Some Miracles Of The Quran - 9

THE TRUTH OF DESTINY

But you will not will unless Allah wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 76:30)

As a result of experiments he performed in 1973, Professor Benjamin Libet, a neurophysiologist at the University of California, revealed that all our decisions and choices are set out beforehand, and that consciousness only comes into play half a second after everything has been determined.(Benjamin Libet, "Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action," Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1985, 529-566.) This is interpreted by other neurophysiologists as meaning that we actually live in the past and that our consciousness is like a monitor which shows us everything half a second later.

Therefore, none of the experiences we perceive are in real time, but are delayed by up to half a second from the real events themselves. Libet carried out his research by making use of the fact that brain surgery can be performed without the use of narcosis, in other words while the subject is fully conscious. Libet stimulated the brains of his subjects with small electrical currents, and when they experienced a perception that their hands had been touched the subjects said that they had felt that "touch" almost half a second before. As a result of his measurements, Libet arrived at the following conclusion:

All perceptions are normally transmitted to the brain. As these are subconsciously evaluated and interpreted, the ego is unaware of anything. The information that appears before our minds, in other words that we can be aware of, is transmitted to the cortex, the seat of consciousness, after a certain delay. (Melih Kafa, "Conscious)

The conclusion from this may be summarised as follows: The decision to move a muscle takes place before that decision reaches the consciousness. There is always a delay between a neurological or perceptual process and our becoming aware of the thought, feeling, perception or movement it represents. To put it another way, we can only be aware of a decision after that decision has been taken.

In Professor Libet's experiments, this delay varies between 350 and 500 milliseconds, although the conclusion that emerges is in no way dependent upon those figures. Because, according to Libet, whatever the length of that delay-it makes no difference whether it is great or small, whether it lasts an hour or a microsecond-our physical life is always in the past. This demonstrates that every thought, emotion, perception or movement happens before reaching our consciousness, and that proves that the future is entirely outside our control.(Conscious mind and free will)

In other experiments, Professor Libet left the choice of when the subjects would move their fingers up to them. The brains of the subjects were monitored at the moment their fingers moved, and it was observed that the relevant brain cells went into action before the subjects actually took the decision. To put it another way, the command "do!" reaches the individual, and the brain is readied to perform the action; the individual only becomes aware of this half a second later. He or she does not take a decision to act and then performs that action, but rather performs an action predetermined for him or her. Yet, the brain makes an adjustment, removing any recognition that the individual is actually living in the past. For that reason, at the moment we refer to as "now," we are actually living something determined in the past. As already discussed, these studies manifest the fact that everything happens by the will of Allah, as revealed in Surat al-Insan 30. (See Harun Yahya, Timelessness and the Reality of Fate, Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2001)

THE REGION RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR MOVEMENTS

No indeed! If he does not stop, We will grab him by the forelock, a lying, sinful forelock. (Qur'an, 96:15-16)

The expression "the lying, sinful forelock" in the above verse is most interesting. Research carried out in recent years has revealed that the prefrontal area, which is responsible for the management of particular functions of the brain, lies in the frontal part of the skull. Scientists only discovered the functions of this area, which the Qur'an pointed out 1,400 years ago, in the last 60 years. If we look inside to the brain at the front of the head, we will find the frontal area of the cerebrum. A book entitled Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, which includes the results of the latest research on the functions of this area, says:

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... (Rod R. Seeley, Trent D. Stephens, and Philip Tate, Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, 2nd ed., (St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book Inc.: 1996), 211; Charles R. Noback, N. L. Strominger, and R. J. Demarest, The Human Nervous System, Introduction and Review, 4th ed., (Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger: 1991), 410-411.)

The book also says:
In relation to its involvement in motivation, the prefrontal area is also thought to be the functional center for aggression...(Seeley, Stephens, and Tate, Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, 211.)

So, this area of the cerebrum is responsible for planning, motivation, and initiating good and sinful behaviour, and is responsible for telling lies and the truth.
It is clear that the statement "the lying, sinful forelock" corresponds completely to the above explanations. Again, this fact which scientists have only discovered in the last 60 years, was stated by Allah in the Qur'an centuries ago.

HEARTS FIND PEACE IN THE REMEMBRANCE OF ALLAH

According to research by David B. Larson, of the American National Health Research Center, and his team, comparisons of devout and non-religious Americans have given very surprising results. For instance, religious people suffer 60% less heart disease than those with little or no religious belief, the suicide rate among them is 100% lower, they suffer far lower levels of high blood pressure, and this ratio is 7:1 among smokers. (Patrick Glynn, God: The Evidence, The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World, (California: Prima Publishing: 1997), 80-81.)

It was reported in one study published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, an important scientific source in the world of medicine, that people who describe themselves as having no religious beliefs become ill more frequently and have shorter life spans. According to the results of the research, those with no beliefs are twice as likely to suffer stomach-intestine diseases than believers, and their mortality rate from respiratory diseases is 66% times higher than that of believers.

Secular psychologists tend to refer to similar figures as "psychological effects." This means that belief raises peoples' spirits, and this contributes to health. This explanation may indeed be reasonable, but a more striking conclusion emerges when the subject is examined. Belief in Allah is much stronger than any other psychological influence. The wide-ranging research into the connection between religious belief and physical health carried out by Dr. Herbert Benson of the Harvard Medical Faculty has produced surprising conclusions in this area. Despite not being a believer himself, Dr. Benson has concluded that worship and belief in Allah have a more positive effect on human health than that observed in anything else. Benson states that he has concluded that no belief provides as much mental peace as belief in Allah. (Herbert Benson, and Mark Stark, Timeless Healing, (New York: Simon & Schuster: 1996), 203.)

What is the reason for this connection between belief and the human soul and body? The conclusion reached by the secular researcher Benson is, in his own words, that the human body and mind are regulated to believe in Allah. (Herbert Benson, and Mark Stark, Timeless Healing, (New York: Simon & Schuster: 1996), 193.)

This fact, which the world of medicine has slowly begun to appreciate, is a secret revealed in the Qur'an in these words: "... Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace." (Qur'an, 13:28) The reason why those who believe in Allah, who pray to and trust in Him, are psychologically and physically healthier is that they behave in accordance with the purpose of their creation. Philosophies and systems which contradict human creation always lead to pain and unhappiness.

Modern medicine is now tending towards the realization of this truth. As Patrick Glynn put it: "[S]cientific research in psychology over the past twenty-five years has demonstrated that,... religious belief is one of the most consistent correlates of overall mental health and happiness." (Glynn, God: The Evidence, The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World, 60-61.)