Isra and Mi'raj 2027: The 27 Rajab 1448 Date and the Night Journey Explained

The Isra and Mi’raj (الإسراء والمعراج) — the Night Journey and the Ascension — is one of the most remarkable events in the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is also the occasion on which the five daily prayers were given to the Muslim community. Many Muslims commemorate it on 27 Rajab; this guide gives the 1448 AH date, explains what happened, and is honest about what we do and do not know about when it took place.

The date in 1448 AH

	Day	Date (Umm al-Qura)
1 Rajab 1448	Thursday	10 December 2026
Night of the 27th begins	Monday	4 January 2027, after sunset
27 Rajab 1448	Tuesday	5 January 2027

Because the Islamic day starts at sunset, the commemoration — which is about a night journey — falls on the evening of Monday 4 January 2027. If your country begins Rajab by local sighting a day later, the night would be Tuesday 5 January.

In 1447 AH, 27 Rajab fell on Friday 16 January 2026. In 1449 AH it is expected on Saturday 25 December 2027.

What happened on that night

The Isra: Makkah to Jerusalem

The Quran opens Surah al-Isra with the journey:

“Exalted is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs.” (17:1)

According to the hadith, the angel Jibril brought the Prophet ﷺ a white riding animal called al-Buraq, whose stride reached as far as its eye could see. He travelled to Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), where he led the earlier prophets in prayer.

The Mi’raj: through the heavens

From Jerusalem he was raised through the seven heavens. The detailed account in Sahih al-Bukhari (3207) and Sahih Muslim (162) describes meeting prophets at each level: Adam, Yahya and ‘Isa, Yusuf, Idris, Harun, Musa and Ibrahim. He reached Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, which is also mentioned in the Quran (53:13–18).

The gift of the prayers

On that night, Allah prescribed fifty prayers a day for the Muslims. On his way back, Musa advised the Prophet ﷺ to ask for a reduction, saying his people would not manage it. He returned repeatedly until the number was five — with the reward of fifty (Sahih al-Bukhari 349). This is why many scholars describe the five daily prayers as the only obligation given directly in the heavens, without an intermediary on earth.

The morning after

When the Prophet ﷺ told the Quraysh, many mocked him. Abu Bakr’s response — “If he said it, then it is true” — earned him the title al-Siddiq, the affirmer of truth. The Prophet ﷺ also described Jerusalem and a caravan he had passed on the way, details later confirmed.

Other details in the narrations

The authentic narrations include several further details that are often retold:

• The opening of the chest. Before the journey, the angels opened the Prophet’s chest, washed his heart with Zamzam water and filled it with faith and wisdom (Sahih al-Bukhari 349).
• The choice of milk. In Jerusalem he was offered a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk; he chose the milk, and Jibril said: “You have chosen the fitrah [natural disposition]” (Sahih Muslim 168).
• Scenes of reward and punishment. He was shown people being punished for particular sins — those who backbite, for example, scratching their own faces with copper nails (Sunan Abu Dawud 4878) — and the rewards of the righteous.
• The closing verses of al-Baqarah. In Sahih Muslim (173) it is reported that the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah were given to him on this night, along with the promise of forgiveness for those of his community who do not associate partners with Allah.

Al-Aqsa and the first qiblah

The Isra explains much of Jerusalem’s place in Islam. For roughly sixteen to seventeen months after the Hijrah, Muslims prayed facing Bayt al-Maqdis before the qiblah was changed to the Ka’bah (2:142–150; Sahih al-Bukhari 40). The Prophet ﷺ also named al-Masjid al-Aqsa as one of the three mosques to which journeys for worship are especially made, alongside al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and his own mosque in Madinah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1189).

When did it actually happen?

This is where honesty matters. The year and the date of the Isra and Mi’raj are not known with certainty. Historians agree it happened in Makkah, after the start of revelation and before the Hijrah, but beyond that the reports differ:

• Year: estimates range from about five years to one year before the Hijrah. Many place it after the “Year of Sorrow”, in which the Prophet ﷺ lost his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib.
• Month: reports mention Rajab, Rabi’ al-Awwal, Rabi’ al-Thani, Ramadan and Shawwal, among others.
• Day: 27 Rajab is the best-known, but it is one opinion among several.

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani listed more than ten different opinions on the timing. Scholars such as Ibn Kathir and others noted that no authentic chain fixes the date. 27 Rajab became the widespread date for commemoration, not a proven anniversary.

Is there special worship on 27 Rajab?

No authentic hadith establishes a particular prayer, fast or ritual for the night or day of 27 Rajab. Hadith scholars have judged the reports of special Rajab prayers — such as salat al-ragha’ib on the first Thursday night of Rajab — to be fabricated.

At the same time, Rajab is one of the four sacred months, and voluntary worship in it is good in general. As with Mawlid, communities differ on whether to hold gatherings on 27 Rajab:

• Some hold lectures and gatherings that recount the story of the Night Journey, which many scholars consider permissible as education and remembrance, provided no special ritual is claimed.
• Others prefer not to single out the date, given that it is not established, and to teach the event at other times.

Whatever your view, avoid presenting any particular act on that night as an authentic Sunnah, and avoid treating the date itself as certain.

Lessons people take from the Night Journey

The story is rich, and these are some of the lessons scholars often draw:

1. Prayer is central. It was given in the heavens, after the Prophet’s hardest year. Many people take the anniversary as a prompt to fix their prayer.
2. Relief comes after hardship. The journey came after the Year of Sorrow and the painful rejection at Ta’if.
3. Jerusalem’s place in Islam. Al-Aqsa was the first qiblah and the destination of the Isra; its blessing is mentioned in the Quran.
4. The unity of the prophets. The Prophet ﷺ led all the earlier prophets in prayer — a sign of one message across history.
5. Faith in the unseen. Abu Bakr’s response shows trust in the Messenger even when the account defied ordinary experience.

A practical suggestion

If you want to mark the occasion in a way everyone can agree on, use the night of 4 January 2027 to read Surah al-Isra (chapter 17) and the opening of Surah al-Najm (53:1–18) with family, and to review your five daily prayers: their times, your punctuality, and the prayers you might be missing. Our prayer times page can help with the last part.

Summary

• 27 Rajab 1448: Tuesday 5 January 2027; the night begins Monday 4 January after sunset (Umm al-Qura).
• The date is customary, not certain — historians report many dates and several years.
• The night saw the journey to Jerusalem, the ascension through the heavens, and the five daily prayers.
• There is no authentic special ritual for the date; Rajab’s general merit as a sacred month remains.