Q. It is well known that prayer was made obligatory when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was taken on his night journey and ascended to heaven. But it is also known that the Prophet went first to Jerusalem (which is in Israel) where he met all past prophets and led them in prayer. What was this prayer? How was it conducted? What sort of worship was imposed then?
M. Muneebuddin
A. There are many inaccuracies in the question. To start with Jerusalem, or Baytul Maqdis, is not in Israel. It is in Palestine. What is named today as Israel is only the result of a military occupation that took place 56 years ago. That land has always been known in history as Palestine, and it belongs to Islam and Muslims ever since Amr ibn Al-Aas liberated it from Byzantine rule.
Prayer was not made obligatory during the Prophet’s journey and ascension to heaven. The only thing that was made obligatory then was that prayer must be offered five times a day. Otherwise, prayer was made an incumbent duty on Muslims ever since the very early days of Islam. The Prophet’s night journey took place in the tenth year after the start of his message. In those ten years many surahs of the Qur’an were revealed, and in many of them we read instructions to the Prophet and Muslims to attend to their prayers and to pay their zakah. Indeed the most essential duties in Islam, and in all earlier divine religions, are belief in God’s oneness, prayer and zakah. If you read Surah 73, Al-Muzammil, which is one of the earliest to be revealed, you find an order to the Prophet and his companions to spend much of the night in prayer and worship. This remained obligatory for a whole year, when the obligation was relaxed, and night worship was made voluntary. Earlier prophets were also commanded to offer prayers, as this is clear in the Qur’an.
The Prophet says: “A religion that does not include a prayer duty is devoid of goodness.” In the Prophet’s life history we read that Abu Talib once saw Ali praying and he asked him what he was doing. Ali explained that it was the prayer the Prophet ordered. Abu Talib said: “Since he orders only what is good, obey him.”
What was imposed on Muslims then before the Prophet’s night journey? Scholars mention that most probably it was in the same form we pray now, but the obligation was only two prayers a day, one during the day and one after nightfall.
Thus, prayer was always obligatory in Islam, but making it five obligatory prayers a day took place on the Prophet’s night journey. Zakah was also a duty, but the details of what must be paid and when were given after the Prophet immigrated to Madinah.
