Is the Mind in the Heart or the Brain?
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Response to an alleged scientific "error" in the Quran and Sunnah.
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Response to an alleged scientific "error" in the Quran and Sunnah.
Recently, an Arab atheist by the name of "Adam Masri" came out with a video claiming that the Quran made a huge mistake by saying the mind is in the heart and not the brain. Additionally, he used these verses to support his claim.
There are two issues with his claim. Firstly, why should Muslims take this literally like how he did? The Quran often uses metaphors to drive the main message to the listener. The phrase of the heart being the center of emotions, like how we still use it, could've been prevalent.
Therefore, the Quran would've used this phrase as a metaphor to teach the main theological message. It's similar to how someone in today could say "He is kind hearted" and not expect to be taken extremely literally. With that said, could this phrase be defended if it is literal?
The answer is yes. The following response is the orthodox opinion presented by many classical scholars. The idea is that classical scholars held that the mind is immaterial. The mind is the soul or, at least, quite similar. The evidence of this is that world of barzakh (grave).
As the hadith suggests: the body of a person will be dead & rotten to the point of returning to dust. However, the dead would still be experiencing a lesser version of heaven or hell in spirit. Keep in mind that this happens before the Resurrection, when they're given new bodies.
With that said, scholars like Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayim, Al-Munawi, Al-San'ani, and others have said that the "heart" referred to in the Quran and Sunnah is a spiritual heart or the immaterial soul / mind that has a metaphysical connection with the physical heart.
This connection, however, is not one where the physical heart creates consciousness. Rather, it is a connection where the metaphysical location of the immaterial consciousness is in the same location of the heart. With that said, science can't delve into the metaphysical.
These two articles from IslamWeb explain the topic well.
1) islamweb.net
2) islamweb.net
Also, these are what the scholars mentioned above have said.
1) islamweb.net
2) islamweb.net
Also, these are what the scholars mentioned above have said.
islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/32035โฆ
islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/34432โฆ
ุญูููุฉ ุงูููุจ ูู ุงูู ุตุทูุญ ุงูุดุฑุนู - ุฅุณูุงู ููุจ - ู ุฑูุฒ ุงููุชูู
ุญูููุฉ ุงูููุจ ูู ุงูู ุตุทูุญ ุงูุดุฑุนู ูุนูู ุฃู ุงูููุจ ูู ุนุจุงุฑุฉ ุนู ู ุถุฎุฉ ููุฏู ูู ุง ูู ุงูููุจ ุงูุฐู ููุณู ููููู ูุงูุฐู...
The summary of what these scholars have said is seen below. The translation can also be seen here.
So, we have seen that the mind that the Quran and Sunnah speak about is an immaterial one that isn't caused by anything physical. With that being said, what about the brain? Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal said that the mind (immaterial) is in the heart and has a connection with the brain.
In other words, the Quran seems to support a dualist understanding of the mind and body where the mind is immaterial and it interacts with the body. Whether the immaterial mind is metaphysically in the heart or not shouldn't be questioned empirically.
This is since the holder (physical heart) can change with transplant surgeries and the content (spiritual heart / mind) can stay the same in the spiritual realm.
There are many evidences to suggest that the mind is immaterial. For example: I have already made the case from NDEs.
Although I don't agree with him on everything, Inspiringphilosophy has made a very good video series on this. youtube.com
Although I don't agree with him on everything, Inspiringphilosophy has made a very good video series on this. youtube.com
But let's assume that we actually found the part of the brain that creates consciousness, which doesn't exist. The soul would still be in connection with the brain through metaphysical causation. This means that God created our bodies in a way that it enacts what the soul wants.
This could be seen from through the views of occasionalism and theistic compatibalism proposed and taken as creed by the Ashari muslim scholars. I have already taken about those models.
In short, the Quran attributes actions to there original causes, even if there were mediators between the first cause and the final effect. This could be seen in this verse, where isn't understood that God does these actions through miracles. Rather, it is through mediators.
The Quran attributes human reason to the soul, although it's effect may be mediated through the chemistry of the brain. In other words, God wouldn't have created the brain to analyze information in such a way if it weren't for the soul doing the same thing in the spiritual realm.
The Quran also describes the heart as doing the action of the soul when it leaves. I don't think any Arab at the time of the prophet thought the physical heart reaches the throat. However, they believed the soul does. This is extra evidence the Quran is talking about the soul.
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