The Superswift Angelic Pace Night Journey Ever Made

On the night following the 26^th Rajb in the 3^rd Hijri year which falls on the night following the 20^th March in 619 Gregorian Calendar (http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/hijri.htm), Muhammad (PBUH), the Prophet of Islam availed a night journey in the company of the Chief Angel Jibrail (AS). The Quan asserts “Exalted is he who took his servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al- Aqsa, whose surroundings we have blessed, to show him of our signs. Indeed, He is the hearing, the seeing.” (Al-‘Isra, 17:1).

figure 1: Inside of the Al-Aqsa Masjid.

figure 2: Artist’s drawing of the Buraq.

Isra is the Prophet (SAWS)’s night journey from Hatem or Hijri area of the Holy Qaaba to Al-Aqsa Masjid (Figure 1) in Jerusalem by the heavenly carrirer Buraq (Figure 2) in the company of Jibrail (AS). The night journey route is shown in Figure 3 and the Hatem or Hijr area is shown in Figure 4.

figure 3: Route to the Al-Aqsa Masjid from the Holy Qaaba.

figure 4: Route to the Al-Aqsa Masjid from the Holy Qaaba.

The Prophet (PBUH)’s space travel, M’raj is mentioned in Sura An-Najm (53: 11-18). “The (Prophet’s) heart lied not (in seeing) what he (Muhammad) saw [1]. Will you then dispute with him (Muhammad) about what he saw [during the Mi’raj: (Ascent of the Prophet over the seven heavens)] [2] and indeed he (Muhammad) saw him [Jibrael (Gabriel)] at a second descent (i.e. another time). Near Sidrat-ul-Muntaha [lote-tree of the utmost boundary (beyond which none can pass)], near it is the Paradise of Abode. When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it. The sight (of Prophet Muhammad ) turned not aside (right or left), nor it transgressed beyond (the) limit (ordained for it. Indeed he (Muhammad ) did see, of the Greatest Signs, of his Lord (Allah).”

figure 5: Countries affected by the indian ocean tsunami.

Many discourses are available on this journey. The journey had two part - the first part is the trip from the Holy Qaaba to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the second part from Al-Aqsa to ascension to space. The first part is called Isra and the second part is called M’raj. Burq (Figure 5), a heavenly creature was The Prophet (PBUH)’s space travel, M’raj is mentioned in Sura An-Najm (53,11-18): “The (Prophet’s) heart lied not (in seeing) what he (Muhammad ) saw. Will you then dispute with him (Muhammad ) about what he saw [during the Mi’raj: (Ascent of the Prophet over the seven heavens)]. And indeed he (Muhammad ) saw him [Jibrael (Gabriel)] at a second descent (i.e. another time). Near Sidrat-ul- Muntaha [lote-tree of the utmost boundary (beyond which none can pass)], Near it is the Paradise of Abode. When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it! The sight (of Prophet Muhammad ) turned not aside (right or left),nor it transgressed beyond (the) limit (ordained for it). Indeed he (Muhammad ) did see, of the Greatest Signs, of his Lord (Allah).” The carrier for this trip.

The animal Buraq was a tall beast white in color, handsomefaced, long-eared, two-winged, and bridled. He was bigger than the donkey but smaller than the mule. He could move so swiftly that he could place his hooves at the farthest boundary of his gaze (Sahih al-Bukhari 3207: Book 59, Hadith 18; http://www.muslim-library. com/dl/books/English-Al-Israa-and-Al-Miraj.pdf;

h t t p : / / w w w . i s l a m a w a r e n e s s . n e t / I s r a / i s r a . h t m l ; h t t p s : / / b o o k s . g o o g l e . c o m / books?id=hqiQwmTDYBUC&pg=PA56&dq=isra+and+miraj&hl =en#v=onepage&q=isra%20and%20miraj&f=false;

http://www.sunnah.org/ibadaat/fasting/ascen3.htm). In all accounts on ‘Isra and M’raj, the same story of the Prophet (PUH)’s of ascension to heaven is described without any mentions of i) how it was possible to make the journey in a night’s time, ii) how the Prophet (SAWS) crossed the hazardous space zones without any spacesuits, iii) how he (SAWS) survived without oxygen, iv) why his (SAWS) body was not torn out in that high speed travel, and v) why his body did not burn out at the Earth’s atmospheric re-entry on the return journey. Also, no parallel high speed trips relating to time and distance from physical sciences are mentioned. This article is meant to gain insights on the ‘Isra and M’raj issue in the light of the answers to those questions.

Some examples of angels’ super swift pace

Zuhri states referring to Anas bin Maleque that the Angel of death visits every house five times daily to find if anyone is due to die (Bihar al-Anwar vol. 74, pg. 188.). The world has about 1,585,682,383 households.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_ of_households). Visiting each family 5 times means paying visit once 5 times of 1,585,682,383(=7,928, 411,915) families. If the Angel of death has to finish the work in 12 hours, he visits 200 families in one second, and if he has to finish in 24 hours, he visits 100 families in one second, an unimaginable task for human.

About two people die every second ((https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_households). These persons can be from nearby places or from far off places.

Today those who tarnish the image of Islam, kill up to tens of people at same spot.

Out of the Visuvious Volcano’s erruption on August 24 in the year 79, about 13,000 people died (http://www.history. com/this-day-in-history/eruption-of-mount-vesuvius-begins)

Americans killed 90,000 to 146,000 people in Hirishima half of whom died on the first day August 6, 1945. They killed 39,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki half of whom died on the first day August 9, 1945( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki).

On November 12, 1970, about 500,000 people died in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in a Tsunami (https:// thisinnocentcorner.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/1970- cyclone-changes-the-course-of-history/).

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Tangsha,China at 3:42 a. m. on July 28, 1976, killed about 242,000 people (https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tangshan_earthquake)

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami at 00.58:53 UTC on 26 December killed 230,000 - 280,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, Malayasia, Madagascar, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.

At 8:50:39 Pakistan Standard Time on October 8, 2005, at least 87,350 people died inPakistan from the Kashmir Earthquake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_ earthquake).

A

t 16 hour 53 minutes on January 12, 2010, about 160,000 people died in Haiti Earthquake (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake).

More than 18,000 people died in 2011 Tohuku earthquake and tsunami at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time on March 11 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_ earthquake_and_tsunami).

From these heavy losses of lives at a time, we have to be convinced that angels work at very short intervals of time which is beyond our sensitivity. If we divide one second into a million part, each part is called a microsecond. And, if we divide into a billion part, each part is called a nano second. One microsecond is 1000 times more than one nanosecond. Further, a division into a trillion part, gives out a picosecond interval. While we humanbeing cannot perceive these short intervals of time, angels can perform many tasks in them. Time is intangible. We cannot see or touch it. Invisible massive objects may be magnified a million times to make it visible in a good shape. Only, theoretically or indirectly we can divide the time.

The day Prophet (PBUH) returned heart-broken and depressed from Taif, a place about 62 miles east of Mecca, Jibrail (AS) at once appeared in the sky with the angel of mountains, at a place called Qarn Al-Manazil, also known as As-Sail Al-Kabeer (about 52 miles to the east of Mecca). The angel of mountains greeted him and asked his (PBUH) permission to bury Mecca between Al-Akhshabain, the two mountains flanking Mecca. This was also a quick appearance following his (PBUH) du’a. This, too, is an example of angels’ instantaneous appearance (Table 1).

Table 1:




Turning back to the point of angelic super swift movement, the world’s current population is about 7.5 billion. If the world is to be destroyed at this instant of time in one second, the Angel of Death has to take about one-tenth of a nanosecond to take out one life. On the Day the world will be demolished, if the global population becomes 100 billion, the Angel of Death has to spend one-hundredth of a nano second to kill each individual. Bukhari Hadith #712(Sahih al-Bukhari vol. 4) states thatthe Grand Destruction will be so quick that the food in hand will not reach the mouth. Such scenes were seen in relics of Pompei

These examples confirm the superswift pace of work of angels. Their timing is beyond our sensing.

Angels’ super swift journey to God: The Quran, too, affirms the extraordinary movement pace of angels. Before citing the Quranic words on angelic movements, a piece of Hadith on the angels’ journey to meet God carryingsouls of dead persons may be mentioned. Al-Bara’ bin Azib narrated that the Prophet (PBUH)) said that the Angel of Death sits by the head to take out the soul. Angels surround the dying person (http://islam1.org/khutub/ Soul_Sep_Body.htm) (Imams Ahmed, Abu Dawood and Alhakm). The Quran states about the death: “Say, “The angel of death will take you who has been entrusted with you. Then to your Lord you will be returned.”” (Sura As-Sajda, 32:11).

The Quran asserts the superswift angelic pace in these words:“The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day (an interval of time) the extent of which is fifty thousand years”. (Sura Al-Ma’arij, 70:4). Once the soul is out of the body, other angels take the soul from the soul-carrying angel, enclosepious souls in a perfumed cover, and hurry to ascend to God. They ask for opening the sky. On the way to ascension to space, other angels ask about the soul and join them in the ascension to God. For humans, it would take 50,000 years. It is not knownat what speed, if travelled, would take 50,000 years. The highest speed attainable now with the help of rockets is 36,500 miles in one hour (https://www.livescience. com/32655-whats-the-fastest-spacecraft-ever.html).

Whether it is a normal death, accidental death, or natural or artificial calamities-related death, the Angel of Death can take out souls in a moment’s interval that humans fail to imagine. All these support that angels do their work in intervals of nanoseconds or picoseconds. Angels are made of Allaah’s Noor (light). They obey Allah. Not material being, they are not affected by the force of gravity of planets and stars. They may have one-sided interaction with humans in respect of causing deaths.

Highest speed known is of light - 186,000 miles in one second. Angels may travel at this speed, near this speed, or more than this speed. If they travel near the speed of light, 50,000 years in our account is like a distance of 50,000 light years. One light year is a distance light travel in one year. Sun-Earth distance is 93,000,000 miles. One light yearis 63,340 times this distance which is 294,531 trillion miles or near 300 hundred thousand trillion miles.

Limited human senses and feelings: We humans learn through five senses- the sense of sight, the sense of hearing, the sense of touch, the sense of taste, and the sense of smell. These senses are operational for us within certain ranges. These ranges have upper and lower limits beyond which we are insensitive.

Vision: Our eyes are sensitive to only the seven colours. Light is a member of a group of seven types of radiation -gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet ray, light, infrared ray, microwaves, and radio waves. Light has seven colours. Our eyes can sense only the seven colours (Figure 6) and under special condition the infrared ray. The other members of the light group radiation are indirectly used to learn invisible things. The salt grain we use in food has gaps within it which we cannot see (Figure 7). If our eyes would be sensitive to x-rays and these would be abundant like ordinary light, we could possibly see those gaps.

figure 6: Electromagnetic waves.




figure 7: Salt grain in naked eye salt grain structure under x-ray diffraction.




Time:The perception of an image in our brain last almost 1/30^th of a second. If changes happens in time intervals that are less than 1/30th seconds, we fail to detect it. If something fluctuates at intervals of 1/40^th seconds, we will find that thing does not changes its shape. If a sinner’s dead body is crushed and assembled in intervals of 1/40^th seconds when it is in the grave, we will miss it and always see the whole deadbody.Hadith mentions torments in the grave. (Summarized Sahih Al-Bukhari by Muhsin Khan (Book of Faith)). After opening the grave we will not be able to see the punishment because the intervals of this torment is beyond our senses.

The time lag between the light hitting the retina and the brain’s recognition of the object identity is about 0.15 seconds. The fastest speed of unrelated image processing by our brain occurs if images are presented in about 0.1 second intervals (Thorpe SJ, et al 1996). (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8632824; http://scholar. google.com/schola...). Time cannot be caught as its definition is the continuous flow of events. As a result, we cannot visualize its further subdivision. Invisible objects to unaided eyes can be made visible through magnification. It has been possible to produce images of carbon atoms that are separated by 89 picometer i. e. 89 trillionth meter in diamond and atoms in silicon that are separated by 78 picometer or 78 trillionth meter via high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) at magnifications of 50 million times. This boils down to the visibility of much less than one billionth of a meter i. e. one nanometer.

Hearing:Our sense of hearing is the ear. We hear sound. Sound is produced by vibrations. We can hear only those sounds created by vibrations that are between 16to 16, 000 vibrations in one second. Vibrationds below 16 per second are known as infrasound. We cannot hear that. Sound vibrations above 16000 in one second are ultrasound. This is used in medical investigation and underwater and underground resource exploration.

Inertia: Humans are incapable of sensing feelings that are happening at millisecond or lower intervals. Since these interval exists and angels are very apt at doing things during those time intervals, anything done by angels on human bodies in these tiny intervals will not be sensed both physically and mentally by humans at all.

Prophets’ Special Senses

Go to
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Prophets’ Special Senses
• Special Theory of Relativity and Buraq
• Preparation for the Night Journey: Prophet’s (PBUH) Chest Surgery
• Meeting with Previous Prophets
• Heavenly Layers
• Relativistic Effect of Distance Shortening
• Muon Dilema
• Oxygen Requirement
• Buraq’s Speed and Physical Damage
• Atmospheric Re-entry
• Significance
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgement
• References

Prophet Sulaiman (AS) had an army of jinns, men, and birds. He could understand the language of birds and even of ants (An-Naml, 27:15-22)

Prophet Moses (AS) spoke to God directly (Al-Qasas, 28: 29-32). He could see the light to be guided to that spot, but not his companions missed that light

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saw Jibrail (AS) in the form of a human being as well as in his own form (Sura An-Najm, 53:13)

He (PBUH) heard persons in the grave crying in infrasound which every animals other than human being and jinns can hear [Sahih Bukhari, Vol 2, Book 23, Hadith #443]

He (PBUH) choked the Shaitan when the latter tried to divert his (PBUH) mind in prayer (Bukhari 2.301)

He (PBUH) was shown the paradise and hell on the Qibla-facing wall during his (PBUH) prayer (Bukhari, Book 12, Characteristics of Prayer, Hadith 716 (Vol. 1))

He (PBUH) tried to grab a bunch of fruit from paradise that was shown to him during a prayer of solar eclipse (Bukhari Volume 1, Book 12, Number 715)

He (PBUH) heard the footsteps of Bilal (RA) in paradise while he (PBUH) was in M’raj. It was due to Bilal (RA)’s regular performance Tahiyatul Adu Salah (Sahih Muslim).

He (PBUH) would hear the crackling noise in the heavens (Mukashafatul-Qulub by Imam Gazzali). Humans can’t hear that sound.

He (PBUH) heard a tree trunk crying on its separation from him (PBUH) (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol.4, Hadith No. 783).

The Prophet (PBUH) was told to pronounce “Ameen!” following Jibrail (AS)’s mentioning of three important cases of destined hellfire -an individual that does not receive forgiveness in Ramadan, an individual who does not take care of one or both elderly parents, and an individual who does not send blessings upon the Prophet (PBUH) on hearing his (PBUH) name (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān 915)

All these occasions vouch for the Prophet (PBUH)’s ability to deal with the spirits of the nano to picosecond time scales which common people lack

One of the phenomena of the special theory of relativity is that distance gets shortened if travelling in a speed comparable to the speed of light. The traveller must be travelling in an inertial carrier that does not change the speed in direction as well as in magnitude - that is straight down motion (Mazur, 2015). Buraq was a perfect inertial carrier. It had no starting or accelerating time. It moved straight at uniform speed in each part of its trip.

Bukhari (heard from Qatadah from Anas from Malik bin Sa’Sah) states that the Prophet (PBUH) was in a state of half-asleep and half-awake (proper condition for surgery) in his home when Jibrail (AS) appeared. In another narration he was near the Hatem or Hijr. Jibrail (AS) cut open his (PBUH) body and took out his (PBUH) heart. A gold tray of Belief was brought to him (PBUH). His (PBUH) heart was washed with Jamjam water and was filled (with Belief). It was then returned to its original place.

The chest surgery done by the Angel Jibrail (AS) must not have done at human pace but in angelic pace. His (PBUH) state between sleep and awake may indicate he was actually in this state or his (PBUH) lack so sense of following the angelic pace of surgery. Sensation from touch pressure, pain from cold or touch, thermal pain due to excessive cold or heat, etc. takes about 0.3 seconds to reach the brain. If surgery can be performed in 0.3seconds, surgeons do not need anesthetics like nitrous oxide, halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane for general anesthesia.

After the surgery, the Buraq was brought in. He (PBUH) was first taken to Al-Aqsa Masjid where he led the prayer with the past prophets. In each step, Buraq was crossing over as far as eye could see. In thoseday of 1400 years ago, no other words could be used in describing the Buraq speed except these words. The speed of light was not known at that time.

In Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Prophet (PBUH) led the congregassional prayer with other prophets. On the question of meeting the dead prophets, it may be mentioned that God wanted to show him (PBUH) His wonderful signs. Everything he (PBUH) saw during the journey was His signs of wonders.

We can mention verses 73 and 260 from Sura Baqara. Verse 73 talks about making a dead person alive. Verse 260 states turning alive the dead bird killed by Ibraheem (AS).

“So, We said, “Strike the slain man with part of it.” Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason” (2:73). And [mention] when Abraham said, “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.” [Allah] said, “Have you not believed?” He said, “Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied.” [Allah] said, “Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them - they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise (2:60).”

Also, the following words of Jesus (Esa (AS)) in Sura Al-‘Imran expresses his ability to give life to lifeless by God’s permission: “I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with God’s permission (Quran 3:49).”

“…and I bring to life the dead, by the permission of God (Quran 3:49).”

So, we see that it was Allaah who made the meeting of the Prophet (PBUH) with the previous prophet. The Prophet (PBUH) then ascended to the heaven.In the ascension, Jibrail (AS) and the Prophet (PBUH) had to ask to open the gates of each of the heavens where the Prophet (PBUH) met a past prophet. The Prophet (PBUH) went upto the 7^th heaven. The Prophet (PBUH) met Adam (AS) in the first heaven, John the Baptist (Yahya (AS)) and Jesus (Esa (AS)) in the second heaven, Yousuf (AS) in the third heaven, Idris (AS) in the fourth heaven, Harun (AS) in the fifth heaven, Musa (AS) in the sixth heaven, and Ibraheem (AS) in the seventh heaven.

These layers are only for the angels or those who can travel at the angelic speed. In their nano-topicosecond-scaled-timed world, humans cannot perceive the layering. Theypossibly, would if they would sense that short interval of time and travel that fast. In that case, the presence of many invisible things will be felt. For example, if we take a glass of clear water from a lake or pond, we may find it crystal clear. However, if we look at the water with a microscopic eye, we’ll find numerous microbes - many obstructions to drink that water. Thus, the heavenly layers remain buried under human insensitivities.Let us not forget that in these heavenly layers, guest’s company, hosts, receptionists/gate keepers - all were angels. From Angelic pace, we may imagine how fast they communicated. That was the nano to picosecond world.

Whether it is the Isra (a trip of 800 miles) or M’raj (unknown distance) trip, the Prophet (PBUH) was in the company of Jibrail (AS). From many instances, we can guess the angelic pace of work. In fast speed travel, distance becomes shortened. According to the present knowledge of physics, the shortening depends on how close the speed of light the travel is made.

Light travels 186,000 miles in one second. If we can travel at 99% of the speed of light, 100 mile distance is shortened 14 miles. The distance becomes zero if travel is made at the speed of light. The Prophet (PBUH) mentioned of the extraordinary speed of Buraq. This is human discovered law. When someone discovers a law, he/she does it based on what he sees as the complete picture. There could be something more that h/she missed. That is why it is best to say that God knows the real law. His power in indicated in the verse (18:109).

“Say, “If the sea were ink for [writing] the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if we brought the like of it as a supplement (18:109).”

One example of distance shortening is observed in muon flight. Muons are tiny particle that travel 99.8% of the speed of light (Figure 8). They survive a little more than 2 microseconds. Plenty of them are created about 6 miles above us in the atmosphere. In their lifetime, they can travel less than half a mile. They are not supposed to reach on the ground as muons. Application of fast speed travel laws, shows that muons find this 6 mile distance reduced to less than half a mile.

figure 8: Swarms of elementary particle created by the interaction of cosmic rays and atmospheric atoms and molecules.

Steps to Resolve Muon Dilema:

Take the ratio of light speed to muon speed. This is 0.998

Square the ration in i). This is 0.996004.

Subtract ii) from 1.00. This is 0.003886

Take the squareroot of iii). This is 0.06234

Take the reciprocal of iv). This is 16.0416.

Divide the 6-mile distance of their creation by v). This is 0.374 mile. This is the distance muons find.

Can muon cross this distance?

Yes.

Find 99.8% of light speed 186,000 miles in one second. This is 185,628 miles in one second.

Convert 2.2 microseconds, the muon lifetime to seconds. This is 2.3E-6 second (=0.0000022 second).

Multiply viii) and ix). This is (185,628 miles in one second) x(0.0000023 second) =0.408 mile which is close to 0.374 mile.

Our planet is surrounded by two belts of radiation (Figure 9). These come from the Sun and other stars. (Figure 10) These are so dangerous that if they could reach the surface of the earth, there could not be any living being. God has given our planet some magnetic characteristics. The magnetic characteristics of the earth does not let the radiation reach the earth’s surface. They are trapped in space. This radiation belt starts from about 400 miles and extends to 6,000 miles. Then there is a gap of about 2,400 miles. The next belt extends from 8,400 miles to 36,000 miles.

figure 9: The earth’s radiation belts. (By Booyabazooka at English Wikipedia -Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain.

figure 10: The earth’s radiation belts. (By Booyabazooka at English Wikipedia -Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain.

That dangerous radiation mutates (changes) our DNA (which carries the genetic instructions for growth, development, functioning and reproduction), rewriting our genetic code promoting cancerous growth of cells.Radiation poses a long-term danger. If we receive about 1 calorie of energy for every kg of our body mass in matters of a few minutes, too many cells will be damaged to be repaired at once. To protect themselves, astronauts use spacesuits each one of which costs $250,000,000 according to the Director of the Spacesuit Laboratory (Interview with the National Public Radio).

It may be mentioned that some workers in Japanese Fukushima nuclear plant absorbed about one-sixteenth to one-quarter calorie of energy input each hour from the nuclear radiation, although they survived in the short-term, their lifetime cancer risk has increased. Every year, we develop 25-thousandth percent of cancer risk from the background radiation from all sources viz., soil uranium, cosmic rays, medical devices, etc. Some has to live 4000 years get get cancer from background radiation (http://www.livescience.com/34128- limits-human-survival.htmlCaracappa, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, by Natalie Wolchover | August 9, 2012 03:21pm ET). The question is how did the Prophet (PBUH) remain safe while crossing the belts? Like ours, his (PBUH) body was flesh and bloodlike ours. The answer is here. The radiation dose he (PBUH) received depended on how long he was exposed to this radiation. Say, it downpours -raining like cats and dogs. Imagine how much we can get wet if we are exposed for 1 second. Very little! If we are exposed for one minute, we’ll get quite wet. The Prophet (PBUH) was in the company Jibrail (AS). We went through several Hadiths at the beginning just to guess the angelic pace of work. The quick crossing through the belt might not put any radiation on him.

Typical human boundaries of survivability are governed by the rule of threes - roughly three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. We humans generally start brain damage in about 3 minutes without oxygen. For comparison, humans generally start accumulating serious brain damage after only about 3 minutes without oxygen.

We cannot survive without oxygen. We breathe once in every 4/5 seconds. We get the answer to the oxygen need when we think of the company of the fast moving Jibrail (AS). The Quran states: “Near Sidrat-ul-Muntaha [lote-tree of the utmost boundary (beyond which none can pass)], Near it is the Paradise of Abode. When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it “The sight (of Prophet Muhammad ) turned not aside (right or left), nor it transgressed beyond (the) limit (ordained for it). Indeed he (Muhammad ) did see, of the Greatest Signs, of his Lord (Allah)”. In the world of nanosecond, if the Prophet (PBUH) gazed for a microsecond, it would be 1000 times more than Angelic nanosecond time scale. And if he (PBUH) looked for 1 second, it was going to be one billion times more than Angelic time count. The Prophet (PBUH) had five senses much superior than ours. If the Prophet (PBUH) would be looking at human pace, there would be no justification of his (PBUH) ascension in the company of angels.

Buraq’s speed is not known. It might be around the light speed. Normal high speed travels make body parts shaken. One G is the force we feel on the planet’s surface in a free fall. Bumgie jumpers realise this force very well.They would feel a force of 14 G if the planet was 14 times as massive. A sideways jerking with a force of 14 G can tear organs from one another.Head-to-foot motion plunges all blood to the feet.A 4 to 8 longitudinal G force can cause some one knock out. All parts of the journey, being made at the angelic pace in the company of the Angel, fell within the humanly irresponsive bodily feelings.

Since the sensation from touch pressure, pain from cold or touch, thermal pain due to excessive cold or heat, etc. takes about three-tenths of a second to reach the brain, the superswift journey might have been completed before the elapse of this time interval. Consequently, physical inertia remained intact. In the microscopic world in our body many phenomena like electron moving around the nucleus, etc. take place in much, much less than nanoseconds. These minutest time scale phenomena are beyond human sensing.

In essence, the journey was over so short a time that it failed to arouse his (PBUH) physical feelings in hostile environments

Human body is composed of molecules. A 12-year boy will have about 1.2E27 molecules (http://www.gk12.research.pdx.edu/ question/how-many-molecules-are-inside-human-body), counting only on the 2/3 watery components of the body. Averagevibrations of molecules range from 1E13 to 1E14 (10trillion to 100trillion) times in one second. Energy of these vibrations manifests as the body heat. Molecular vibration frequencies increase when the body temperature rises.

Moving objects in the air develop heat due to friction. The faster an object enters the atmosphere the quicker its surface warms up (Figure 11). As the NASA’s Orion spaceship that enters the Earth’s atmosphere at 6.8 miles (11km) in one second, its surface heats up to more than 4,800 degrees Fahrenheit which is 2,649 degrees Celsius. The atmospheric re-entry speed of 7.5km in one second for shuttles from low Earth orbits and the Orion capsule re-entry speedof 11km in one second from the Moon makes a difference of a factor of five in the in the surface heating rate (https://www.nasa. gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/orionheatshield.html).

Questions arises on the safe re-entry of the Prophet (PBUH) in the Earth’s atmosphere unlike space shuttle’s re-entry (Figure 12), although both involve flights in space. It has been said above that sensation from touch pressure, pain from cold or touch, thermal pain due to excessive cold or heat, etc.takes about 0.3 seconds to reach the brain. It is highly possible that in that angelic pace journey the shortage of time lag between the re-entry and the heat development did not allow his (PBUH) his body to heat up. The trip was over before the surface heating occurred. Also, the trip was over before the signal of any heating effect could reach his (PBUH) brain.

figure 11: Re-entry window A- Friction with air, B- In air flight. C- Expulsion lower angle, D- Perpendicular to the entry point, E- Excess friction 6.9° to 90°, F- Repulsion of 5.5° or less, G- Explosion friction, H- plane tangential to the entry point.

figure 12: Apollo command module flying at a high angle of attack for lifting entry, artistic rendition.

Worldwide, as of now, numerous lectures have been delivered numerous times in the Muslim world on the occasions of the M’raj event. No one has, so far, related how scientifically it was possible for a human being to make this grand deep space journey. Naturally, these questions come to anyone’s mind with a knowledge of the space environment, survival without oxygen, physical impacts from high speed travels, surgery without anesthetics, re-entry heating, etc. This article provides answers to these questions. Modern days’ the knowledge of magnification, splitting a second into the minutest intervals, etc. that lie within the insensitivity range of humans, are of great help to understand the M’raj event. Buraq was a perfect inertial carrier. Travelling with the angel made its journey swiftest ever. Phenomena of length contraction and time dilation of Einstein’s theory of the special relativity perfectly apply here. The ultimate outcome of human search for the true knowledge conforms with the Divine knowledge.

Angels are the swiftest creation of God. Humans are not sensitive to their pace of work. The Prophet (PBUH) had uncommon sense of perception. Angelic performances on humans can be so quick that their physical feelings fail to detect. Buraq was an ideal carrier in the applicability of the special postulates of relativity. Relativistic phenomena like distance contraction as in the case of M’raj continue happening in Allah creation. Humans’ insensitivity to perceptions does not negate the existences of unforeseen effects, particularly, those occurring in the nano-second time scale.

Author’s sincere thanks are due to those individuals and agencies that have provided facts and figures for this article.

1. Mazur E (2015) Principles and practice of physics. Pearson publication, London, United Kingdom, p. 337.
2. Thorpe S, Fize D, Marlot C (1996) Speed of processing in the human visual system. Nature 381(6582): 520-522.