Buraq
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Miraj.jpg
Miraj.jpg
Muhammad riding the buraq; a 16th century C.E. Persian miniature
The Buraq (pronounced bur-raaq), sometimes mistakenly described as Muhammad's horse, is, according to Islamic tradition the creature that carried Muhammad from Earth to heaven and back during the Isra and Miraj (Night Journey). An excerpt from a Sahih Muslim hadith describes a buraq:
- “I was brought by the Buraq, which is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place its hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision”.
In art
In literature and art, the buraq is often pictured as a beast with the face of a woman, or a creature described as being part eagle and part horse, in all probability, using the legend of Pegasus as inspiration.
Leon Uris' book, The Haj, describes the buraq as follows:
- “(it) had the face of a woman, the tail of a peacock, and could gallop in a single stride as far as the eye could see”.
Symbol in current times
- The Western Wall in Jerusalem is also known as the Al-Buraq Wall
- The Libyan airline company, BuraqAir, is named after the Buraq.
External link
- Complete report from the Sahih Bukhari, which includes a quotation similar to the above (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/058.sbt.html#005.058.227)
- A contemporary photo of a Pakistani truck decorated with a picture of the buraq (http://www.pakistanphotos.co.uk/pakphotos/ppages/ppage59.html)Template:Myth-stub