Continued from HERE and HERE with Muhammad's description of his Night Journey from Humphrey Prideaux's Life of Mohamet. Keep in mind that Muhammad fabricated his Night Journey (Mi'raj in Arabic) which has no transcendent imagery whatsoever. (The next two posts in the series are HERE and HERE.)
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| Why did Muhammad need to fly to Jerusalem? He could have gone to heaven from Mecca. |
"From the first heaven Muhammad said he ascended up into the second heaven which was a distance of five hundred years journey above the first. He determines this to be the distance of each of the seven heavens above the other. As in the first heaven the gates were opened for him, where at the entrance he met Noah who greatly rejoiced at the sight of Muhammad and asked Muhammad to pray for him. In this heaven, which was made of pure gold, Muhammad tells us he saw twice as many angels as in the former and among them one of such an extraordinary size that while standing in the second heaven, his head reached into the third.
"From the second heaven Muhammad ascended upwards into the third which was made of precious stones. At the entrance he met Abraham who also asked Muhammad to pray for him. In this third heaven Muhammad said he saw vastly more angels than in the second heaven and among them another large angel of such phenomenal size that the distance between his two eyes was seventy thousand days’ journey, according to our rate of traveling here on earth.
"Here however Muhammad was off in his mathematics. The distance between a man’s eyes being in proportion to his height is one to seventy-two, therefore according to this rate, the height of this particular angel must have been fourteen thousand years' journey which is four times higher than all Muhammad’s seven heavens together. Therefore it is impossible such an angel could ever have stood within any one of them.
"Nevertheless here is where Muhammad placed him and in his description tells us that this angel had before him a large table in which he was continually writing and blotting out. Muhammad asked the angel Gabriel what this large angel was doing and was told that this was the angel of death who continually writes into the table before him the names of all that are to be born and there computes the days of their life. When he finds they have completed the number of days assigned to them, he blots them out, and that whoever has his name thus blotted out immediately dies.
"From there Muhammad ascended into the fifth heaven which was made of adamite, where he found Moses who asked Muhammad to pray for him, and there also he saw a much greater number of angels than in the former heaven.
"From there he ascended up into the sixth heaven which was made of rubies, where he found John the Baptist who also asked Muhammad to pray for him. And here Muhammad also saw the number of angels much increased beyond what he has seen in any of the former heavens.
"From there he ascended up into the seventh heaven, which was made of all divine light, and here he found Jesus Christ where we see Muhammad now alters his style. For he says not that Jesus Christ asked Muhammad to pray for him but that he recommended himself to Jesus Christ, desiring Jesus to pray for him, whereby he (Muhammad) acknowledges him (Jesus) certainly to be the greater. But it was Muhammad’s habit through the whole scene of his life’s imposture to flatter Christians on all occasions (until they would not convert to Muhammad's religion, whereupon he began to slaughter them).
"In the seventh heaven Muhammad says he found a much greater number of angels than in all the other heavens together, and among them one extraordinary angel having seventy thousand heads, and in every head seventy thousand tongues, and every tongue uttering seventy thousand different voices at the same time with which he continued day and night incessantly praising God."
Next time we learn about Muhammad's visit to the Throne of God (Allah) and their conversation there.
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