodily spirit into the mother's womb — although these realms are in your memory, He locks them.

If you reform your nafs, you become aware of the manifestations of your Lord.

Some people who do not know themselves deny this verse with the words I am about to say. But since they do not do it knowingly, they become sinners. They do not do it knowingly. What does this verse say? His heart did not deny what he saw. So while he was in the world, he was honored with the manifestations of Allah Almighty. So this is what corresponds to the verse in which He says: Pay attention to the middle prayer. These. The middle prayer. So, since the believing person also becomes aware of the manifestations, they have reached the nafs al-mutmainna. And in Surah Al-Fajr of Allah Almighty, 27, 28, 29, 30, in the verses: O tranquil soul, your Lord pleased with you, you pleased with your Lord, enter among My servants, enter My Paradise — the people He speaks of.

Now when it says his heart did not deny, it means those realms were erased; just as we are all equal in the realm anyway, that nafs had (?) and gone out; just as in the state at the address of Elestü bi-Rabbiküm, he saw the true form of our Lord; this is what He means by: He rose upright in His true form — before all the spirits, addressing people in His true form.

By Allah, and by Allah, I saw it too. Allah, You are witness. Believe it or not. In His true form. With the Prophet beside Him, when He said: I am your Lord. The address of Elestü bi-Rabbiküm. Those who have not seen these things cannot open up these places anyway. They cannot know these things. To be able to know these things, to be able to open up these verses, a person must be at a certain level of maturity. Yes. So His saying He rose upright in His true form is His appearing to us in His form at the address of Elestü bi-Rabbiküm.

We continue.

His heart did not deny what he saw, it says. He did not deny. Because he had become aware of the manifestations. And when he saw, he says yes. This. So he did not deny.

Will you now dispute with him about what he saw? it says. After so many events. And indeed he saw Him, Allah, once more, it says. Right? These are with the eye of the head, with the eye of the head. Hodja, are you confused? Wasn't it the unseen realm? Come on, the unseen realm is not the realm of barzakh. The unseen realm, sir, is not the high horizon. The unseen realm is the world realm, the world. In the world realm He is not visible to you. Even if He were visible, you could not understand. Even if you understood, He is not visible anyway. There is a verse for it anyway. You cannot know this.

This here is the unseen realm. The unseen. That is, a realm in which our Lord is not seen. Once you go outside the world, things change. Adam saw Him too. Because He created him. Oh, blessed one. In Paradise; He put him into Paradise, too. And He sent him down to the world for you.

It is astonishing, I mean, that people say Allah is not seen. So with the eye of the head, the head. Outside the world. When Allah Almighty created Adam, did He create him while He Himself was not present? Who kept you from prostrating to what My two hands created? He says. He says this to Satan. So He also speaks face to face with Satan. Yes.

What does the verse say? I have a tongue that speaks for him, an eye that sees, a hand that holds, a foot that walks, He says. So He is describing. He is describing the human being, His Being. Yes.

And indeed he saw Him, Allah, once more. At the Sidrat al-Muntaha. Near it is the Jannat al-Mawa, it says. When that which covered covered the Sidra, it says. Here again I say Allah. They always say Gabriel. Let him call it Gabriel. Let Gabriel cover the Sidra. They cannot grasp these things. The eye of Muhammad did not swerve, nor did it transgress the limit. At that moment, although La ilahe illallah Muhammedün Resulullah was written on the Throne, he did not look at it, it says. Indeed he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord. So says Allah Almighty.

Yes. The Prophet (peace be upon him), the Prophet who came as a mercy to the worlds, as was granted to no created being, with the eye of the head saw Allah Almighty.

But outside the world. And he ascended in the Miraj with the body.

Allah Almighty's mercy to His servants: so as not to distinguish His servants from one another, so that My servants too may come into My presence, and stand in My presence like you, He sent the prayer as a gift. So this night is the night on which the Prophet brought us the prayer as a gift from the Miraj. May it be blessed for all of us. May Allah Almighty, until the end of our lives, until our last breath, join us to His servants who prostrate to His Being. Yes.