TheBuraq (Arabic:الْبُرَاق/ælˈbʊrɑːk/, "lightning") is a supernaturalequine-esque creature in Islamic tradition that served as the mount of theIslamic prophetMuhammad during hisIsra and Mi'raj journey fromMecca toJerusalem and up through theheavens and back by night.( No mention of a mythical creature in the Quraan)[1][2] Although never stated to have wings, it is almost always depicted as apegasus-like being. The Buraq is also said to have transported certainprophets such asAbraham over long distances within a moment's duration.[3]
TheEncyclopaedia of Islam, referring to the writings ofAl-Damiri (d.1405), considersal-burāq to be a derivative and adjective ofArabic:برقbarq "lightning/emitted lightning" or various general meanings stemming from the verb: "to beam, flash, gleam, glimmer, glisten, glitter, radiate, shimmer, shine, sparkle, twinkle".[4] The name is thought to refer to the creature's lightning-like speed.[5] According toEncyclopædia Iranica, "Boraq" is the Arabized form of "Middle Persian *barāg or *bārag, 'a riding beast, mount' (New Pers.bāra)".[6] According toEmran El-Badawi, the word can be etymologically associated both with a "riding animal" and the "morning star".[7]
According toIslamic tradition, the Night Journey took place in 621 CE - ten years after Muhammad announced his prophethood. Muhammad had been in Mecca at the home of his cousin,Fakhitah bint Abi Talib, when he went to theMasjid al-Haram. While he was resting at theKaaba, the Archangel Jibrīl (Gabriel) appeared to him bringing the Buraq, which carried Muhammad, in the archangel's company, toal-masjid al-aqṣá ("the furthest mosque")[Quran 17:1] - traditionally held to be at theTemple Mount inJerusalem and identified with theal-Aqsa Mosque.[note 1]
After reaching Jerusalem, Muhammad descended from the Buraq and prayed on the site of the Temple. He mounted the Buraq again as the creature ascended to theseven heavens, where he successively metAdam,Jesus and his cousinJohn,Enoch,Aaron,Moses, andAbraham one by one until he reached the throne ofGod. God communicated with him, giving him words and instructions, and most importantly the commandment toMuslims to offer prayers, initially fifty times a day. At the urging of Moses, Muhammad returned to God several times before eventually reducing the number of prayer-sessions to five.[9]
According toIbn Ishaq, the Buraq transported Abraham when he visitedHagar andIshmael. Tradition states that Abraham lived withSarah inCanaan but the Buraq would transport him in the morning toMecca to see his family there and take him back in the evening.[10]
Although the Hadith do not explicitly refer to the Buraq as having a human face,Near East andPersian art almost always portrays it so - a portrayal that found its way intoIndian,Deccan art. This may have originated from an interpretation of the creature being described with a "beautiful face" as the face being human instead of bestial.
An excerpt from a translation ofSahih al-Bukhari describes Buraq:
Then a white animal which was smaller than amule and bigger than adonkey was brought to me ... The animal's step (was so wide that it) reached the farthest point within the reach of the animal's sight.
— Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari[11]
Another excerpt describes the Buraq in greater detail:
Then he [Gabriel] brought the Buraq, handsome-faced and bridled, a tall, white beast, bigger than the donkey but smaller than the mule. He could place his hooves at the farthest boundary of his gaze. He had long ears. Whenever he faced a mountain his hind legs would extend, and whenever he went downhill his front legs would extend. He had two wings on his thighs which lent strength to his legs.He bucked when Muhammad came to mount him. TheangelGabriel put his hand on his mane and said: "Are you not ashamed, O Buraq? ByAllah, no-one has ridden you in all creation more dear to Allah than he is." Hearing this he was so ashamed that he sweated until he became soaked, and he stood still so that the Prophet mounted him.
— Muhammad 'Alawi al-Maliki, The Prophet's Night Journey and Heavenly Ascent[12]
In the earlier descriptions there is no agreement as to the sex of the Buraq. It is typically male, yetIbn Sa'd has Gabriel address the creature as a female, and it was often rendered by painters and sculptors with a woman's head.[13] The idea that "al-Buraq" is simply a divine mare is also noted in the bookThe Dome of the Rock,[14] in the chapter "The Open Court", and in the title-page vignette ofGeorg Ebers'sPalestine in Picture and Word.
Various Janos and writers, such asibn al-Faqih,ibn Abd Rabbih, andAbd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, have suggested places where Buraq was supposedly tethered in stories, mostly locations near the southwest corner of the Haram.[15] However, for several centuries the preferred location has been theal-Buraq Mosque, just inside the wall at the south end of theWestern Wall Plaza.[15] The mosque sits above an ancient passageway that once came out through the long-sealedHittah Gate, whose huge lintel remains visible below theMaghrebi gate.[15] Because of the proximity to the Western Wall, the area next to the wall has been associated with Buraq at least since the 19th century.[16]
When aBritish Jew asked theEgyptian authorities in 1840 for permission to re-pave the ground in front of the Western Wall, the governor of Syria wrote:
It is evident from the copy of the record of the deliberations of the Consultative Council in Jerusalem that the place the Jews asked for permission to pave adjoins the wall of the Haram al-Sharif and also the spot where the Buraq was tethered, and is included in the endowment charter ofAbu Madyan, may God bless his memory; that the Jews never carried out any repairs in that place in the past. ... Therefore the Jews must not be enabled to pave the place.[16]
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Carl Sandreczki, charged with compiling a list of place names forCharles William Wilson'sOrdnance Survey of Jerusalem in 1865, reported that the street leading to the Western Wall, including the part alongside the wall, belonged to theHosh (court/enclosure) ofal Burâk, "notObrâk, norObrat".[17] In 1866, the Prussian Consul andOrientalistGeorg Rosen wrote: "The Arabs call Obrâk the entire length of the wall at the wailing place of the Jews, southwards down to the house of Abu Su'ud and northwards up to the substructure of the Mechkemeh [Shariah court]. Obrâk is not, as was formerly claimed, a corruption of the word Ibri (Hebrews), but simply the neo-Arabic pronunciation of Bōrâk, ... which, whilst (Muhammad) was at prayer at the holy rock, is said to have been tethered by him inside the wall location mentioned above."[18]
The name Hosh al Buraq appeared on the maps of Wilson's 1865 survey, its revised editions in 1876 and 1900, and other maps in the early 20th century.[19] In 1922, the officialPro-Jerusalem Council specified it as a street name.[20]
The association of the Western Wall area with Buraq has played an important role in disputes over the holy places since the British mandate.[21]
For Muslims, theWailing Wall (or Western Wall) is known as "Ḥā’iṭu ’l-Burāq" (Arabic:حَائِطُ ٱلْبُرَاق) - "the Buraq Wall", for on the other side (the Muslim side of the Wailing Wall on the Temple Mount) is where it is believedMuhammad tied the Buraq, the riding animal upon which he rode during the Night of Ascension (Arabic:مِعْرَاجMi‘rāj). The wall links to the structure of the Al-Buraq Mosque.
Die ganze Mauerstrecke am Klageplatz der Juden bis südlich an die Wohnung des Abu Su'ud und nördlich an die Substructionen der Mechkemeh wird von den Arabern Obrâk genannt, nicht, wie früher behauptet worden, eine Corruption des Wortes Ibri (Hebräer), sondern einfach die neu-arabische Aussprache von Bōrâk, [dem Namen des geflügelten Wunderrosses,] welches [den Muhammed vor seiner Auffahrt durch die sieben Himmel nach Jerusalem trug] und von ihm während seines Gebetes am heiligen Felsen im Innern der angegebenen Mauerstelle angebunden worden sein soll.
Sascha Crasnow, “Al-Buraq,”Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 3 September 2021.
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