The Beginning and the End Episode 16 What is the Soul?

 ﷽

*The Beginning and the End*

*Episode 16*

*What is the Soul?*

The soul is something which we neither see nor understand, yet we believe in it for we see its effects. The soul is one of the greatest proofs of the existence of our Rubb (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). It also serves as a refutation of the materialists who always desire tangible evidence so that they may perceive with their senses, for they believe in the soul although they cannot perceive it with their senses, rather through its effects. The soul is one of the heavenly secrets. No one knows its true reality except Allah, and any attempt to investigate it is futile. Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) says:

And they ask you (O Muhammad) about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair [i.e. concern] of my Rubb. And you [i.e. mankind] have not been given of knowledge except a little. [17:85]

Ar-Raaghib al-Asfahaani28

, said: '(The spirit) is with what a body would come to life, move about, sense his surroundings, gain knowledge and hold certain opinions, and be able to discern (between good and evil). If a person loses this, he would not possess any of these traits, and would become a carcass that needs to be carried… It is that which the spiritual characteristics are attached to just as physical characteristics are attached to the body”

In this stage (mudghah) the bones are formed and then clothed with flesh. Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) says: 

We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, and then We clothed the bones with flesh. [23:14]

Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) also says this when narrating the story of ‘Azeez:

Look at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh. [2:259]

The fetus continues to develop until the time which Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) 

prescribed comes to pass and it emerges out into this world. Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) says: 

(The learned men) refer to Him (Alone) the knowledge of the Hour. No fruit comes out of its sheath nor does a...

 

28Taken from Dha’riyah ilaa Makaarim ash-Shari’ah pg. 75

...female conceive nor brings forth (young), except by His Knowledge. [41:47]

Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) says: 

And indeed We created man [Adam] out of an extract of clay [water and earth]. *

 Thereafter We made him [the offspring of Adam] as a Nutfah [mixed drops of the male 

and female sexual discharge] (and lodged it) in a safe lodging [the womb of the woman]. *

 Then We made the Nutfah into a clot [a piece of thick coagulated blood], then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made 

out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. *

 After that, surely, you will die. *

 Then (again), surely, you will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection. [23:12-16]

In another ayaah, Allah (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) says: 

O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily! We have created you (i.e. Adam) from dust, then from a Nutfah [mixed drops of male and female sexual 

discharge i.e. offspring of Adam], then from a clot [a piece of thick coagulated blood] then from a little lump of flesh, some formed and some unformed [miscarriage], that We may make (it) clear to you [i.e. to show you Our Power and Ability to do what We will]. And We cause whom We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring you out as infants, then (give you growth) that you 

may reach your age of full strength. And among you there is he who dies (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the miserable old age, so that he knows nothing after having known. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water [rain] on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth). 

* That is because Allah, He is the Truth, and it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it is He Who is Able to do all things. [22:5-6]

Allah always speaks the truth; He says: 

We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this [the Qur'an] is the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your Rubb that He is a Witness over all things? [41:53]

In his book, “The Developing Human”, Professor Keith Moore29 said: 

"It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, or Allah, because most of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. 

This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God, or Allah." 

He further said: 

"I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine inspiration or revelation, which led him to these statements." 

 

29 He is a doctor and professor in the embryo, at the Toronto University, Canada. Taken from Muhammad al-Mut'ee's book: 'I won Muhammad and did not lose the Messiah'.