In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad, the Messenger.
A Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The incident of the opening of his noble chest, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
While the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was playing with the boys in the desert of Banu Sa'd,
Jibril, peace be upon him, came to him accompanied by another angel.
He opened his noble chest.
Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad,
and al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, with a chain of narration supported by corroborating evidence,
from 'Utbah Ibn 'Abd al-Sulami, who said:
A man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him:
"How did your affair first begin, O Messenger of Allah?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, replied:
"My foster mother was from the tribe of Banu Sa'd Ibn Bakr.
I went out with a son of hers to tend to our livestock,
and we did not take any provisions with us.
I said to my brother,
'Go and bring us some provisions from our mother.'
My brother left,
and I remained with the livestock.
Then two white birds appeared, looking like eagles.
One said to the other,
'Is it him?'
He replied, 'Yes.'
They rushed toward me,
seized me, and laid me flat on my back.
They opened my abdomen,
then extracted my heart and split it open.
They removed two black clots from it.
One said to the other,
'Wash it.'
Meaning, clean it.
So he washed it and sealed it with the seal of prophethood.
Then they left and departed, leaving me behind.
I was struck with intense fear.
I then went to my mother,
and told her what I had encountered.
She feared that I might have been afflicted by something.
She said,
'I seek refuge in Allah for you.'
She prepared a camel for me,
placed me upon the saddle,
and rode behind me
until we reached my mother [Aminah].
She said,
'I have fulfilled my trust and my responsibility.'
I told her what I had encountered,
but it did not alarm her.
She said,
'I saw a light emerge from me,
which illuminated the palaces of al-Sham.'
Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih,
from Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
was visited by Jibril, peace be upon him,
while he was playing with the boys.
He took him and laid him down,
then opened his chest to reach his heart.
He extracted the heart,
and removed a clot from it.
He said,
'This was the portion of Shaytan in you.'
Then he washed it in a golden basin with Zamzam water,
then restored it and returned it to its place.
The boys came running to his mother,
meaning his foster mother,
and said,
'Muhammad has been killed!'
They went to meet him, and he was pale.
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
'I used to see the mark of that stitching on his chest.'
A Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Authored by Sheikh Musa Ibn Rashid al-'Azimi,
and presented by the Mawaddah Association,
in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
May his reach be encompassed.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised,
and as long as the rest remains,
healing.