Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #13

Intellect is in the heart

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

[From Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen of Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله, pg. 341-342]:

Allaah تعالى said:

{ فإنها لا تعمى الأبصار ولكن تعمى القلوب التي في الصدور}

{Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind} [Surah al-Hajj (22): 46]

Subhaan-Allaah! It is as if this Aayah was revealed about the situation of the people of today, but in actuality it was about the situation of the people in the past; regarding: Is the conscience (intelligence/intellect) in the mind or is the intellect in the heart?

This matter has confused many people - those who look at an issue from a materialistic perspective, and who do not refer it back to the Words of Allaah تعالى and the words of His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Otherwise in reality the issue is clear, that the intellect is in the heart and the heart is in the breast:

{ أفلم يسيروا في الأرض فتكون لهم قلوب يعقلون بها}

{Have they not travelled through the land, and have they hearts wherewith to understand…} [Surah al-Hajj (22): 46]

And He تعالى said:

{فإنها لا تعمى الأبصار ولكن تعمى القلوب التي في الصدور}

{Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind} [Surah al-Hajj (22): 46]

He تعالى did not say: the hearts which are in the heads (minds), but He تعالى said:

{ في الصدور}

{which are in the breasts}

  

The matter is very clear that the intellect is in the heart, and this is supported by the statement of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله ألا وهي القلب

“There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.” [1]

So take heed about the matter which is affirmed by the Book of Allaah - and Allaah is the Creator and the Knower of all things - and which the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also affirms.

It is obligatory upon us that we oppose every statement which is put towards us that opposes the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, and that we trample it beneath our feet, and we should raise not our heads with it (we should not support it nor let it find roots in the society). Therefore, the heart is the place of intellect without doubt.

The mind is the place of perception; so when the mind perceives (a matter), it sends it to the heart. The heart, thereafter, commands or prevents (from acting upon it). It is as if the mind is like a secretary, it prepares the things and sends it to the heart, and then the heart approves or rejects it. And this is not something strange:

{ وفي أنفسكم أفلا تبصرون }ٍ

{And also in your own selves (are signs). Will you not then see? } [Surah al-Dhaariyaat (51): 21]

Therefore, the heart is the place of intellect and for disposition of affairs for a person. But no doubt that the heart has a connection with the mind, and that is why if the mind becomes insane, the ability to think gets messed up as well as the intellect gets messed up. So, one is linked with the other. But the place of conscience (intellect) is the heart and the heart is in the chest.

{ولكن تعمى القلوب التي في الصدور }

{but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind} [Surah al-Hajj (22): 46]

*******

[1] Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (52, 2051) and Saheeh Muslim (3004).

Narrated Al-Nu`maan bin Bashir رضي الله عنها: I heard Allaah’s Apostle صلى الله عليه وسلم saying: “Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima and the Hima of Allaah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.”