Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn Abbas Ascension Discourse »

Frederick S. Colby is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at Miami University in Ohio. He edited and translated The Subtleties of the Ascension: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad's Heavenly Journey, by the famous mystic Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami.

Discusses the historical development of the well-loved story of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to the divine realm and back again.

List of Illustrations

Introduction 1

1 Muhammad's Night Journey in the Qur'an 13

2 Orality and the Primitive Version of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Narrative 29

3 Early Historical Descriptions of Muhammad's Journey 51

4 Proto-Shi'i Narratives of Heavenly Ascent 65

5 Canonical Sunni Hadith Reports on Muhammad's Journey 79

6 The Use and Appropriation of the Ibn 'Abbas Discourse in Commentaries 93

7 Contesting the Primitive Version in Nishapur 113

8 Bakri's Total and Complete Ibn 'Abbas Discourse 127

9 The Circulation and Diffusion of Bakri's Versions 149

Conclusion 165

App. A Translation of the Primitive Version 175

App. B Bakri's "Total and Complete" Ascension 195

Glossary: Key Themes and Tropes in the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Narratives 235

Notes 241

Works Cited 295

Index 305

Index of Qur'anic Verses 313