Muddakir: Spiritual Auditory Mirror Memory  


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See Also
Empathy and the Somatotopic Auditory Mirror System in Humans 
Valeria Gazzola,  Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, and Christian Keysers
Current Biology 16, 1824–1829, September 19, 2006
http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/2006/10/auditory_mirror_neurons.php  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron 




In verses 54:17, 22, 32 and 40 Allah said:

And indeed we made the Qur’an easy to remember but who is there (to be) Muddakir (Rememberer)?

Abu ‘Ubaida
Muddakir was Mudh-takir, but the Dh (alphabet sound as zh or th with z) merged with the ‘t’ sound and then morphed into the ‘d’ sound.



مجاز القرآن  أبو عبيدة 
" مُدَّكِرٍ " مذتكر فلما أدغم التاء في الذال تحولت الذال دالاً .


Al-Azhari
Dakir (root verb for Muddakir) is not a part of the speech of the Arab.

تهذيب اللغة  الأزهري 
وقال الليث: الدكر ليس من كلام العرب،

Hamlawi
Muddakir is read anomalously.


شذا العرف في فن الصرف  أحمد الحملاوي
ولك في هذا المثال ثلاثة الأوجه المتقدمة في اظطلم, فتقول أذدكر وادكر واذكر. وقرئ شاذا "فهل من مدكر" بالذال المعجمة والإدغام.



Imam Al-Ghazali
“There are two kinds of Dhikr (Remembrance):

1.    Remembering something that was present in a person’s heart but it was made absent after its appearance/existence
2.    Remembering/Recalling something that is concealed imprinted within the Fitra (The Inmost nature design and essence of human being) “




إحياء علوم الدين  أبو حامد الغزالي
"فطرة الله التي فطر الناس عليها" أي كل آدمي فطر على الإيمان بالله عز وجل بل على معرفة الأشياء على ما هي عليه أعني أنها كالمضمنة فيها لقرب استعدادها للإدراك. ثم لما كان الإيمان مركزاً في النفوس بالفطرة انقسم الناس إلى قسمين: إلى من أعرض فنسي وهم الكفار، وإلى من أجال خاطره فتذكر فكان كمن حمل شهادة فنسيها بغفلة ثم تذكرها. ولذلك قال عز وجل "لعلهم يتذكرون - وليتذكر أولوا الألباب - واذكروا نعمة الله عليكم وميثاقه الذي واثقكم به - ولقد يسرنا القرآن للذكر فهل من مدكر" وتسمية هذا النمط تذكراً ليس ببعيد فكأن التذكر ضربان؛ أحدهما: أن يذكر صورة كانت حاضرة الوجود في قلبه لكن غابت بعد الوجود. والآخر: أن يذكر صورة كانت مضمنة فيه بالفطرة.


Muddakir is not just about memorization of words of Qur’an or remembering its stories, it is about a peculiar form of human memory which we coin here as Spiritual Auditory Mirror Memory wherein the person remembers and finds the events that happened:

1.    Nations in the past that the person was not present to see their happenings, but Muddakir refer to a Primordial form of remembering, through the words and sounds of Qur’an, as though the reader/listener was there in person thousands of years ago
2.    Non-transient memories from the Azal (Sempiternity) where the reader/listener is allowed to remember when s/he was in spirit-form
3.    Auditory Mirror Memory, wherein the reader/listener enacts the fears and hopes of the nations passed before (Empathy) as mentioned by Qur’an, or enacts the happenings in the realm of souls. Similar to a person who watches images of hismelf in a mirror either he is following his image in the mirror or the mirror is following his actions, except this mirror is made from audible sounds!

54:15 And We have left this as a Sign (for all time): but who is there (to be) Muddakir (Rememberer)?


وَلَقَدْ تَرَكْنَاهَا آَيَةً فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ

54:51 And (oft) in the past, have We destroyed gangs like unto you: but who is there (to be) Muddakir (Rememberer)?


وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا أَشْيَاعَكُمْ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِر

Auditory Mirror Neurons
Of all the mirror neurons discovered in monkeys, auditory mirror neurons may be the most terrific. These cells respond when a monkey performs an action, and when that monkey hears the sounds of that action being performed by another. Until recently, there was limited evidence of a corresponding auditory mirror neuron system in humans. In one study, for example, researchers contrasted the brain activity of expert pianists and nonmusicians1. In one condition, both groups of participants listened to piano music, and in another, they pressed random keys on a piano keyboard that was rigged so that it would not produce any sound. In each condition, participants brains were scanned using an fMRI machine. The results (Top image on the right) showed that when listening to piano music, pianists, but not nonmusicians, activated some of the same regions that were active while playing the piano keyboard.


Razi
“We say (about Muddakir): What is in Fitra (Inmost Nature and Design of human being) is inexorably tied to Allah, therefore like an amnesiac when he does become a  Muddakir (Rememberer) indeed returns towards his inmost nature and essence. “




تفسير مفاتيح الغيب ، التفسير الكبير/ الرازي (ت 606 هـ)
، وقوله تعالى: { فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ } أي متذكر لأن الافتعال والتفعل كثيراً ما يجيء بمعنى، وعلى هذا فلو قال قائل: هذا يقتضي وجود أمر سابق فنسي، نقول: ما في الفطرة من الانقياد للحق هو كالمنسي فهل من مدكر يرجع إلى ما فطر عليه وقيل: فهل من مدكر أي حافظ أو متعظ على ما فسرنا به قوله تعالى: { يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءانَ لِلذّكْرِ } وقوله: { فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ } وعلى قولنا المراد متذكر إشارة إلى ظهور الأمر فكأنه لا يحتاج إلى نكر، بل هو أمر حاصل عنده لا يحتاج إلى معاودة ما عند غيره.


Muddakir (Remembering) through Qur’anic words and sounds is quite similar to the Auditory Mirror Neurons where they activate the areas of the brain when an action is heard while done by others and the same areas activated when the same action is done by the listener himself. In Spiritual Auditory Mirror Memory’s case the person by hearing the words and sounds of the stories of the nations in the past or what transpired in the realm of the souls, is activated through remembering i.e. memory access his inmost nature/Fitra! (Those stories and their words and sounds form an auditory mirror that reflects images off the deep Fitra within the human being otherwise inaccessible)


Imam Ali-Ghazali
“‘And indeed we made the Qur’an easy to remember but who is there (to be) Muddakir (Rememberer)?’ is the healing for enduring the seductions and preoccupations (of the mind), and these are the very end of the patience’s spectrum since all other resistance to desires are lesser that the seductions that enter the mind. “



إحياء علوم الدين  أبو حامد الغزالي
ولكونه حاضراً في القلب ومنسياً بالشغل عنه سمى الله تعالى جميع معارف الإيمان تذكراً، فقال تعالى: " إنا نحن نزلنا الذكر وإنا له لحافظون " وقال تعالى: "وليتذكر أولو الألباب " وقال تعالى: " ولقد يسرنا القرآن للذكر فهل من مدكر " فهذا هو علاج الصبر عن الوساوس والشواغل وهو آخر درجات الصبر وإنما الصبر عن العلائق كلها مقدم على الصبر عن الخواطر.


The Treatise(s) of Ikhwan Al-Safa
The doctors all seek to heal the patients and preserve their health. And as such is the reason for the prophets, an in general the purpose behind the philosophers and wise sages, they are all there to save the Nafs (Self) from the physical corporeality, from the realm of corruptions towards the realm of Paradise by means of remembrance of what was forgotten i.e. the forgotten place of origin and forgotten imminent destination as was said by Allah: ‘And indeed we made the Qur’an easy to remember but who is there (to be) Muddakir (Rememberer)?’.



رسائل إخوان الصفا  إخوان الصفا 
وذلك أن غرض الأطباء كلهم هواكتساب الصحة للمريض وحِفظها على الأصحاء، ودفع الأمراض وإزالتها عن المرضى، فهكذا غرض الأنبياء، عليهم السلام، وغرض جميع واضعي النواميس الإلهية من الفلاسفة والحكماء، وذلك أنهم أطباء النفوس، وغرضُهم هونجاة النفوس الغَريقة في بحر الهيولى، وإخراجها من هاوية عالم الكون والفساد، وإيصالها إلى الجنة عالم الأفلاك وسعة السموات، بتذكيرها ما قد نسيت من مبدئها ومَعادها، كما قال الله تعالى عز وجل: "ولقد يسَّرنا القُرآن للذِّكر، فهل من مُدَّكِر?" وقال: "وذكِّر فإن الذِّكرى تنفع المؤمنين" وقال: "لعلكم تذكرون" فتؤوبون وترجعون، كما قال: "يا أيتها النفس المطمئنّة ارجعي إلى ربِّك راضيةً مَرضيّةً".


After the Auditory Spiritual Memories are activated the person is able to muse the regained memories of the past nations as though he was there (like a mirror made up of Qur’anic sounds and words), or think about the spiritual memories of the realms of the souls prior to his/her concrescence into this biological form or turn these magnificent and unusual auditory mirror spiritual memories into medicinal thoughts:

Ibn Hasnoun
Muddakir means thinker within the language of the Quraish (tribe of the Prophet).

اللغات في القرآن  ابن حسنون 
(فَهَل مِن مُدّكِر) 15، 17، 22، 32، 40، 51- يعني متفكر بلغة قريش.


As there are medicinal chemical compounds and botanical medical herbs, there are also medicinal thoughts that heal the person’s internal injuries and ailments of the heart/Nafs (Self). Allah invites the listeners of the Qur’an to ponder upon the words of the Qur’an and let the sounds and the words form thoughts and emotions within for the purpose of healing the wounds and lesions caused by the personal desires and lusts, ailments accumulate by inappropriate speech and foul misdeeds:


17:82 We send down (stage by stage) in the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe 


وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآَنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا



© 2008-2002,  Dara O. Shayda