In the Qur’an there
are many verses talking about the heart,
which is in the chest of the human body, saying that it has the ability to
understand, feel, remember and make decisions, good or bad.
For example: “Have
they not travelled in the land so that they may have hearts with which to
comprehend, or ears with which to hear? Indeed it is not the eyes that turn
blind, but it is the hearts within the breasts that turn blind!” (22:46). “.. and do not conceal the testimony, - for, verily, he who conceals
it, his heart is sinful, and God has full knowledge of all that you do” (2:283).
Also in the
sayings of the Messenger of God (peace and God’s blessings upon him) we find indications that the heart is the decision-maker of a person:
“Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet said: Do not
envy one another, do not inflate prices for one another, do not hate one
another, do not turn away from one another, and do not undercut one another in
trade. But rather be servants of God and brothers (amongst yourselves). A
Muslim is the brother of a Muslim: he does not oppress him, nor does he fail
him, nor does he lie to him, nor does he hold him in contempt. Piety is right here (and he pointed to his
chest) three times. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in
contempt. The whole of a Muslim is inviolable for another Muslim: his blood,
his property, and his honor” (Muslim in his Collection of Hadith).
The Qur’an, which
was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and God’s blessings upon him) never
mentioned “al-
‘aql” (= brain)
but hundred of times mentioned “ta’qiloon” , “ya’qiloon” (= you or they seek to
understand), and always the subject is “the heart” not the brain. Also “yatadabbaroon”
(= they ponder), not with the brain, but with the heart: “Will they not, then, ponder over
this Qur’an? – or there locks upon their hearts?” (47:24).
If the Prophet’s
statement (more than fourteen centuries ago) said that the piousness (earnest
compliant in the observance of religion) of a person is in fact his heart’s
accomplishment, then it is interesting to know that modern physicians who spent
their life on research in neurological and neuroanatomical aspects of
cardiology only recently discovered that “the
heart is a sensory organ and information encoding and processing center, with
an extensive intrinsic nervous system that’s sufficiently sophisticated to
qualify as a heart brain. Its circuitry enables it to learn, remember, and make
functional decisions independent of the cranial brain. To everyone’s surprise,
the findings have demonstrated that the heart’s intrinsic nervous system is a
complex, self-organized system; its neuroplasticity, or ability to reorganize
itself by forming new neural connections over both the short and long term, has
been well demonstrated”. (From an article written by Professor Dr.
Dominique Surel: appliedconsciousnessintl.com).
The Qur’an
indicates that all research in human history will be useless without attentive
work or consciousness of the heart:
“And how many a generation We
destroyed before them, who were superior than these in prowess, and (who) then
searched throughout the land (wondering); is there any escape? Assuredly there is in that a reminder
for him who has a (conscious) heart, or gives ear in (full) witness” (50:36-37).
On another
occasion, the Prophet (peace and God’s blessings upon him), while talking about
the lawful and the unlawful things for a Muslim, said: “What is lawful is clear and what is unlawful is clear, but between
them are certain doubtful things which many people do not know. So he who
guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and his honor blameless. But
he who falls into that which is unlawful, just as a shepherd who grazes his
cattle in the vicinity of a pasture declared prohibited (by the king): he is
likely to stray into the pasture. Mind you, every king has a protected pasture
and God’s involved limit is that which He has declared unlawful. Verily, there
is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is healthy, the whole body is healthy,
and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart!”
(Narrated by An-Nu’man bin Basheer, and recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in
their Collections of Hadith).
This explanation
given by the Prophet to his followers was to teach them that all understanding,
intelligence and intention of a person that will be put into action should be
decided by the heart. One should not do anything without a determination from
his heart.
“Then heart is the
most powerful organ generating five thousand times more electromagnetic signals
than the brain. Some of the same neurotransmitters present in the brain, also
found in the heart, establish their own neurochemical communications link. The
heart translates information that is then communicated through its neurological
impulses and makes its way to the brain to the medulla and up to higher centers
of the brain where they can influence our cognitive processes such as how we
make decisions and how we perceive reality”. (www.appliedconsciousnessintl.com).
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