Someone sought guidance from Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatu- Masih V^(aba), writing that the word uzun [ear] used in one of the verses of Surah al-Haqqah [Ch.69: V.13] referred to recording devices, as ears did not record or retain anything, but rather it was the heart or the brain that did so. Huzoor-e-Anwar^(aba), in his letter dated 21 December 2020, provided the following guidance regarding this:

“Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^(ra) has translated this verse of Surah al-Haqqah in Tafsir-e-Saghir [into Urdu] as follows:

‘That We might make this (incident) a Sign for you, and that listening ears might hear it (and the hearts may retain it).’

In his interpretive translation, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^(ra) has made it clear that the function of the ears is only to hear and the function of remembering or retaining is performed by the heart or the brain. While interpreting Surah al-Baqarah and explaining the functions of ears and eyes, Huzoor^(ra) has stated a very subtle and exquisite point. He writes:

“When we hear a voice, it means that this sound has travelled from outside, as the eardrum is naturally made in such a way that when the air pressure pushes on the eardrum, it creates a movement; vibrations are generated and these vibrations travel to the brain and the brain converts them into words. It is these vibrations that also fall onto the [thermionic] valve of a radio [receiver] and the radio converts them into words. In the composition of the human body, ears serve as the radio and the nerves as valves. The impulses that travel to the brain through them are converted into an audible voice there. […] And what you see are also impulses that the eyes convert into images. What you see fixated in front of you is not the image. Rather, they are features that then travel to the brain through the eyes and it turns them into images. Hence, nowadays [the 1960s], we also see that images have also started being transmitted through radios.” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. II, p. 403)

Therefore, in the light of this exquisite commentary of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^(ra), in my opinion, the remembering of a significant Sign as mentioned in the above verse of Surah al-Haqqah has been attributed to ears because it is through the ear that the voice reaches the heart and the brain where it is retained. Other than that, taking the word ‘ear’ [uzun], mentioned in this Quranic verse to mean ‘recording device’ is your personal point of view and interpretation, which is fine as long as it does not contradict the Holy Quran, the sunnah and ahadith.”