The Quran on the Cerebrum
Allah has said in the Quran about one of the evil
unbelievers who forbade the Prophet Muhammad SAW from praying at the Kaaba:
No! If he does not stop, We will take
him by the naseyah (front of the head), a lying, sinful naseyah (front of the
head)! (Quran, 96:15-16)
Why did the Quran describe the front of the head as being
lying and sinful? Why didn’t the Quran say that the person was lying and
sinful? What is the relationship between the front of the head and lying and
sinfulness?
If we look into the skull at the front of the head, we will
find the prefrontal area of the cerebrum (see figure 12). What does physiology
tell us about the function of this area? A book entitled Essentials of Anatomy
& Physiology says about this area, “The motivation and the
foresight to plan and initiate movements occur in the anterior portion of the
frontal lobes, the prefrontal area. This is a region of association cortex...”1
Also the book says, “In relation to its involvement in
motivation, the prefrontal area is also thought to be the functional center for
aggression....”2
Figure 12: Functional regions
of the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex. The prefrontal area is located
at the front of the cerebral cortex. (Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley
and others, p. 210.)
So, this area of the cerebrum is responsible for planning,
motivating, and initiating good and sinful behavior and is responsible for the
telling of lies and the speaking of truth. Thus, it is proper to describe the
front of the head as lying and sinful when someone lies or commits a sin, as the
Quran has said, “...A lying, sinful naseyah (front of the
head)!”
Scientists have only discovered these functions of the
prefrontal area in the last sixty years, according to Professor Keith L. Moore.3
Footnotes:
(1) Essentials of Anatomy &
Physiology, Seeley and others, p. 211. Also see The Human Nervous System,
Noback and others, pp. 410-411.
(2) Essentials of Anatomy &
Physiology, Seeley and others, p. 211.
(3) Al-E’jaz al-Elmy fee al-Naseyah
(The Scientific Miracles in the Front of the Head), Moore and others, p. 41.
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