Burāq depicted as Amanita muscaria in a 15th century Timurid-illuminated manuscript?

Summary

The illustrations in a 15th century Timurid manuscript show Burāq, the creature that helped Mohammed ascend through the heavens, depicted with features resembling the psychoactive Amanita muscaria mushroom. This paper examines how such representations could arise, considering that orthodox Islam rejects any implication of drug use by the Prophet during his spiritual journey. Importantly, there is no claim that Mohammed's ascent was due to the influence of any psychoactive substance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A series of illustrations in a 15th century Timurid manuscript record the mi’raj, the ascent through the seven heavens by Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam. Several of the illustrations depict Burāq, the fabulous creature by means of which Mohammed achieves his ascent, with distinctive features of the Amanita muscaria mushroom. A. muscaria or “fly agaric” is a psychoactive mushroom used by Siberian shamans to enter the spirit world for the purposes of conversing with spirits or diagnosing and curing disease. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author explores the routes by which Burāq could have come to be depicted in this manuscript with the characteristics of a psychoactive fungus, when any suggestion that the Prophet might have had recourse to a drug to accomplish his spirit journey would be anathema to orthodox Islam. There is no suggestion that Mohammad’s night journey (isra) or ascent (mi’raj) was accomplished under the influence of a psychoactive mushroom or plant.