SURA AL INSHIRAH
\
n one most important
writing, shaykh Abu’l
Hasan Zayd Faruqi (rah)
said: “ the breast is the
where the Knowledge occurs
where the mysteries are understood,
where the faith is highlighted and
becomes clears”. This is a concept very
remote to the current western mentality
which locates the center of human understanding in the brain, fits instead perfectly within the frame of the Islamic tradition and is often reported in the writings
of the most notorious teachers of
tasawwuf. Imam al Ghazali, for instance,
in one of his autobiographic works, talking about his personal quest, tells us that
he obtained the Knowledge only when
God gave him a light, which enlarged his
breast.
It is, however mainly in some verses of
the Holy Quran, where the breast is
described as the elective place where
spiritual enlightenment occurs and where
divine science is manifested. In Sura TaHa, Allah al Mighty, talking to Hadrat
Musa (SA), on the Mount Sinai, orders
him to go to Pharo, and he answers with
such prayer: “Oh my Lord open my
breast, makes this mission easy to me!
Unlock my tongue, so they can understand my speech!”(Quran XX: 25-28).
Sura Al An’âm says, “Allah opens the
breasts, whose He wishes to guide to the
Good, to be submitted to Him” (Quran
VI: 125).
During the life of Hadrat Muhammed
(SA) it was the event of His breast
“opening” which showed fully His
prophetic nature; this happened, when he
became and orphan and was fostered by
Halima and Harith, a couple of
Bedouins. Then one day, when he was
alone in desert, Hadrat Jibrail and Mikail
(SA), came to Him, still a child, to open
His breast and after taken out His heart
they split it and cleaned from a clot of
atá| |{ätÇ| â áä|}xàâ
Dr. Abd Ar Rahman Giordani (translated and edited from the original
paper in Italian published in:’’Ayn Al Hayat, Quaderni della tariqa
Naqshbandiyya,1 1995).Dr. Giordani is lecturer of Islamic studies and
Arabic at University of Modena, Italy).
dark blood, washed with snow and put it
back. This event happens again in the
night of the Miraj, the Prophet (SA) was
sleeping close to the Ka’ba, when Hadrat
Jibra’il (SA), came to take His heart
again out from His breast and to wash
with water of Zamzam.
The breast opening of the Holy Prophet
(SA) is mentioned by the Holy Quran in
the Sura CIV, this extraordinary event is
quoted to be a great privilege that Allah
has given to His Prophet (SA), forgiving
all His sins.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent
and the Merciful
Have not caused thy bosom to dilate?
And eased thee of the burden
Which weighed down thy back
And exalted thy mention?
But lo! With hardship goeth ease
Lo! With hardship goeth ease
So when thou art relieved still toil
And strive to please thy Lord
The most used name for such Sura is al
Inshirah, which in Arabic means “opening” or “enlargement”, often it is called
al Sharh or also Sura A lam nashrah,
from its first three words.
Its revelation occurred immediately after
that of Sura al Duha, during the “maccan” time. According some scholars
these two Sura were assumed to be originally as one single one, the Umayad
Khaliph ’Umar ibn Adb al ’Aziz used to
read them in a single rak’at without putting the Basmala between them, this was,
maybe due to the similar starts of the two
Sura. Says Sura al-Duha (Quran XCIII:
6-8)
Did He not find thee an orphan and
protect?
Did He not find thee wandering and
direct?
Did He not find thee destitute and
enrich?
However the great majority of the commentators agree to distinguish the two
Sura on the basis of the different times of
their revelation. Sura al Inshirah was
revealed at a time of particular distress
for Hadrat Muhammed (SA), when He
and his followers were belittled and persecuted by the Meccans, after the recent
lost of the closest ones of his family, h