2. Chain of narration from the
graduates of daruL uLoom bury to
the imam buKhari
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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
7. 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.
8. 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)
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
