Isra and Mi'raj

Islamic tradition relates that in 620, Muhammad(saw) experienced the Isra and Mi'raj, a miraculous journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel in one night. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca on a winged horse to "the farthest mosque" (in Arabic: masjid al-aqsa), which Muslims usually identify with the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. In the second part, the Mi'raj, Muhammad(saw) is said to have toured heaven and hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.^[99] Ibn Ishaq, author of the first biography of Muhammad(saw), presents this event as a spiritual experience whereas later historians like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir present it as a physical journey.^[99]

When he was transported to Heaven, he reported seeing an angel with "70,000 heads, each head having 70,000 mouths, each mouth having 70,000 tongues, each tongue speaking 70,000 languages; and every one involved in singing Allah's (God's) praises." After calculation this would mean the angel spoke 24 quintillion (2.401 × 10¹⁹) languages for the praise of Allah. This description is similar word for word to the description of an angel seen by Moses in "The Revelation of Moses" ^[100]

Some western scholars of Islam hold that the oldest Muslim tradition identified the journey as one traveled through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial al-Baytu l-Maʿmur (heavenly prototype of the Kaaba); but later tradition identified Muhammad(saw)'s journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.^[101]