267. The visions which Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was exposed to.
These verses (17:60, 53:13-18, 32:23) of the Quran directly and indirectly speak about the space journey on which Prophet Muhammad was taken .
Verse 17:60 of the Quran talks about a vision shown to Prophet Muhammad which Allah says is set by Him as a sign of test for the men.
The word Ru’ya is used here. Some explain the word ‘Ru’ya’ as dream, and say that Allah is alluding in this verse to visions in the dream of Prophet Muhammad.
It is a fact that the word ‘Ru’ya’ has the meaning of dream. But it also has another meaning as ‘to see’.
Ibn Abbas (RA) narrates in Bukhari Hadith :3888 that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) saw the visions with his inner eye is what is implied by this verse.
This is the explanation given by Ibn Abbas on his own and not that of Prophet Muhammad. We have mentioned this to point out that in Arabic language the word Ru’ya also means ‘to see’. We need to illustrate the meaning of a word in a particular language by quoting the language experts of the particular language.
Though the word Ru’ya means vision in the dream as well as vision in real life, in this verse it cannot be taken as to mean in the dream.
It is said here that “ we have made that vision to be a test for men”.
Whatever Prophet Muhammad sees as a vision in dream cannot be said to be a for telling of a test for men. If one tells others that he has seen innumerable visions in a dream, people normally agree with him, as it is possible in a dream.
Only when the person says that he was a witness to that many visions would that pose a challenge, a test, to those people.
From the phrases “ we made the vision a test for the people’’ it can be noted that these visions were not part of a dream.
When Prophet Muhammad was taken on a space journey he was witness to many visions, but a few people to whom he disclosed it refused to believe his version.
Many people who had accepted Prophet Muhammad earlier changed over to other religions. This is what the Quran mentions as “we exposed those visions to you as a test for people.”
Allah mentions in these sentences of the verse that, by making the prophet a witness to the visions shown by Him, he wanted to test the steadfastness of the people who believed and others who rejected the prophet when he recounted the incidents.
There are innumerable hadiths about the space journey undertook by Prophet Muhammad.
Please refer to explanation points 263, 315, and 362 to know more.
