Part 11

Aids to the senses Apart from these senses, there are powers independent of them, assisting in the process of sensing. The sense of

sight is assisted by light rays; had they not been there, a sighted person would not have benefited with his eyes. The sense of hearing is assisted by the air which carries sounds through space, then delivers it to the ear, which receives and processes it, conveying it to the hearing faculty; without air, a human being would hear nothing. In the same way, the sense of smell has been assisted with the soft breeze; it carries the scent, and then delivers it to the smelling faculty, where it is processed and interpreted. One would not smell anything without the breeze. The sense of taste is also assisted by the saliva, in which tastebearing particles are dissolved. In this way, the sense of taste can get the taste of things. It does not have a taste of its own, sweet or sour, salty or bitter — for if it had tastes of its ownit would have mixed all the things that enter the mouth with its own taste, and this would have inactivated this sense. The sense of touch has been assisted by a certain power conferred on it by Allah, by which it perceives the touched things. It does not need anything extraneous, in contrast with the other senses, but perceives things without mediation, because it perceives by contact, and so it does not require assistance.

Allah the Almighty has, in His deep wisdom, made the strength of the senses accurately adapted to our need. If their power were less, our life would lose balance; and if they were sharper, man would be miserable because of the superpowerful senses. In support of this, we may cite thefollowing scientific fact: if man’s senses were of such power as to perceive the microbes that surround him, the radiation that penetrates his body, the sounds that emanate from various microcosms, his mind would be unhinged, and he would lead an insufferable life.

If our sight were sharper, seeing the thermal and light radiation in their various degrees, we would see humans and animals in what we now consider complete darkness because of the thermal radiation emanating from those creatures; a doctor would realize that his patient is feverish by merely looking at him; we would know if irons and electrical appliances are hot at a glance; we would perceive new colours that we had not been able to perceive before; we would not only hear the din of examination machines when turned on, but would see and hear the electrical waves as they penetrate our bodies; physicians would not need phosphorous plates or sensitive film to receive those rays, as they would see the outlines of our internal organs, bones and _ strange objects directly in bodies; and we would see the radiation of uranium and other similar minerals.

Caves and tunnels that lie several metres below the earth’s surface would not be, for us, in absolute darkness, because the vague cosmic ray penetrates through their roofs. Our eyes would be of such power that they would see millions of beneficial and harmful viruses and bacteria, which abound in air, foods and clothes — especially those bacteria that fly with the volley of liquid droplets when someone sneezes or coughs, and this would make us have phobias of sickness and a dread of being killed.

If the sense of hearing were stronger than it is at present, the noise made by cars in towns, and the blaring noise of factories would seem like the roaring of thunder or the blasts of cannons or bombs. We would not enjoy the calm of night even in the most quiet of places, because we would hear the rustle of bats and other creatures that make very little noise, which we do not perceive with our present sense of hearing.

Even if we could maffle all those outside noises, we could not stop that of the wrist watch, which is too close to us, or that of our hearts, or even the pulse in our internal organs. We would even hear the noise made by the air as it hit our bodies, a noise which would resemble the sound of drops of rain falling on boards of zinc. All the above noises would be especially vexing in the summer, when the rising temperature causes an increase in the blowing of dust.

Suppose that our sense of smell should increase to equal that of some animals. We would in that case do without police dogs, as we would be able to distinguish friends from enemies at a far distance; we would be repelled by many that we associate with now because of their foul scent. Soldiers would have to take account of the direction of the wind lest it should carry their scent to their enemies.

For our sense of touch to be sharper, the extensions of neurons would have to be more widely spread on the surface of our body, especially on the spots where there are none or few of them, like the back. On such spots, one would hardly distinguish the pricks of two pins separated by a distance of a quarter of an inch, while the tips of the fingers can distinguish the difference. If our bodies had that heightened sense of touch, it would bea great disaster, as our woollen, and even cotton, underwear would feel like needles on our bodies.

The destruction of any tiny spot in the brain’s cells results in the loss of communication between it and a particular organ. From this we can appreciate the importance of obeying the Messenger’s injunction, peace be upon him, not to hit the face, and not to insult anyone. (Adapted from: “Your Body, the House of Wonders” )

Two semicircular Two semicircular

Middle ear the eardrum. Outer ear

The ear and its structure

The organ of Corti is the ‘retina’ of the car. It contains about one thousand cells to receive all kinds of sounds with amazing sensitivity. This organ of Corti, a constituent of the inner ear, is a spiral that forms 2.5 circles, in addition to a vestibule, consisting of an ampula and a sac, the semicircular canals which are responsible for maintaining the human’s balance. Balance is a complex opcration that involves the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the inner ear. This last is the periphcral organ, while the other two organs are the central systems that control the balance of the human.

The question is: How can balance be achieved so accurately? And the answer is that it is a very complicated issue which has not been unravelled by medicine until now. It is enough to know that there is in the inner ear a part that is called ‘the labyrinth’, because a researcher is almost bewildered by the corridors, passages, walls, holes, chambers, openings, communications, the organizing net, and the interconnections among them all.

There is a connection between the inner ear and the middle ear through two windows, the circular window and the oval window. The circular, or upper window, connects the middle ear, with its three small bones, to the inner ear. The bone that is in contact with the circular window is the Stapes, while the bone that is in contact with the eardrum is the Malleus. Between these two bones is a third, the Incus, in addition to two muscles. All the above form the middle ear, which is connected to the oesophagus by the Eustachian tube, which equalizes pressure between the outer and middle ear, separated by the eardrum. The outer ear canal is the place where sound is directed to the eardrum, which then vibrates. The small hearing bones which are in contact with the eardrum transmit the vibrations faithfully to the circular window, which, in turn, conveys the message to the inner ear. Here the message is received and interpreted, then transferred as a nerve impulse to the general auditory centre in the brain (the temporal lobe).

The heart and its relations to the other organs

One of His wonders is that He created in the head three stores, connected to each other, one in front, one in the middle, and one in the rear. He endowed those three stores with precious treasures of His marvels: memory, reflection, and rationality.

Some of the wonders of His creation are internal things that cannot be viewed from outside, like the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lung, the intestine, the bladder, and other exquisite mechanisms and powers of various functions. The heart is the king who manipulates and employs all the body’s mechanisms. It is surrounded by them, escorted by a retinue of organs. It is the noblest of the body’s organs, the cornerstone of life, and the spring of the animal spirit and instinctive drive. It is the source and essence of intellect, science, tolerance, courage, generosity, patience, resignation, love, will, satisfaction, anger, and all the traits of integrity. All the external and internal organs and their powers are soldiers in the service of the heart. The eye is its scout and pioneer, exploring for it visible objects. It reports to it whatever it sees. The close attachment between the heart and the eye can be testified by the fact that if anything settles in the former, it shows on the latter: the eye is the heart’s mirror, reflecting to an observer what is in the heart, in the same way that the tongue is the heart’s interpreter, delivering to the ear what is in the heart. It is on these grounds that the Almighty combines all these three in such verses as this:

CARRS DR Sioeriak SON ATAU AICTE

“The hearing and the sight and the heart — of each of these it will be asked.” (17: 36)

Contemplating the case of the human without senses

Consider the case of the human who is deprived of the sense of sight. Think how grave is his bereavement. He does not see where to put his step, does not see what is in front of him, does not distinguish colours and agreeable

and disagreeable sights; he does not benefit from the scholarship of books; he is unable to reflect and contemplate the wonders of Allah’s creation. He cannot take note of much of what is advantageous or harmful to him; he may not be able to avoid falling in a hole in his way, nor protect himself from a wild animal, or an enemy intent on assailing and killing him. He cannot flee if attacked, but will have to be at the mercy of his adversary. Had it not been for special care from Allah, in some ways similar to that given to the newborn, he would be much more likely to perish than to survive. He is like a mass of flesh and bones, and that is why Allah promises him, if he is resigned and patient, that he will be rewarded with Paradise. It is an illustration of the immensity of the Lord’s kindness that He compensated a blind person’s vision with a mental vision, so that you see that he has the sharpest intuition and insight. Another grace is that he enjoys clarity of objective, so that he is not distracted or scatterbrained. In this way he can enjoy his life, and take care of what is good for him, and is not depressed, indignant or frustrated. This is true of those born blind. As for the one who lost his sight after he had been sighted, he is like all those who have had catastrophes, who have transferred from a state of well-being to one of suffering. He takes it very hard, because he is barred from what he had always enjoyed of sights, scenes, and ways of using his vision; his case is different.