Surah Al-Isra – Abdul Rahman Al Sudais

Al-Isra ("The Night Journey") is the 17th surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 111 verses, it is 50th in the traditional order of revelation, after Al-Qasas, and opens the fifteenth juz'. Its first verse recalls the journey by night on which the Prophet ﷺ was taken from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Farthest Mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem.

Name and context

The surah is also known as Bani Isra'il ("The Children of Israel"), the title used by al-Bukhari, after the passage on their history that follows the opening (17:2–8), and as Subhan, its first word. The Night Journey took place in Mecca before the Hijra, often dated about a year before it, though reports differ; the ascension through the heavens (mi'raj) is known from the hadith and alluded to in An-Najm, not described here. Ibn Mas'ud counted Bani Isra'il, Al-Kahf, Maryam, Taha and Al-Anbiya among the earliest surahs he had learned and the most treasured (al-Bukhari).

Main themes

• The Night Journey (17:1), then the Children of Israel, warned that they would twice spread corruption on the earth (17:4–8).
• The Quran "guides to what is most upright" (17:9); every person will be handed his own record, and no one bears another's burden (17:13–15).
• A code of conduct (17:22–39): worship God alone; honour your parents and do not say even "uff" to them in their old age (17:23–24); give relatives, the poor and travellers their due without squandering; do not kill your children for fear of poverty, do not approach adultery, do not take life unjustly; protect the orphan's property, keep your commitments, give full measure, do not follow what you have no knowledge of, and do not walk the earth arrogantly.
• The seven heavens and the earth glorify God (17:44); Iblis refuses to bow to Adam (17:61–65); the children of Adam are honoured above much of creation (17:70).
• The prayer times and the night vigil, with the promise of a "praised station" (17:78–79), and the proclamation "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished" (17:81).
• The question of the spirit (17:85), the challenge to produce anything like the Quran (17:88) and the miracles demanded by Quraysh (17:90–93).
• Moses' nine signs (17:101), then a closing that praises God, who has taken no son (17:105–111). Verse 109 is a verse of prostration.

In the Sunnah

When the Prophet ﷺ entered Mecca on the day of the conquest, he struck the idols around the Kaaba while reciting 17:81 (al-Bukhari and Muslim). According to Ibn Mas'ud (al-Bukhari and Muslim), 17:85 was revealed when some Jews asked him about the spirit, an account set in Medina, which is why some scholars consider that verse Medinan. 'A'isha reported that he would not sleep until he had recited Az-Zumar and Bani Isra'il (al-Tirmidhi, graded sahih by al-Albani).