Re: Does the soul have a physical meaning in Islam?
Peace bro ravage
It is true that many things observable by science are cause and effect, but those things not observable can still be simultaneous functions such as the mind/soul pair. The mind drives the body but the soul could work not as the cause of the mind, but rather parallel to it.
The connection between the nufs and the brain may be an assumption that we are trying to find too much. We may be able to find the triggers of the nufs, and vice-versa but that it not to say we will find the nufs. Now if certain parts of the brain become impaired the behaviour of the bodily functions will not be present. It does not mean that the soul is not experiencing those things. We cannot say, because in order to say we will need to access the soul itself.
Narrated Hudhaifa:
Allah’s Apostle said to us, “Honesty descended from the Heavens and settled in the roots of the hearts of men (faithful believers), and then the Quran was revealed and the people read the Quran, (and learnt it from it) and also learnt it from the Sunna.” Both Quran and Sunna strengthened their (the faithful believers’) honesty.
Consciousness emerging from the heart can be related to references for Iman or belief. There are cognitive areas for belief also, but it is not to say that what we are told by Islamic references are in any way just romantic.
Some people have discussed the disparity in consciousness from cognitive modes. Please read up on a-consciousness and p-consciousness.
You see medicine cannot fathom the meaning of ‘in the heart’ because it will try to look for things in the ventricles and cardical tissue. This is not the reality of the situation we are trying to portray with a philosophical view of the world. Some things need to be experienced to be accepted, some things can be introspectively determined only, and others using science.