Godless Dave

AS I understand it, tradition says Mohammed was lifted up to heaven in Jerusalem. Is this documented in the Koran or in some other writing? Did he return to earth, die of old age, and get buried in a regular tomb, or was this his "death"? If it is the Koran, can someone point me to where it is in an English translation?

Thanks.

Walter_Mitty

I'm "almost" certain that the Qur'an does not speak of "Mo" being lifted to heaven. I think about all it says is that he had a vision in which he was carried to Jerusalem and there saw various signs.

I believe the Jerusalem story is somewhere in the Sunnah: The Sunnah is comprised of hadeeths, which are alleged reports by Muhammad’s companions of what he (pbuh) said and did here on earth.

I do know that Muslims place so much value on the temple mount in Jerusalem because they alledge that this is where "Mo" was beamed up to heaven.

Anyhow, I think you need to find someone that's familiar with the Sunnah.

Heathen Dawn

The Qur'an doesn't mention Jerusalem at all. The verse in question goes thus:

"Praise be to Him Who raised His slave in the night to the farthest mosque".

And the tradition (sunnah, hadeeth) fills in the cryptic verse with mythology: the slave is Muhammad, and Allah provides him the woman-headed flying horse Al-Buraq to fly from Mecca to the farthest mosque, which is the (yet unbuilt) mosque over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Godless Dave

Thanks, HD. What I'm wondering is how many people are said to have witnessed this flight. I want something to counter the Christian claim of "500 people saw Jesus after his resurrection". I want to be able to say "X people saw Mohammed fly from Mecca."

Celsus

I think you're looking for the Hadith, which is sort of like Acts of the Apostles (and the Quran would be like Paul's epistles). I might be wrong, my Islam is rusty.