Surah Al-Isra (Bani Israil)

Learn this table first: the MCQs and the 2-mark questions on the introduction come straight from it.

The names and the reasons for them

• It is called Al-Isra because the surah opens with the Isra, the night journey of the Prophet (ﷺ) from Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (17:1, the word «أَسْرٰى»).
• It is called Bani Israil because it speaks of the Children of Israel: the Book given to Hazrat Musa (AS) for them (17:2), their two corruptions on the earth and the punishments that followed (17:4 to 8), and the nine signs shown to Pharaoh (17:101 to 104).
• Both names are old and well known; many books call it Surah Bani Israil, and the board asks for both.

Period and circumstances of revelation

Al-Isra is a Makki surah of the last Makkan period. According to the common view it came in the year of the Isra and Mi'raj, about a year before the hijrah to Madinah. The Quraish had opposed the Prophet (ﷺ) for years: they mocked his message, denied the resurrection, made impossible demands for miracles, and in the end plotted to drive him out of Makkah (17:76). The surah gives no single incident as its occasion of revelation. It answers this whole situation: it comforts and strengthens the Prophet (ﷺ), warns the Quraish with the end of Bani Israil, answers their objections and demands, and gives the basic commandments by which the new Muslim society was to be built.

The main topics

• The Isra and the Book of Musa (AS); the two corruptions of Bani Israil (17:1 to 8).
• The Quran guides to what is most upright; every person's record and responsibility; the law of Allah about nations (17:9 to 21).
• The commandments for an ideal society (17:22 to 39).
• Tawhid, the objections about the resurrection, and the honour of mankind with the story of Adam and Iblis (17:40 to 70).
• The pressure on the Prophet (ﷺ), the prayer times, tahajjud and the arrival of the truth (17:71 to 84).
• The soul, the challenge of the Quran, the demands of the deniers and the answer, the nine signs of Musa (AS) and the end of Pharaoh (17:85 to 104).
• The Quran revealed in parts, the sajdah, the names of Allah and the closing praise (17:105 to 111).

Only authentic material is given here. There is no authentic hadith about a fixed reward for reciting the whole surah, so do not quote one.

• Hazrat Aishah (RA) said that the Prophet (ﷺ) would not sleep until he had recited Surah Bani Israil and Surah Az-Zumar (reported by Tirmidhi).
• Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas'ud (RA) said that Bani Israil, Al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta-Ha and Al-Anbiya are among the earliest of his learning and his old treasures (Sahih Bukhari). This shows how much the Companions valued the surah.
• On the day Makkah was conquered the Prophet (ﷺ) struck the idols around the Ka'bah with a stick and recited 17:81, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished" (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).
• Surah Al-Isra holds one of the sajdah ayat of the Quran (17:109): the people of knowledge fall down on their faces in prostration when the Quran is recited to them.

What the ayah says

• The ayah begins with «سُبْحَانَ»: Allah is free of every fault and weakness, and this journey is a sign of His power.
• Allah took «بِعَبْدِهٖ» His servant (the Prophet (ﷺ)) «لَيْلًا» by night. Calling him "His servant" is a mark of the highest honour.
• The journey was from al-Masjid al-Haram (Makkah) to al-Masjid al-Aqsa (Jerusalem), whose surroundings Allah has blessed.
• The purpose: «لِنُرِيَهٗ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا», to show him some of Allah's signs. Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

What authentic hadith add

• The Isra was followed in the same night by the Mi'raj, the ascent through the heavens (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim). The Mi'raj is mentioned in Surah An-Najm, not in 17:1.
• In Jerusalem the Prophet (ﷺ) led the earlier prophets in prayer (Sahih Muslim).
• The five daily prayers were made obligatory on that night (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

Lessons

• Allah's power is not limited by distance or time: the journey was a miracle.
• Masjid al-Aqsa is blessed and is linked with Masjid al-Haram; the Prophet (ﷺ) is the leader of all the prophets.
• Prayer is a gift from the heavens, given at the highest honour of the Prophet (ﷺ).

The Children of Israel are mentioned at the start and at the end of the surah. Their history is told as a warning to the Quraish.

• The Book (the Tawrat) was given to Hazrat Musa (AS) as guidance for Bani Israil, so that they would not take anyone besides Allah as their guardian (17:2). They are called the descendants of those carried with Hazrat Nuh (AS), who was a grateful servant (17:3).
• Allah told them in the Book that they would cause corruption on the earth twice and become very proud (17:4).
• At the first promise Allah sent against them servants of great military strength who entered their homes (17:5). Then Allah gave them back their power, wealth and numbers (17:6).
• At the second promise their enemies were sent to disgrace them, to enter the temple as before and to destroy what they had taken over (17:7). Commentators commonly link these two punishments with the Babylonian and the Roman conquests of Jerusalem.
• The warning: if they repent, Allah may have mercy; if they return to sin, Allah will return to punishment (17:8).
• At the end of the surah Hazrat Musa (AS) was given nine clear signs, but Pharaoh called him bewitched; Pharaoh planned to drive them from the land, and Allah drowned him and those with him (17:101 to 103). Then Bani Israil were told to live in the land until the promise of the Hereafter comes (17:104).

Lesson

Power and a high position do not save a nation from punishment if it spreads corruption. The Quraish were to learn from Bani Israil, and the Muslims were to avoid the same mistakes.

This block of ayat is the heart of the surah. It begins and ends with the prohibition of shirk (17:22, 17:39) and between them gives the moral and social laws on which the Muslim society is built. In this note the commandments are counted as fourteen points.

1. Worship none but Allah and do not set up another god (17:22, 17:23, 17:39).
2. Be good to your parents; never say «أُفٍّ» to them in old age; speak to them a noble word; be humble and pray for them (17:23, 17:24).
3. Give the relative his right, and the poor and the traveller (17:26).
4. Do not waste: the wasteful are brothers of the devils (17:26, 17:27).
5. If you must turn the needy away, speak a gentle word (17:28).
6. Be moderate in spending: neither a hand chained to the neck nor opened completely (17:29).
7. Do not kill your children for fear of poverty: Allah provides for them and for you (17:31).
8. Do not go near zina: it is an indecency and an evil way (17:32).
9. Do not kill a soul that Allah has made sacred, except by right; the heir of the one killed unjustly has the right of retaliation, but must not exceed the limit (17:33).
10. Do not go near the orphan's property except in the best way, until he reaches maturity (17:34).
11. Fulfil every promise: you will be questioned about it (17:34).
12. Give full measure and weigh with a straight balance (17:35).
13. Do not follow what you have no knowledge of: hearing, sight and heart will be questioned (17:36).
14. Do not walk on the earth proudly: you can neither split the earth nor reach the mountains in height (17:37).

Allah ends these commandments by saying that they are part of the wisdom He revealed (17:39) and that every evil among them is hateful to Him (17:38).

Guidance for us

• A good society rests on tawhid first, then on good family ties, justice, honesty and modesty.
• Wealth should be spent with balance: help the needy, avoid both waste and miserliness.
• Protect life, family and the weak (children, orphans); never act on guess or rumour.

This was asked in the FBISE model paper (Q.2 (a)(iv OR)): "What guidance is given in Surah Al-Isra about the rights of parents?" Answer with two clear points from the ayah, as below.

The guidance in the ayah

1. Allah has decreed (the word «قَضٰى») that none is worshipped except Him, and in the same breath that parents be treated with ihsan (goodness). Kindness to parents comes straight after tawhid.
2. If one or both reach old age with you, do not say «أُفٍّ» (even a word of annoyance) to them.
3. Do not repel them (the word «لَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا»): do not rebuke or scold them. This word is in the 80-list.
4. Speak to them a noble word («قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا»), respectful and gentle.
5. Lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy: be humble in behaviour and serve them.
6. Pray for them: "My Lord, have mercy on them as they raised me when I was small" (17:24). We pray for their mercy because they cared for us when we were helpless.

The next ayah (17:25) adds that Allah knows what is in the hearts; if a person is righteous and returns to Him after a slip in dealing with them, Allah is Forgiving.

Authentic hadith

• A man asked who has the most right to his good company. The Prophet (ﷺ) answered: your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, from Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (RA)).
• Asked which deed is most loved by Allah, the Prophet (ﷺ) said: prayer at its proper time, then kindness to parents, then jihad in the way of Allah (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, from Hazrat Ibn Mas'ud (RA)).

The Quraish refused to believe. They said they would believe only if the Prophet (ﷺ) showed miracles of their choosing. The Quran first challenges them, then reports their demands, then answers them.

The challenge (17:88)

If all mankind and jinn gathered to produce the like of this Quran they could not do so, even if they helped one another. The greatest miracle is already in their hands.

The six demands (17:90 to 93)

1. That he make a spring gush out of the earth for them (17:90).
2. That he have a garden of date palms and grapes with rivers flowing through it (17:91).
3. That he make the sky fall on them in pieces, as he claimed (17:92).
4. That he bring Allah and the angels face to face before them (17:92).
5. That he have a house of gold (17:93).
6. That he ascend into the sky, and even then they would not believe until he brought down a book for them to read (17:93).

The answer

• The Prophet (ﷺ) was told to say: "Glory be to my Lord! Was I anything but a human messenger?" (17:93). A messenger brings the message; miracles are not in his hands but in Allah's.
• What stopped the people from believing was only that they said: "Has Allah sent a human being as a messenger?" (17:94).
• If angels were walking about on the earth in peace, Allah would have sent an angel from the sky as a messenger to them (17:95). The messenger is of the same kind as those he teaches, so that they can follow his example.
• Allah is enough as a witness between the Prophet (ﷺ) and them; He knows and sees His servants (17:96).
• Signs asked for in this way are not sent because earlier nations denied them when they came; the she-camel was given to Thamud as a clear sign, but they wronged her (17:59). A nation that sees the demanded sign and still denies is destroyed.
• The demanders are not seeking guidance: the Quran has already given examples of every kind, but most people refused except disbelief (17:89).

Guidance for us

• Demanding miracles is a way of avoiding the truth; the Quran is enough proof for a seeker.
• The Prophet (ﷺ) is a human messenger, the best of mankind, and neither Allah nor an angel.
• The messenger's duty is to convey; guidance and signs are in the hand of Allah.

Tawhid

• The pagans said the angels were Allah's daughters; the Quran calls this a grave saying (17:40).
• If there were other gods with Allah, each would have sought a way against the Owner of the Throne (17:42), so Allah alone is the One to be worshipped.
• The seven heavens, the earth and all that is in them glorify Allah; there is nothing that does not glorify Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification (17:44).
• Those called on besides Allah themselves seek nearness to their Lord, hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment (17:56, 17:57).

The objection about the resurrection

• They said: when we are bones and crumbled dust, shall we really be raised as a new creation? (17:49)
• The reply: be stones or iron, or any creation that seems greater in your minds, you will be raised. Who will bring us back? "He who created you the first time" (17:50, 17:51).
• Allah who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the like of them; He has fixed a term for them about which there is no doubt (17:99).
• On the Day of Judgement the deniers will be gathered on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf, with Hell as their home (17:97, 98).

Lesson

Allah's power to create a second time is easier to understand than the first creation. Belief in the Hereafter makes a person responsible for his deeds.

• Allah told the angels to prostrate to Adam and all prostrated except Iblis, who said: "Shall I prostrate to one You created from clay?" (17:61). The word «قُلْنَا» ("We said") of the 80-list is in this ayah.
• Iblis asked for time until the Day of Resurrection so that he could lead Adam's descendants astray, except a few (17:62).
• Allah gave him time but warned that Hell would be the reward of him and of whoever follows him (17:63). Satan may call with his voice, attack with his horse and foot, and share in wealth and children, but he promises only deception (17:64).
• But over Allah's true servants Satan has no power; Allah is enough as a guardian (17:65).

• Allah has honoured the children of Adam, carried them on land and sea, given them good provisions and favoured them over many of His creatures (17:70).
• A reminder in the same passage: at sea, in danger, people call on Allah alone; when saved they turn away, and man is ever ungrateful (17:66 to 69).

Lesson: mankind is honoured by Allah, so we should not lower ourselves by following Satan or by worshipping others. Pride (like Iblis') and ingratitude are the causes of loss.

Prayer (17:78, 79)

• «لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ» from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night: the prayers of Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha.
• «وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ»: the recitation of the dawn, the Fajr prayer, which is witnessed (17:78). The hadith adds that the angels of the night and the day attend it (Tirmidhi).
• Tahajjud: a part of the night for prayer, an extra («نَافِلَةً») for the Prophet (ﷺ); his reward is the praised station («مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا») (17:79). On the authority of hadith, commentators explain this praised station as his great intercession on the Day of Judgement (Sahih Bukhari).

The prayer for a sound entrance and exit (17:80)

The Prophet (ﷺ) was taught to ask Allah for a sound entering and a sound leaving and a helping authority from Him. Commentators commonly link this with the coming hijrah from Makkah to Madinah. The next ayah gives the declaration: "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished; falsehood is bound to vanish" (17:81), recited at the conquest of Makkah (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

Reciting aloud or quietly (17:110)

• Call upon Allah or call upon Ar-Rahman: whichever name you call, to Him belong the best names (17:110).
• Do not recite too loudly in your prayer nor too quietly, but seek a middle way (17:110). Hazrat Ibn Abbas (RA) said it was revealed when the Prophet (ﷺ) was hiding in Makkah: when he recited aloud the polytheists would abuse the Quran, its Revealer and the one who brought it (Sahih Bukhari).
• The surah ends with praise of Allah who has no son, no partner in His kingdom and no need of a helper out of weakness: "glorify Him with great glorification" (17:111).

Lesson: prayer is the pillar of life, and its times are fixed. Moderation in worship and respect for Allah's names are part of the faith.

The Quran

• The Quran guides to what is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they will have a great reward (17:9).
• It is a healing and a mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss (17:82).
• No one can produce the like of it, even if mankind and jinn help one another (17:88).
• It was revealed with the truth, in parts over a long time so that the Prophet (ﷺ) might recite it to the people slowly (17:105, 106). Those given knowledge before fall on their faces in prostration and weep when it is recited (17:107 to 109).

Personal responsibility (17:13 to 21)

• Each person's deeds are tied to his neck; on the Day of Judgement a record will be brought out to him open: "Read your record; today you are enough as a reckoner against yourself" (17:13, 14).
• Whoever takes the right way does so for his own benefit; whoever goes astray, goes astray against himself. No bearer of burdens bears another's burden. Allah never punishes until He has sent a messenger (17:15).
• When Allah wants to destroy a town, its rich and powerful ones are commanded but they disobey, and then the word is fulfilled (17:16). Many generations after Nuh were destroyed (17:17).
• Whoever wants this quick world gets what Allah wills, then Hell; whoever wants the Hereafter and strives for it as a believer, his effort is appreciated (17:18, 19).

Lesson: everyone is accountable for his own deeds, and the real success is the Hereafter.

The soul (17:85)

• They ask you about the soul: say, "The soul is of the command of my Lord, and you have been given only a little knowledge." The nature of the soul is a matter of the unseen.
• Sahih Bukhari reports (from Hazrat Ibn Mas'ud (RA)) that some Jews asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about the soul and this ayah was revealed. Some reports say the Quraish asked, on the advice of the Jews; the answer is the same.
• Even this knowledge is only a favour of Allah: if He willed He could take away what He revealed (17:86, 87).

The pressures (17:73 to 77)

• They were about to tempt the Prophet (ﷺ) away from what was revealed to him, so that he would invent something else about Allah; then they would have taken him as a friend (17:73).
• Had Allah not made him firm, he might have inclined to them a little (17:74); then he would have tasted double punishment in life and after death (17:75).
• They were also about to drive him out of the land, but they would then remain only a little after him (17:76). This is Allah's way with the earlier messengers (17:77).

The ayat do not name a single incident. They show the pressure from the Quraish in the last Makkan period, and the Prophet (ﷺ) being kept firm by Allah. The lesson is that no pressure should move a believer from the truth.

Ruku 1 (ayat 1 to 10)

The night journey (17:1); the Book given to Hazrat Musa (AS) (17:2); the two corruptions of Bani Israil and the punishments (17:4 to 8); the Quran guides to the most upright way and warns those who deny the Hereafter (17:9, 10).

Ruku 2 (ayat 11 to 22)

Man is hasty in prayers for evil (17:11); night and day are two signs (17:12); each person's record is on his neck (17:13, 14); no bearer of burdens bears another's (17:15); the fate of the proud towns (17:16, 17); the one who wants this world and the one who wants the Hereafter (17:18 to 21); no other god with Allah (17:22).

Ruku 3 (ayat 23 to 30)

Kindness to parents (17:23, 24); the rights of relatives, the poor and the traveller; no waste (17:26, 27); gentle speech to the needy (17:28); moderation in spending (17:29, 30).

Teachings

• The Prophet (ﷺ) was honoured by the Isra; Allah has power over everything.
• Every one answers for his own deeds; no one carries another's sins.
• Be good to parents and relatives, and spend with balance.

Ruku 4 (ayat 31 to 40)

Do not kill children for fear of poverty (17:31); keep away from zina (17:32); do not kill unjustly (17:33); orphans and promises (17:34); full measure (17:35); no following without knowledge (17:36); no pride (17:37); these are from the wisdom revealed, and shirk leads to Hell (17:39); the false claim that angels are daughters of Allah (17:40).

Ruku 5 (ayat 41 to 52)

Allah's repeated explanation does not change the deniers (17:41); all creation glorifies Allah (17:44); a hidden barrier between the Prophet (ﷺ) and the deniers of the Hereafter, covers on their hearts (17:45, 46); they call him bewitched (17:47, 48); their question about bones and dust, and the answer (17:49 to 52).

Ruku 6 (ayat 53 to 60)

Tell My servants to say what is best, because Satan stirs up trouble (17:53); the Prophet (ﷺ) is not a guardian over them (17:54); Allah has favoured some prophets over others and gave Dawud the Zabur (17:55); the idols cannot remove harm (17:56, 57); every town will be destroyed or punished before the Day (17:58); the signs are held back because earlier peoples denied them, as Thamud wronged the she-camel (17:59); the vision shown to the Prophet (ﷺ) was a trial for people (17:60).

Teachings

• The commandments of an ideal society (17:31 to 39).
• Speak good words; harsh speech helps Satan (17:53).
• Allah can recreate; the idols can do nothing (17:49 to 57).

Ruku 7 (ayat 61 to 70)

Adam and Iblis (17:61 to 65); Allah drives the ships and saves people in danger, and people forget Him (17:66 to 69); the honour of the children of Adam (17:70).

Ruku 8 (ayat 71 to 77)

The Day when every people will be called with their record; those given the record in the right hand will read it and not be wronged by even a thread (17:71); the blind in this world will be blind in the Hereafter (17:72); the temptation and the plan to expel the Prophet (ﷺ) (17:73 to 77).

Ruku 9 (ayat 78 to 84)

The prayers from the decline of the sun to the dawn (17:78); tahajjud and the praised station (17:79); the prayer for a sound entrance and exit (17:80); truth has come and falsehood has vanished (17:81); the Quran a healing (17:82); man turns away in ease and despairs in hardship (17:83); each acts in his own manner (17:84).

Teachings

• Take the Day of Judgement seriously: the record will be handed to each person.
• Stay firm on the truth under pressure; pray the five prayers and rise for tahajjud.
• Do not be ungrateful in ease or hopeless in hardship (17:83).

Ruku 10 (ayat 85 to 93)

The question about the soul (17:85); the Quran is Allah's favour (17:86, 87); the challenge to produce the like of the Quran (17:88); the six demands of the deniers and the Prophet's (ﷺ) answer (17:90 to 93).

Ruku 11 (ayat 94 to 100)

Why they refused to believe: a human messenger (17:94); if angels lived on the earth, an angel would be sent (17:95); Allah is a sufficient witness (17:96); the end of the deniers in Hell (17:97, 98); Allah can recreate them (17:99); man is stingy even if he had the treasures of Allah's mercy (17:100).

Ruku 12 (ayat 101 to 111)

Nine signs of Hazrat Musa (AS), Pharaoh's denial and drowning (17:101 to 103); Bani Israil to live in the land until the promise of the Hereafter (17:104); the Quran revealed with the truth in parts (17:105, 106); those given knowledge fall in prostration, sajdah 17:109; call on Allah by any of His names, middle way in recitation (17:110); the closing praise (17:111).

Teachings

• Knowledge of the soul is limited; accept what Allah has said.
• The Quran is a miracle; the Prophet (ﷺ) is a human messenger.
• Stinginess and pride destroy; humility and sajdah are the way of the people of knowledge.
• End with the praise and glorification of Allah (17:111).

One-line facts for MCQs and short questions. Learn them by heart.

1. Surah Al-Isra is the 17th surah, Makki, with 111 ayat and 12 rukus, in para 15.
2. Its two names: Al-Isra (the night journey, 17:1) and Bani Israil (the Children of Israel).
3. It was revealed in the last Makkan period, about a year before the hijrah.
4. 17:1: the Isra from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa, to show the Prophet (ﷺ) some of Allah's signs.
5. Allah gave Hazrat Musa (AS) the Book as guidance for Bani Israil (17:2).
6. Bani Israil were told they would cause corruption twice on the earth (17:4).
7. The Quran guides to what is most upright (17:9).
8. No bearer of burdens bears another's burden; Allah punishes only after sending a messenger (17:15).
9. Parents: ihsan, not even «أُفٍّ», do not rebuke, a noble word, humility, and the dua (17:23, 24).
10. The wasteful are brothers of the devils (17:27).
11. Neither a hand chained to the neck nor opened completely: moderation (17:29).
12. Do not kill your children for fear of poverty (17:31); do not go near zina (17:32).
13. Do not go near the orphan's property; fulfil the promise (17:34); give full measure (17:35).
14. Do not follow what you have no knowledge of: ear, eye and heart will be questioned (17:36); do not walk proudly (17:37).
15. Allah honoured the children of Adam (17:70).
16. Prayer times: from the decline of the sun to the darkness of the night, and the Fajr recitation (17:78); tahajjud (17:79).
17. "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished" (17:81); the Quran is a healing and mercy (17:82).
18. The soul is of the command of my Lord (17:85).
19. Challenge: the like of the Quran cannot be produced by mankind and jinn together (17:88).
20. Six demands of the deniers: a spring, a garden, the sky in pieces, Allah and the angels, a house of gold, an ascent with a book (17:90 to 93).
21. The Prophet (ﷺ) answered: "Glory be to my Lord! I am only a human messenger" (17:93).
22. Nine clear signs were given to Hazrat Musa (AS) (17:101).
23. The sajdah of recitation is at 17:109.
24. The surah ends with praise of Allah who has no son and no partner (17:111).
25. 80-list words of this surah: «أَسْرٰى» (17:1), «آتَيْنَا» (17:2), «أَعْتَدْنَا» (17:10), «قُلْنَا» (17:61), «لَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا» (17:23).

If you see one of these ayat in the paper, spot the key words, answer from the ayah first, then add the context.