BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

Alizi Alias (Asst. Prof. Dr.)Department of Psychology

International Islamic University MalaysiaJalan Gombak

53100 Kuala Lumpur03-20565096

alizi@iiu.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The objective of this paper is to provide an Islamic perspective on biological psychology. This is a theoretical paper based on reviews of past secondary sources of Islamic and psychology literature. First, the paper will provide a philosophical overview on the concept of biological psychology in Islam and the Islamic evaluation of philosophical views of genetic and evolutionary approaches to understanding psychology. Second, the paper will analyse and evaluate selected topics in biological psychology namely, neurons, brains, and the endocrine system from Islamic perspective separating between facts and theories. The Islamic perspective will include Qur’anic verses, Prophetic Hadiths, stories of the Prophets and Companions, and the work of early Muslim scholars using terms familiar to contemporary psychology. Third, the paper will suggest an integrated model of biological psychology learning from an Islamic perspective which includes the element of soul as an important variable. Finally, based on the integrated model, the paper will give suggestion future research in biological psychology that can further reinforce the idea of Islamic biological psychology. In the end, the paper intends to show that understanding the principles of biological psychology can leads us to appreciate more the oneness and greatness of Allah and helps us fulfil our role as his servant (`ibadah role) in a better way. In addition, the paper also intend to show that applying the principles of biological psychology can help us fulfil our role as the vicegerent of Allah (khilafah role) by improving the effectiveness of our da`wah (propagating Islam) and tarbiyyah (educational training).

Alias, A. (2008). Biological psychology from an Islamic perspective. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Psychology, International Islamic University Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Note that this is an unedited first draft as of July 20, 2008 and used for teaching purpose only. Therefore, it may have a lot of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.

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INTRODUCTION

The objectives of this paper are: (1) to provide an Islamic overview on the concept of biological psychology, (2) to evaluate secular biological psychology from an Islamic perspective, (3) to integrate various theories and research in biological psychology to form an Islamic model of biological psychology, and (4) to give suggestion for future research in biological psychology that can strengthen the idea of Islamic biological psychology. The paper presupposes that the audiences have a working knowledge of biological psychology including familiarity with the concept of genetics, evolution, neurons, brain, and the endocrine system. Therefore, this paper will focus more on evaluation of contemporary secular biological psychology as opposed to description of it. But, before that, the paper will first discuss on the idea of Islamisation of biological psychology itself.

ISLAMISATION OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY: IS IT POSSIBLE?

Badri (2003) believes that there is no need to Islamise areas of psychology which are in the realm of exact sciences such as physiological psychology, neuropsychology, behaviour genetics, and psychopharmacology. He specifically mentioned the unnecessary Islamisation of the studies about the role of the brain neurotransmitter or hormones on human behaviour which is what the whole chapter of biological psychology is about in a typical introductory psychology textbook.

However, Badri (2003) also warned us on the underlying philosophy of secular theoretical approaches in psychology (in this particular case, biological perspective) that misuse biology to propagate unethical messages. Therefore, some degree of Islamisation work is needed to analyse and evaluate these secular philosophical ideas. Sometimes, Muslim biological psychologists can even use research results from contemporary psychology to criticise the biological approach to understanding psychology. In the meantime, there is a need to integrate what has been found by contemporary scientific psychology and what has been said by Islam (in the Qur’an and Hadith) and early Muslim scholars on various issues in biological psychology to show the unity of source of knowledge, that is, Allah SWT.

It is also important to write about biological psychology in such a way that it helps human beings to fulfil their role as `abid (by increasing their own iman) and their role as khalifah (by propagating iman to others). This can be done by highlighting the miracles of Allah’s creations in the human body and by highlighting the biological and physiological benefits of Islamic rituals and activities. Muslim biological psychologists can also use research results from contemporary psychology which are factual to make informed decisions on several fiqh (jurisprudence) and akhlaq (ethic) issues in the society especially on deciding exceptions to the general rules of shari`ah (Islamic law).

ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Secular psychology generally defines biological psychology (also known as biopsychology or psychobiology) as the branch of psychology that use “biological

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descriptions of psychological processes [behaviour and mental processes]” (Gallagher & Nelson, 2003). Other directly and indirectly related terms are physiological psychology, psychophysiology, behavioural neuroscience, and comparative psychology. The term biology is preferred here because it allows the paper to discuss the study of living organisms (including genetic and evolutionary studies) in addition to the study of the functions of body parts (physiological aspects such as the nervous and endocrine systems). The physiology-related topics of sensation and perception, sleep and dream, motivation and emotion, stress and illnesses, and psychoactive drugs will be dealt with in different papers. It should be noted that Ibn Sina in his books (e.g. Al-Qanun and Al-Shifa’) is the first who relate the idea of relationship between psychological functioning (particularly cognition) with biological entities (particularly the brain in a detailed manner (Taha, 1995) and thus can be considered the true founder of biological or physiological psychology.

Islam views that human being is created by Allah with dualistic nature consisting of biological body (originated from the dust/clay) and soul (originated from spiritual entity) (Qur’an, 23: 12-16). A similar account (but more detailed) has been reported in a hadith narrated by Bukhari (Vol. 9, Book 93, No. 546). When the spirit enters the lifeless body, it governs the body and interacts with various biological and environmental variables to produce behaviours and mental processes. It is even mentioned in the story of Adam’s (PBUH) creation and his nature that human being has a unique human biological make-up (Qur’an, 7-11). This very idea leads committed Muslim psychologists to believe that biological factors do not determine our behaviour as some extreme supporters of biological approach would believe. Instead, Muslim biological psychologists believe that biological factors are only involved in the process of producing behaviours and mental processes. Even secular psychologists are still arguing between the ideas of ‘biological control’ and ‘biological involvement’. It should be noted, however, that Islam accepts that some biologically-based behaviours and mental processes are automatic and involuntary for the sake of human’s safety and comfort. This will be discussed more in the rest of the paper. The central idea of biological psychology in Islam is ‘soul’ play an important factor in the interactive relationship between biology and environment in the form of spiritual level or iman.

In secular biological psychology, the biological approach is often used to understand human behaviour and mental processes. The approach is also known as physiological, biopsychological, neurophysiological, and nativist approaches. Two of the common areas in biological psychology that provide philosophical ideas in psychology are behavioural genetics and evolutionary psychology. It is very important to first evaluate the philosophical ideas underneath the secular psychology because it will dictate the researchers’ (including Muslim researchers) interpretations of the data without realising the theoretical and methodological flaws. The two approaches will be discussed next.

Islamic Evaluation of the Genetic Approach in Psychology

According to Maxon (2003), behavioural genetics concerned with four issues: (a) whether individual differences in a behaviour are due to the effect of genes, (b) what the

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genes are that do or can effect individual differences in a behaviour, (c) how genes and their interactions with the environment affect the development of a behaviour, and (d) what genetic changes are involved in the evolution of a behaviour. Secular psychologists who believe to the extreme that genes influences most (if not all) of our behaviours are subscribing to the genetic approach in understanding behaviours and mental processes. Based on the perspective of Islamic `aqidah (creed), this is like treating the genes as rabb (or god) that ‘totally determine’ (a god’s attribute) human behaviours and mental processes and therefore the perspective/approach is deemed unIslamic.

However, this does not mean that Islam totally reject the idea of genetic influence on human behaviours and mental processes. The Al-Qur’an mentioned (in general) that all things are created in [(biological] ) pairs (Qur’an, AQ: Al-Dzariyaat51: 49, Al-Ra`d13: 3, Yasin36: 36, Al-Zukhruf43: 12). It also specifically mentioned about the pair being male and female (AQ:Qur’an, Al-53Najm: 45-46, Al-Qiyamah75: 39, Al-Insan76: 2) where it needand that both [(chromosomes] ) are needed to develop an childoffspring. The importance of nature’s role is further emphasized when it is mentioned in the Qur’an says that Muslims are forbidden from marrying close kin (Al-Qur’an, 4: 23), suggesting that genetic factors may influence physical and psychological features of the offspring. Apart from thatIn addition, there are several hadiths that emphasized on the importance of choosing one’s spouse based on lineage (most of these hadiths are evaluated as da`if or weak, but strengthened one another to upgrade their status to hadith hasan which are acceptable). One sahih (sound) hadith, however, lists lineage as one of the factors for choosing a spouse in his hadith: “A woman is married for four reasons: her wealth, her lineage, her beauty, and her religion. You should marry more because of religion...” (narrated by Bukhari, Vol. 7, Book 62, No. 027). This shows the important influence of genetic and biological factors on behaviour and mental processes.

Islam does not, however, reject the influence of environment. At the same time, Islam believes on the importantemphasises the influence of environmental factors on behaviour especially education. This is supported by the famous hadith on fitrah “Every child is born with true faith (fitrah). It is his/her parents who convert him to Judaism, Christianity, or Magainism…” (narrated by Bukhari, Vol. 2, Book 23, No. 441). This hadith also emphasised emphasises the potential for all human beings to be good as Allah has instilled in them (human nature) their the importance of spiritual nature (fitrah) as potentials for all human being to be good as Allah has instil in human nature (Al-Qur’an, 30:30). Prophet Muhammad SAW (PBUH) also emphasised on choosing the right friends by saying: “The example of a good friend in comparison with a bad one, is like that of musk seller and the blacksmith’s bellows (or furnace); from the first, you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell thereof” (narrated by Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 34, No. 314). This shows that environmental factors (in this case the friends that we choose to be with us) can influence our behaviour and mental processes at ato a varying degree.

Because Muslim biological psychologists believe that human beings are created with dual nature (body and spirit), they are able to interpret research results in biological psychology in a different and more accurate manner. The good thing is, it is now firmly

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established, even from secular scientific perspective, that individual differences in human traits is a function of both genetic and environmental variability, though some issues such as the nature of interaction among the genes and between the genes and environments are still not conclusive (Maxon, 2003). Although this idea ‘may’ support the idea of Islamic biological psychology, they still do not lead to the philosophical (`aqidah) idea that each human being consist of body and soul, and that human beings are created by Allah SWT, and they are created as His `abid and khalifah.

Ultimately, it is the religious and spiritual factors that count most. Islam requires us to believe that no matter how strong the biological and the environmental factors, it is the soul that is more powerful affecting behaviour and mental processes. to For example, Prophet Noah (PBUHAS (a prophet) has had a son who did not follow in his footsteps of truth and virtue, and was drowned by the great flood (Al-Qur’an 11: 42-43). On the other hand, Prophet Abraham’s AS (a prophetPBUH) father, who has a father who prayed to the idols, was not influenced by him his teachings and remained a polytheist and able to think by himself about the truth and virtue (Al-Qur’an, 6: 74-76). These examples is shows that the soul can control the biological and genetic influences on behaviour. Another example is the ability of Asiah (the wife of the Pharaoh) to choose the truth and virtue despite living in anthe unIslamic environment of Pharaoh’s castle (Al-Qur’an, 66: 11). On the other hand, the wives of Noah AS (PBUH) and Lot AS (PBUH) were not able to choose the truth and virtue despite living in the blessed environment of the prophets’ homes (Al-Qur’an, 66: 10). ), similarly This showsing that the soul can also control the environmental influence on behaviour.

Islamic Evaluation of Evolutionary Approach to Psychology

According to Durrant and Ellis (2003), evolutionary psychology perspective assumes that human brain consists of numerous mechanisms shaped by natural selection over a (long) period of time to solve recurrent information-processing problems faced by our ancestors. This particular psychological perspective is very much based on Darwin’s theory of (biological) evolution.

Durrant and Ellis (2003), in explaining the origin of evolutionary perspective, mentioned that before Darwin, people believe that human being is created in God’s divine image and held a special place at the centre of the cosmos. They further mentioned that after Darwin, human being is perceived as firmly anchored in the natural world, as only one among millions of species. In other words, evolutionary perspective denied the fundamental truth propagated by Islam (and all religions for that matter) that Allah has created human being, and that human being has a special role (`ibadah and khalifah) in this world. In addition, evolutionary theory believes that all beings existed by chance via the process of natural selection without any divine intervention whatsoever. This is clearly against Islamic creed (`aqidah). Not only that, Yahya (1999) had provided scientific evidence on the falsity of various specific aspects in Darwinism or evolutionary theory. As acknowledged by Durrant and Ellis (2003), who are propagators of this evolutionary psychology, this evolutionary perspective has been scientifically criticised as supporting the view of genetic determinism, and having a theory which is untestable and lack empirical rigour

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However, this does not mean Islam rejects the idea that evolution occurs within human being. In fact, in addition to Al-Khaliq (The Creator), Allah also has Al-Musawwir (The Fashioner) and Al-Bari’ (The Evolver) as two (out of 99) of His divine names. Allah mentioned in the Qur’an (49: 13) “Oh mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know each other...” This shows that Islam accepts the idea that human being evolved within its own species, but accepted that human being is first created by Allah and then Allah evolved them into different race and colour.

Interestingly, there are some early Muslim scholars such as Al-Jahiz, Ikhwan al-Safa, Ibn Miskawayh and Ibn Khaldun who presented some ideas that can be interpreted that non-living and living things can evolve to another species, similar to Darwin’s idea of evolution (cf. Hamidullah, 1993; Simon, 2004). The difference is that their writings are intertwined with the concept of God’s creation and the existence of the soul in human being, unlike Darwin’s secular and anti-religious ideas. It can be safely assumed though that what they are referring to is the different levels of quality and characteristics of each species within a specific genus where the highest form of being from a specific genus (e.g. palm tree and vines from the plant kingdom) is the nearest in terms of quality and characteristics to the lowest form of being from the higher genus (e.g. snail and shellfish from the animal kingdom). It is natural then for those Muslim scholars to illustrate ape as the higher level of animal below the human being who has souls and ability to think and reflect (as compared to apes) where some of them further evolved to become saints and prophets. Consequently, the angels would be the next level, and then none other is higher than God.

This implies that the description of evolution is not really referring to natural selection and adaptation to form new species but different quality and characteristics within and between species. It could be argued also that the early Muslim scholars are referring to the hierarchical quality of Allah’s creation in general (e.g. from mineral to animals, to human, and to angel), further specifying the hierarchies within genus (e.g. from rats to cats until apes) and yet further specifying the hierarchies within species (e.g. from criminals to saints). Even modern biological psychology found some aspects of human biology (for example, brain) that are shared among all animals or all mammals, but still found some brain properties that are exclusively human (e.g. specific features of the structure and function of the brain). At the end, this so-called Islamic theory of evolution reminds us that all beings came from Allah and will return back to Him; and each human should strive to evolve his/her soul towards our ‘angelic’ nature to become a better creature (as `abid and khalifah).

NEURON: INTEGRATION WITH ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

The Nature of Neuron

How can we possibly Islamise neurons? They are already “Muslims” because they submit themselves to Allah’s law of nature (biology) just like other matters in physic, chemistry, and other natural sciences (Qur’an, 3: 83). But there is a wealth of

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opportunities for Muslims to increase their iman by contemplating on the complex nature of neurons.

First, the concept of neuron can make us appreciate the power of Allah in creating such a complex system to send signals from sensory organs to the brain for interpretation. Sensory signals that contain signs of Allah in the Qur’an and in the nature. Second, it make us appreciate the power of Allah in creating such a complex system to send signal from the brain to the sensory organs for further actions. Actions such as reciting shahadah, performing salat/sawm/hajjj, and paying zakat. Finally, the concept of neurons remind us about Allah’s ability to make our body parts speak for/against us in the akhirah in terms of how we behave in this world (c.f. Qur’an, 41:19-21; 36: 65). All these make us realise that however scientific the subject of neuron is, at the end, it is our soul that make us consciously choose the sensory information provided by Allah in this world. It is our soul that consciously interprets the sensory information. And it is our soul that consciously chooses to perform actions.

The Neural Communication

When we study the concept of threshold, which is the idea that brain does not need to process weak signal, we may think that it is a fixed phenomenon defined by human sensory limitations. However, we tend to ignore that sometimes it is influenced by the soul factor too. For example, some people can ignore the surrounding sensory information while performing salat or other types of `ibadah. Even the all-or-none law, the idea that the nervous system can response very quickly when needed or when in danger, can be further expanded if soul is taken into account. For example, some people would just wake up immediately upon hearing the adhan despite knowing that they are in the middle of sweet dreams, while some people would continue sleeping either they hear the adhan or not. We should also be thankful to Allah that the existence of excitatory and inhibitory effects will ensure that that only genuine (true) messages are transferred to our brain and mind for interpretations and we should be very careful not to interrupt the effect by abusing drugs that can hinder the process of increasing iman and amal.

It is interesting to note that Ibn Sina had already described the role of the ventricles in assisting the neural communication (which he used the term ‘ruh’) in both sensory neuronal and motor neuronal communications (Taha, 1995) which are quite advanced by modern standards. In the absence of the concept of electrical transfer, Ibn Sina described neural communication based on his understanding of the concept of mechanical transfer (Taha, 1995). Muslim psychologists should continue from where Ibn Sina left off and make use of modern biological psychological research to Islamise biological psychology. For example, modern studies of neural plasticity (cf. Black, 2003) and neurogenesis can help us in Islamising biological psychology. The concept of neural plasticity, which believes that enriched environment leads to larger neurons with more synaptic connections compare to impoverished environment, should encourage us to enrich our environments, spiritually and intellectually. Whereas the concept of neurogenesis, which believes on the production of new neurons, will help us to counter-argue the secular idea of biological determinism already mentioned before.

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NERVOUS SYSTEM: INTEGRATION WITH ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

Since Al-Qur’an and Hadiths only provide a general overview on the concept of biology particularly biological psychology, early Muslim scholars have been relying on scientific methods to study it including brain surgery and clinical observations (Taha, 1995). Taha reported that Al-Razi has dedicated his entire first volume of his book ‘Hawi al-Kabir’ on the nervous system, though the focus is more on illnesses. Taha further reported that Ibn Sina in his book ‘Al-Qanun’ had written on issues such as anatomy, central nervous system, hemispheric specialisation of the brain, and spinal cord.

Therefore, contemporary Muslim psychologists should not feel inferior when studying biological psychology and should make full use of advanced methods such as brain dissection, ablation or lesions, clinical observations or case studies, electrical recording (e.g. electroencephalogram or EEG), electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB), computed tomography (CT) scan, positron emission tomography (PET) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and functional MRI (fMRI). Ibn Sina’s first chapter in his book ‘Al-Qanun’ is on brain dissection where he talk about the brain (jawhar hijabi), meninges (jawhar mukhi), and ventricles (tajawif) (Taha, 1995).

However, there are some early Muslim scholars who rely on philosophical methods in explaining the biological system in general, and biological psychology in particular. For example, Al-Attas (1990) Nasr (1997), and Bakar (2008) had outlined the classification of the souls described by early Muslim scholars into vegetative soul, animal soul, and rational soul. Plants only have vegetative souls (which are involved in nutrition, growth, and reproduction), animals have both vegetative and animal souls (which are involved in movement/motivation and perception), whereas humans have both souls plus the rational souls (which are involved in action and cognition). These vegetative and animal characteristics in human being may explain the tendency of a few early Muslim scholars to propose the ‘evolution’ theory. At the end, early Muslim scholars are clear about the biological, cognitive, and spiritual differences among plants, animals, and human being because of the ‘soul’ factor, and at the same time accept that there are ‘some’ functional similarities among them.

Central and Peripheral Nervous System

As mentioned, Ibn Sina has already written about the brain and the spinal cord which forms the central nervous system (CNS). The brain will be discussed in details in later sections. Ibn Sina had already identified the two main functions of the spinal cord which are similar to what has been described in contemporary secular psychology (Taha, 1995) namely: (1) as medium between the brain and the limbs, and (2) reflex movement. The existence of reflex movement shows the wisdom of Allah in creating a system that can save human being without having to go through ‘normal’ route via the brain.

Peripheral nervous system consists of somatic and autonomic nervous system. It is interesting to note that early Muslim scholars did not talk in details about the autonomic nervous system (cf. Najati, 1995; Taha, 1995). This is so most probably

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because of its automatic and involuntary nature and thus, does not relate directly to conscious behaviours which are rewarded or punished.

We should be thankful that Allah has created a beautiful system called autonomic nervous systems. It helps our body to prepare to use our energy either to fight or to flee (via sympathetic nervous system) and afterward to conserve energy (via parasympathetic nervous system). Without the autonomic nervous system, we would have to regulate our own heartbeat, control our own liver, fine-tune the insulin secretion from our pancreas, pump ourselves the right amount of oxygen content into every corner of our body every second. Consequently, we could not sleep at night and cannot concentrate on more useful activities. The creation of the autonomic nervous system allow us to use our nervous system (especially the central nervous system) for more important things such as searching for divine guidance (hidayah) and performing our role as `abid and khalifah. The next section will focus exclusively on brain as part of the central nervous system.

BRAIN: INTEGRATION WITH ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

The Lower-level Structure of the Brain

Brain structures involved the brain stem (medulla, pons, the reticular formation and cerebellum), the limbic system (thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala) and the cortex. We can appreciate more the power of Allah that differentiate human being from animals (and vegetation), as outlined by early Muslim scholars, and perhaps appreciate a few early Muslim scholars’ idea on ‘evolution’ by studying this structure.

For example, biological psychology states that most animals have at least the structures at the brain stem. And as for the limbic system, biological psychology found that the limbic system of fish and reptiles are primitive whereas it is more developed in mammals. The functions of the structures in the brain stem such as life-sustaining functions (medulla), sleep, arousal, and body co-ordination (pons), attention (reticular formation), cerebellum (movement), learning, emotion, memory, and motivation (limbic system) support the idea of early Muslim scholars on the characteristics of the animal souls i.e. movement/motivation and perception.

The Cerebral Cortex

The cerebral cortex is commonly divided into four lobes loosely based on specific functions: the occipital lobe (vision), the temporal lobe (hearing, language comprehension, memory, and emotion), the parietal lobe (pressure, pain, touch, and temperature), and the frontal lobe (motor control, speech-production, higher functions, plus co-ordinates message from other lobes).

Early Muslim scholars, despite lacking in advanced brain scanning technology had already identified the functions the brain. Najati (1993) mentioned that one of the early Muslim scholars by the name of Fakhruddin al-Razi believed d that we can only understand brain by understanding sensation. Najati also mentioned another early Muslim scholar, Al-Farabi, who said that the centre of sensory information is the brain or

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the heart. Notice how modern biological psychology relates specific lobes with specific sensory activities such as vision, hearing, pressure, pain, touch, and temperature.

Najati also mentioned that Al-Ghazali and Ibn Sina believed that the centre of internal sensation is the frontal lobe. Ibn Sina (as cited in Najati, 1993) further said that the centre of conception is the frontal lobe. This idea seems to coincide with modern biological findings that the frontal lobe co-ordinates message from other lobes and that it is involved in higher functions of thinking, personality, emotion, and memory. Even the structure and functions the two halves of the brain hemisphere had been mentioned by Ibn Sina centuries ago (Taha, 1995). What is more amazing about the frontal lobe functions is the fact that it has been mentioned in the Qur’ana (96: 16) that it is the front part of the brain (frontal lobe) that is involved when a person is lying or make mistakes/sins. This is in line with what modern biological psychology has found that the frontal lobe is involved in moral reasoning.

It is when we talk about cerebral cortex we can found Islamic idea that human being is the most advanced creature (Qur’an, 85: 4) compared to other animals and even other mammals. Although most animals have cerebral cortex, human being’s cerebral cortex, as compared to other mammals which have fully-developed cortex, has the biggest cerebral cortex in relation to his body size, the greatest quantity of folding and refolding (called gyrus), valleys (called sulcus), and ridges, the largest surface of area (approximately 2-3 square feet), and the largest quantity of grey matter (unmyelinated neurons). It should be noted that birds and reptiles have very primitive form of cerebral cortex, whereas fish has none. Again, this fact would make Muslim psychologists appreciate early Muslim scholars’ idea of vegetative, animal, and rational souls.

Despite the advanced technology used by modern biological psychology, there are still a lot of questions unanswered. The cerebral cortex is still considered the most mysterious part of the brain. It reminds Muslim psychologists of the existence of the soul in human being and how we are give little knowledge about it (Qur’an, 17: 85). This will remind Muslim psychologists of the greatness of Allah and give opportunity to conduct more research to find the truth as far as Allah will allow us. There are areas in cortex that is labelled by modern biological psychology as the “quite area” where its functions are still not known. Some speculated that it involves in integrating information. One early Muslim scholar, Al-Ghazali also speculated although the main are involved in conception is the frontal lobe, the conception actually takes place in the whole area of the brain (Najati, 1993). Modern biological psychologists are also still arguing whether brains functions are localised (hard-wired) or distributed (adaptable). This issue should be of interest to Muslim psychologists who wanted to understand the mysteries of Allah’s creation more. One new idea that Muslim psychologists want to explore is Ibn al-Qayyim idea that the mind (`aql) is located in the heart (qalb), but its branch and fruit is located at the brain

Muslim psychologists can contribute to the promotion of Islam by conducting biologically-oriented psychological research on Islamic and unIslamic behaviours such as studying the effect of Islamic rituals (e.g. wudu`, tilawah al-Qur’an, salat, sawm, dhikr,

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and hajj) on brain activities, or studying the effect of existing persons who perform sinful behaviours (e.g. criminals, drug abusers, alcoholics).

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM: INTEGRATION WITH ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE.

Endocrine system plays an important role in regulating human hormones. Hormones are needed for several functions such as regulating long-term bodily processes, maintaining ongoing bodily processes, and assisting in regulating the emergency response to crises.

When studying the endocrine system, it is tempting to make a conclusion that it is the hormones that influence human behaviour, forgetting that sometimes it is the behaviour that influence the hormonal changes which will lead back to the production of (different) behaviours. Athar (1986, 1994) had studied the effects of prohibited (haram) foods, intoxicants, and ingredients on human hormones and behaviours. It would also be interesting if we can study the effect of Islamic behaviours (such as qaylulah or mid-day nap and qiyamullayl or night prayers) and negative unIslamic behaviour (such as zina) on related glands and hormones (such as pineal glands and the hormone melatonin; or gonad and the hormone testosterone).

THE PLACE OF SOUL IN BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

The soul (nafs), spirit (ruh), heart (qalb), and mind (`aql) have been used either interchangeably or for different but interrelated concepts (Al-Attas, 1990). This section will only focus on the mind (since its close relation with the brain) and the heart (since early Muslim scholars had emphasised its connection with the brain (e.g. Ibn al-Qayyim).

Heart (Al-Qalb)

The Qur’an and Hadith have indicated the role played by the (spiritual) heart in relation to behaviour and cognition. Some Qur’anic verses mentioned that the heart is involved in conceptualisation or understanding (7: 179, 63: 3). In addition, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his famous hadith said that: “Inside the body, there is a ‘mudghah’(piece of flesh). If it is in a good condition, then the rest of the body will be in a good condition. If it is in a bad condition, then the rest the body will be in a bad condition. Indeed, it is the ‘qalb’” (narrated by Bukhari & Muslim). This raises the question whether the heart, from the perspective of biological psychology, has a role in producing behaviour and mental processes.

Pearce (as cited in Badri, 2000) in his book “Evolution’s End” had found that there are neurotransmitters in the heart. According to Pearce, the heart controls and governs the brain action through hormonal, transmitter, and possibly finer quantum-energies of communication. Quite similar to Al-Ghazali’s (an early Muslim scholar) idea in the book “Al-Ihya’”, he believed that the spiritual heart influences the physical heart, which influences the brain, and eventually influences cognitive behaviour. This gives opportunity for Muslim biological psychology to conduct further research to highlight the role of the heart in psychology.

Mind (Al-Aql)

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Another term used in the Qur’an and Hadith that indicate the role of mind (as in spiritual mind, not as in mental processes) which obviously relates to the function of the brain and cognitive activities. Can modern biological psychology provide evidence on the existence and the role of the mind in producing behaviour and mental processes?

Eccles (as cited in Badri, 2000), a Nobel-prize winner had detailed out a study that he has conducted related to this. When a subject is electrically stimulated in the motor area of the cerebral cortex, his arm jerked. When the subject was told not to move his arm, and the stimulation was repeated, he tried to stop the movement of that arm with his other arm. The question is “what governed the other arm?” Eccles concluded that the brain moved one arm, but the “mind” moved the other arm to stop the first arm from moving. This shows that, although Muslim psychologists should still believe that brain is involved in specific motor control, they should also believe that it is the `aql (which is a spiritual unseen entity) that really govern our whole body. And although this research is not enough to describe the nature of the `aql in details (which is not the aim of Islamic psychology nor it is the aim of Islamic theology), it is enough to show that `aql (a spiritual entity) exists and has an influence on our behaviour and mental processes (without forgetting that it is Allah who decides everything).

CONCLUSION

In general, since biological psychology mostly deals with facts, there is nothing wrong with “research result” in biological psychology. What is wrong is the “interpretation” of the research results. Modern biological psychology uses a single or several secular theoretical perspectives to interpret the findings. Muslim basic psychologists should refer to Islamic view of human nature before interpreting any research findings in bio-psychology; and the findings should lead us to hidayah and help us perform our duty as `abid. Muslim applied psychologists may use the research results from bio-psychology to change human behaviour to fulfil our duty as khalifah so that other people may receive hidayah.

Specifically, studying physiological psychology including the nervous system may lead to the conclusion that the heart, the mind, and other spiritual entities do exist. Some neuropyschologists believe that in the near future, we will be able to describe and explain the “mind” in biological term. Muslim biological psychologists should not try to understand 100% the nature of spirit (ruh), soul (nafs), mind (`aql), and heart (qalb). They should only try to find evidence that they exist and have important roles in psychology. By conducting such research and interpreting according to Islamic theoretical perspective, biological psychology will become one of the sources of hidayah, the source of truth about this world and the hereafter.

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REFERENCES

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