Isrāʾ signifies a journey by night; here it denotes the extraordinary journey from the Sacred Mosque to al-Aqṣā. Miʿrāj denotes ascent and, in this discussion, being taken upward from earth toward heaven.
These terms describe related but distinct dimensions of the event. They should not be treated as interchangeable when formulating an argument. The night journey is expressly mentioned in the Qur’an, while details of the heavenly ascent are established by reports of differing evidentiary grades.
One must first identify whether a claim concerns the night journey on earth or the heavenly ascent: the proofs and the consequences of rejecting each claim cannot simply be assumed identical.