Lesson eleven

Splitting/Expanding the chest of the Prophet

Chain of narration from the graduates of darul uloom bury to the IMAM BUKHARI

Splitting of the chest – Shrah Sadr

• Incident occurred some months after the Prophet arrived at Halima's house.

• Prophet was out with his foster brothers, when the incident took place.

• His foster brother was shocked and came running to tell Halima.

Overview of the entire incident

• “Two white-clothed men laid our Qureshi brother onto the ground and laid open the chest, now they are stiching him back up”.

• On hearing this the husband & wife were in shock.

• They comforted the Prophet upon seeing him.

• Prophet was four.

• The men appeared were Jibraeel & Mikaeel in human form.

• They had golden utensils, a bowl and a tray

• Took out & split open the heart.

• They took out few pieces of blood and said “this is Shaytan's portion”.

• They washed the heart with ice/snow.

• In this incident they also casted the seal of Prophet hood

Critically analysing this incident

• This incident is narrated by Tabrani with a reliable chain of narration

• In the six major books of Hadith the splitting of the chest during Mir'aj is mentioned.

• In commentaries, (Hafiz Ibn Hajar) mentions this incident as well.

• This incident is narrated by numerous companions.

1) Narrated by Utbah bin Abd in Ahmed, Tabrani, Hakim. Hafiz Zahabi & Haytami say it is sound.

This incident is also narrated by Abu Zar, Anas bin Malik, Ibn Abbas, Shadad bin Aus in various other books.

What was taken out?

• Black blotch of something was extracted from the heart.

• This the root of all sins. The sins emerge from this place.

• It was washed to ensure no impression or effect of the black blotch remained.

• The reality of the black blot will be explained in the last slide

What was filled in?

Ilm & Hikam – (Knowledge & Wisdom) Both are important.

• Ibn Barr says about wisdom, “Wisdom increases dignity and elevates the slaves to the courts of the kings”.

• Also mentions, “Men of knowledge are trustees of the the Islamic community”.

Why wash with ice ?

• Ice cold because it extinguishes sin.

• Sin is from shaytan who is made out of fire.

• When a person is angry he is commanded to do whudu.

• Imam Nasai is of the view doing whudu with cold water is more virtuous than warm water as the goal of whudu and salah is to remove sins.

• And the Prophet said “ O Allah, cleanse my sins with the water of snow and hail”

• Excellent detailed commentary in Seeratul Mustafa page 97 &99.

Claims that the miracle did not happen literally

• A miracle which a human brain cannot understand. As nothing is impossible from the power of Allah.

• Some contemporary biographers are of the view that the splitting of the chest did not happen literally.

• They say it means the Prophet's chest was expanded.

• They say this because of their irrational obsession with philosophy.

• The literal miracle is exclusive to the Prophet.

• Proof is that the companions saw the stitching scars on the Prophet's chest.

• Sayyiduna Anas says “I have seen the stich marks on his chest” (Muslim)

Expanding of the chest from companions & predecessors

• The companions and pious predecessors also had expansion of the heart but not in a literal sense.

• It means that Allah gave them divine inspiration (Ilhaam). Other words Allah gave them wisdom.

How many time did the splitting of the chest take

place during the lifetime of the Prophet?1) Fours Years old

2) Ten Years old

3) When Prophet hood was given

4) Mir'aj

• From these four the Mir'aj incident is Mutawatir and Mashur.

• Why more than once? It will be explained in the last slide.

Main Aim of the splitting of the chest.

• The splitting of the chest took place numerous times.

• This was to ensure the heart remained extremely purified and spiritually illuminated.

• This way the connection to Allah stays strong.

• We need to make this connection with Allah aswell. Hence, we need to clean our heart and instil spirituality.

• This is the main aim of Sufism.

Read passage page 15

Next Week

• Seal of the Prophet hood.• Returning home then coming back.