Narrating Muḥammad's Night Journey

Frederick S. Colby is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at Miami University in Ohio. He edited and translated The Subtleties of the Ascension: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad's Heavenly Journey, by the famous mystic Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulamī.

• IllustrationsAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction1. Muhammad’s Night Journey in the QurānThe Night Journey VerseVerses from the Chapter of the OverturningThe Opening Verses of the Chapter of the StarThe Appropriation of Terms and Phrases from the QurānThe Heavenly Host DebateThe Final Verses (Seals) of the Chapter of the CowPassing References to the Ascension in the Qurān2. Orality and the Primitive Version of the Ibn 'Abbās Ascension NarrativeApproaching Ibn 'Abbās and the Primitive VersionComparatively Analyzing the Primitive VersionAuthenticating and Dating the Circulation of the Primitive VersionEchoes of Muqātil b. Sulaymān’s Commentary in the Primitive VersionTracing the Beginnings of the Primitive Version3. Early Historical Descriptions of Muhammad’s JourneyFrom Qurān and Oral Reports to Early Narrative History: Ibn IshāqIbn Ishāq’s Account of the Prophet’s Night Journeyas Narrated by Ibn HishāmIbn Ishāq’s Account of the Heavenly Journeyas Narrated by Ibn HishāmThe Early Ascension Narrative as Presented in Ibn Sa'd’s HistoryThe Night Journey as Narrated by Ibn Sa'd4. Proto-Sh' Narratives of Heavenly AscentThe Ascension Experiences of Proto-Sh' "Extremists" Ascension-related Sayings in Ṣaffār Qumm’s CollectionThe Qurān Commentary of Furāt Kūf5. Canonical Sunn adth Reportson Muhammad’s JourneyNight Journey and Ascension adth Reportsin Bukhār and Muslimadth Reports from the Collection of Nasāadth Reports from the Collection of Tirmidh6. The Use and Appropriation of the Ibn 'Abbās Discourse in CommentariesNight Journey and Ascension Accounts in abar’s TafsrThe Abū Hurayra Ascension Narrative from abar’s TafsrThe Abū Sa'd Khudr Ascension Narrative from abar’s TafsrThe Appropriation of the Primitive Version in Other Early CommentariesThe Use of the Primitive Version in 'Al Qumm’s Tafsr The Use of the Primitive Version in Tha'lab’s Tafsr7. Contesting the Primitive Version in NishapurIbn ibbān’s Rejection of the Primitive Version Sulam and His Compilation of Sufi Sayings on Muhammad’s AscensionQushayr and His Kitāb al-mi'rājThe Extended Cosmological Ascension adth Bayhaq’s Rejection of the Extended Ascension Narratives8. Bakr’s Complete and Perfect Ibn 'Abbās DiscourseThe Events Prior to the Night Journey in Texts That Invoke Bakr Muhammad’s Night Journey to Jerusalem in Texts That Invoke Bakr Bakr Versions of Muhammad’s Journey through the Heavens Muhammad’s Journey beyond the Seven Heavens in Bakr TextsDating the Ascension Narratives Ascribed to Abū al-asan Bakr9. The Circulation and Diffusion of Bakr’s VersionsThe Base Narrative behind Ibn Snā’s Allegorical Treatise Evidence from Sixth/Twelfth-Century North AfricaLiber Scale and the Diffusion of the Bakr Versions in the Seventh/Thirteenth Century An Anonymous Eastern Persian Mi'rājnāmaConclusionAppendix A: Translation of the Primitive VersionAppendix B: Bakr’s "Complete and Perfect" AscensionGlossary: Key Themes and Tropes in theIbn 'Abbās Ascension NarrativesNotesWorks CitedIndex

"…this is a valuable book … It is also a mine of data culled from an impressive range of well-documented sources." — American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences"The author's tracing and analysis of the historical permutations and reinvestments of this version of the narrative are based on an impressive array of sources, and demonstrate his mastery of the Islamic textual tradition in a happy marriage with theoretical considerations in religious studies, especially those concerning orality, orthodoxy, and textual permutation … The excellent translations of an early version of the Ibn 'Abbas narrative and a later influential version attributed to Abu-l Hassan Bakri are real gems." — CHOICE"Muhammad's heavenly ascension is without doubt one of the most central topoi in Islamic thought, practice, and piety, and as a superb historical analysis of its development through the prism of Ibn 'Abbas's recension, this book fills a major void in scholarship. Equally significant is the work's methodological sophistication, which makes it a clear model in the study of major themes in Islamic religious history." — Ahmet T. Karamustafa, author of Sufism: The Formative Period"This is a very important subject that will be of interest to all serious students of premodern Islam." — Marion Holmes Katz, author of Body of Text: The Emergence of the Sunnī Law of Ritual Purity