The Cardiocentrism in Islamic Culture and Religion. Part Two

Abstract

The first article was devoted to arguing that cardiocentrism is a generally significant feature not only of Orthodox-Slavic culture and religion, but also of Islam. We showed that the entire Islamic worldview is built on the principle of harmony of faith and reason and is free from the extremes of rationalism and irrationalism. Its cornerstone is the concept of the heart. In this article the theme is continued, but from a special angle of consideration-through revealing the peculiarities of the spiritual-hearted vision of being and its differences from the usual sensual, visual perception of the world. The main feature of heart mechanisms of perception of the world is that through them there appears the unique ability of inner vision, realizing the accession to the special knowledge, given by Allah. It is given as a divine gift only to selected people, who can see such facet of existence that are inaccessible to ordinary vision. This ability of “excessive” vision greatly enhances the drama of life, as it allows to see many manifestations of imperfection of the world and man, while it greatly complicates the already complex life.