إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره، ونعوذ بالله تعالى من شرور أنفسنا، وسيئات أعمالنا، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، اللهم صلِّ وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعه إلى يوم الدين

In my talk today, I plan, Insha’Allah, discuss the Soul (Ruh) and its journey. But let me first define terminologies.  The Quran uses two terms:  Ruh and Nafs.  Some translators translate Ruh as Spirit and Nafs as Soul.  In this talk, I am making the assumption that Ruh and Nafs are the same.  Therefore, I am going to use Soul referring to the Ruh and will use the Arabic terms Ruh and Nafs when I am trying to provide distinction between them.

Obviously, we are talking here about knowledge of the unseen and thus my hypothesis regarding what is the Ruh and the Nafs cannot be taken as absolute truth because only Allah knows the truth.  But it should only be considered an intellectual exercise to explain verses in the Quran and some sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) regarding them.

You may ask, why wasting time in speculating about something of the unseen for which we don’t have clear definition.   My answer is for two reasons:

The first reason is that Allah revealed to us these terms in many verses in the Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) provided additional details and we are required to do Tadabour which in depth study of the Quran and this means analyzing every word in it.   The in-depth study of the Quran through the process of Tadabour is a command from Allah to all of us, He said:

كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ )ص(

(This is) a Book which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they should to the Tadabour of its Verses, and those who have understanding may heed/reflect (on its commands). “(Sad 38:29)

There are two forms of Tadabour: 1) heart-driven tadabour (تدبر قلبى) and 2) brain-driven tadabour (تدبر عقلى). 

Regarding the heart-driven tadabour, Allah says that those who don’t do tadabour, their hearts are sealed:

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا )محمد(

Will they not do the tadabour of the Qur’an, or do they have locks on the hearts?” (Mohammad 47:24)

This means that the Tadabour is the tool to open the heart because without it the heart is sealed.

Regarding the brain driven Tadabour, Allah says:

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ‌ۚ وَلَوۡ كَانَ مِنۡ عِندِ غَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ لَوَجَدُواْ فِيهِ ٱخۡتِلَـٰفً۬ا ڪَثِيرً۬ا (٨٢)

“Will they not do tadabour of the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it many contradictions.’ (Al-Nisa 4:82)

This implies that only thru Tadabour, a person will be truly convinced that the Quran is from Allah and thus Mohammad (PBUH) is a true messenger of Allah.  

Through these two forms of Tadabour the person heart will be cured from any doubt and his limbs will be guided and committed to the true path of Allah.  Allah said regarding the Quran: 

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدۡ جَآءَتۡكُم مَّوۡعِظَةٌ۬ مِّن رَّبِّڪُمۡ وَشِفَآءٌ۬ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدً۬ى وَرَحۡمَةٌ۬ لِّلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ (٥٧)

“O mankind! There has come to you an advice from your Lord, a healing for the (diseases) of the hearts and guidance and mercy for the believers.” (Yunus 10:57)

 Through the engagement of the heart and the mind as we read the Quran, we will not be one of those people whom the Prophet (PBUH) will be complaining about on the Day of Judgment by saying:

   يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا) الفرقان(

“O my Lord! my people deserted this Quran (of no account). (Al-Fourqan 25:30)

The second reason why spending time in analyzing and speculating about something of the unseen for which we don’t have clear definition is that I believe that the Quran offers a fascinating educational tool to expand the Muslims’ cognitive capacity and enhance their sense of curiosity that will help them throughout their life when studying kinds of sciences. 

Curiosity is the essence of human existence and without curiosity no progress will ever be achieved.   Allah placed many subjects in the Quran that fall beyond the principles of Aqida (beliefs) and Shariah (Laws) to maintain our curiosity and to never to stifle this great gift.   When we study the Quran, we note that Allah encourages Muslims to satisfy their curiously by seeking answers to questions such as how Allah started the creation, Allah says: 

قُلۡ سِيرُواْ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱنظُرُواْ ڪَيۡفَ بَدَأَ ٱلۡخَلۡقَ‌ۚ ثُمَّ ٱللَّهُ يُنشِئُ ٱلنَّشۡأَةَ ٱلۡأَخِرَةَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ ڪُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ۬ (العَنکبوت)

Say: “Travel in the land and see how He originated the creation.  Then Allah will bring forth the subsequent creation (i.e. resurrection after death). Verily, Allah is Able to do all things.” (Al-Ankaboot 29:20)

The Quran promotes curiosity, analytical capability and logic of Muslims and these are important human traits and key catalysts for all human advancement.   Albert Einstein said: “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious”.   It has been said that “Old Age Starts Where Curiosity Ends” and obviously, Allah wants Muslims to always be young because without curiosity, Muslims will no longer be achieving the superiority that Allah expects from them. 

The subject of the Ruh (the Soul) is fascinating and its study can help use address several intriguing questions such as:

1. What is the nature of the Ruh (the Soul)?
2. Is there a difference between Ruh and Nafs?
3. Which one existed first the Ruh or the body?
4. Does the Ruh/Nafs die or death is only confined to the body?
5. Are the deceased aware of those who visit them at their grave site?
6. Do the souls of the deceased visit each other?
7. Do the souls of the living and the dead meet?
8. How do souls recognize one another after separating from the body?
9. Does the soul return to the deceased body after burial for interrogation?
10. Is the interrogation in the gave limited only to Muslims or it include everyone?
11. Where do souls settle between death and the day of judgement?

In this talk I am going to focus on addressing the first two questions” 1) What is the Ruh and 2) Is there a difference between Ruh and Nafs?  In answering these two questions, I‘ll use the scientific approach by making a hypothesis regarding what are the Ruh and the Nafs and then assess whether this hypothesis can provide consistent explanation of all the verses and hadith related to both Ruh and Nafs.   While the analysis may not refute the hypothesis, it will not prove that it is the truth because Allah alone knows the truth.  After listening to this talk, you may come with better hypothesis that can provide better explanations of the verses.

There is a good reference that discusses many of these questions and it is entitled “The Soul”, (الروح) by Imam Ibn Qyyem Al-Jawziah (بن قيم الجوزية). (Died 751 AH).  The book is available in English.   

Before presenting my hypothesis, I want to introduce two technologies that may help in justifying the hypothesis regarding the soul and its journey:

The first technology related to holograms.   A hologram is a three-dimensional projection of diffracted light that retains the depth of the original physical source it is displaying.  With the evolution of technologies like deep fake, extremely life-like human being is now feasible to create.   This is actually raising an ethical and legal issues regarding whether a hologram of a dead performer can be used in concerts?  So, a hologram of light can be created to be an exact replica of anyone of us.

The second technology is related to data storage. Currently data are stored in hard drive disks and solid-state storage but these systems are fast approaching their limits, and we are entering the age where new technologies are required to meet the demands of 100s of terabyte (1000 gigabytes) or even petabyte (one million gigabytes) storage. One of the most promising techniques of increasing the data storage capabilities is optical data storage that involves using light as energy-efficient data storage system.  So, light can be used to provide a very efficient system for storing large data.

So, these two technologies suggest that an exact replica of us can be created using light and this light can be used to store huge amount of data.

We also need to keep in mind our own personal experiences with the dreams we see during our sleep during which we meet people who are dead.  Also, many people have reported out-of-body experiences.   According to surveys, around 10 percent of the population have experienced an out-of-body experience at least once.  So, there must be more to it than an over-charged imagination.

Regarding the Ruh (Soul), Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was asked about it and the response came in the revelation as follows:

وَيَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ‌ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ رَبِّى وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۬ (٨٥)

And they will ask you about the Ruh (the Soul). Say: The Ruh (the Soul) is a command of my Lord, and you are not given from the knowledge but a little.” (Al-Isra 17:85)

This verse suggest that the Ruh (Soul) is a command from the Creator, Allah.  This means that is a created entity since everything created is created by a command from Allah as He says: 

إِنَّمَآ أَمۡرُهُ ۥۤ إِذَآ أَرَادَ شَيۡـٴً۬ـا أَن يَقُولَ لَهُ ۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ (٨٢)

“But His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says unto it: Be! and it becomes.” (Yasin 36:82)

The verse also suggests that our knowledge regarding the Ruh will be limited but it soes not suggest that we will have no knowledge about it.

The Prophet (PBUH) informs us in a hadith narrated by Sayeda Aysha and reported in Muslim of the matter used for creating the angles and the Jinn.  The Prophet (PBUH) said:

عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت قال رسول الله : صلى الله عليه وسلم خلقت الملائكة من نور وخلق الجان من مارج من نار ، وخلق آدم مما [ ص: 277 ] وصف لكم رواه مسلم

The angels have been created form light and the Jinn have been created from smokeless flame and you have been created from what was described to you (i.e., the description in the Quran).

This means that both the angels and the Jinn are created form a class of energy. While we know many forms of energy, we don’t know all of them because each form of energy is a class that includes many forms.   As example, visible light represents one class of energy but it has various wavelengths representing a different kind of energy within the visible light class, some are visible to us and many are invisible.

Since man is made of physical body of elements from earth and Ruh, one can assume that the Ruh is a form of energy since both the angels and the Jinn were created from a form energy.  When we study the Quran, we note that the term Ruh was also used to describe the angles.  We know that the angel Jibril is called the Ruh.  This allows us to make another assumption that the Ruh may be made of light.

So, here is the hypothesis. 

The Ruh of all human beings was created first from the same elements which is probably light and was shaped as replicas of the physical form of every human being at an adult age, in a hologram like concept.  This was done even before the creation of the physical body of the first man who is Prophet Adam.  Allah taught the Ruh about Him and about morals and everything that it needs.  Allah may have even taught the Ruh, the Quran.

The Ruh enters in the undifferentiated human cells with the Divinely taught records while in the womb of the mother and it guides the division of the cells to form the different parts of the body to ensure that when the physical body matures, it will be the same shape Allah formed her in.   After the person reaches maturity age, the Ruh begins recording what the person does and, in this case, it is called Nafs though its essence is the same.  

There is only one person whose Ruh in its mature age form merged with his body when the body was in its mature shape and this is Prophet Adam.  It may also be the same for Sayeda Hawa, Eve.

As a crude analogy, you can consider the Ruh as the internal of a new computer (Mother board, CPU and hard drive) that includes the operating systems and the needed software.  The Nafs is the same internal of the computer after its use and thus it includes all the data the person added to it.

Please note that only Allah knows the truth and this proposed concept of the Ruh is a hypothesis to be tested against the verses of the Quran and the hadith of the Prophet to assess whether it can explain them. It should not be taken as the truth but rather as an intellectual exercise. 

Let me test the possible validity of this hypothesis against the verses in the Quran and the related hadith by the Prophet (PBUH).  First, let us look at verse 7 in Suart al-Araf: Allah says: 

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنَ السَّاجِدِينَ

“We created you, then shaped you; then We said to the angels prostrate to Adam and they prostrated except Iblis who was not among those who prostrated.”  (Al-Araf 7:11)

This verse implies that the creation of mankind was done in three sequential steps with some time delay between them as implied by the article (ثُمَّ) meaning “then”. 

The first step is the creation of the Ruh of all human beings (وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ).

The second step is shaping the Ruh of every one of us in his adult form (ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ) and you can think of this like the hologram of each one of us.  

The third step is Allah’s command to the angels to prostrate to prophet Adam.   Based on the hypothesis, this step is proceeded by an intermediate step that involved Allah merging the shaped Ruh of prophet Adam into his physical body that Allah created from earth elements and the merging of the Ruh in the body makes a real person and this was Adam for whom Allah ordered the angels to prostrate.

This proposed intermediate step may be justified by verses 28 and 29 from Surat Al-Hijr, Allah says:

وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى خَـٰلِقُۢ بَشَرً۬ا مِّن صَلۡصَـٰلٍ۬ مِّنۡ حَمَإٍ۬ مَّسۡنُونٍ۬ (٢٨) فَإِذَا سَوَّيۡتُهُ ۥ وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُواْ لَهُ ۥ سَـٰجِدِينَ (٢٩)

“Recall when your Lord said to the angels, “I am going to create a human being from a ringing clay made of decayed mud. (28) When I form him perfect, and blow in him of My Ruh (Soul), then you must fall down before him in prostration.” (Al-Hijr 15:28-29)

These verses justify the hypothesis that the Ruh was created before forming Adam’s physical body.    This verse may create some confusion by the statement of Allah: Blow in him from My Ruh “وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى”.   This may make some suggest that we human being have something from Allah which is the Ruh and thus the Ruh is pure and it is eternal.  But the verse means that the Ruh similar to everything else belongs to Allah and Allah can granted whatever He creates to anyone.  The Ruh is created by Allah and belongs to Him and is not part of Him and all the verse says is that Allah blew (propelled) in Adam something that He created before and this was Adam’s Ruh.  As example, if I say I say I gave you from my money.  This does not mean that I am money and you took part of me.  It just means that I have money and I gave you part of it. 

While Allah was the One who merged the Ruh of Prophet Adam with his body, the Ruh of all us, as well as every other human being, is merged with our body by an angel, not by Allah, while we were still in the undifferentiated form in the womb of our mothers.  The reason why the angel needs to blow the Ruh in us while we are still in the undifferentiated form in the womb of our mothers because the Ruh has the memory of the shape that we will have in the future and thus it will be driving the formation of our body through the division of the cells.  This is why the Ruh has to enter early in us unlike Prophet Adam.  

This somewhat explains the hadeath that is reported in both Bukhari and Muslim, Abdullah ibn Masoud said that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم -وَهُوَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ-: “إنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا نُطْفَةً، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يُرْسَلُ إلَيْهِ الْمَلَكُ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحَ، [رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ، وَمُسْلِمٌ]

Verily each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days in the form of a drop of fluid (nutfah), then it is a clinging object (Alaqa) for a similar period. Thereafter, it is like a chewed lump (Mudgha) for a similar period. The angel is then sent (by Allah) to it (the fetus) and he blows into it the soul (Ruh). [Bukhari & Muslim]

This concept of creation of the Ruh first and for it having the shape of our mature body in a holographic type concept and for it being taught by Allah, explains verses 172-173 of Surat Al-Araf by suggesting that what took the covenant that Allah is our Lord is our Ruh that was created before our physical body even existed.  Allah said:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ

“When your Lord brought the offspring from the lions of the children of Adam, and made them bear witness about themselves: Am I not your Lord?  They said: Yes, indeed, we bear witness.  Lest you might say on the Day of Resurrection: we were unaware of this. Or lest you say, it was our forefathers who were polytheists and we are their late offspring, will You destroy us for what futile men have done?” (Al-Araf 7:172-173)

I said that Allah may have taught the Ruh, the Quran because this may explain verses 1 to 3 of Surat Al-Rahman, Allah says:

ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ (١) عَلَّمَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ (٢) خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ (٣)

Ar-Rahman. He taught the Qur’an. He created man. (Ar-Rahman 55:1-3)

The verses suggest that Allah taught the Quran to something before He created man.   Based in the Hypothesis, Allah took the covenant from our Ruh before our physical body was created, therefore it reasonable to assume that Allah taught our Ruh the Quran before our physical creation.  This may also explain why Jibrail kept squeezing the Prophet (PBUH) during the first encounter and asking him to read. 

Because of time, I am not going to check the validity of the hypothesis against all the related verses in the Quran but will expand a little to rationalize that the Ruh and the Nafs are the same. 

Since the hypothesis suggests that the Ruh is the hologram-type concept of the human body that has the memory of what Allah taught it regarding the physical shape and the covenant and the hypothesis suggest that Nafs is the Ruh that will have added to its memory all what the physical body will do during its life on earth, one would expect that at death the Quran will often speak about the departing of the Nafs. This is actually what we observe, Allah says: 

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ كِتَابًا مُؤَجَّلًا   ) آل عمران(

No (Nafs) soul can ever die except by Allah’s will and at a term appointed (Al-Imran 3:145)

  كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ) آل عمران(

Every Nafs (soul) will taste of death. And you will be paid on the Day of Resurrection only that which you have earned. (Al-Imran 3:185)

We also should expect that the Nafs will be the one to face the Judgement since it has the record of all what the person did on earth. This is noted in many verses in the Quran.  As example, Allah says:

وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ يَوۡمُ ٱلۡوَعِيدِ (٢٠) وَجَآءَتۡ كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ۬ مَّعَهَا سَآٮِٕقٌ۬ وَشَہِيدٌ۬ (٢١)

“And the Trumpet will be blown — that will be the Day of the dreadful threat. (20) And every Nafs will come with a driver (angel) and a witness (angel).” (Qaf 50:20-21)

يَوۡمَ تَأۡتِى ڪُلُّ نَفۡسٍ۬ تُجَـٰدِلُ عَن نَّفۡسِہَا وَتُوَفَّىٰ ڪُلُّ نَفۡسٍ۬ مَّا عَمِلَتۡ وَهُمۡ لَا يُظۡلَمُونَ) النحل(111

“(Remember) the Day when every Nafs will come up pleading for himself, and everyone will be paid in full for what he did (and they will not be dealt with unjustly” (Al-Nahl 16:111)

Part of the hypothesis is that on the Day of Resurrection, every Nafs will be merged with a body that looks exactly as it has in its memory but is expected to be of different elements to be suitable for the Hereafter life.  This may be justified by the following verse:

وَإِذَا ٱلنُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتۡ (سُوۡرَةُ التّکویر)

And when the Nafs (souls) are paired (with new bodies). (Al-Takwir 81:7)

 We can close by justifying that part of the hypothesis that suggests that the Nafs can temporarily leave the body when we are sleeping since it has nothing to record.  This may explain verse 42 in Surat Al-Zumur, Allah says:

ٱللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى ٱلۡأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوۡتِهَا وَٱلَّتِى لَمۡ تَمُتۡ فِى مَنَامِهَا‌ۖ فَيُمۡسِكُ ٱلَّتِى قَضَىٰ عَلَيۡہَا ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَيُرۡسِلُ ٱلۡأُخۡرَىٰٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّى‌ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (٤٢)

“Allah takes away the Nafs (the souls) at the time of their death, and those who do not die during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for an appointed term. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think.” (Al-Zumur 39:42)

To close, I want to emphasize that the hypothesis I presented to you is just a human effort and an intellectual exercise to help me understand some verses of the Quran, you may come with better one as you do the Tadabour of the verses.  My hypothesis cannot be taken as absolute truth because only Allah knows the truth. 

As I have often repeated, if my explanations make sense to you and you want to share, please share as your own.  On the other hand, if you disagree with what I said, please ignore and don’t share with anyone and try to come with better hypothesis.

We pray to Allah to grant is to wisdom to expand our cognitive capacity through serious study of the Quran.  We pray to Allah to purify our souls, strengthen our faith and increase our knowledge to always do what is pleasing to Him.

DUA

It is reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: 

عن  أم سلمة  قالت دخل رسول صلى الله عليه وسلم على أبي سلمة  وقد شق بصره فأغمضه ثم قال:

 إن الروح إذا قبض تبعه البصر  )صحيح مسلم(

“When the Ruh is taken the sight follow it.”

 The Prophet Also said as narrated by Abu Hurrirah:  

عن أبي هريرة عند مسلم قال: (إذا خرجت روح المؤمن تلقاها ملكان – يُصعدانها ويقول أهل السماء: روح طيبة جاءت من قبل الأرض، ” وإنّ الكافر إذا خرجت روحه يقول أهل السماء: روح خبيثة من قبل الأرض(

“When the Spirit (Ruh) of the believer exits, two angels receive her and ascend with it and the residents of Heaven will say:  pleasant spirit came from the direction of the earth.  And when the Spirit of the disbeliever exists, the residents of heaven will say, rotten spirit is coming from the direction of earth.”

This suggests that both the Ruh and the Nafs are the same