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| The Seven Heavens of Islam |
We continue with Humphrey Prideaux's Life Of Mohamet...
Muhammad's Description of the First Heaven
“On
their arrival at the first heaven,
the angel Gabriel knocked at the gate and having told the porter who he was and that he brought Muhammad the friend of God with him by divine command, the
gates, which he describes to be of an exceptional size, were immediately
opened. This first heaven Muhammad tells us was made of pure silver with stars
hanging by chains of pure gold, each being as large as Mount Noho near Mecca in
Arabia. In these stars angels kept watch to guard heaven and to keep devils
from approaching near for fear that they should overhear and know what was done
there in heaven.
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| Adam, before he met Muhammad |
“On first entering heaven, Muhammad said he met an old decrepit man, our first father
Adam, who immediately embraced him and gave thanks to God for so great a son and then recommended himself to his prayers. As he entered further
Muhammad said he saw a multitude of angels in all manner of shapes; some angels were in shapes of men, others in shapes of beasts, and others in shapes of birds.
Among those who appeared in the several shapes of birds he saw a rooster as
white as snow and so large that when his feet stood upon the first heaven his head
reached up to the second heaven, which was the distance of five hundred years’
journey according to the rate we usually travel here on earth. However, the
people, as they relate the matter of the seven heavens of their prophet, think
it was much higher, telling us that the head of this chicken reached up through
all the seven heavens as far as to
the throne of God.
