The reason that the Night Journey can have at least one unifying factor mainly has to do with the fact that it is mentioned in the Qur'an, making an indefinite version of the journey acceptable to all Muslims. The verse of the Qur'an that gives us the best reference to the Night Journey reads "Glory be to Him who carried his servant by night from the sacred te

This means that we cannot easily rely on knowing any of the dates that come before the Medinan period of Muhammad's life. We can also come to a conclusion, that if some of the information in the Hadiths is inaccurate, like the dates, than other pieces of information could have been recorded incorrectly.

Another key component of the Night Journey that has not been established is the exact date that it occurred. It is widely accepted that the Night Journey took place between 620 and 621 C.E., on the 27th of Rajab of Muhammad's tenth year as a prophet (Sardar, 21). Yet because the Hadiths were not recorded until decades or even centuries following the prophet's death, the accuracy of given times is extremely hard to establish.

Of the parts of the journey that have been debated is whether or not Muhammad physically left the earth during the experience, or if what happened was purely a spiritual journey. This has been a long-standing debate, and even more complex opinions have developed over time, like the idea that Muhammad physical flew to the mosque in Jerusalem and then spiritually ascended into heaven. One of the key arguments given by those who believe the whole journey was physical are the Hadiths which tell of Muhammad of encountering a caravan traveling by Makkah, in which he led to a stray camel. A summarized version of this story from Muhammad's perspective reads "I met a caravan, one whose camel had taken fright and run away. I warned them of this" (Sardar, 21). The main argument that can be made by this passage is that Muhammad could of only met with this caravan if he was physically present. In spite of this there are those who believe that the entire journey was spiritual based on number of reasons. First, the Qur'an alludes to fact that during the journey took Muhammad a vast amount of time, which only could have been accomplished if his spirit left the bounds of time itself. As well as the fact, that there are a number of Hadiths that conflict one another about where Muhammad's body was during the night. Some Hadiths place Muhammad in the house of his cousin, while others place him sleeping next to the Ka'aba (Sarwar,119-120). This again shows the clear debates that can be raised based on the variety of Hadiths that

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Approximate Word count = 1523
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)