Left and Right Brain

Our Creator, Allah has bestowed two sides of brain upon us, (two hemispheres, i.e. left and right) and not without a purpose. The left side of brain is logical, critical, analytical, and evaluative. The reasoning comes from it. It controls language skills, reading and writing, and remembers names, dates and various facts. It evaluates information in a rational, logical way, interprets words and concepts, and processes data sequentially. It performs analytical calculations. It also controls all the movements of the right side of the body.

Keep away from ill-thinking, because ill-thinking is a greatest falsehood. (Bukhari)

The right hemisphere is usually intuitive and artistic. Dreams and fantasies are born here. When we are thinking holistic or imaginatively, it is the right side of the brain. It is intuitive, problem solver and synthetic. It controls our imagination. When you enter in to your imagination, you are engaging your right brain and telling your left-brain to take a back seat. It is also the right side that deals in images and concepts. It can also process several pieces of information at the same time. It controls all movements in the left side of the body.

To criticize and analyze a problem is the left side and to find a solution to it the right side of brain. Some people tell you how bad things are; they can pass a judgment on almost everything and every person. They spend hours and hours in telling you what is wrong with the country or its politics. But if you ask for a solution, they have no answer. They only use left side of their brain. This does not mean that the left side is not required. Neither do I suggest not using it. But analyzing a problem at hand is only the first step; the challenge is finding a solution which is for the right side to do.

Pessimism is part of bad character. (Ahmad)

We live in a country where left-brain thinking is valued more. Students good in numbers and data get higher grades, giving a wrong message to the society that memory retention skills are more valuable than artistic and creative skills. Most students become left-brain thinkers by the time they come out of high school.

Only using both sides of brain can deliver because they work in harmony and complement each other. No one could reach one’s potential by using only one half of God-gifted faculties.