Source: Dawn
Author: Nilofar Ahmed
THE mystery of life and death can be explained in the Quranic framework by understanding that the soul gives life to the body and that the body dies as soon as the soul leaves it. The foetus in the womb, in spite of being biologically alive, becomes a living thing only after a soul is injected into it (32:9).
The ‘nafs’, ‘ruh’ or ‘soul’, defined as a ‘refined body’, needs nourishment and training just like the body. Since the soul is made up of ethereal matter it wants to live in the other world and to be rid of the base desires of the body. The Sufis often look upon the body as a cage in which the soul is trapped. They long for the time when the soul will be freed; the body is mortal while the soul is immortal.
Categories: Asia, Islam: A Religion of Peace
Islam and the human soul!
This is a link to collection of information on this subject by me:
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2011/12/religion/islam-and-the-human-soul
This article presents a somewhat distorted replica of the discussion of the three states of man, physical, moral and spiritual, by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, in his essay:
اسلامی اصول کی فلاسفی
The essay has been translated into English and is available in book form as: “The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam”, by Hadhrat Chaudhry Zafrulla Khan (RA), and is available on the internet.
The author starts the article by talking about the soul by indicating how the Sufis regard the soul, missing out completely what the Quran has to say about the soul. The Quran being the main source of spiritual guidance for us Muslims, I wish the author had consulted the Quran on that matter. The most important information that we get about the soul is given in: Al Quran [17:86]
ويسألونك عن الروح قل الروح من أمر ربي وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلا
Translated, it means:
And they ask thee concerning the soul. Say, ‘The soul is by the command of my Lord; and of the knowledge thereof you have been given but a little.’
So, talking about the soul we should know that the knowledge of the nature of soul is in Allah’s and possibly the Prophet’s (SAW) domain and that we are given very little information.
The author also creates a difference from Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s (AS) terminology by calling the physical state of man “nafs ammara bissu”. For the author’s information neither of the terms nafsalammara bissu, nafsal ammara are in the Quran as such. The latter term was used by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) to represent the physical state of man. The verse which contains the misunderstood combination is Al Quran [12:54]
وما أبرئ نفسي إن النفس لأمارة بالسوء إلا ما رحم ربي إن ربي غفور رحيم
‘And I do not hold my own self to be free from weakness; for, the soul is surely prone to enjoin evil, save that whereon my Lord has mercy. Surely, my Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful.’
It is easy to see that there is no nafs ammara bissu mentioned in this verse. (Innanafsa la-ammara tumbissu-e-illa ma rahima rabbi …) According to this verse it is the property of nafs that (seeking gratification) it tends to lead one astray unless one is protected by Allah. This very basic quality of nafs gets the name nafs alammara for the physical state of man, in the above referred essay by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS). It may also be noted that after renaming nafs alammara as nafs mmara bissu the author takes up the example of self centeredness of children and children, according to a Hadith Rasul (SAW) are born on fitra sahiha (i.e. are pure in nature.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US9cNuqbwOU&feature=relmfu