The Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj
الإسراء والمعراجThe night journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and the ascent through the heavens is affirmed in the Qurʾān (17:1) and in extensive ḥadīth. Its date is another matter: the earliest sīra works place it before the Hijra without fixing a day, and later authorities transmit Rabīʿ al-Awwal, Rajab, and Ramaḍān variants.
Ibn Kathīr surveys the transmitted dates and notes that the soundest early chains name no month at all — a reminder that the observance calendar and the historical record grew up separately.
The 27 Rajab observance became widespread in later centuries and remains the date most communities mark. This entry records the observed date and the disagreement together, rather than resolving what the sources leave open.
EDITORIAL RATINGDisputedreviewed by the editor · 14 Muḥarram 1448 — 27 Rajab is customary; classical sources record no early consensus
AI ASSESSMENTDisputed · 0.41advisory only — "attestation strong; the day appears only in later devotional works" · claude-opus-5
HISTORYv4 · 12 revisions · 3 contributorslast change 14 Muḥarram 1448 — date_note expanded · view full history →
SOURCES · WEIGH THEM YOURSELF
CHRONICLE
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya
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