Upon this, desiring that the salam of Allah encompass my entire ummah, I added, “Salam be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah.” After this, Allah the Exalted made fifty rakah of salat a day obligatory for my ummah.
After that, I returned and, on the way, I met Moses. He asked me, “What has Allah made obligatory for your Ummah?” I explained, “He has made fifty rakahs of salat obligatory.” Moses advised me, “Go back to your Rabb, for your Ummah will not be able to bear this.” Upon this, I returned to the presence of my Rabb and made a request. My Rabb reduced the number of rakahs from fifty by ten. Upon my return, Moses asked me again. I replied, “The obligation of prayers has been reduced to forty.” Again, he advised me, “Your Ummah will not be able to bear this. Return to your Rabb.” I made another request to my Rabb, and again He reduced the number by ten. When I returned, Moses asked again, “The obligation has been reduced to thirty, hasn’t it?” I answered, “Indeed, it has been reduced to thirty.” Again, Moses warned, “Your Ummah will not be able to bear this. Return to your Rabb.” I once again made a request to my Rabb, and again He reduced it by ten. Upon my return, Moses asked, “The obligation has been reduced to twenty, hasn’t it?” I replied, “Yes, it has been reduced to twenty.” Once again, Moses cautioned, “Your Ummah will not be able to bear this. Return to your Rabb.” Finally, my Rabb reduced it to ten. So, I returned to Moses, and he warned me once again, “Your Ummah will not be able to bear this. Return to your Rabb.” I made another request to my Rabb, and He reduced it by five prayers. He said, “They are five, but they are still counted as fifty in My sight. The decree given by Me cannot be changed.” When I returned to Moses, he once again said, “Make another request; your Ummah cannot even bear this.” I said, “I feel ashamed before my Rabb.” After this, I saw Paradise and Hell, and then I returned.”
Yes... After returning from the Mi’raj, our Master decided to share this with all the people of Mecca. However, he knew that they would not believe him. In fact, he had already mentioned it to Gabriel during the journey, and received the response, “Abu Bakr will confirm your words. He is the truthful one.” When our Master shared his plan, Umm Hani held onto his cloak and said, “O Rasul of Allah, please do not disclose this to the people. They will not believe you and it will only bring them ridicule.” But our Master was determined to reveal it and said, “By Allah, I will make this known.”
When he went to the Haram and disclosed it to the people of Mecca, they were astonished and said, “O Muhammad, do you have any proof for these claims? We have never heard of such a thing before.” Meanwhile, Abu Jahl arrived and asked in a mocking manner,
“What’s this, is there something new?”
Our Master replied:
“Yes!”
“What is it?”
“I was taken on a night journey!”
“Where to?”
“To Jerusalem!”
“And then you were back among us in the morning, right? Is that so?”
“Yes!”
“I have never heard such an absurd lie in my life! “
Then, fearing our Master will later deny his claim Abu Jahl wanted to gather his people there.
“Would you find it appropriate for me to call my people here so that you can tell them what you told me?” he asked. Our Master gave his consent. Upon this, Abu Jahl gathered some of the polytheists of Mecca there. When they arrived, Abu Jahl spoke,
“Come on, tell them what you told me!”
Our Master explained:
“I was taken on a night journey to Jerusalem!”
They asked in astonishment:
“And now you’re here among us?”
“Yes!”
They were all amazed by what was being told. After a moment of silence, they all resorted to denial. Then someone asked:
“Can you show us any evidence for what you’re telling us?”
“Yes, during the journey, I came across some people who had lost their camels. I called out to them and showed them where their camels were. Then, on the slope of Mount Thani, I encountered a caravan with a blackish camel leading the way. It had two saddlebags, one black and the other reddish. When you see them, ask if what I am saying is true.”
Upon hearing this, the polytheists hurriedly went down to the valley. Soon after, they saw the first approaching caravan from a distance. And they found that everything the Rasul had said was true, word for word, both in that first caravan and the subsequent ones.
However, despite all of this, they still did not believe and insisted, “These acts are a great sorcery!” Meanwhile, there was a conversation between our Master and some of them:
“You claim that you went to Jerusalem, so describe it to us!”
Our Master narrates this incident as follows:
“I was asked so many questions about the places I visited, especially about Jerusalem, that I couldn’t pay attention to all of them that night. It became quite overwhelming for me, to the extent that I had never felt such distress before. Then, Allah removed the distance between me and Jerusalem, and I started seeing it as if it were right in front of me. I answered their questions by looking at it. One of them even asked me, ‘How many gates does it have?’ Although I hadn’t counted the gates, when I saw Jerusalem before me, I counted its gates one by one and answered their questions.”
Upon this, the polytheists believed in him and said, “Indeed, this description is entirely accurate!” Then, Walid bin Mughira came forward and caused the crowd to disperse by declaring, “This man is simply a sorcerer!” Meanwhile, some of the polytheists hurriedly went to find Hadhrat Abu Bakr (ra) and said to him, “O Abu Bakr, do you know about what your friend has done?” “No, what happened?” Abu Bakr asked. “He went to Jerusalem tonight and performed salat there... Then he returned!” they replied. “Did you deny him when he narrated this to you?” Abu Bakr asked. “Of course, we did! He wanted to convince everyone in the mosque of the truthfulness of his words,” they said.
Abu Bakr (ra) expressed his conviction, saying, “By Allah, if he says it happened this way, then it must be so! Indeed, I believe in him even when he conveys verses revealed to him by Allah every hour, which may seem more far-fetched than this. So why should I not confirm this? Whatever he says is true!” Afterward, Abu Bakr immediately ran to the presence of our Master and asked, “O Rasul of Allah, did you inform the people that you went to Jerusalem last night, performed salat there, and then returned on the same night?” “Yes, O Abu Bakr,” replied our Master. “Indeed, I bear witness and confirm you, O Rasul of Allah,” said Abu Bakr.
“Your words can only be the words of Truth.”
“Yes, O Abu Bakr, you are indeed the Sıddiq (the Truthful, the Faithful, the Loyal one)” responded our Master.
It was at this moment that the title “Sıddiq” was bestowed upon Abu Bakr (ra). And from that moment onwards, he became known by and called by the title “Sıddiq.”