Scientific Miracle Of The Qur’an:

The Lying Forehead

Allah said in the Qur’an concerning one of the disbelievers who forbade Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from praying at the Kaaba:

“No!  If he does not stop, We will take him by the nāṣiyah (front of the head), a lying, sinful nāṣiyah! “ [Qur’an, 96:15-16]

Why did the Qur’an describe the front of the head as being lying and sinful?  Why didn’t the Qur’an say that the person was lying and sinful?  What is the relationship between the front of the head and lying and sinfulness?

If we look into the skull at the front of the head, we will find the prefrontal area of the cerebrum. What does physiology tell us about the function of this area? 

A book entitled Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology says about this area, “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…” ^[1]

Additionally, the book says, “In relation to its involvement in motivation, the prefrontal area is also thought to be the functional center for aggression….” ^[2]

So this area of the cerebrum is responsible for planning, motivating, and initiating good and sinful behavior, and is responsible for the telling of lies and speaking of truth.   Thus, it is proper to describe the front of the head as lying and sinful when someone lies or commits a sin, as the Qur’an has said, “…A lying, sinful nāṣiyah!”

Scientists have only discovered these functions of the prefrontal area in the last sixty years, according to Professor Keith L. Moore.^[3]

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References:
(1) Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley and others, p.  211.   Also see The Human Nervous System, Noback and others, pp.  410-411.
(2) Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley and others, p.  211.
(3) Al-Iʽjāz al-ʽIlmi fin-Nāṣiyah (Scientific Miracles in the Front of the Head), Moore and others, p. 41.