Answer
Short Answer:
- In many places of the Quran, the word heart means the mind. The mind is the set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, imagination, perception, etc. With your mind, you can do more than one thing at the same time. You can talk, walk, look, and hear at the same time with the least problem.
- It is known that one has two ears with which he hears. However, in the Quran the word came in the singular form (Al-Sam`). The reason behind the usage of the word in the singular form is that one cannot hear to voices and recognizes or understands the two voices perfectly.
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Salam dear questioner,
Thank you for your question.
God (Allah) has favored his creation with countless blessings. We read in the Quran:
And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Quran 16:18)
And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful. (Quran 14:34)
How to Thank God for His Blessings?
Our human body is a blessing from God with its millions of cells. We should thank God for these blessings. We should be grateful for God for the things we can do while others cannot.
We should thank God by giving the extra of what we have to those who do not have what we have.
Also, to thank God for his blessings, we should serve him with what He gave us and use these blessings in what is lawful and what pleased Him.
What If, We Thank God?
If we thank God for his blessings, He will increase these blessings. We read in the Quran:
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ (Quran 14:7)
Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) used to say in his supplication; ‘O Lord! How can I ever duly thank You, when my thanking You is also a favor from You to me’. Allah answered him, ‘Now, you have thanked Me sufficiently, O Dawud’.
From this report, we learn that the ability to thank God is a blessing and a favor from God.
The Blessings of Hearing, Seeing and Hearts
Among the various blessings of God are the hearing, the sighting, and the hearts.
In different chapters of the Quran, we read the following:
And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful. (Quran 16:78)
Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful. (Quran 32:9)
And it is He who produced for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful. (Quran 23:78)
Say, “It is He who has produced you and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful.” (Quran 67:23)
Say, “Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight and who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and who arranges [every] matter?” They will say, ” Allah,” so say, “Then will you not fear Him?” (Quran 10:31)
Say, “It is He who has produced you and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful.” (Quran 67:23)
Commenting on (Quran 16:78), Imam Ibn Kathir, the author commentator of the Quran, states:
“God mentions His blessings to His servants in that He brought them from their mother’s wombs not knowing a thing. Then, He gives them hearing to recognize voices, sight to see visible things and hearts – meaning reason- whose seat, according to the correct view, is the heart, although it was also said that its seat is the brain. With this reason, a person can distinguish between what is harmful and what is beneficial. These abilities and senses develop gradually in man. The more he grows, the more his hearing, vision and reason increases, until they reach their peak. Allah has created these faculties in man to enable him to worship his Lord, so he uses all these organs, abilities and strengthens to obey his Master.”
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
“Allah the Exalted has said: ‘I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (prayer or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks (something) from Me, I give him, and if he asks My Protection (refuge), I protect him”. (Al- Bukhari)
Why Hearing in the Singular Form?
It is known that one has two ears with which he hears. However, in the Quran the word came in the singular form (Al-Sam`). The reason behind the usage of the word in the singular form is that one cannot hear to voices and recognizes or understands the two voices perfectly.
If want to try this, bring two headphones and put them in your ears and listen to two things at the same time and try to understand both of them!
Why Seeing in the Plural Form?
With your two eyes, you can see different things at the same time clearly. You can see two cars and two persons, etc. and you can distinguish between them clearly.
Why Hearts in the Plural Form?
In many places of the Quran, the word heart means the mind. The mind is the set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, imagination, perception, etc. With your mind, you can do more than one thing at the same time. You can talk, walk, look, and hear at the same time with the least problem.
So, glory be to Allah who has blessed us with these favors.
From a linguistic perspective, hearing is an infinitive and the infinitive cannot come in the plural form. But the seeing and hearts are nouns and there is nothing wrong with having them in the plural form.
We hope this answers your query.
And Allah knows best.
I hope this helps.
Salam and please keep in touch.
Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:
Why Plural “Easts” and “Wests” in the Quran?
https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-about-islam/7-tips-on-how-to-soften-your-heart-and-prepare-for-the-day-of-judgement/