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The Buraq (Arabic: البُراق, pronounced bu-raaq, meaning lightning) (), Turkish Burak, is, according to Islamic tradition a horse from the heavens 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 western 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, or the Shedu of Babylonian legend.

Leon Uris's novel The Haj, describes the buraq as follows:

“ 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, Buraq Air, is named after the Buraq.
• The Indonesian airline company, Bouraq Indonesia Airlines, is named after the Buraq.
• Burak was a popular boy's name in 1980s Turkey.
• ABC International Bank plc in London now offers Sharia compliant residential home financing in the UK under the Al Buraq name.

External links

Additional information

• Complete report from the Sahih Bukhari, which includes a quotation similar to the above

Photos, maps, and other images

• Contemporary photo of a Pakistani truck decorated with a picture of the buraq

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