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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Nay! If he does not stop, We will certainly seize him by the forelock"?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
Regarding His saying:
A lying, sinning forelock. نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ
[Al-'Alaq 96:16]
Some people, in a book of theirs, asked in a questioning tone: Why did not Allah the Mighty and Majestic say that the human being is the liar and the sinner, but rather He referred to a lying, sinful forelock? Then they went on to scientific psychological research and so forth, and said: The scientists have discovered that the front of the head is the center of worry and the center of action, and indeed it is the center of aggressive thinking. So they linked this to that conclusion and concluded that this is evidence. What is the basis of this argument, whether it is far-fetched or close? May Allah reward you?

The Shaykh : Allah the Mighty and Majestic said:
No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock - كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعاً بِالنَّاصِيَةِ
[Al-'Alaq 96:15]
The forelock of this criminal aggressor
A lying, sinning forelock. نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ
[Al-'Alaq 96:16]
Because it is customary to seize a person by his forelock, and then he is taken for his crime. It is not far-fetched that the forelock is the place of initiative, because it is the front of the head, and the head is the place of thinking and conception. So it is not far-fetched that Allah intended this meaning. And in my opinion, and Allah knows best: the people of that era did not know about this matter. But there is no harm if sensory perception and reality bear witness to a correct meaning that does not contradict the Qur'an. I say: there is no harm in saying that it points to this.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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