The Relationship Between the Intellect and the Heart
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : A few days ago, I was in a gathering when a questioner with a professional position asked me, having heard me affirm [something].
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : What Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:[Al-Hajj 22:46] After he listened to what I said, he asked, "How do we know that the intellect is in the brain?" I spoke at length in answering this question. The summary of the matter is that the brain is not the center of the intellect, but a passage for the intellect which emanates from the heart. I also cited some evidence for this, including: [Al-Hajj 22:46] "Do the eyes become blind?" [Al-Hajj 22:46] It did not say "the hearts that are in the heads." He said: [Al-Hajj 22:46] , and I continued with this. Then I said that empirical knowledge, as He (the Exalted) said: [Al-Isra 17:85] , so empirical knowledge has only recognized that the center of the intellect and understanding is this brain which is in the head.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But it did not delve deeper than that.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : And I gave an example that I always repeat here in Damascus. There is water called the water of al-Fayyih, and al-Fayyih is a village about thirty kilometers away from Damascus and elevated above it. This water is passed through the mountains via large pipes, and extending the water supply requires building reservoirs.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I told him, if a bullet, let alone a bomb, were to hit one of these reservoirs and the water burst out of it, and one did not know that this water was drawn from the spring of al-Fayyih, what would he say? Where does this water come from? This is an approximate analogy. The human body is much more precise than these human-made extensions on the created earth. So medicine has reached this point but not that point. It was a long research. What is the point? A young man there said, it has been scientifically established that this statement you are making is what medicine is saying now. And it was a surprise to me because whenever I research this topic, I find only confusion among the rationalists and faith among the believers. So he answered that there are now opinions saying what? He said, what do they call these? Hormones. Yes, he said it has been scientifically established that there are hormones in the heart which supply the brain with this intellect and understanding. So I answered him with the same answer, although this is consistent with what is established for us in the Shari'ah. I told him, by Allah, this is a good thing, but I do not think this has become a scientific fact. It is possible that this is an opinion, and perhaps it will become a scientific fact.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So Allah knows best.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : What Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:
hearts by which to reason
لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَاFor indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which
فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى الْأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِيthe hearts which are within the breasts.
القلوب التي في الصدورthe hearts which are within the breasts.
الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِAnd mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."
وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًاThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But it did not delve deeper than that.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : And I gave an example that I always repeat here in Damascus. There is water called the water of al-Fayyih, and al-Fayyih is a village about thirty kilometers away from Damascus and elevated above it. This water is passed through the mountains via large pipes, and extending the water supply requires building reservoirs.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I told him, if a bullet, let alone a bomb, were to hit one of these reservoirs and the water burst out of it, and one did not know that this water was drawn from the spring of al-Fayyih, what would he say? Where does this water come from? This is an approximate analogy. The human body is much more precise than these human-made extensions on the created earth. So medicine has reached this point but not that point. It was a long research. What is the point? A young man there said, it has been scientifically established that this statement you are making is what medicine is saying now. And it was a surprise to me because whenever I research this topic, I find only confusion among the rationalists and faith among the believers. So he answered that there are now opinions saying what? He said, what do they call these? Hormones. Yes, he said it has been scientifically established that there are hormones in the heart which supply the brain with this intellect and understanding. So I answered him with the same answer, although this is consistent with what is established for us in the Shari'ah. I told him, by Allah, this is a good thing, but I do not think this has become a scientific fact. It is possible that this is an opinion, and perhaps it will become a scientific fact.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So Allah knows best.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.