Reality of Human Heart- a religious perspective

         

Apart from being considered as a blood pumping organ, heart is also commonly associated with human liking/ disliking and other human emotions; in this way, heart is connected with rationale of human deeds.  Let us look into this emotional aspect of heart functions in the succeeding lines in the light of revealed knowledge. 

We have already seen in the article “Concept of ‘qalb’ and ‘fuwad’ in Quran”, that, scientifically looking, human brain is associated with various functions and attributes including feelings, decision-making, intellect, hearing, seeing and all kinds of bodily instructions. In Quran, nowhere the word ‘ brain’ has been used, but the various functions and attributes assigned to human brain are described with words ‘ qalb’ and ‘fuwad’.   Word ‘fuwad’ is used for human feelings; whereas word ‘qalb’ is used for all brain’s functions. In other words, in Quranic terminology, words ‘qalb’ and ‘fuwad’ are used with the meaning of brain or mind. Now the question arises if word ‘qalb’ means human barain/ mind, what is meant by word ‘Heart’ which has been mentioned in various traditions and religious scriptures.

Before dwelling on the concept of ‘heart’, we need to clarify the emotional rationale of human deeds in the light of revealed knowledge i.e. Quran and Sunnah.

 We have already seen in the article “Reality of Human Soul”  that every human body is created out of its soul and then is appointed mate/ pair of such soul. We can find example of this phenomenon in rays striking against screen and making picture on the screen; that picture is actually within the rays already. Just like picture on the screen, human body is created out of rays of human soul. Every human body is a true reflection of its soul; human body contains all the characteristics which are embedded in dormant form in its soul. The greater a human body actualizes these characteristics, the more it functions like a soul. Depending upon the level of actualization, a human body can be weightless like a soul; it can fly in the air like a soul (as our Aulia Allah do); it can travel with immeasurable speed like a soul; it can see beyond the limits of ordinary human sight as a soul can do; it can be so refined like soul that no shadow of it can be formed (Hazrat Muhammad’s (saw) body had no shadow).  Human body always acts according to dictation of its soul; if the soul gives good direction, the human body acts in good way; if the soul gives bad direction, the human body acts accordingly.  That is why when a human body expires, its soul is rewarded or punished according to human body’s actions. It is a misconception that soul always leads towards Allah; if it were so, why should it be punished for bad deeds of human body?

As explained above, human body’s deeds are actually deeds of human soul. Now we come to the point what is the emotional rationale of human deeds OR, in other words, what is the emotional rationale of human soul’s deeds done in this world.  Actually linkage of emotional rationale with human soul’s/ human being's deeds is connected with ‘youm e alast’- the day when Allah made all human beings acknowledge that HE is their ‘Rab’/ the Sustainer and Lord. As we already have seen in the article “Modes of Human Trial and Levels of Consciousness” When Allah made souls/ bodies of all human beings acknowledge His Lordship, all souls/ bodies of human beings made acknowledgement to that effect. Souls/ bodies of all human beings accepted/ submitted that Allah is their Lord, but such submissions by all souls/ bodies of human beings to Allah were not uniform; the level of submission to Allah’s Lordship by more pious people was greater than that of lesser pious people.  Not only for whole life but also for every individual event he/she was to face in his/her life after taking birth in this world, soul/body of every human being submitted to Allah’s Lordship in various degrees. The objective behind Allah’s question was to know how much every soul/ human being would submit to Allah in his life matters after taking birth in this world; the reply by each soul showed how much he/she would submit to Allah in various incidents in his/her life after taking birth in this world. These various levels of submission shown by soul/body of individual(s) to Allah’s Lordship in various incidents of future worldly life are called individual’s intentions/ ‘neyyat’. In psychological terms, these intentions are called unconscious level of human mind.  These levels of submission/ intentions shown by soul of an individual on ‘youm-e-alst’ to Allah’s Lordship about his/her future life incidents are made apparent to him in his life after he/she takes birth in this world.  That is why every individual is liable to get punishment or reward for only such deeds which are based on his/her intentions, as our Nabi (saw) states that “deeds are based on intentions/ ‘neyyat’. 

These neyyat/ intentions shown by soul/body of an individual at ‘youm e alast’ were actually the emotions granted to that human body/soul; these emotions were to be made basis of deeds of that soul/ body after taking birth in this world in the form of human being of flesh and bones.  These emotions may be divided into two categories; they may be either in line with acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship, Or they may be contradictory to acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship. If the emotions are in line with acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship, they are called ‘HEART’ of human soul/ human being. If the emotions are contradictory to acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship, they are called human mind. In other words, as mentioned above, these 'neyyat'/ emotions are  unconscious mind of human being, Heart is human being's such part of unconscious mind which is relating to those 'neyyat'/ emotions which play in line with acknowledgment of Allah's Lordship. It means unconscious mind consists of two types of emotions; one relating to good deeds (it may also be called human Heart), and the second relating to bad deeds. when these  both types of emotions/ 'neyyat' are made known to concerned human being, they are called 'wish'/ desire (for details plz see article titled '“Modes of Human Trial and Levels of Consciousness" and article "Concept of ‘qalb’ and ‘fuwad’ in Quran”).

   In other words, human Heart is not a permanent organ in human body which leads human being to Allah; actually human Heart is a relative term. At one time a set of emotions may be in line with acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship; at some other time, that same set of emotions may play in a manner contradictory to acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship. That is why we find satisfaction in doing a certain act in a certain scenario; but we feel anxious by doing the same act in a different scenario. But one thing is certain; human Heart always leads human being to Allah. It is not human soul which always leads human being to Allah; it is that part of human soul’s emotions which are in line with sense of Allah’s Lordship, which always leads human to Allah. That is why our Nabi (saww) told us ' whenever a person is confused as to which way/action he should go for, he should listen to his 'Heart'; in other words, in case of such confusion, he should go for such way of action which is based on acknowledgment of Allah's Lordship; in other words, in such confusions, the person's act should be based on Trust on Allah (obviously Allah may be trusted only if action is based on Allah's commandment).

We may conclude that concept of human ‘Heart’, described as emotional rationale of human deeds, and as such mentioned in religious scriptures, has nothing to do with that organ which works as blood pumping organ in human body . Human ‘Heart’ in religious perspective is actually a relative term associated with such human emotions which play in line with human acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship. Heart is actually that portion of human mind’s functions which are relating to such emotions which are in consonance with human acknowledgement of Allah’s Lordship which was acknowledged by all human beings in ‘youm e alst’. 'Heart' is part of 'Unconscious Mind'; when a person, after taking birth in this world, becomes conscious of this part of Unconscious Mind, this part of Unconscious Mind is called 'Heart'. 

NOTE: It may be appreciated that concept of 'Heart' described as emotional rationale of human deeds -and as such mentioned in religious scriptures- has been discussed in this article. As for as Heart as blood pumping organ and mentioned as such in religious scriptures is concerned, such Heart is not emotional rationale of human deeds; rather such Heart is blood pumping organ located in the chest. For  instance our Nabi (saww) in one saying has described Heart as an organ which regulates health of human body; if that organ malfunctions,  whole body malfunctions; if that organ functions well, whole body functions well. In fact in this saying our Nabi (saww) has mentioned about Heart which acts as a blood pumping organ, not as emotional rationale of our deeds.