14 In the FooI;ttpJ of tIM Propbtfcreanon, conceived as a school whe re the mind g radually apprehends
signs and meaning. Far removed from th e formalism of souUess religious
rituals, this sort of education, in and through its closeness to nature, fos-
ters a relationship to the divine based on contemplation and depth that
will later make it possible, in a second phase o f spiritual education, to
understand the meaning, form, and objectives of religious ritual. Cut off
from nature in our towns and cities, we nowadays seem to have forgotten
the meaning of this message to such an extent that we dangerously invert
the order of requirements and believe that learning about the techniques
and forms of religion (prayers, pilgrimages, etc.) is sufficient to grasp and
understand their meaning and objectives. This delusion has serious con-
sequences since it leads to draining religious teaching of its spiritual sub-
stance, which actually ought to be its heart.
The Split Chest
Traditio n reports that a most peculiar event to ok placc whcn Muhammad
was four, as he was playing with the children of the Banu Sad Bedouin
tribe. Halimah says that her son came to her and her husb and in fright and
informed them that "two white-clad men grasped him [!vtuhammad] and
laid him on the ground; then they opened up h is chest and plunged their
hands in it.,, 14
H alimah and her husband ran to the Spot indicated by their child and
found Muhammad shaken and pale. He confirmed his foster brother's
story, adding that after opening his chest, the twO men " touched some-
thing there; 1 do not know what it is."1 5
Troubled by this story and fearing the child might have suffered some
harm, the pair decided to take 1 .fuhammad back to his mother. At first,
thcy conccaled the main rcason for their decision, but faced with the
mother's insistent questions, they finally informed her of the event. Shc
was not surprised, and even mentioned that shc hcrself had witnessed
signs indicating that a particular fatc ,vas bcing prepared for her child.
Many years later, the Prophet recalled the event and said that twO men
" split [his] chest, took out the heart, and opened it to take out a black clo t,
which they threw away. Then dlCY washed [his] hean and chest with