© Copyright 2007-2008 The Straight Path
From: "Khalid" <kla@ashpak.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:23:02 -0000

What is the Soul?
The Qur'aan and Sunnah give us only a limited knowledge concerning the soul. From it we can say that the Arabic words 'Ruh' and 'Nafs' are both
used, sometimes interchangeably, for the soul. Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim wrote in his scholarly work ?Kitab al Ruh?,

" Ruh is an entity which differs totally from the physical body. It is a subtle, ecclesiastical, enlightened living and moving body which penetrates
into the depths of the organs and flows into them like the water in the rose or the oil in the olive or the fire in the coal. As long as these organs
remain able to accept the impressions of this subtle body, the 'Ruh' remains attached to these organs and provides them with feeling and
movement. But when these organs are spoiled
because of the dominance of diseased elements upon it, and they are no longer able to accept the impressions of the soul, it leaves the body and
heads towards the world of the souls. "

There is some difference in the way the words 'Ruh' and 'Nafs' are used. The 'Ruh' is the subtle spirit which resides in the heavens and needs a
physical body to carry it on the earth. When this spirit is given a body, life begins and it is described as 'Nafs'. The word 'Nafs' is used in a number
of ways by the Qur'aan, all of which imply the meaning of a soul with a body.

1. 'Nafs' meaning "Self."

You know what is in my self but I do not know what is in Your self? (Soorah Al-Ma?ida (5):116)

2. 'Nafs' meaning "Blood".

The (insect) which has flowing Nafs (blood).?

3. Nafs as a strong force in man, which can push him either towards good or evil. The concept of 'Nafs al Ammara bis Su' ('Nafs' which encourages
evil) and 'Nafs al Lawwama' ('Nafs' which blames) and 'Nafs al Mutmainna' ('Nafs' which is contented) are discussed in the next chapter.

Two deaths and two lives, The Qur'aan mentions two deaths and two lives given to us by Allah

How can you reject faith in Allah, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life,
then to Him will be your return.? (Soorah Al-Baqarah (2): 28)

They will say: Our Lord, twice have You given us death and twice have You given us life?" (Soorah Al Mumin v 11)

When the soul is first created it has no physical body and is considered to be a dead creature. In this state it is referred to as 'Ruh', and this is the
first death as even death is created by Allah.

He is the one who created Death and life in order that He may try which of you is best in deeds , and He is the Exalted, the Forgiving.? (Soorah
Al Mulk (67): 2)

The Qur'aan also tells us that all the souls of mankind were created before the creation of Adam and were asked to testify to the Lordship of Allah.

When your Lord drew forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves: ?Am I not
your Lord??. They said, ?Yes, we do testify.? This lest you should say on the Day of Judgement: ?We were not aware of this.? ? (Surah Al A?raaf v
272)

The first life begins when the soul is breathed into an embryo in the womb of its mother, and now the soul is referred to as 'Nafs'. The word Nafs
is also used for ?blood?, and so women who are in a state of post-natal bleeding are known as 'Nufasaa?. As long as blood surges healthily
through the body, there will be life in that body.

Abdullah ibn Mas?ud reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihe wa-sallam) said:

Indeed the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother?s belly for forty days in the form of a seed, then he is a clot of blood for a
similar period, then a morsel of flesh for a similar period. An angel is then sent to him who blows the breath of life into him...? (Saheeh al-Bukhari
and Muslim)

Scholars of Islam have concluded from this hadeeth that because the angel of life blows the soul into the fetus when it is 120 days old, abortion on
very strict medical grounds is permissible only before the fetus is 4 months old. Once life has been blown into the fetus it becomes a living creature
and to terminate its life is murder.

The second death occurs when the soul leaves the body at the end of its appointed time on earth.

Every Nafs (soul) shall taste death...? (Soorah Aal Imran (3): 185)

The Nafs dies and is buried, while its soul soars up to the heavens. That is why the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihe wa-sallam) taught us: "At death, the
eyes follow the departing soul, so close the eyes."

The second life will be the eternal life beginning on the Day of Judgment when the bodies will be resurrected and their souls will be blown into
them once again.


The Soul's Journey in Brief
1. To sum up the evidence, it is clear that the souls of all people, believers and unbelievers, are taken up to the heavens at the time of death by
angels and presented to Allah Almighty.

2. The record of the believer?s deeds is placed in a high place in heaven called Illiyyin and the sinner?s record is thrown into the lowest earth
known as Sijjin.

"Nay! Truly the record of the evil-doers is preserved in Sijjin. And what will explain to you what Sijjin is? A register inscribed. Nay! Truly the
record of the pious is preserved in Illiyyin. And what will make you know what Illiyyin is? A Register inscribed. To which bear witness those
nearest to Allah ( i.e. the angels).? (Soorah Al-Mutaffifin v 7-9, 18-21)

3. The souls are returned to their bodies temporarily for questioning by the angels.

4. When the soul returns, the dead person is able to hear the retreating footsteps of the men who came to bury him. This is an exception to the
general rule in the Qur'aan that the dead cannot hear the living.

Verily, you cannot make the dead to hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they flee, turning their backs.? (Surah An Naml v 80)

Nor are alike the living and the dead. Verily, Allah makes whom He will hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear.? (Surah Fatir v. 22)

5. The blessed soul is taken to the heavens where it is changed into a bird and eats freely from the fruits in paradise. It rests in a state of peaceful
sleep while the cool breezes of paradise flow gently over it. In contrast is the sinner?s soul, which is thrown with contempt into the lowest earth to
feel the savage heat and stench of hell. Both kinds of soul reside in the same places as their Records of deeds.

6. The torture of the grave is for the soul, but if Allah Wills, it can also be felt by the body. The human body has to decay and decompose into the
ground, but as the punishment of the grave is for the soul, it can continue until the Last Day.


Common Questions Answered
1 . Groups of Muslims claim that the questioning in the grave is proved only by hadeeth literature and not by the Qur'aan. To reply to them,
consider the following verse of Surah Ibrahim :

Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the Word that stands firm in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah will cause the wrongdoers to
go astray. and Allah does what He wills." (Surah Ibrahim v 27)

The first stage of the Hereafter is the time of Barzakh, the period between death and resurrection. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam), as
narrated by Al-Baraa bin Aazib, explained that the believers will be aided in standing firm with their answers in the grave when the angels
Munkar and Nakir come to question them, while the wrong-doers will falter at this critical time.

2. The same group of Muslims claim that the punishment or bliss of the grave are also proven only from hadeeth and not from the Qur'aan. Our
reply is that the punishment of the grave is mentioned in a number of Qur'aanic verses:

(a) Pharaoh and his followers have been exposed to the Fires of Hell every morning and evening since their deaths, and they will continue to
suffer in this manner until the Day of Resurrection. On that day they will actually enter the fire.

The Fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening. And on the Day when the Hour will be established, it will be said: Cause Pharaoh?s people
to enter the most severe torment.? (Surah Ghafir (40): 46).

(b) Because of their sins they were drowned, then (immediately) were made to enter the Fire, and they found none to help them without Allah.?
(Surah Nuh v 25)

The disbelievers from the people of Nuh were drowned and then immediately thrown into the Fire. According to Arabic grammar, the letter ?fa?
in this verse indicates immediacy. As the Day of Judgement is still in the future, the punishment which began immediately after Nuh?s people
drowned must be the punishment in Barzakh.

(c) ?And among the Bedouins around you (0 Muhammad), some are hypocrites and so are some among the people of Madina. They exaggerate and
persist in hypocrisy. You know them not, but We know them. We shall then punish them twice, and thereafter they shall be brought back to a
severe torment". (Surah Al Tawba v 101)

Abdullah bin Abbas explained in his tafseer of this verse that the disbelievers and hypocrites will be tortured twice before their chastisement on
the Day of Judgement. The first will be a wretched life on this earth, and the second will be in Barzakh.

And if you could see when the wrong-doers are in the agonies of death while the angels are stretching forth their hands saying, ?Deliver your
souls! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth."
(Surah Al An?am v 93)

A disgraceful punishment is promised the day their souls leave their bodies. The use of the word ?today? indicates that the torture will be
immediate, and as such cannot be referring to the Day of Judgement but to the time in the grave.

And if you could see when the angels take away the souls of the disbelievers, they beat their faces and their backs, (saying) ?Taste the punishment
of the blazing Fire. This because of that which your hands had sent forward. And indeed, Allah is not unjust to His slaves.? (Surah Al Anfal v
50-51)

Then how will it be when the angels will take their souls at death, beating their faces and their backs?? (Surah Muhammad v 27)

Both the above verses speak of a beating by the angels immediately after death.

3. The rewards and bliss of the grave are also mentioned by the Qur'aan. For example, the story is told of a man who warned a prophet that his
enemies were plotting to kill him. When the disbelievers realized that the man had betrayed them, they punished him and viciously put him to
death. Immediately after his death the man was told to enter paradise and when he saw the luxuries and wonders of paradise, the man wished he
could tell his people about his happy fate.

It was said to him (when the disbelievers killed him): ?Enter Paradise?. He said: ?Would that my people knew that my Lord has forgiven me and
made me one of the honored ones." (Surah Ya Sin v 26-27)

The real Paradise will reveal all its favors and wonders on the Day of Judgement, but this man received only a taste of paradise in his grave which
gave him such rapturous joy.

Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state, saying to them, ?Peace be upon you, enter Paradise because of the good which
you used to do in the world". (Surah Al Nahl v 32)

"Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead! Nay! They are alive, with their Lord, where they have provisions. They rejoice
what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounties. Rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them but are left behind (not yet
martyred) that on them no fear shall come nor shall they grieve." (Surah Al Imran v 169-170)

The life of the martyrs is not like the life on earth. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) explained this further in the
following narration.

Their souls are in the crops of green birds which are in lamps suspended from the Throne of Allah, which fly where they wish in Paradise and then
return to these lamp. Their Lord looks on them and asks whether they desire anything, and they ask in reply what they wish when they can go
where they like in Paradise. He asks them three times, and when they see they will not be left until they ask something, they tell their Lord that
they wish Him to return their souls to their bodies so that they may be killed in His path again. Then when He that they lack nothing they are left
without further questioning. ? (Transmitted by Muslim)