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How the Quran shapes the brain

 BY:MOHAMED GHILAN SOURCE: ISLAMICITY  FEB 7, 2018  8 COMMENTS

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The teacher in me immediately thinks about their education system,

and the neuroscientist in me wants to examine the factors involved in
shaping the brains of such a civilization. Interestingly, many Muslim
religious scholars will say something about how the Muslims were the
leaders when the Quran was the center of their education, and only
when they abandoned the Quran that they lost their reign. The
amazing thing about this is that while Muslim religious scholars are
typically talking about spiritual and moral realities, there is actually a
material reality to what they're saying, which takes place in the brain.

A quick disclaimer here: The list of all that is affected in the brain by
the Quran and how that can influence other functions is quite
exhaustive. But in the interest of keeping it short, I chose some major
areas to present in this article.
 Before getting into the brain and how the Quran changes it, one
should be familiar with how traditional Muslim education took place.
In case you're wondering where I'm getting this from, it's from reading
the biographies of major figures of scholarship in the traditional
Muslim world such as Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina, and others. This is also
based on my personal experience and what I have been told by some
of my teachers.

mmad (s)

The very first thing taught to an aspiring student was the Quran,
laration of
which had to be memorized completely. Unlike anything else
encountered in spoken Arabic, Quran recitation is a very specific
science. Local dialects of Arabic or different ways of pronunciation
are not permitted when reciting the Quran. In fact, part of learning the
Quran is learning what is called in Arabic taj'weed, which means
elocution. The very first thing the student must do is replicate exactly
how the teacher is reciting the verse. This refers to where individual
letter sounds are being generated in the mouth and throat and where
the tongue is to be placed exactly. Once this is done, the student
writes the verse on a wooden board in the Othamni script, which
follows different spelling rules than regular Arabic writing. The
student then takes his board and goes away to memorize the verse.
A typical memorization session for a beginner starts with repeating
one verse multiple times as it is read on the board to also memorize
how it is spelled using the Othmani script. The next day the student
reviews the verse several times before returning to the teacher to
receive the following verse. After repeating it with the teacher to
ensure exact replication of sound and pronunciation, the student
writes the new verse and goes away to begin a new memorization
session. The third day begins with reviewing the first verse one final
time, followed by the second verse several times before going to
receive the third verse. On the fourth day the first verse is not
reviewed anymore as it would have taken hold in memory, and the
second verse takes its place for being reviewed while the third verse
is repeated several times before going to receive the fourth verse. At
the end of the week is a complete review session for everything that
was memorized in the previous days.

As the days pass the capacity for memorization increases and the
student is able to take on several verses or even pages at a time
instead of only one or two verses. The writing using Othmani spelling
continues, as well as the review sessions. Eventually, the whole
d Affairs
Quran having more than 6,200 verses is memorized word for word
with their specific pronunciation and Othmani spelling. Now the hard
task begins as the student works to review all the verses on a
monthly basis so as to not forget them. This usually means taking the
30 parts of the Quran as it has been divided to facilitate
memorization, and reviewing one part everyday until all 30 have been
recited by the end of the month.

It should be mentioned here that the Quran has 10 different modes of

recitation. This refers to the placement of diacritical marks on the
words and how certain words are pronounced. Some students take
this task on and memorize the Quran in all the different modes of
recitation, which requires a very careful attention to where the
pronunciations are different so they're not confused with each other
given how subtle they sometimes can be.

There are a couple of important qualities about the Quran that relates
to how it sounds. Verses in the Quran rhyme and change rhythm
often, which gives a pleasurable effect to the listener. Furthermore,
as one recites, they're supposed to sing it rather than simply read it.
In fact, the very practice of Taj'weed (elocution) forces the reciter into
a singing tone as they enunciate the words of each verse.

A final note to bring up is in regards to the Arabic language and

writing in Othmani script. Part of studying the different modes of
recitation requires the student to write not only in an unusual spelling,
but also to exclude the diacritical marks from the words. This would
allow the student to learn the variations of recitation without having
the diacritical marks visually interfere with their memorization of
different modes of recitation. Moreover, the grammar of the Arabic
requires the proper use of diacritical marks in pronunciation so as to
not confuse things such as the subject and predicate. This means
that the one learning the Quran must always keep track of how the
words are enunciated so as to not alter the overall meaning of the
verse.

How all of this relates to the brain is quite impressive. The brain is
recognized to be a malleable organ that can change its connections
and even its size of certain areas based on how active they become.
Understanding how involved the brain is of someone learning the
Quran using the traditional Muslim method can explain how they
were able to achieve such success in their knowledge endeavors.
While learning the Quran, the careful attention to listening and
pronunciation of verses stimulates an area of the brain located in the
temporal lobe. The temporal lobe is also where the hippocampus is
located, which is the memory consolidation center. It's also the brain
region activated for processing of musical sounds such as the case
when the Quran is recited. Moreover, it becomes involved when the
student engages in handwriting exercises similar to the ones on the
wooden board. Where this matters is that this is the part of the brain
whose activity levels and capacities have been correlated with a
person's aptitude for learning new information. The more activation
this area receives, and the more involved this activation is such as
the case with the Quran, the better and more efficient it becomes in
its functions for learning and memory.

The parietal lobes are also quite heavily engaged as one learns the
Quran. The left parietal lobe deals with reading, writing, and
functions in speech. It's also the part whose activity is important for
math and logic problems. The right parietal lobe handles speech
tone, which is related to elocution. It's also responsible for
visuospatial relationships and understanding facial expressions. The
front part is responsible for the sense of touch discrimination and
recognition, which is active during handwriting. The back part plays
an important role in attention. Both lobes are also activated during
skill learning tasks. Overall, having parietal lobes that have been well
activated translates to better logic and math-solving skills, eloquence
in general speech, better ability at reading emotional states from
facial cues, improved attention, and enhanced capacity for
understanding visuospatial relationships.

This last one can explain why Muslims were so good at astronomy.
Other brain regions the activity of Quran recitation strongly activate
are the frontal lobes and the primary motor cortex. The frontal lobes
activity deals with higher order functions, including working memory,
 memory retrieval, speech production and written-word recognition,
sustained attention, planning, social behavior, in addition to others.
For example, as the student is reading the Othamni script, his brain
must quickly decide on the proper pronunciation of the word, which
without the diacritical marks means it must be distinguished from
other possibilities that include not only wrong words, but also wrong
enunciation depending on the specific recitation he's using out of the
10 valid ones. The amazing thing about this is that the brain after
practice will do these things without conscious control from the
student. This trains the area of the brain responsible for inhibition,
which is important for social interaction. Children with ADHD have
been shown to have this area to be under-developed.

Given the Quran's content that for example includes descriptions of

individuals and places, it activates the occipital lobes, which are
involved in generating mental imagery. This brain region is also
important in visual perception. Becoming active as a result of
generating mental imagery indirectly improves visual perception
capacities since the area activated is within the same region. The
Quran is also rich in its content for history, parables, and logical
arguments, all of which recruit different areas that become more
efficient and better connected as they are continually activated due to
the consistent review sessions.

Putting all this together, it's no wonder Muslims were able to make
such vast contributions to human knowledge in a relatively short
amount of time, historically speaking. After the aspiring student
during the height of Muslim rule has mastered the Quran, his
education in other sciences began by the time he was in his early
teenage years. Given the brain's malleable nature, the improved
connections in one region indirectly affect and improve functions in
adjacent locations. The process in studying the Quran over the
previous years has trained his brain and enhanced its functions
relating to visual perception, language, working memory, memory
formation, processing of sounds, attention, skill learning, inhibition, as
well as planning just to name a few. Now imagine what such an
individual will be able to do when they tackle any subject. It makes
sense how someone like Imam Al Ghazali can say he studied Greek
philosophy on the side during his spare time and mastered it within 2
years.

What was the Muslims' secret for their exponential rise in scientific
advancement and contribution to human knowledge? Literally, the
Quran when it was the centre of their education system.

Source: Mohamed Ghilan

Category: Featured, Highlights, Nature & Science

Topics: Brain, Quran Values: Education

Views: 50758
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Older Comments:

MISS ROOHI FROM IRAN said:

excelent.
wish all muslems the best.

SAFINA FROM MALAYSIA said:

Maa Shaa Allah! A beautiful insight. Before I had read this article I was already
certain that Muslims in early centuries were genius because their forefront in
education was Quran and Hadees. I concluded this after reading various biographies.

But I'm curious to know, why aren't our local "Tahfiz" students excel in the same way.
In my country, there are few madrasahs with very basic amenities where parents
send their sons for a good 5-6 years, starting from age 5/6, to hafiz Quran. After
graduating, they continue studies in public Islamic school and most of them only end
up as Imam of masjids or Ustaz.....there is no significance economic advancement
contribution to the society...like our predecessors, Ibn Qayin, Ibn Sina...etc. No one
becomes a doctor or a successful entrepreneur...someone who runs an organisation
with his acquired knowledge from Quran....

Whay this paradox?

MUSTAFA A KHAN FROM USA said:

mashallah, a very beautiful article on the possible effects of the most beautiful book in
the universe that one can and should read. do you think that the ashkenazi jews of
europe before their emancipation from the ghettoes were much better prepared
mentally due to their talmudic learning which i think also involves a lot of memorization
 and also that the hebrew language is very close to classical arabic? i always tell people
that in islam there is no separation between secular and religious knowledge and that
the great muslim scientists were also religious scholars and huffaz. i think al-
khawarizmi who invented algebra memorized the quran when he was seven years old.
suppose all of us just make it a habit to read several pages of the quran each day, do
you think we should see some improvement in our cognitive functioning? my heart says
we should, but i would like your opinion as a neuroscientist. we can then forget
lumosity. thank you for a beautiful and eye opening article. jazakallah khairan.

ABUBAKAR ABDULLAHI FROM NIGERIA said:

with much gratitude and glory of our Allah (S W A)be to his and our prophet MUHAMMAD (S A W). my question
is what make person be unable to save its memorization to some certain limit of his life? what i can understand
here is like the brain system takes almost what human require to satisfy his life target. what part of the brain loses
the memory of our recitation? we were been thaught about medulla oblongater what role does it play in part of
brain?

SALAAM FROM SOUTH AFRICA said:

Bro John. It is mischievous "Western Idealism" of divide and rule that causes conflict and mistrust amongst
people, not just amongst Muslims.

The Qur'an is translated for people to understand, not modified to understand. That is the beauty of the Qur'an,
Authenticity!

YUSUF FROM CANADA said:

Disagree with bro John. Even someone recite Quran without understanding, still it gives guidance and peace.
That is the beauty of Quran. And we don't have to go to scholars to translate it since Quran translations is
available in so many diff. languages. Just reading translation doesn't give you in depth knowledge. That's why we
need scholars.

MAYA V FROM AK said:

Thank you so much for this article. I have always believed in the positive impact of Quran in the brain. When we
read how 'Mozzart' impacts the neural connections, this is a delibrately ignored topic. Quran is the sacred book
that transformed a savage generations to world leaders. Time and again its miracles will be astonishing the
human kind.

JOHN FROM USA said:

Salaam, I believe this article is incorrect.

The reason Muslims advanced and contributed to the world as they did was simply because THEY WERE NOT
FIGHTING EACH OTHER.

The now Muslim World is illiterate, backwards and kept that way by the illegal rulers of their land.

90% of Arabs and Asian Muslims do not read the Qur'an, they recite it in that they have NO IDEA what they are
saying. If they want to know what it means, some "scholar" has to tell them.
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