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The Journey
of the SOUL
by
Sheikh Suhaib
Hassan Abdul Gaffar
Forward
Throughout
history, man has been fascinated by all aspects of the unseen. He has
especially attempted to explore and understand the phenomenon of the soul -
that mysterious power which activates the human body. Many questions were
asked, but only a few answers were available. During the lifetime of the
Prophet (sallallaahu alaihe wa-sallam) the Jews of Medina sent their allies,
the Makkan infidels, to the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihe wa-sallam) to ask
about the soul. In reply to their questions, the following Qur'aanic verse was
revealed:
“They ask
you [O Muhammad (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam)] concerning the Ruh (Soul). Say:
'It is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of
knowledge, you (mankind) have been given very little.”
[Soorah
Al-Israa (17) :85]
Because so
little knowledge was available, most Muslim scholars considered any discussion
concerning the soul to be 'taboo' and so this avenue of knowledge
remained almost closed within scholastic circles. The most famous of the few
work written on this subject was entitled "Kitab Al-Ruh" by Ibn
Al-Qayyim.' Contrary to his normal approach of scholarly research, guided by
the Qur'aan and authentic Sunnah, in this book he relied heavily on weak and
spurious reports attributed falsely to the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihe
wa-sallam) by transmitters such as Ibn Abi Al Dunya and Abu Nu'aim. Later
scholars argued that Ibn Al-Qayyim was too great a scholar to have written a
book so largely based on fabricated narrations, and so concluded that he could
not have been the author. Others argued that he must have written it before he
met the great author and teacher, Sheikh Ibn Taymiyya, who had a
profound effect on him and shaped his later works, which were always based on
the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah.
In my short
and humble contribution to the subject of the Soul, I have endeavored to rely
on authentic sources alone. Due to the nature of this topic, I seek Allah’s
forgiveness for any deviation from the truth on my part and I pray to the
Almighty to accept this meager effort. And may Allah shower His blessings upon
our Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihe wa-sallam) and his progeny.
Suhaib Hasan
(Safar 1416 AH)
Chapter 1
Four
Worlds
“They ask
you [O Muhammad (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam)] concerning the Ruh (Soul). Say:
'It is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of
knowledge, you (mankind) have been given very little.”
[Soorah
Al-Israa (17) :85]
The soul is a
creature of Allah. It is blown into every human being when it is just a fetus
of 120 days old, it remains in contact if not inside the human being
throughout its life on earth, and at the point of death it departs from the
body to reside in the heavens. Like everything else in the universe it is a
creation of Allah, but as the above Qur'aanic verse informs us, mankind has
been given only limited knowledge concerning it. When a body is given a soul,
life begins. And when the soul leaves the body, life ends and death begins.
During their
journeys through this universe, the soul and its body travel through four
different worlds:
1. The
womb - where the soul joins its body.
2. This
world - where we all live for a limited period only.
3. The
grave - a ‘Barzakh’ period.
4. The
Hereafter - The final destination of all human beings.
Each world is
greater than the last, and the final world of the Hereafter is eternal and the
most important. It is difficult for us as human beings living amidst the
hubbub of worldly life to comprehend the sheer futility of this world and the
permanence of the Hereafter. Thousands of dead are buried around us every day,
but we find it impossible to envisage the new stage of the journey upon which
they have embarked. To the living, the grave is simply an empty and dark hole
in the ground; to the dead, it is their window into either Paradise or the
Fire. And it is precisely because they cannot comprehend the next life that
the majority of human beings refuse to believe in and obey Allah.
In this
situation, we are like the fetus in the womb of its mother. Consider the
unborn child whose only home for nine months is a dark and cramped place where
it receives nourishment, warmth and space to grow. Suppose we could speak to
the unborn child; what would we say when describing the world waiting for it
outside? We would talk to it about the clouds, the mountains, the trees and
the oceans. We would talk of a spectrum of colors, smells, tastes and
textures. We would mention the thunder of trains, the roaring of planes, the
speed of cars. We would describe flowers, birds and animals; a world of lush
gardens, cascading rivers, valleys and plains. An enormous world of huge
deserts, massive oceans and vast landscapes. A bustling world filled with
noise, movement and numerous nationalities of people speaking a variety of
languages
Would the
little infant curled up in it's mother's womb understand the message? Indeed
not. The womb is the only place he knows and to imagine the outside world
would be beyond his comprehension. In the same way, our life in this world is
temporary and like it or not, we will have to leave it to enter the world
beyond the grave. Just because we cannot envisage or see the world of the
Barzakh does not mean that it does not exist.
Chapter 2 :
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 Judgement when the bodies will be
resurrected and their souls will be blown into them once again.