Expansion of the breast (sharh al-sadr)

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy takes up the meaning of the expansion of the breast (sharh al-sadr) and its opening, beginning with the point that the secrets of the breast and its inner workings are known to its Creator alone. ¹ The episode opens with the observation that the calamities of the Arab and Muslim world narrow hearts, so that a small worry can turn into depression for some people. ²

He says that whoever knows the secrets of the breast and its entrances is its Creator alone, just as only the maker knows the secrets of a machine. ¹ He says that God is nearer to a person than any relative, and cites the first verse of Surat al-Sharh: The first verse of Surat al-Sharh. ¹

He gives the example that the moods of husband and wife change with financial and emotional circumstances, then distinguishes the sensory expansion of the breast from the moral expansion, and says that God gave both specifically to His Prophet. ³

He recounts the event of the opening of the breast in the Prophet's childhood: two men in white garments came, took something from his heart and washed it in water in a vessel; his mother saw a light at her conception; and the mark of the wound remained on his chest. He does not name the narrator of the account in the recording. ⁴ He reports a remark, from a chief physician at a heart conference, that a surgical intervention may lower the blood in some parts of the body and pale a person's complexion. He links this to the story without identifying the source of the statement (needs_source: the medical explanation is attributed to a physician not named in the recording). ⁵

A listener asked whether the expansion of the Prophet's breast was the main reason he bore the call. The Sheikh answers that a narrow breast becomes tight with family and relatives, and that such a person sees matters only through the eye of a needle. ⁶

He says that the Prophet was a human being, not preserved from error, that breadth of heart calls for patience with a questioner who repeats his question, and that God is displeased with one who does not ask. ⁷ He calls for good opinion of God and for meeting anger with forbearance, and counts success in self-control among the greatest successes. ⁷