In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A Summary of the Prophetic biography.
The affirmation of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him.
The Night Journey of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Al-Hakim recorded it in Al-Mustadrak with a weak chain of narration.
On the authority of 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, was taken on the Night Journey
to the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
people began talking about it the next morning.
Some who had believed in him and affirmed his truth turned back on their faith,
and they hurried to Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him.
They said, "Will you not go to your companion?
He claims that he was taken on a journey last night to Jerusalem."
He asked, "Did he really say that?"
They replied, "Yes."
He said, "If he said that, then he has spoken the truth."
They asked, "Do you believe that he went to Jerusalem last night
and returned before morning?"
He, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"Yes.
I believe him in matters even further than that;
I believe him regarding the news of heaven, whether it comes in the morning or the evening."
It is for this reason that he was named Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (The Truthful).
Imam Al-Tahawi asserted that the reason for naming Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, Al-Siddiq
was his precedence over others in affirming the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
regarding the Night Journey to Jerusalem.
He said:
"Because being the first to attain knowledge of things
confers virtue upon those who are first to them,
just as it was established for Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
by his precedence over the people in affirming the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
regarding his arrival at Jerusalem from Makkah
and his return from there to his home in Makkah in that same night,
until he was named Al-Siddiq because of it.
Even though all believers bear witness for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
to the same truth once they are informed of it."
Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Dala'il al-Nubuwwah with a sound chain of narration
from Shaddad ibn Aws, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"We asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, how were you taken on the Night Journey?'
He said:
'I prayed the night prayer (al-'atamah) with my companions in Makkah.
Then Jibril, peace be upon him, came to me with a white beast,
larger than a donkey and smaller than a mule.'"
He then mentioned the story of the Night Journey and the Ascension.
Then he said:
"Then I returned to my companions before morning in Makkah.
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came to me and said:
'O Messenger of Allah, where were you last night?
I looked for you in your place.'
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
'Do you know that I went to Jerusalem tonight?'
He said, 'O Messenger of Allah, it is a month's journey.
Describe it to me.'
He said:
'It was revealed to me, and I looked at it as if I were seeing it.
He did not ask me about anything except that I informed him of it.'
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
'I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah.'"
The polytheists said:
"Look at the son of Abu Kabshah;
he claims he went to Jerusalem tonight!"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"Among the signs of what I tell you
is that I passed by a caravan of yours at such-and-such a place.
They had lost a camel of theirs,
and so-and-so found it.
Their route is that they will stop at such-and-such a place, then such-and-such,
and they will arrive on such-and-such a day,
led by a reddish-brown camel,
carrying two black sacks."
When that day arrived,
people went out to watch and wait,
until it was near midday,
and the caravan approached,
led by that very camel the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had described.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, witnessed
on that night signs and matters
that, had anyone else seen them or even some of them,
they would have become bewildered or lost their senses.
But he, peace be upon him, remained calm,
fearing that if he began by telling his people what he had seen,
they would hasten to call him a liar.
So he was gentle by informing them first
that he had come to Jerusalem that night."
A Summary of the Prophetic biography,
authored by Sheikh Musa ibn Rashid Al-'Azimi,
and presented by the Mawaddah Association in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
May Allah heal him.