The soul is one of the greatest puzzles for humanity. All people agree that a "living" person becomes "dead" by the departure of "life" or "soul". The soul is the only part of ghayb (unseen) that even atheists and materialists cannot deny.
Obviously, the soul is responsible for life. But what are its properties, qualities, abilities, etc? Philosophers, theologians, mystics, scientists, and other types of people have tried to answer such questions ─ only to come up with conflicting and confusing views that have no solid proof or evidence.
In Islam, we are given a few glimpses into the knowledge of the soul. But its detailed understanding remains concealed from us. Allah (Exalted is He) says:
They ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair (i.e., knowledge) of my Lord. And you (people) have not been given of knowledge except a little" [Quran (17):85]
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This means that the knowledge of the soul is a great and major affair that belongs with Allah (Exalted is He). He kept this knowledge obscure and undetailed so that people would realize their inability to know the truth about their soul ─ though they know it (i.e., the soul) exists. And being incapable of fully comprehending the truth about themselves is more reason for them to be incapable of fully comprehending the truth about Allah (i.e., His majesty and other attributes). [Al-Jami li-Ahkam il-Quran 17:85]
From various authentic texts, we learn that the soul is an invisible object that is intertwined with the body. It has many qualities that we normally apply to tangible bodies: It has "eyes" and "hands"; an angel "blows" it into a body to give the body life; an angels "pulls" it out of a body to cause death; it "hides" and "clings" to the body to evade the Angel of Death; it "departs" from the body at death; it has either a good or foul "odor"; angel "holds" it, "put" it in shrouds, and "embalm" it; it "speaks" to other souls in the heaven; and so on.
Although the body dies, the soul does not. Al-Qurtubi (may Allah's mercy be upon him) said,
The soul neither dies nor expires. It is of those creates things that have a beginning but no end.
Two Words for "Soul" in Arabic
In the texts of the Quran and Sunnah two words are used for soul: "ruh" (pl. arwah) and "nafs" (pl. anfus), this is similar to that the English words "spirit" and "soul" are synonyms. The correct view, however, is that they have same meaning, because they are used interchangeably when discussing the identical situation.
For example, al- Bara Bin 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) said:
The Angel of Death says (to a dying believer's soul), "O good and peaceful nafs, depart to forgiveness and acceptance from Allah." On hearing this, it leaves the body as easily as water flowing from the spout of water skin, and the Angel of Death takes it. When the ruh departs, all angels between the heavens and the earth beseech forgiveness for him... [Recorded by Ahmed, Abu Dawud and others; verified to be authentic by Al-Albani (Ahkam ul Janaiz pp. 198-202)]
As another example, Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with Her) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon Him) visited Abu Salamah after his gaze became fixed (because of death). He closed Abu Salamah's eyes and said:
Indeed, when the ruh is taken, the eyesight follows it. [Sahih Muslim, Ahmed, and others]
Reporting the same incident, Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with Him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon Him) said:
Don't you see that when a person dies his gaze becomes fixed? This happens because his eyes follows his (departing) nafs, [Sahih Muslim]
Commenting on this, Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah's mercy be upon him) says:
This provides evidence for those who say that ruh and nafs have the same meaning. [Al-Minhaj 6:463]
A third example is that Allah (Exalted is He) says:
Allah takes the anfus at the time of their death, and (also) those that have not died during their sleep. [Quran (39:42)]
Also referring to sleep, Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with Him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon Him) said:
Indeed Allah took away our arwah (during sleep) when He willed, and returned them to us when he willed. [Reported by Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim , from Abu Hurayrah and Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with them both)]
This happened when the Prophet (peace be upon Him) and his companions stopped to rest during their return from the battle of khaybar and were so exhausted that they slept through the time of the fajr prayer.
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