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

A 15th-century Timurid manuscript illustrating the Prophet Mohammed's mi'raj (ascent through the seven heavens) depicts the creature Burāq with features resembling the psychoactive mushroom Amanita muscaria (fly agaric), used by Siberian shamans for spirit journeys. The author explores how this resemblance might have arisen, given that any implication Mohammed used a drug for his spiritual ascent would be unacceptable in orthodox Islam. The text explicitly states there is no suggestion Mohammed's journey was drug-induced.

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.