Egyptian Journalist Risks His Life By Denying Muhammad’s Night Journey

An Egyptian journalist, Ibrahim Issa, has put his life on the line to speak what he believes to be the truth about Muhammad’s Miraj, or “Night Journey.” He has publicly claimed that Muhammad never made that trip to Heaven on his fabulous wingèd steed Al-Buraq. Robert Spencer wrote about this here, and another report on this act of intellectual derring-do is here: “Egypt probes journalist for ridiculing story of Mohammed’s journey to Jerusalem,” AFP, February 23, 2022:

Egypt’s public prosecutor has launched an investigation into a journalist well-known for his campaigns against Islamists, after he questioned a miracle that clerics say was carried out by the Prophet Mohammed.

Ibrahim Issa — an ardent critic of the Muslim Brotherhood group, outlawed by the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi — made the comments on Friday during a show he presents on a private television channel.

Ibrahim Issa, a freethinker, has always aligned himself with those opposed to the fanatics of the Muslim Brotherhood, and he continued to state such views publicly even when the MB’s Mohamed Morsi was President of Egypt from June 2012 to July 2013.

Ibrahim Issa is used to living dangerously.

Issa claimed that the “Israa and Miraj”the mystical night journey of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Jerusalem, from where he ascended to the heavens, was “a completely delusional story.

He said Muslim preachers who only cite books that confirm the event — and ignore others that deny it happened — as having “Salafist views,” and that he claimed failed to offer a wider understanding of Islam.

Issa knows that there is a rich tradition of Islamic scholars who did not accept the physicality of the “miraj,” such as Ibn Sīnā, who viewed the miʿrāj as a spiritual event in his Mirāj-nāma. Issa is uncompromising, even dismissive, of those who believe in what he calls “a completely delusional story.” He claims that those who deliberately ignore the scholarship of those Muslims who deny that the miʿrāj took place – “only citing books that confirm the event” – are exhibiting troglodytic Salafist views.”

Egypt’s highest theological authority, Dar al-Ifta, issued a seven-point response Saturday [Feb. 20] stating the Israa and Miraj journey “definitely happened, and cannot be denied in any way.”

And how do we know that the Isra (Journey) and Miraj (ascension) happened? For those who lay down the law at Dar al-Ifta, no evidence is necessary. It was a miracle. An argument from authority: the Night Journey is in the most trusted collections of Hadith. Why are they the “most trusted”? Because other authorities said so long ago, that’s why. A good Muslim will set aside all doubts. Ibrahim Issa has shown to the good doctors of Dar al-Ifta that he is not a good Muslim. Some might call his statement blasphemy. And we all know what happens to blasphemers.

On Saturday, Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered “investigation measures” into Issa.

The public prosecutor had to do something about this extraordinary act of lèse-majesté.  Issa’s remarks, which he made during the program he presents on a small satellite television station, Al Kahera Wal Nas, have caused an uproar.

More on the response to Ibrahim Issa can be found here: “Egypt media personality causes uproar after ridiculing Prophet’s night journey,” 5 Pillars UK, February 22, 2022:

…[Issa’s] comments caused a social media uproar and 60 MPs (about 10% of the parliament) approved the draft law [about banning ‘non-specialists’ from discussing religion in the mass media] in an attempt to prevent what they described as “chaos in the society.”

A number of lawyers as well as the Salafist Nour party have filed complaints against Issa and the prosecution general has ordered an investigation into alleged accusations of “blasphemy.”

Several religious institutions and public figures have further decried Issa’s statements as transgressions against sanctities.

The Al-Azhar Global Center for Electronic Fatwas said in a statement: “The miracle of the Night Journey and the Miraj is one of the uninterrupted miracles of Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of God, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, which are confirmed by the text of the Holy Quran in the two surahs Al-Isra and An-Najm, and by the hadiths of the pure Prophetic Sunnah in all eras, leaving no room for staunch scepticism.”

Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation also said it will prepare a report “to take legal action in case of violation” of its codes.

Issa’s comments sparked wide controversy on social media, with both critics and supporters of Issa passionately weighing in. Some made dramatic gestures to show their disapproval. A well-known Egyptian actor, Mostafa Darwish, quit filming a movie for which Issa had written the script, called “The Atheist.” He declared on Facebook: ”I will never be a tool for war against my religion.” Apparently Issa’s calling into question the Miraj story that celebrated Muslim scholars, such as Ibn Sina, had done before him, for Darwish constituted a “war on Islam.”

Issa made fun of the fanatics; they worry him, those deeply devout Muslims who regard the Qur’an as the font of all wisdom and the Compleat Guide to Life. He wants a pharmacist to read the latest pharmacopeia at work instead of the Qur’an.

Issa wasn’t afraid of criticizing the Mubarak regime for so many years, and he’s clearly not afraid of taking on devout Muslims, for he has dared to ridicule one of their most cherished beliefs.

What now for Ibrahim Issa? I suspect that most members of Egypt’s Parliament will vote for the draft law that has just been proposed, the law that bans “non-specialists” from discussing religion in the mass media. We know which “non-specialist” they have in mind. That could finally keep him quiet. But should he dare to continue to discuss any aspect of Islam, no matter how inoffensive such discussion may be, he very likely will find himself off the air and, to satisfy the critics, in prison. He’s a skeptic who encourages skepticism in others, and he’s also extraordinarily brave: in Egypt, as in the rest of dar al-Islam, that makes him a very dangerous man.