in Islamic legend, the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad into heaven. In this legend, Muhammad is prepared for his meeting with God by the archangels Jibrīl and Mīkāl one evening while he is asleep in the Kaʿbah, the sacred shrine of Mecca. They open up his body and purify his heart by removing all traces of error, doubt, idolatry, and paganism and by filling it with wisdom and belief. In the original version of the Miʿrāj, the prophet is then transported by Jibrīl directly to the lowest heaven. But early in Muslim history the story of the ascension came to be associated with the story of Muhammad's night journey ( Isrāʾ) from the “sacred place of worship” (Mecca) to the “further place of worship” (Jerusalem). The two separate incidents were gradually combined so that chronologically the purification of Muhammad in his sleep begins the sequence; he is then transported in a single night from Mecca to Jerusalem by the winged mythical creature Burāq, and from Jerusalem he ascends to heaven, possibly by ladder (miʿrāj), accompanied by Jibrīl.