Lote Tree:-
Called Sidrati'l Muntaha in Arabic.
34: 16 But they turned away (from Allah) and We sent against them the flood (released) from the Dams and We converted their two Garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter fruit and tamarisks and some few (stunted) Lote [Sidri] trees.
53: 14 Near the Lote-tree [Sidrati^l Muntaha] beyond which none may pass: 15 Near it is the Garden of Abode. 16 Behold the Lote-tree was shrouded (in mystery unspeakable!)
56: 28 (They will be) among Lote trees [Sidri] without thorns
Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 363 Narrated byUmm Qays daughter of Mihsan
I asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) about the blood of menstruation on the clothe. He said: Erase it off with a piece of wood and then wash it away with water and the leaves of the lote-tree.
Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 5220 Narrated byAbdullah ibn Habashi
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If anyone cuts the lote-tree, Allah brings him headlong into Hell.
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 5640 Narrated byAsma', daughter of AbuBakr
Asma' heard Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) say when the lote-tree of the boundary was mentioned to him, "A rider can travel in the shade of a branch of it for a hundred years," or "a hundred riders can take shelter in its shade (the transmitter being in doubt); in it there are golden butterflies and its fruit looks like earthenware jars." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.
*** The interpreters of the Quran are at a loss as to what this tree may be.
In the Bible, there were two prohibited trees in the Garden of Eden, these were the tree of Knowledge and the tree of Life.
Since the tree of Knowledge was already violated, then the only tree of great importance in Paradise must be the tree of Life to which Muhammad used this metaphor to describe; otherwise, the references regarding the extreme importance of this tree, make absolutely no sense ***
