As science develops, it brings to us new facts that witness the greatness of the Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition. In this research there are facts about the miracles of Allah the Almighty in the brain.
There are so many verses in the Qur’an that catch the attention of the believer. He is always encouraged to contemplate when reading the Qur’an so his heart does not become locked up. “Do they not then think deeply in the Qur’an, or are their hearts locked up (from understanding it)” (Muhammad: 24). One of the many Qur’an verses that makes the believer deeply think about the true meanings and the miracles these verses have is what Allah the Almighty said through Prophet Hud who told his people “I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord!”, then He continued “There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on a straight Path (the truth)” (Hud:56)
The question that the believer may arise is: Why did Allah the Almighty choose to have a grasp of the forelock in particular? “There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock”, and the forelock is what is known to be the forehead. In another verse, He said about Abu Jahl who harmed the Prophet peace be upon him “Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) cease not” which means if he did not cease to harm the prophet and did not cease to become infidel “Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) cease not, We will catch him by the forelock – A lying, sinful forelock!” (Al-Alaq: 15-16)
If we look carefully on what the Prophet peace be upon him said on one of his prayers “O Allah, I am your bondservant, son of your bondsman, and son of your bondswoman. My forelock is in Your Hands; Your judgment is continuously being carried out upon me; Your sentence upon me is just. I ask You with every name that is Yours, with which You have named Yourself, brought down in Your book, taught to one of Your creation, or have preferred for Yourself in the hidden knowledge, with You: that You make the Qur’an the spring of my heart, and the light of my chest, and the dispelling of my sadness, and deportation of my concern”.
Here we notice the prophet peace be upon him says “My forelock is in Your Hands”. The question arises why is there so much emphasis on the forelock area? What do we have behind this area? What is this area responsible for? Why does Allah the Almighty always mention that he has control over this area and that He directs it as He wishes?
Invention of Lie Detector
The recent scientific research found out that in 2006 a group of scientists wanted to discover the area responsible for lie in humans and they aimed at designing a new machine that can detect it. Old machines used to measure the voice tone, heart beat, amount of sweat, in addition to other physiological symptoms. When someone lies something will get disrupted whether an increase in the heart beat rates or sweating or breath. However, old machines failed because professional liars used their tricks to manipulate them as they sit very quietly with no signs of worries during investigation. Scientists started a new experiment to resolve this and they focused on the brain this time, they believed there is an area responsible for lie which can be somewhere in the brain. To proceed with this new experiment they brought what is called fMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
Image of fMRI, a specialized equipment that measures the activity of any area in the brain using magnetic waves.
What does fMRI do? How does it work?
It is an equipment that measures the brain’s activity. The patient lies on a moveable table that slides so the brain is surrounded by a cylinder-shaped tube that connects to a computer. This equipment does not touch the patient, instead images of body parts are taken by radio waves. We all know that the brain is continuously active. Allah the Almighty created a man and divided his brain into areas each with a specific responsibility. When scientists experimented on this equipment and asked someone to make a lie, they noticed an increased activity in the frontal top area of the brain (the forelock).
They also noticed that this area had an increased blood circulation because there are so many processes that exist when making a lie. They concluded that this area – forelock- is responsible for lie and what was even more important is the fact that when people are honest and do not lie, no areas with any noticed activity was found in the brain indicating no waste in energy.
Scientists noticed that the brain activity is at the highest in the forelock area when lying, while they did not notice any single activity when being honest; therefore, they believed that the brain is instinctively honest.
Lie require more energy
They had one more conclusion, making a lie demands some waste of energy. When a man is honest he does not need to waste energy from his brain, but when he lies he wastes so much energy for that. These results are definite results because scientists monitored the blood circulation in the neurons inside the brain and found out that the activity in frontal area – forelock –increased rapidly to lie.
When they applied this experiment on many people they found out that a man could never have control over his brain. As soon as a man lies, an activity will immediately take place in the forelock area in his brain and this activity can never b stopped. Sometimes there are people who can have some control over their heart beats or facial impressions, but they can never control or cease the energy that is produced by making a lie. Therefore, they said that the best approach to find out whether a person lies is to monitor his forelock area which is respo
nsible for lie.
This machines works by sending magnetic waves towards the brain, which hit the neurons in the brain, and get reflected in various forms according to the area and its activity. The most active area in the brain (with more blood circulation and hence with more hemoglobin and more oxygen) will give a different image for the waves it produces, and this allow us to know the active area in the brain and the intensity of this activity.
Forelock – center of mistakes
Furthermore, in 2006 the scientists of Michigan University did a unique experiment to deal with the phenomena of mistakes. Sometimes the decisions a human makes are right and other times they are wrong. They wanted to know the area responsible for mistakes in the brain. What did they do? They used the fMRI again and they selected some people and asked them to make various mistakes. The conclusion of this research –published by the Neurology magazine recently- is that the upper frontal area or the forelock is responsible for the mistakes people do, because scientists noticed an increased activity in this area during the process of making a mistake. The bigger the mistake the wider the area of activity is
A lying sinful forelock
As a result, the scientists came with a definite conclusion that the areas responsible for mistakes and lie are found in the upper frontal area of the brain, the forelock. This information has been taught to us by the Qur’an in only two words “Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) cease not, We will catch him by the forelock – A lying, sinful forelock!” (Al-Alaq: 15-16). Unfortunately, commentators, mercy be upon them, did not understand this meaning then and said that the forelock can never lie and interpreted this verse by explaining that the noblest area in the human is the forelock (forehead). So Allah the Almighty will catch Abu Jahl from this area and throw him in hell.
Every single word Allah the Almighty says is the truth and the Qur’an speaks the language of science when it gives any resemblance. This indicates that always the Qur’an not only precedes science and is also superior to science.
Center for creativity and leadership
Using the same experiment, the scientists also wanted to know the center for leadership in humans. When they studied creativity and awareness in humans – so they can improve human’s perception- they were determined to search for the area that controls creativity and decisions making, therefore determine the human’s success or failure. They selected some people and asked them to make some important decisions and think creatively. Results from fMRI showed high activity in the forelock area which means that the forelock is responsible for creativity and decision making too.
Experiments by fMRI showed that the forelock – forehead- is highly active when one makes a mistake or lie, and this assured the scientists that the forelock directs people during the time when a mistake or a lie is made. It was also clear from the images that the forelock becomes active during creative work or making important decision. It is considered one of the most important areas in the brain.
Certain Scientific Results
As discussed, scientists are now sure that the area responsible for mistakes is the forelock. Referring to the verses “I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on a straight Path (the truth)” (Hud:56). Allah the Almighty has the grasp of the forelock of all his creatures and he directs them as He wishes, and “Verily, my Lord is on a straight Path (the truth)” (Hud:56), means that Allah the Almighty has given us the way that if we follow we will be on the straight path and our life decisions will not be mistaken.
Why did Allah the Almighty mention this fact?
The scientific miracles of the Qur’an and Sunnah are explained so the believers grow more in faith, and those in doubt become aware of the greatness of Islam and the truthfulness of Qur’an. However, there is another goal which is extremely important: what did we learn from these facts? how can we use them?
When I deeply studied the verse through which prophet Hud peace be upon him talked to his people, I realized that Allah the Almighty may have a lesson for all of us. When the Muslim is in doubt about doing something or taking an important decision in his life, he has to pray like prophet Hud “I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on a straight Path (the truth)” (Hud:56). This verse has a language that we may not understand but our brain nerves do. When we repeat this verse many times in our prayers, it gives us bless and guidance to take the right decision.
Forelock is the healing center
Using the forelock becomes very important when reading verses of the Qur’an for healing purposes. We should put the hand on the forelock and read the verse of the Qur’an that we believe it will heal us from a disease. Why?
This area is like a huge storage for our mistakes, lie, & the wrong decisions, and it should be cleansed and maintained all the time. We should pray to Allah the Almighty as the Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him used to say “My forelock is in Your Hands”. Here, Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him submitted the leadership center to Allah the Almighty: My Lord I submit my forelock which is responsible for my lie, mistakes, perception, creativity to you so you can guide it as You wish and do whatever you want with it.
A different reading
“I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on a straight Path (the truth)” (Hud:56). Now that we have a new reading to this verse with further depth and more contemplation, we will be able to feel it and rejoice it differently, and this is what I always aim at. The true believer should read the Qur’an with contemplation so he can find the real rejoice of faith. There are so many people who read the Qur’an and pray but can not have this special feeling “In the Bounty of Allah, and in His Mercy therein let them rejoice, that is better than what (the wealth) they amass” (Yunus: 58)
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By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel
Sources:
1- Lying brain, Science, 10 December 2004.
2- You Can’t Hide Your Lying Brain, www.signalplusnoise.com, 7 June 2003.
3- Thomas L. Bennett, Introduction to Physiological Psychology, Brooks/Cole Pub. Co. 1982.
4- Maureen Morley, Brain imaging with MRI could replace lie detector, Radiological Society of North America, 29-Nov-2004.
5- Robert T. Knight, Principles of Frontal Lobe Function, Oxford University Press, 2002.
