Birth Accompanied by the Splitting of the Chest
Authored by: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
A similar narration is transmitted from Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه). He states that when my younger brother ʿAbdullāh was born, there was a radiance on his face like that of the sun. On one occasion, our father had a dream. Upon hearing this dream, a female soothsayer from the Banū tribe prophesied that from this boy’s lineage a child would be born who would rule the entire world.
When the child was born from the womb of Āminah, I asked her what she witnessed during childbirth. She said:
“When labor began, I heard a loud sound, unlike the voice of any human. I saw a green silk banner affixed to a ruby pole, extended between the heavens and the earth. Rays of light emitted from the child’s head and ascended toward the sky. All the palaces of Syria appeared like blazing fire.
I also saw a flock of ducks near me; they prostrated before the child and then spread their wings. I saw Saʿīrah Asadiyyah passing by, exclaiming: ‘This child of yours has caused great harm to the idols and the soothsayers. Alas, Saʿīrah is doomed!’
Then I saw a tall and radiant young man appear. He took the child from my hands and placed his own saliva into the child’s mouth. In his hand was a golden basin. He turned the child over, took out his heart, removed a black clot from it, and cast it away. Then he opened a pouch made of green silk, took out a ring, and sealed it upon the child's shoulder. He then clothed the child in a shirt.
O ʿAbbās! This is what I saw.”
After quoting this narration, Sayyid Sulaymān Nadwī writes:
“There is not much to say about this narration, as even the transmitters have acknowledged its weakness. Suyūṭī has written: ‘There is extreme deniability (نكارة) in this narration and the two preceding ones.’ He further says: ‘I have not quoted any narration more objectionable than these three in my book Khaṣā’iṣ, though it contains many weak reports—but not of such high magnitude of falsehood. I did not even desire to include them, but only did so in imitation of Abū Nuʿaym (i.e., had Abū Nuʿaym not fallen into the pit, I would not have either).’
You can understand the level of weakness of such narrations when even Suyūṭī, whose books are largely based on weak narrations, deems them unworthy of recording.
Suyūṭī attributes this narration to Abū Nuʿaym, but this particular report is not found in the published edition of Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah by Abū Nuʿaym.
It is also worth noting that Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) was only one or two years older than the Prophet ﷺ. When Āminah passed away, the Prophet ﷺ would have been around seven or eight years old. Hence, this raises further questions about the authenticity of Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās's detailed narration of events at the time of birth.
Authored by: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
◈ Narration from ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه)
A similar narration is transmitted from Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه). He states that when my younger brother ʿAbdullāh was born, there was a radiance on his face like that of the sun. On one occasion, our father had a dream. Upon hearing this dream, a female soothsayer from the Banū tribe prophesied that from this boy’s lineage a child would be born who would rule the entire world.
When the child was born from the womb of Āminah, I asked her what she witnessed during childbirth. She said:
“When labor began, I heard a loud sound, unlike the voice of any human. I saw a green silk banner affixed to a ruby pole, extended between the heavens and the earth. Rays of light emitted from the child’s head and ascended toward the sky. All the palaces of Syria appeared like blazing fire.
I also saw a flock of ducks near me; they prostrated before the child and then spread their wings. I saw Saʿīrah Asadiyyah passing by, exclaiming: ‘This child of yours has caused great harm to the idols and the soothsayers. Alas, Saʿīrah is doomed!’
Then I saw a tall and radiant young man appear. He took the child from my hands and placed his own saliva into the child’s mouth. In his hand was a golden basin. He turned the child over, took out his heart, removed a black clot from it, and cast it away. Then he opened a pouch made of green silk, took out a ring, and sealed it upon the child's shoulder. He then clothed the child in a shirt.
O ʿAbbās! This is what I saw.”
❖ Research on the Ḥadīth
After quoting this narration, Sayyid Sulaymān Nadwī writes:
“There is not much to say about this narration, as even the transmitters have acknowledged its weakness. Suyūṭī has written: ‘There is extreme deniability (نكارة) in this narration and the two preceding ones.’ He further says: ‘I have not quoted any narration more objectionable than these three in my book Khaṣā’iṣ, though it contains many weak reports—but not of such high magnitude of falsehood. I did not even desire to include them, but only did so in imitation of Abū Nuʿaym (i.e., had Abū Nuʿaym not fallen into the pit, I would not have either).’
You can understand the level of weakness of such narrations when even Suyūṭī, whose books are largely based on weak narrations, deems them unworthy of recording.
Suyūṭī attributes this narration to Abū Nuʿaym, but this particular report is not found in the published edition of Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah by Abū Nuʿaym.
It is also worth noting that Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) was only one or two years older than the Prophet ﷺ. When Āminah passed away, the Prophet ﷺ would have been around seven or eight years old. Hence, this raises further questions about the authenticity of Ḥaḍrat ʿAbbās's detailed narration of events at the time of birth.
