The Relationship of the Heart to Thinking, and Likewise (the Brain)
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[The Relationship of the Heart to Thinking, and Likewise (the Brain)]
The questioner: How to reconcile the statement that the head is the site of conception and thinking with the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Hajj: 46]?The Shaykh: Reconciling this is easy,The later scholars say: The heart referred to here is the heart of thinking, not the heart that pumps blood. The heart in the chest is merely a pump for blood and has no other function. They interpret the hearts in the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): “Know that in the body there is a morsel of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound” as referring to the heart of thinking, which is in the brain. It is known that when the brain is disordered, thinking and action become disordered.And Imam Ahmad said: The intellect is in the heart and has a connection to the brain.
And some of the later scholars say: Thinking and conception are in the brain.
Then the brain is to the heart what a secretary is to a president,Meaning: it conceives things and writes down what is decided, then sends it to the heart, and the heart is the one that executes and commands or forbids. For this reason, Abu Hurayrah compared the heart to a king and the limbs to soldiers. This view is the closest to the truth; because it is not possible to interpret the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Know that in the body there is a morsel of flesh” as referring to the physical heart,The Messenger explained and clarified: “a morsel of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt”.
The questioner: What is the conclusion?The Shaykh: The conclusion is: the site of thinking is the brain, and the site of deliberation is the heart.
So understanding occurs in the head and in the heart.
The questioner: How to reconcile the statement that the head is the site of conception and thinking with the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and have hearts by which to reason
فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَاAnd some of the later scholars say: Thinking and conception are in the brain.
Then the brain is to the heart what a secretary is to a president,Meaning: it conceives things and writes down what is decided, then sends it to the heart, and the heart is the one that executes and commands or forbids. For this reason, Abu Hurayrah compared the heart to a king and the limbs to soldiers. This view is the closest to the truth; because it is not possible to interpret the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Know that in the body there is a morsel of flesh” as referring to the physical heart,The Messenger explained and clarified: “a morsel of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt”.
The questioner: What is the conclusion?The Shaykh: The conclusion is: the site of thinking is the brain, and the site of deliberation is the heart.
So understanding occurs in the head and in the heart.