Al-Shaqq Al-Sadr

Al-Shaqq al-ṣadr (the splitting of the chest)” “refers to a miracle attributed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in which several angels split open his chest, wash his heart, and purify it.

This event has been narrated with different locations and times, and some believe that it occurred multiple times at different ages. Shia and Sunni scholars have expressed various opinions regarding the authenticity of these reports. It has been said that this miracle has been more widely affirmed by Sunni scholars. Many Shia scholars have judged these reports to be fabricated, while some have accepted them, and others have described it not as a physical, tangible event but rather as a symbolic or visionary experience.

Introduction

One of the reports of Shaqq al-Ṣadr was narrated by Halima Sa‘diyah. According to this narration, when Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a child in the desert with Halima, two men dressed in white took him, split open his chest, removed his heart, washed it in a golden basin, and then returned it to its place.

The story of Shaqq al-Ṣadr has appeared in various forms in many books of biography (Sīrah), history, hadith, and exegesis (Tafsīr).(2) Sayyid ʿAlawī, Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr

 ,  p. 12. ,,,, Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam bi-Riwāyat al-Muʾarrikhīn, al-Muḥaddithīn wa-al-Mufassirīn , p. 154, 155.

From the collection of these hadiths, it appears that the event of Shaqq al-Ṣadr occurred several times at different ages for the Prophet (peace be upon him).(3) Sayyid ʿAlawī, Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr , p. 14. ,,, Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Sargudhasht-i Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī az Pandār tā Ḥaqīqat, ,  p. 114.

The narrators have counted this story among the virtues and miracles of the Prophet.(4) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Shaqq al-Ṣadr wa ʿIṣmat al-Nabī (ṣ) ,  p. 10.

The main purpose of these narrations has been understood to express the purity, sanctity, and infallibility of the Messenger of God.(5) Sayyid ʿAlawī, Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr ,  p. 17.

The contradictions present in the text of the narrations have led Muslim scholars to offer various opinions regarding the authenticity of this story.(6) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam bi-Riwāyat al-Muʾarrikhīn, al-Muḥaddithīn wa-al-Mufassirīn , p. 172.

Researchers have stated that most Sunni scholars have accepted the story of Shaqq al-Ṣadr and counted it among the perfections of the Prophet, while the majority of Shia scholars consider this story to be fabricated and derived from Isra’iliyyat (Judeo-Christian legends).(7) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Sargudhasht-i Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī az Pandār tā Ḥaqīqat, ,  p. 115.

It has also been said that some scholars have interpreted the occurrence of this event as symbolic or allegorical and have sought to provide a rational explanation for it.(8) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Sargudhasht-i Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī az Pandār tā Ḥaqīqat, ,  p. 116.

Some Shia scholars, such as Allameh Majlisi, have also accepted this story.(9) Majlisī, Biḥār al-Anwār , vol. 15,  p. 356–357.

Critique of the Narrations

Researchers have offered many critiques of the narrations of Shaqq al-Ṣadr; among other things, they have stated that these narrations have weak chains of transmission, and some of the narrators of these hadiths are weak or unknown.(10) Sayyid ʿAlawī, Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr , p. 15. ,,, Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Sargudhasht-i Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī az Pandār tā Ḥaqīqat , p. 120. ,,, Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, ,Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam bi-Riwāyat al-Muʾarrikhīn, al-Muḥaddithīn wa-al-Mufassirīn  , p. 158.

It has also been stated that the text of this narration is weak, and there are contradictions among the contents of these narrations.(11) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Sargudhasht ‘Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī’ az Pandār tā Ḥaqīqat , p. 120.

Some have also spoken of the contradiction of these narrations with the infallibility of the Prophet, the Qur’an, and reason.(12) Mūsavī, *Zāreʿī, Taḥlīl-i Intiqādī Rivāyātī az Kitāb al-Īmān Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, p. 39–40.

Some believe that these narrations were influenced by ancient or pre-Islamic (Jahili) stories.(13) Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam bi-Riwāyat al-Muʾarrikhīn, al-Muḥaddithīn wa-al-Mufassirīn,   p. 176. ,,, Sayyid ʿAlawī, Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr, , p. 18–19.

(14) ʿĀmilī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ min Sīrat al-Nabī al-Aʿẓam (ṣ) , vol. 2, p. 171.

And they have identified elements of these stories within the narrations of this miracle.(15) Sayyid ʿAlawī,  Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr ,  p. 19.

The significant differences and contradictions in the text of the hadiths are among the criticisms directed at these narrations; although some have considered these differences to result from the repetition of this event at different times.(16) Sayyid ʿAlawī,  Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-Nawīsān dar Dāstān-i Shaqq al-Ṣadr ,  p. 15. ,,, Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, Shaqq Ṣadr al-Nabī ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam bi-Riwāyat al-Muʾarrikhīn, al-Muḥaddithīn wa-al-Mufassirīn , p. 160–166.

Some, such as Allameh Tabataba’i, have stated that this event belongs to the category of intermediary (barzakh) visions and have rejected any other interpretation.(17) Ṭabāṭabāʾī,   Al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 13, p. 23. / vol. 20, p. 317.

Other commentators have also said that this story is symbolic of divine assistance in a spiritual sense, strengthening the resolve and will of the Prophet, and purifying him from all moral defects and satanic temptations.(18) Makārem Shīrāzī,   Tafsīr-i Namūnah   , vol. 27, p. 123.

Reference"

• Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir b. Muḥammad Taqī. Biḥār al-Anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.

• Mūsavī, Zahra; Zāreʿī, Zahra. “Taḥlīl Intiqādī-ye Rawāyātī az Kitāb al-Īmān Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.” Taḥqīqāt Qurʾānī va Ḥadīthī, No. 3, Spring & Summer 1399 SH.

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• Karbalāʾī Pāzūkī, ʿAlī. “Shaqq Ṣadr wa ʿIṣmat al-Nabī (Ṣ).” Anjoman Maʿāref Islāmī, No. 7, Summer 1385 SH.

• ʿĀmilī, Jaʿfar Murtaḍā. Al-Ṣaḥīḥ min Sīrat al-Nabī al-Aʿẓam (Ṣ). Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1426 AH.

• Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Beirut: Dār Ṭawq al-Najāh, 1422 AH.

• Qushayrī Nīshābūrī, Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Edited by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.

• Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassasah al-Aʿlamī lil-Maṭbūʿāt, 1390 AH.

• Sayyid ʿAlawī, Sayyid Ibrāhīm. “Naqd Ārāʾ Sīrah-nevisān dar Dāstān Shaqq Ṣadr.” Āyeneh-ye Pazhūhesh, No. 10, 1370 SH.