The Sidra al-Muntaha (Arabic: سِدْرَة ٱلْمُنْتَهَىٰ|Sidra al-Muntahā|lit=Lote Tree of the Farthest Boundary) in Islamic theology is a large lote or sidr tree (Ziziphus spina-christi) [1] that marks the utmost boundary in the seventh heaven, where the knowledge of the angels ends. During the Isra and Mi'raj, (Muhammad's physical journey from Masjid Al-Haram to al-Aqsa, and then from Masjid al-Aqsa, the ascension towards the Heavens and eventually meeting God) Muhammad is said to have travelled with the angel Gabriel to the tree where Gabriel stopped while, beyond the tree, God instructed Muhammad about the salah (five daily prayers).[2]
The Lote Tree of the Furthest Boundary is also used to refer to the Manifestation of God several times in Bahá’í literature.[3]
The tree is also referred to in Sura 53 verse 14–16, Sura 34 verse 16 and Sura 56, verse 28.
Sura 53, verses 11-18 reads:
Sura 34, verses 15-17 reads:
Sura 56, verses 27-34 reads:
A tafsir entitled Tafsīr al-karīm al-raḥman fī tafsīr kalām al-manān by the Salafi scholar Abdul-Rahman al-Sa'di (d. 1957), while commenting on ns. said:[4]
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, whose is among the most widely known English versions of the Qur'an,[5] explained that this tree "marked the bounds of heavenly knowledge as revealed to men, beyond which neither Angels nor men could pass."[6]
George Sale, the 18th century English scholar, has "beyond which Angels themselves must not pass; or, as some rather imagine, beyond which no creature's knowledge can extend."[7] Sale also notes that one commentator states that line 16 refers to the "host of angels worshipping" around the tree[8] and another that it is about the birds which sit on its branches.[9]
The 19th-century English explorer Richard Burton reported seeing an ancient Sidr tree in Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi in Madinah, in a garden dedicated to Muhammad's daughter Fatima. The fruit from the tree was being sold to pilgrims and its leaves used for washing dead bodies.[10]
The lote-tree is used as a symbol, for example, by the Qatar Foundation: "The Sidra tree, growing strong and proud in the harshest of environments, has been a symbol of perseverance and nourishment across the borders of the Arab world. What is the significance of this glorious tree? With its roots bound in the soil of this world and its branches reaching upwards toward perfection, it is a symbol of solidarity and determination; it reminds us that the goals of this world are not incompatible with the goals of the spirit." The evergreen tree Ziziphus spina-christi represents this symbol in natural form.[11]