FAQ in the category of Spirits

1- It is understood that the creation of souls was before the creation of bodies. We are on a journey starting from the world of souls and continuing through our mothers’ wombs, then childhood, youth, agedness, graveyard, purgatory (waiting place between Hell and Heaven), and finally ending in Hell or Heaven. The beginning of the journey is the world of souls. In this sense, the creation of souls was before the creation of bodies.

As a matter of fact, our Prophet (pbuh) said: “Souls are like crowds which gather together. The ones who met before get on well. The ones, who did not meet before, cannot get on very well and separate.” (Bukhari, Anbiya, 2; Muslim, Birr, 159; Abu Dawud, Adab, 19). That hadith states that people met somewhere before they came to world. Clearly, as it cannot have happened in mothers’ wombs, it means they existed before and were created before they came into mothers’ wombs.

While interpreting that hadith, Azimabadi expresses what is meant with “souls meet each other before they get into their bodies” is that souls were created before bodies. (Azimabadi, Awnu’l Mabud, XIII, 124).

There is another point about the issue. When the agreement which we call “Qalu Bala (lit. they said yes)” and in which souls promised Allah to obey Him, happened. When Allah asked souls “Am I not your Lord?”, the souls answered “Yes, You are our Lord”. So, when did it happen? Scholars’ views on it are as follows in summary:

Some Interpreters of the Quran stated that it was a divine guidance via “simile” and “metaphor”. They said: “It is a figure of speech. The fact that people were created with capability of recognizing Allah’s godhood is somehow likened to their promise.”

On the other hand, the majority of the Quran Interpreters adopted the view that both Allah’s address to souls and their answer are not symbolic, but true. A contemporary Quran Interpreter named Mehmed Vehbi puts this view into words as follows: “Although there exists the possibility that they answered by gesturing, as they were not yet given minds and lives, it is better to say that they were given minds, lives and tongues and shown evidence of His Godhood and Lordship… They comprehended the question with their minds and answered with their tongues verbally.”

2- There is no young or old soul. These are physical characteristics.

3- Souls do not have gender. Human beings gain their personalities both from their spirits and bodies. A soul entering a body tries to adapt to the physical characteristics of the body which determine the gender.

Of course, there is a relation between the soul and the personality. However, extrinsic factors play an important role on the formation of personal characteristics. Especially, the formation of moral qualities is largely dependant on people’s free will. Otherwise, having high moral qualities or low moral qualities would be meaningless. Although it is impossible to eliminate inborn characteristics, it is possible to direct them to goodness with one’s free will. For instance, a person who is naturally aggressive cannot be expected to quit that trait and be calmer. However, it is possible for him to direct his aggressiveness towards a good reason, for instance, towards his own lower-self and Satan.

Please click on the link given below;

What is spirit (rooh)? Can spirit’s essence be comprehended? Is spirit merely brain? What is the relationship between spirit and body?

Man is made up of the spirit and body. Just as electricity is necessary for electrical appliances so too is the spirit necessary for the parts of the body. For example when we break a bulb, we do not damage the bulbs electricity. Breaking the bulb cannot give light around. However, its being broken does not make electricity disappear.


Like that example, even if the bodies of the dead people disappear in the course of time, their spirits are going to continue their separate beings because body lives with the spirit. However, the continuation and the survival of the spirit do not depend on the body.


In this respect, we say dead for the people only whose bodies are dead. Their spirits are continuing their lives in the barzakh (place where the souls of the dead await the Day of Judgment). Spirits that are in the barzakh until The end of the day which means Doomsday are either having pleasure in one of Heavens gardens or suffering torment in one of Hells pits.(1)


Do you think it is possible to contact with and take information from the dead peoples spirits? Can we communicate with the residents of Barzakh visually or audiably, like we do with the people from the far end of the world?


Those questions have attracted peoples attention for a long time, and have led people to contact with that world. In the past, soothsayers tried to do it, today, mediums try to do the same thing. Especially in the high society, calling spirits becomes a common habit. We think that it will be useful to report the determinations of Badiuzzaman, who dealt with metaphysical questions deeply and knowledgeably, regarding the issue:


Since that issue comes from philosophy and foreigners, it can be very dangerous for people of faith. And along with being a source of misusing, it has one truth but ten lies in it because, there is not a test, a criterion for distinguishing truth from lie, jinn that help evil spirits and devil by this way can damage Islam and the heart of the person that is concerned with it. In the name of immateriality, giving news which is against to Islamic truths and general beliefs occurs. When they are evil spirits, they can make people believe that they are good spirits, maybe they give themselves the names of holy men so they can damage with the words against Islamic truths. They can deceive well-hearted people by changing the truth.(2)


It is possible to deduce these principles from the expressions above:

1-Calling spirits comes from foreign countries. Its origin is not religion but philosophy.

2-The guest of the spirit calling session that introduce itself as a dead persons spirit is not that persons spirit , it is either one of the evil spirits or a jinn that helps devil.

3-The unknown guest of the session can damage the faith of the people that are there and the well-hearted people who hear the untrue declaration from them. For example, it can introduce itself as Mawlanas spirit. In order to ensure trust on its words, it can read one or two couplets from Mawlana. However, after that it can try to present and indoctrinate the things away from Islam as if they are the words of Mawlana.

This issue is very important at this point: In a faithful dream, evil spirits and the devil cannot take the form of the Prophet. However, during the spirit calling session, perhaps it may give itself the name of the Prophet and then it may talk against Sharia laws (Islamic law) and illustrious practices. If its speech is opposed to Sharia laws and illustrious practices, it is the evidence that the speaker is not a good spirit. It is not a believer or a Muslim jinn. It is an evil spirit and imitates good spirits that way.


Badiuzzaman, who attracts attention to the danger of calling a dead persons spirit like that, explains how one must get in touch with the spirits as follows:

With the verses As also the evil ones, (including) every kind of builder and diver. As also the others bound together in fetters (4) And of evil ones, were some who dived for him, and did other work besides; and it was we who guarded them(5), Allah informs us that the jinn, the most important intelligent inhabitants of the earth after man, may serve him. Contact may be made with them. Devils too may be compelled to give up their enmity and they may serve him willy-nilly. Thus, Almighty God subjected them to one of His servants who was obedient to His commands. Through the allusive tongue of the verses, in meaning Almighty God says: O man! I made jinn, devils, and their evil obey one of My servants who obeyed Me. If you too are subjugated to my commands, numerous beings, and even jinn and devils, may be subjugated to you.

That verse traces the final limits of the calling spirits, and conversing with jinn, like spiritualism, which has been filtered from a blend of art and science and has arisen from mans extraordinary physical and spiritual sensitivity. That verse specifies the most beneficial form of them and opens up the way to them. However, what is necessary to do is not to be subjugated to jinn, devils, and evil spirits, who sometimes call themselves the spirits of the dead, and to become their playthings, and a laughing-stock, like nowadays, but to dominate over them through the talisman of the Quran, and be delivered from their evil. (6)

Verses about Solomon (Peace be upon him) which allude to spirits appearing in physical form, and his calling up demons and subjugating them, and other verses besides, such as,Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as man in all respects, (7) indicate both the attraction of spirits, and spirit beings assuming physical form. However, the attracting of good spirits alluded to here is not in the manner of the cultured, to be disrespectful to spirits in that utterly serious world and attract them to their own places and games, but —like one group of the saints like Muhyiddin al-Arabi, who, most seriously and for a serious purpose, met with spirits when they wanted— to be attracted to them and to form a relation with them, and by going to their place and drawing close to their world to an extent, to benefit from their spirituality. (8)


Therefore, as Jibril (Gabriel) was seen by Mary like a human being, the same thing is possible for someone else. We can think of that event as an example of watching a broadcast that is made far away from our own television. As it is an image that is reflected to our screen, that spirit that is seen is not its individual but its representation.


When someone is awake, if he is the object of the representation of the Prophets spiritual presence and if he talks to Him, what is the situation of Prophets words at this conversation? Can that person tell about it to some other people and tell them to behave accordingly?


Badiuzzaman answers such a question that can come to mind as follows: of the truth of prophethood is a lot superior to that of sainthood; since conversation and communication achieved through necromancy or progression of spirit cannot reach communication with the real prophet in any way, it cannot be a base for new rules of Sharia. (9) That is, religious decrees cannot be based on such a conversation because the religion of Islam was perfected fourteen centuries ago by the statement of the verse This day have I perfected your religion for you.(10)


That talk can only be in the form of a deeply studying and discussion of the truths of religion. The person taking part in the talk, of course, will advance spiritually, develop in terms of knowledge thanks to that talk.


We think Badiuzzaman is not unfamiliar with those kinds of talks. He states in his Works that he has taken lessons from Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Imam Ghazzali and Hazrat Ali. (11)


As having sensitive nature, poets are open to inspiration. That inspiration can have a source of a divine nature or can have a devilish root. We want to give the connection of one of them as an example: Enis Behiç Koryürek is one of the poets called five syllabic poets. That person, who died in 1949, did not believe in spirits before, but in 1946, his life changed with a spirit calling session performed at his house. The guest of the session named Çedikçi Süleyman continued to attend the sessions for two years. (12) That person, who died in h. 1112 in Trabzon according to what he says, makes Enis Behiç write some kinds of poets with the style of expression of the old age; he tells him some kinds of hadiths and makes him memorize some verses. He tells him some Persian quatrains, and foretells some things. (13) That mysterious guest first speaks to him by telling and making him write letters. Afterwards, he talks to him with his tongue directly. Enis Behiç narrates it as follows: Those words are the ones whose manners, melody and meanings are entirely different from my style, but they still bear a trace and a shadow from me besides that diversity Yes, those words which I have never thought to say in my life were flowing and flowing from inside of me, from very inside of me like the waters suddenly flushing and babbling without any endeavor and hindranceThat was a sort of a miracle of improvisation. (14)



In those conversations, which continued for two years, Enis Behiç collected a book from the writings which were dictated to himself or writings which were recorded from his language in person. They are very different from Enis Behiçs works in terms of style and content.



Ruhselman asked a lot of things connected with the unknown world (ghayb) to the guest who had introduced itself as a spirit. The given answers were some unsupported, unfounded abstract claims which were not based on Islamic facts.


So, talking with spirits is possible. However, it is not necessary for that person who introduces itself as a spirit to be that person really. The unknown guest that comes can be one of the jinn or evil souls. He can try to make people accept a lot of lies by using some truths from time to time as bait. For instance, if that spriit is asked about the murderer of an unknown murder and the guest of the session mentions a name, that person cannot be deemed as the murderer right away. Otherwise, the criterion determined by the verse If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest you harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done (15) should not be forgotten. Just as people can tell lies, so too can jinn tell lies.



Perfect Muslims try to learn the unknown world by means of the Quran instead of trying to recognize the unknown world by the sessions of calling spirits. The Quran is the language of the Unknown World in the Manifest World.(16) Meanwhile, perfect Muslims try to benefit from the spirituality of the exalted personalities of Islam through a strong attachment. However, they are aware that such a conversation like that –even if it occurs with the Prophets spirituality- can never be a base for new religious rules.


References:


1. Tirmidhi, Sunan, Qiyamah, 26
2. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, Emirdağ Lahikası, p. 404
3. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, Emirdağ Lahikası, p. 405
4. Quran, Sad; 37-38 (38: 37,38)
5. Quran, The Prophets (Al-Anbiya); 82 (21: 82)
6. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, The Words, p. 240
7. Quran, Mary (Maryam); 17 (19: 17)
8. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, The Words, p. 241
9. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, Emirdağ Lahikası, p. 404-405
10. Quran, The Table Spread (Al-Maidah); 3 (5: 3)
11. See Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, Emirdağ Lahikası p. 64; The Flashes (in Otoman Turkish), p. 863-864
12. Hekimoğlu İsmail and H. Hüseyin Korkmaz, İlimler ve Yorumlar, p. 420-422
13. Sinan Onbulak, Ruh ve Ruhlar Alemi, p. 4
14. Enis Behiç Koryürek, Varidat-ı Süleymaniye, p. 7
15. Quran, The Dwellings (Al-Hujurat); 6 (49: 6)
16. Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection ,The Words, p. 339

Saying that The Misak (Promise) (1) is a divine guidance through representation and metaphor, some interpreters say as follows, This is a metaphor. That human beings have been created in a way to be able to know about dominicality of Allah (SWT), in one respect, has been regarded as if they did really witness such an event.


Most of the Quran annotators are of the opinion that both divine speech and the answers that spirits gave had truly happened and not a symbolic one. Mehmed Vehbi, one of the outstanding annotators of the Quran, expresses this opinion as follows: Even though it is probable for them to answer with the manner-tongue without giving mind and life, the more probable one is that He gave mind, life, and speech, and showed the proofs to be reminiscent of his Creativity and Dominicality They answered the question with a speech by comprehending it.


We do need to indicate a point. Some verses include the event of The Promise. If one person cannot grasp the event of The Promise in its full sense, he may accept that this is a metaphor by agreeing on the opinions of the scholars who are fewer in this respect. Thus, he may save himself from the scruples of the Satan and would not give opportunity to his evil-self to speak tactlessly. To deny the verses completely is one thing, and to ignore one of the interpretations by adopting one of them is quite another thing.

(1) According to the Islamic terminology, this term refers to an event which is as follows: In pre-eternity, before anything was created, Allah (SWT) gathered the human spirits in His presence and asked them, Am I not your Lord, and all of the spirits replied, Yes, You are our Lord, henceforward, human beings have taken the responsibility and accepted the testing on earth.

When the Prophet (pbuh) explained the formation of the baby in the uterus, he used different expressions. While some hadiths show that the fetus becomes alive when it is one hundred and twenty days old, other hadiths state that it becomes alive when it is forty days old.

The scholars who interpret the hadith asone hundred and twenty days say that it is not haram to have an abortion before the first four months but that it is haram after four months.

However, the scholars who base their views on the hadiths stating that a fetus becomes alive on the fortieth day of the pregnancy say it is haram to have an abortion after the fortieth day. We will give the research that explains the issue with resources below.

We base our view on the narrations the spirit is blown into a fetus on when it is forty days old.

WHEN IS SPIRIT BLOWN INTO THE FETUS?

ABSTRACT

This research deals with the time the spirit is blown into the fetus. This is a very important issue closely connected with some significant issues like abortion. In the research, I explained the meaning of spirit and life in religious texts and that spirit and life are not the same thing. For instance, a plant is a living thing but it does not have a spirit I also explained that there is no drawback to researching the issue of spirit. In this research, I quoted the religious texts stating the time when the spirit is blown into the fetus. After examining and comparing the hadiths, I concluded that the spirit was blown into the fetus after the first forty days, not after the third forty days (120 days) as it is commonly supposed.

In Arabic, the word "ruh (spirit)" is derived from the root, "Rih: entering into something".(1) It might have been given the name ruh because it was blown. Allah states the following in the Quran:

"When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him."(2) The following is stated in another verse:

"And He breathed into him something of His spirit."(3)

The word 'ruh' is masculine. Its plural form is 'arwah'. There are some people who say it is used both as masculine and feminine. Its usage as feminine emerges from the fact that it is used in the sense of nafs (soul, person). For, according to some scholars, ruh and nafs are the same thing.(4)

Terminologically, it is used in several senses, most of which are in the Quran. The following are the senses it is used in the Quran:(5)

1. The Quran. Allah states the following:

"And thus have We, by Our command, sent inspiration to thee: thou knewest not (before) what was Revelation, and what was Faith; but We have made the (Qur'an) a Light, wherewith We guide such of Our servants as We will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the Straight Way."(6)

In the verse above, the Quran is called as ruh because there is life for people in the Quran.

2. Hz. Jibril (Gabriel). Allah states the following:

"With it came down the Spirit of Faith and Truth―To thy heart and mind, that thou mayest admonish."(7)

3. Revelation. Allah states the following:

"…By his command doth He send the spirit (of inspiration) to any of His servants He pleases that it may warn (men) of the Day of Mutual Meeting."(8)

4. Hz. Isa (Jesus). Allah states the following:

"...Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him..."(9)

5. Another archangel other than Jibril. I could not find any scholar who mentioned his name. Allah states the following:

"The Day that the Spirit and the angels will stand forth in ranks..."(10)

"Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission, on every errand."(11)

6. A species that is called ruh and that eats and drink like a human being.(12) They are probably jinn.

7. A group of angels that eat and drink.(13) I could not find any evidence for this view. According to what is known widely, angels do not eat or drink.

8. Power. Allah states the following:

"...For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself..."(14)

9. Animal spirit

10. Human spirit blown into man when he is in the uterus. Allah states the following:

"But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit..."(15)

Doubtlessly, what interests us is the last sense, not the others.

IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO EXAMINE AND RESEARCH THE ISSUE OF SPIRIT?

Allah states the following: "They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you (O men!)."(16) So, is it permissible to research the issue of spirit? Many people ask this question. It can be answered in several ways:

1. The word ruh (spirit) mentioned in this verse is not human spirit. The spirit mentioned here is Jibril, or another angel or Hz. Isa (jesus). Or, it is one of the other meanings mentioned above. (17)

In fact, according to the widely accepted view, the spirit mentioned in the verse is human spirit.(18) However, it may have been used in another sense, too.

2. Allah does not give an answer to those ask about the spirit in the verse. For, those who ask it did not ask about it in order to learn but in order to cause turmoil and trouble.(19) Accordingly, the verse does not indicate that the spirit is one of the unknown things that man cannot understand no matter how much technology advances. 

3. The phrase "... it is only a little that is communicated to you" mentioned in the verse means: 'O Jews! You were given a little knowledge in the Torah. The knowledge about spirit is not included in it.'(20) It is mentioned in several hadiths that those who asked questions about the spirit were the Jews. Accordingly, the meaning of the verse is the one we have mentioned. Therefore, it is not understood from this verse that human beings cannot know anything about the state of the spirit up to the Day of Judgment. 

4. What is asked is the nature of the spirit.(21) This is what is impossible to be known by a human being. The wisdom behind it is as follows: If human beings are too weak to understand the nature of their own spirits, how can they understand the nature of the Divine Being? They are too weak to understand it.(22) This is the mostly accepted view. Allah knows the best.

As for the properties and the signs of the existence or non-existence of the spirit, it is possible for man to know them. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) tells us in sound hadiths about the issues like the time of the spirit being blown into the fetus, that spirits are like armies brought together, that those who know one another among them get on very well and that those who do not know one another among them do not get on very well. There is also information about the way the spirit is removed from the body of a believer and an unbeliever (23), that it will be returned to the body after the burial (24), but that its relationship with the body in Barzakh will be different from that of in the world and information about some other aspects of the spirit. That is, according to the sound view, there is no religious drawback to researching some issues about the spirit.(25)

HUMAN SPIRIT

Scientists and philosophers have been trying to know the spirit for thousands of years. Modern medicine also has been trying to find the nature of the spirit or at least some of the signs of its existence or non-existence. There are various views - it is said that there are a lot of - about one hundred - views about the spirit; (26) some of them are as follows:

Some say the spirit is life. Others say it is breath because when breathing stops, man dies. Yet others say it is blood because life ends when a person loses too much blood. While some say it is one of the properties of the body, others says it is a part of the body.(27) Ghazali states the following: "The spirit is the abstract aspect of man that enables him to perceive knowledge, to feel the pains caused by troubles and the pleasures caused by happiness."(28) Fayyumi writes the following: "According to the view of Ahl as-Sunnah, the spirit is "nafs an-natiqa" ª that can speak and understand what is said; it does not disappear when the body disappears ."(29) Ibnu'l-Qayyim states the following: "In terms of its nature, it is a thing that is opposite to the body, which can be perceived. It is luminous, lofty, light, living and mobile. It penetrates into the essence of the organs and moves in them like the water moving in the rose."(30) Ibn Kathir states that it is an immaterial essence that moves in the body like water moves in the grains of the tree.(31) Jurjani states the following: "It is the immaterial aspect of man that knows and perceives."(32)

As it is seen, the definitions of the spirit by Ahl as-Sunnah scholars do not mention its nature but mentions some of its properties, duties and influences.

In any case, scholars agree that the existence of perception, voluntary moves, hearing, sight and feeling shows that the spirit exists in the body and that lack of them shows that the spirit does not exist in the body.(33)

"...If thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare) in the flood of confusion at death!― the angels stretch forth their hands, (saying) "Yield up your souls. This day shall ye receive your reward a penalty of shame, for that ye used to tell lies against Allah, and scornfully to reject of His Signs!"(34) As it is stated in the verse above, the spirit is sometimes called "nafs (soul)".

The following verses show that the spirit is something other than nafs:

"When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit..." (35)

"...Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Thine..."(36) For, it is not right to replace one with the other. If there was no difference, it would be valid.(37)

The spirit is sometimes called the heart. It is also called life. This usage is sometimes valid for the living beings that have no mental faculties and even for non-living beings metaphorically.(38)

The spirit has five kinds of relationships with the body:(39)

1. When it is in the uterus as a fetus.

2. After it comes to the world as a living being.

3. During sleep. It is connected to the body in one aspect but to the other realms in another.

4. In Barzakh.

5. On the Day of Judgment. This is the perfect one because the connection here is such a connection that the body does not die, sleep or is spoilt.

LIFE IN THE QURAN

The word 'hayah (life)' has several meanings in the Quran. The most important ones are as follows:

1. Belief

Allah states the following: "Can he who was dead, to whom We gave life, and a light whereby he can walk amongst men, be like him who is in the depths of darkness, from which he can never come out? Thus to those without faith their own deeds seem pleasing." (40) The phrase "he who was dead, to whom We gave life" in the verse means "he who was an unbeliever, to whom we gave belief". Allah states the following in another verse: " O ye who believe! Give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered " (41) This included all of the parts of belief.

2. Life of the martyrs

Allah states the following: "And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah. 'They are dead.' Nay, they are living, though ye perceive (it) not." (42) The following is stated in another verse: "Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord." (43)

3. Life of the plants

Allah states the following: "And Allah sends down rain from the skies, and gives therewith life to the earth after its death..."(44) The following is stated in another verse: "...We made from water every living thing..." (45) This includes humans, animals, plants and all of the living beings.

4. Life of the human beings, animals and similar ones

When Adam was sent down to the earth, Allah addressed Adam as follows: "...Therein shall ye live, and therein shall ye die..." (46) Allah also states the following: "Behold! Abraham said: 'My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead.' He said: 'Dost thou not then believe?' He said: 'Yea! But to satisfy My own undertaking.' He said: 'Take four birds; Tame them to turn to thee; put a portion of them on every hill and call to them: They will come to thee (Flying) with speed...' (47)

They are the most significant meanings of the word life as they are mentioned in the Quran. I could not find any other meanings to add to these meanings in the Sunnah of the Prophet. Doubtlessly, what interests us among them is the third and fourth meanings. The first and second meanings have no connection with our topic.   

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPIRIT AND LIFE

Now, let us see whether or not there is a difference between spirit and life.

As we have mentioned above, some regard spirit as life. I could not see anybody mentioning any rational or scholarly evidence in the religious texts for this view.  

The view that I regard as true regarding the issue is that spirit and life are different things and that they sometimes unite and sometimes differ. There are various evidences showing this. Some of them are as follows:

1. A plant is a living thing as it is seen in some of the religious texts I have mentioned above and as botanists state clearly. It feeds, conducts photosynthesis, develops and reproduces. However, it has no will. A plant is a living thing without a spirit. As far as I know, it is not stated in any religious text that a plant has a spirit like a human being, animal or bird.

2. The fetus is a living being before spirit is blown into it. It starts to feed beginning from the time of fertilization and before reaching the uterus; and it develops. Doubtlessly, it has life at that time.

Ibn Qayyim states the following: The fetus develops and feeds like a plant before spirit is blown into it. This development and feeding is not based on will. When spirit is blown into it, feeling and will are added to development and feeding.(48)

Let alone the fertilized cell, even a sperm has life. However, it does not have the ability to survive and to develop unless it unites with an egg. Similarly, the egg also has life. However, it does not have the ability to survive and to develop unless it is fertilized. When fertilization is completed, the first human cell that is suitable for living and developing forms. 

In that case, the fetus is a living thing beginning from fertilization. However, it does not have a spirit as religious texts explain it. Willed movements are evidence for the existence of the spirit.(49)

3. The fetus has life before spirit is blown into it; similarly, when the spirit leaves the body, the body still has life. It changes from organ to organ. In some organs, life continues for a few minutes while in others it continues for hours. These organs continue to function until they get exhausted and stop.

It has become possible today to remove many organs from a person by maintaining their lives and to transfer them to other bodies as we see it in the transplantation of kidneys, hearts and other organs.  

5. A person who is asleep is definitely alive. The systems of his body work. He breathes in and out; his heart beats; the other signs of life are apparent. Does he have a spirit at that time? This question may seem weird at first. However, when we look at the religious texts, we can see clear verses and hadiths that answer this question. The most significant of them are as follows:

a. Allah states the following: "It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect." (50)

Accordingly, Allah removes the spirits during death and sleep; the spirits of those who are decreed to die are not sent back to their bodies; the spirits of those who are not decreed to die are sent back to their bodies.

b. Allah states the following: "It is He who doth take your souls by night,..." (51)

c. Whenever the Prophet (pbuh) woke up, he said, "Praise be to Allah who revived us after we died. We will return only to Him."(52)

d. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered us to say the following when we went to bed: " In Your name my Lord, I lie down and I in Your name I rise; so, if You should take my soul, have mercy upon it, and if You should return my soul, protect it in the manner You do so with Your righteous servants."(53)

e. Abu Qatada narrated the hadiths as follows: One night, we were on a journey with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Some of the people in the group said to him, 'Let us have a break(54) O Messenger of Allah!' He said, 'I am worried that you will fall asleep and miss the morning prayer.' Bilal said, 'I will wake you up.' Thereupon, they slept. Bilal lolled against his camel while waiting. He felt drowsy. Then, he was overcome by sleep. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) woke up when the sun rose. He said to Bilal, 'O Bilal! What happened? You said you would awaken us.' Bilal said, 'I have never felt so drowsy before. I was overcome by sleep. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, 'Allah takes our souls whenever He wishes and returns them whenever He wishes '."(55)

The verses and hadiths above show that Allah takes the soul of a person who sleeps. However, it is a temporary or partial removal. The body is not destroyed during this removal as in death.

This state was explained through various expressions by scholars. Some scholars said the relationship between the spirit and the body is different while sleeping from the one while being awake; they said the relationship while being awake is stronger than the one while being asleep.(56)

Others stated the following: What is common between death and sleep is that the relationship between the spirit and the body breaks off. Therefore, some people say sleep is the brother of death. Sometimes it takes place esoterically, which is death. (57)

Abu Ishaq az-Zajjaj said, "The spirit (nafs) that leaves man while sleeping is for discernment. The one during death is for life. Breathing ends in the latter.(58)

Ibn Hajar states the following: Absolute death does not take place when the spirit is taken. Death is the breaking off the relationship of the spirit with the body apparently and esoterically. Sleep is the breaking off the relationship of the spirit with the body only apparently.(59)

Abu Nasr al-Qushayri rejects the view of those who say, 'the spirit is not taken during sleep; what is taken during sleep is nafs (soul)' as follows: It is a possibility that is far away from reality because it is understood from the following verse that the same thing is taken in both cases: "... those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed..."{az-Zumar 39/42} In that case, Allah takes the spirit in both cases: during sleep and death .(60)

Ibn Kathir calls the removal of the spirit during sleep as small death.(61)

The verses and hadiths related to the removal of the spirit are clear. There is no evidence to interpret them differently from their literal meaning. They confirm the difference between spirit and life. Allah knows the best.

GIVING (BLOWING INTO THE SPIRIT)

I. The hadiths about the issue

1. The hadith reported by Abdullah b. Mas'ud  (r.a.):

Abdullah b. Mas'ud narrated the following: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh), who tells us the truth and who is always told the truth, told us the phases of the creation as follows:"The creation** of each one of you is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days; then he becomes a clot of thick blood (alaqah) like this, and then he becomes a piece of flesh (mudghah) like this.*** Then Allah sends an angel and he is ordered to write four things: the livelihood (rizq), date of death (ajal), deeds of this creature and whether he will be a person of Paradise or Hell...(62)

2. The narration of the same hadith in Muslim is as follows: "Each one of you is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days; and then it becomes a clot of thick blood (alaqah) like this, and then a piece of flesh (mudghah) like this. Then an angel is sent; he blows spirit into it and he is ordered to write four words: the livelihood (rizq), date of death (ajal), deeds of this creature and whether he will be a person of Paradise or Hell)..." (63)

3. According to the narration of Hudhayfa b. Asid (r.a.) reaching the Prophet (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "After the drop of semen (nutfah) remains in the womb for forty or forty-five nights and settles, the angel comes and says, 'My Lord, will he be good or evil?' And both of these things are written. Then the angel says, 'My Lord, would he be male or female?' And both of these things are written. And his deeds and actions, his death, his livelihood; these are also recorded. Then his document of destiny is rolled and there is no, addition to and subtraction from it." (64)

4. Hudhayfa b. Asid said he heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say, "When forty-two nights pass after the semen gets into the womb, Allah sends the angel and gives him the shape. Then, he creates his sense of hearing, sense of sight, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and then says, 'My Lord, would he be male or female?' And your Lord decides as He desires and the angel then puts down that also and then says, 'My Lord, what about his lifespan?' And your Lord decides as He likes it and the angel puts it down. Then, he says, 'My Lord, what about his livelihood?' And then the Lord decides as He likes and the angel writes it down, and then the angel gets out with his scroll of destiny in his hand and nothing is added to it and nothing is subtracted from it." (65)

5. Hudhayfa b. Asid said he heard with his own ears the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say: "The semen stays in the womb for forty nights, then the angel, gives it a shape..."(66)

6. Hudhayfa b. Asid, one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), said the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to him directly, "There is an angel who looks after the womb when Allah decides to create anything after forty odd nights are over..."(67)

7. Jabir b. Abdillah reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "When the semen stays in the womb for forty days or nights, Allah sends an angel to it. The angel asks, 'O Lord! What is its sustenance?..." (68)

II. The last five hadiths do not clearly mention that the spirit is blown. Those hadiths express the creation of the fetus and its destiny being written. The reason why I mention them here is as follows: The first and second hadiths state clearly that qadar is written at the same time as the spirit is blown. For instance, the second hadith states the following: "Then an angel is sent; he blows spirit into it and he is ordered to write four words: the livelihood (rizq), date of death (ajal), deeds of this creature and whether he will be a person of Paradise or Hell..." It is stated here that qadar is written at the same time as the spirit is blown. Both of them take place together. There is no hadith mentioning that they take place at different times. Therefore, I showed all of the hadiths mentioning the time of the spirit being blown, qadar being written and the fetus being created as evidence. They are all completed at the same time and when an angel is sent.

III. The views of scholars about reconciling two hadiths

Scholars noticed that there was a contradiction between the hadith of Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported by Bukhari and others along with the same hadith reported by Muslim and the narrations of the hadith of Hudhayfa and Jabir.

The apparent meaning of the first hadith states that the spirit is blown and man's qadar is written after the third forty days (120 days), that is at the beginning of the fifth month. On the other hand, all of the other hadiths clearly state that they take place after the first forty days, that is, approximately toward the middle of the second month. This is what hadith scholars call "mukhtalifu'l-hadith"§ (conflicting hadith).

Hadith scholars say that it is necessary to reconcile the hadiths that are contrary to each other before making a preference between them in those cases. If reconciliation is not possible, it becomes necessary to make a preference. The stronger one is accepted and the weaker one is left.(69)

It is not possible for those hadiths to abrogate each other because abrogation is in question related to orders and prohibitions, not news and information.

There are many views of the scholars about reconciling the first hadith with the other hadiths. It is possible to categorize these views under three headings:  

Firstly, the effort of reconciling between the hadiths based on their apparent meanings without interpreting one of them with the other. Here are some of them:

1. The destiny (qadar) is written twice; one after the first forty days, the other after the third forty days. The spirit is blown when the latter takes place, that is, after the third forty days.(70)

Ibn Qayyim states the following: A similar event is as follows: The Creator predetermined the qadar of the creatures fifty thousand years before the creation of the heavens and the earth. Then, He predetermines what will happen in a year on the Night of Power (Qadr) This is a more specific determination compared to the general one.(71)

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali states the following: What is more apparent is that it takes place once.(72)

As far as I know, it is not mentioned even in a single hadith that qadar is written twice in the uterus.

2. Qadar's being written takes place after the first forty days, giving shape takes place after the second forty days and the spirit's being blown takes place after the third forty days. (73)

This view is not supported by verses and hadiths. For, they mention the angel being sent only once in which giving a shape, blowing the spirit and qadar's being written take place about the appointment of the angel. Allah knows the best.

3. . Qadar's being written takes place after the first forty days, giving shape and the spirit's being blown take place after the third forty days.(74)

This view is generally based on the wrong view that creation has not taken place yet after the first forty days. On the contrary, most of the creation is completed in this stage.(75)

4. It changes from fetus to fetus. The spirit is blown into some fetuses after the first forty days and some fetuses after the third forty days.(76)

Some scholars say that spirit is blown into most of the fetuses after the third forty days and into some of them after the first forty days.(77)

Ibn Hajar states that the first view, that is, the view stating that qadar is written twice, is more appropriate.(78)

5. The differences among the narrations emerge from different pregnancy terms. Some children are born in six months and some are born in two years. There are many steps between them.(79)

This view is not right because it is certain, as medicine tells us today, that pregnancy does not last longer than ten months. When it lasts more than ten months, the fetus dies in the uterus.

As for the views of some fiqh scholars that the pregnancy term sometimes exceeds this, they are not based on reliable resources, or the fetus dies in the womb and it becomes calcified, staying there for a long time; they regard this as pregnancy term. Or, it is a case of psychological pregnancy during which real pregnancy occurs and after that birth takes place; people think that it was a pregnancy that lasted for two years.(80)

6. The narration by Ibn Mas'ud is regarded for girls and the narration of Hudhayfa is regarded for boys.(81) This view divides the sex gland into two as sperm and egg and it is based on the fact that the formation of the male gonad is before the formation of the female gonad. This is an issue mentioned by our previous scholars. It was discovered by the science of medicine only toward 1970s. However, the difference between them is not so much, only three to five days. Both of them are known in the seventh week.(82)

Ibn Rajab says this is contrary to the apparent meaning of the hadith narrated by Hudhayfa.(83)

Secondly, the last six hadiths are interpreted by the first hadith. Those who hold this view say the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud interpret the other hadiths showing that qadar's writing took place at the same time as the spirit was.(84) They state the following: This takes place only in the fourth phase after the stage of 'Mudghah'*. These scholars hold the view that 'mudghah' occurs on the third forty day. They say it is in accordance with the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud.(85)

Another interpretation is that what is meant by "forty days" mentioned in the hadiths other than the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud is the third forty days. 

Ibn Qayyim says that it is highly improbable and that the apparent meaning of the hadith rejects it absolutely.(86)

Thirdly, the first hadith is interpreted by the other hadiths.

This is the preference of some scholars who lived later. They say, 'Creating, giving shape and qadar's writing take place in the second forty days. It is not contrary to the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud.' These scholars base their views on the views of some doctors.(87)

The scholars who hold this view evaluate the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud as follows: The expression of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) '...then, an angel is sent to him...' is not attributed to the expression '... then, it becomes mudghah like this...' before it but the following statement: 'Each one of you is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days.' The statements 'then, it becomes alaqah like this' and 'then, it becomes mudghah like this' become non-defining clauses between the sentence that is attributed and the sentence that attributes. This serves to mention three phases on end without a break. This kind of usage is possible. It exists in the Quran, sound hadiths and in the Arabic language.(88) What is understood from the words of these scholars is as follows: The spirit's being blown is completed after the first forty days. For, the creation and qadar's writing take place in the same phase as the blowing into the spirit as the first and second hadiths indicate.

4th Preference

Acting upon the apparent meaning of the first hadith, a great majority of the scholars held the view that the spirit is blown immediately or ten days after the third forty days, that is at the beginning of the fifth month in both cases. This view became so widespread that it became a doubtless fact and a belief taken for granted among scholars. Some scholars even wrote that there was unanimous agreement on it.(89)

It seems that those who acted based on the apparent meaning of the first hadith did so. For, the first hadith is more famous and most of the sources mentioned it. The hadith narrated by Hudhayfa can only be found in Muslim and the hadith narrated by Jabir can only be found in Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

Therefore, most of the scholars who dealt with the issue do not report anything from those hadiths. It is not something acceptable from the point of view of scholarly science. It is not appropriate to rely on some of the hadiths regarding an issue and to leave the others aside. On the contrary, it is necessary to bring together all of the hadiths regarding an issue and to reconcile them.   

Some scholars made a preference among the hadiths and preferred the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud.(90) It is known that preference can be made only when reconciliation is not possible. As we have mentioned above, reconciliation is possible here. Besides, even if reconciliation is not possible, it is disputable whether to prefer the first hadith to others or not.

Based on their views that creation can take place only within the third forty days and not before, some scholars interpreted the hadiths by Hudayfa and Jabir and the narration of the hadith by Muslim (91) in favor of the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud. However, it is now clear that such a view is wrong. Such a view is not valid to interpret them in favor of the other hadith.

Some scholars relied on the weak hadiths stating that the spirit is blown after the first four months like the following one: 'When the nuthah becomes four months old, Allah sends an angel to it and the angel blows spirit into it. However, this hadith is munqati' (interrupted). (92) Or  they base their views on weak narrations stating that the phases of 'nutfah', 'alaqa' and 'mudghah' each is forty days like the following hadith: 'Nutfah stays in the womb for forty days without changing...' (93)

Haythami states the following about some of the narrators in the chain of this hadith: Abu Ubayda did not hear it from his father. Ali b. Zayd has a bad memory.(94)

All of the hadiths that pronounce four months or that each 'phase' is four months clearly are weak hadiths. It is not appropriate to use them as evidence. 

It seems that the best thing is to interpret the first hadith in favor of the other hadiths. For, 'four months' is not pronounced in the first hadith; it is not pronounced that the 'phase of nutfah' itself is forty days. On the contrary, it is understood from the following statement of the hadith that all of the creation, from nutfah to alaqah, from alaqah to mudghah, is completed in forty days: 'Each one of you is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days.'(95) Therefore, the word nutfah is not mentioned after this statement in any of the sahih (sound) or hasan narrations.

As for the statements, 'then he becomes a clot of thick blood (alaqah) like this', 'and then he becomes a piece of flesh (mudghah) like this', it is not clear whether the periods of forty days are meant by them. On the contrary, it is possible that they have some other meanings. For instance, we can reach the following conclusion: The phases of alaqah and mudghah are like nutfah since the fetus does not have a spirit and its qadar has not been written yet. The statement 'Then an angel is sent; he blows spirit into it and he is ordered to write four things' points to this conclusion:

One of the things showing that the period is not meant by the phrase 'like this' is the Muslim narration of the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. The narration in Muslim is as follows: "The creation of each one of you is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days; then he becomes a clot of thick blood (alaqah) in it like this, and then he becomes a piece of flesh (mudghah) in it like this...' The phrase 'fi dhalika' which is mentioned in the hadith and which is translated as in it means 'fi dhalika'l-waqt' (in that time period), which is the first forty days, not anything else. Therefore, the phrase "like this" in the hadith needs to be translated as something other than time. Then, the meaning becomes like the following without any force: Then he becomes alaqah and mudghah in that time period like this putting together of the creation. Here, there is a similarity between the first being put together with alaqah and mudghah - which is nutfah. This similarity may be the non-existence of the spirit yet - which is highly probable in my opinion - or its qadar not being written yet, or their formation taking place gradually, not as a whole, or the creation of fetus not being complete in those phases. Allah knows the best.

Some scholars think the statement of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) 'then, he becomes alaqah' cannot be explained in accordance with our evaluation. We can answer this claim as follows: The sequence with the conjunction 'then' here aims to list the things that are informed, not the ones that inform.(96)

Thus, the first hadith may have more than one meaning. The other hadiths are clear; they are not single; they were narrated from more than one Companion. Doubtlessly, the ambiguous one is interpreted in favor of the clear ones. The opposite is not appropriate. Therefore, the clear one cannot be interpreted in favor of the ambiguous one. Allah knows the best.

ON WHAT DAY IS THE SPIRIT BLOWN?

After preferring the view that the spirit is blown after the first forty days, let us deal with the question if it is possible to know the exact day on which the spirit is blown.

It is not possible to know the exact day on which the spirit is blown today scientifically within the framework of the developments so far. We can divide the hadiths regarding the issue into four in terms of determining the day on which the spirit is blown.

The first group: The spirit is blown between the fortieth night and the forty-fifth night.  "When the drop of semen remains in the womb for forty or forty-five nights, the angel comes …" The hadith mentioned in the third place above.(97)

The second group: It is blown after the forty-second night. "When forty-two nights pass after the semen gets into the womb..." The fourth hadith.

The third group: It is blown after the fortieth night. "The semen stays in the womb for forty nights; then, the angel, gives it a shape..." The second, fifth and seventh hadiths.

The fourth group: It is blown after  forty odds night pass. The seventh hadith.

Is it possible to reconcile those narrations?

Those narrations can be reconciled in a few ways:

Firstly, it changes from fetus to fetus.(98) The time when the spirit is blown is the fortieth night the earliest and forty-fifth night the latest. The spirit is blown into the most of the fetuses after the forty-second night, that is, on the forty-third day. This is so if we regard the phrase forty or forty-five days as a part of the hadith, not as the uncertainty of the narrator. What is essential for a reliable narrator is to report what he heard. I could not find anything showing the uncertainty of the narrator. However, the following can be said: This hadith was reported from Abu't-Tufayl, who reported it from Hudhayfa; some other hadiths without any uncertainties were also reported. However, in terms of apparent meaning, those hadiths do not agree on a certain day.

If we accepted that the uncertain expression in the hadith did not exist in its original form and that it originated from the narrator hence it would be appropriate to interpret it in favor of the other narrations, the blowing into the spirit would be between the fortieth day and the forty-third day.    

One of the things supporting the view that the blowing of the spirit changes from fetus to fetus is that the blowing of the spirit is probably related to the phases of the creation.  We mentioned above that the rate of the development of the fetus changed from fetus to fetus like in children and adolescents.(99) Therefore, there is nothing strange about the time of the blowing of the spirit to be different from fetus to fetus.

Secondly, the period about the blowing of the spirit for the time over forty days is not determined.(100) Therefore, we cannot determine a certain day for the blowing of the spirit. However, there is no doubt that the spirit is blown between the fortieth day and the forty-fifth day. It is neither before nor after this period. However, we cannot know on what day it is blown.

This view is based on the thought that some narrators made mistakes while narrating. However, the thought that some narrators made mistakes while narrating can only be accepted when it is impossible to reconcile narrations. What is essential for a reliable narrator is that he does not make a mistake. The opposite is not true. It is possible to reconcile the hadiths here.   

Even if we accept that some narrators erred, it will be better to make a preference here rather than accepting the view of those scholars. Therefore, it is better to accept of the other ways of reconciliation.

Thirdly, in the third hadith, the narrator is uncertain about the statement (Nutfah remains in the uterus for forty or forty-five nights...). Therefore, this hadith is interpreted in favor of the other hadiths that include no uncertainties. The other hadiths are reconciled as follows:

The spirit is blown after the forty-second night as the fourth hadith states clearly. This complies with the phrase "when the semen stays in the womb for forty odd nights..." For, the spirit is blown when the forty-second night ends. Two full nights and part of the third night is in accordance with the word odd. Accordingly, the numbers given in those two hadiths exist there in order to determine the number showing the time of the spirit being blown.

The numbers pronouncing the figure forty are mentioned as a round number. This kind of usage is abundant in the language - especially in the expressions of time.(101)

Fourthly, it is seen that the third, fifth and seven hadiths state clearly that the spirit is blown into the fetus forty days after nutfah remains in the uterus. Alla of the narrations pronouncing the number forty are like this. In that case, what is meant by those narrations is that the spirit is blown into the fetus forty days after nutfah remains in the uterus, not after fertilization.   

As for the expression "When forty-two nights pass after the semen gets into the womb,..." in the fourth hadith, it means the spirit is blown forty-two nights after the fertilization. The sixth hadith is also like that.

Thus, it is determined that nutfah enters into the womb on the third day after the fertilization. 

According to this view, the reconciliation among the hadiths is as follows: The spirit is blown into the fetus forty-two nights after the fertilization or forty days after nutfah enters the womb.  

However, the phrase after the drop of semen remains in the womb exists in the third hadith. Six or seven days is necessary for the formation of nutfah amshaj (mixed semen). This does not include the time for the entrance into the womb, which takes place on about the third day.   

When nutfah amshaj enters into the womb, it does not settle at once. It moves for about three or five days until it clings to the wall of the womb. Then, it settles.  

Therefore, this view is not strong. Allah knows the best.

Fifthly, as it is explained in the fifth view, the spirit is blown into the fetus not beginning from the fertilization of the egg, but after the forty-second night beginning from the settlement of nutfah in the spirit as it is stated in the third hadith. For, nutfah settles in the womb only on about the seventh day when it clings to the wall of the womb. Accordingly, the spirit is blown after the forty-ninth night, that is, at the beginning of the eighth week.   Allah knows the best.

That is the view that I find strong because it reconciles the narrations without ignoring any of them and regards the hadiths that do not mention settling in the womb as mutlaq (absolute), interpreting them in favor of muqayyad (conditional) hadiths.

If we rely on the first view stating that the spirit being blown changes from fetus to fetus - which is a strong view - , the spirit is blown into the fetus between the forty-seventh and forty-ninth nights.  

If we rely on the narration of 'forty-five nights', the blowing of the spirit takes place on the fifty-second night. Allah knows better.

THE RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH

1. There is no religious drawback to researching the spirit.

2. The spirit is different from life as the verses and hadiths indicate.

3. According to the stronger view, the spirit is blown into the fetus after the first forty days of the pregnancy, not after the third forty days.

4. There is not a single sound (sahih) or hasan hadith stating clearly that the spirit is blown into the fetus four months after the pregnancy.

6. It will be appropriate to understand the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud narrated by Bukhari in a way that will be in compliance with the Muslim narration of the same hadith and the other five hadiths.  

7. According to the preferred (stronger) hadith, the spirit is blown into the fetus forty days after the fertilization. 

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Realms.

References:

(1) Ahmad b. Faris b. Zakariyya (D.395H/1004M), Mu'jamu Maqayisi'l-Lugha, 6J, Tahqiq: Abdussalam Harun, Matbaatu Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo 1980, II/454.
(2) Sad, 38/72
(3) as-Sajda, 32/9
(4) Ahmad b. Ali al-Muqri al-Fayyumi (D.770H/1368M), al-Misbahu'l-Munir fi Gharibi'sh-Sharhi'l-Kabir, Tahqiq: Abdulazim ash-Shanawi, Daru'l-Maarif, Cairo, p.245 (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Fayyumi, Misbahu'l-Munir'.)
(5) Ahmad b. Ali b. Hajar al-Asqalani (D.852H/1448M), Fathu'l-Bari Sharhu Sahihi'l-Bukhari, 13 J. Muqaddima, al-Matbaatu's-Salafiyya, Cairo, WIII/402.( Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari '.) ; Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Ansari al-Qurtubi (D.671H/1272M), al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Qur'an, 20 J, Daru'l-Kutubi'l-Arabi, Cairo 1967M, X/323.( Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Qurtubi, al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Qur'an'.)
(6) ash-Shura, 42/52.
(7) ash-Shuara, 26/193-194.
(8) Ghafir, 40/15.
(9) an-Nisa, 4/171.
(10) an-Naba', 78/38.
(11) al-Qadr, 97/4. NB: Many tafsir scholars state that Jibril is meant by the word ruh (spirit) in the last two verses. (Translator's Note)
(12) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/402.
(13) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/402.
(14) al-Mujadala, 58/22.
(15) as-Sajda, 32/9
(16) al-Isra, 17/85.
(17) Ismail b. Kathir al-Qurashi ad-Dimashqi (D.774H/1372M), Tafsiru'l-Qur'ani'l-Azim, 4J, Daru Ihyai't-Turathi'l-Arabi, Cairo 1969, III/61 (Henceforward, it will be referred to as Ibn Kathir, Tafsir.); IbnHajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/402.
(18) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/402-403.
(19) Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, III/61.
(20) Qurtubi. al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Qur'an, X/324; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/404.
(21) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/402
(22) Qurtubi, al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Quran, X/324.
(23) Abu Dawud, Sulayman b. Al-Ash'as as-Sijistani (D.273H/886M), as-Sunan, IIJ, Matbaatu Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo1952, II/540. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Abu Dawud, Sunan'.)
(24) Ahmad b. Husayn al-Bayhaqi (D.728h/1065M), Isbatu Adhabi'l-Qabr, Daru'l-Furqan, Amman 1983, p. 38
(25) Ibn Taymiyya, Ahmad b. Abdulhalim (D.728H/1327M), Majmuu'l-Fatawa, XXXWIIJ, IW/231.( Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa'.); Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/404; Ibn al-Qayyim, Muhammad b. Abi Bakr (D.751H/1350M), ar-Ruh, IJ, Daru'l-Fikr, Amman 1985,p.212. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Qayyim, Ruh'.)
(26) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/403.
(27) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, III/31; Fayyumi, Misbahu'l-Munir, p. 245; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/403.
(28) Ghazali, Abu Hamid, Muhammad b. Muhammad (D:505H/1111M), Ihyau Ulumi'd-Din, 5J, Daru'r-Rashad al-Haditha, al-Maghrib, IW/494. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as, 'Ghazali, Ihya'.)
ª 'Nafsinatiqa' means the essence of man that determines his place among living beings, that he perceives general and partial issues that is isolated from matter in person but that cannot be separated from matter in terms of his deeds. (Translator's note)
(29) Fayyumi, Misbahu'l-Munir, p.245.
(30) Ibn Qayyim, Ruh, p. 249.
(31) Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, III/61.
(32) Ali b. Muhammad ash-Sharif al-Jurjani (816H/1413M), at-Tarifat, Maktabatu Lubnan, Beirut 1978, p.118.
(33) Ghazali, Ihya, IW/494; Ibn Qayyim, Ruh, p. 249; Ahmad ar-Ramli (D.1004H/1595M) Nihayatu'l- Muhtaj ila Sharhi'l-Minhaj, WIII J; Hashiyatu'sh-Shabramillisi and ar-Rashidi exist in the footnotes. WII/15; Ali b. Sulayman al- Mardawi (D.855H/1451M), al-Insaf fi Ma'rifati'r-Rajih mina'l-Khilaf ala Madhhabi'l-Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, Matbaatu's-Sunnati'l-Muhammadiyya, Cairo 13761 H/1451M, WII/331, IX/452.
(34) al-An'am, 6/ 93.
(35) Sad, 38/72
(36) al-Maida, 5/116.
(37) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/403.
(38) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, WIII/403.
(39) Ibn Qayyim, Ruh, p.65.
(40) al-An'am, 6/122
(41) al-Anfal, 8/24.
(42) al-Baqara, 2/154.
(43) Aal-i Imran, 3/169.
(44) an-Nahl, 16/65.
(45) al-Anbiya, 21/30.
(46) al-Araf, 7/25.
(47) al-Baqara, 2/260.
(48) Ibn Qayyim, Muhammad b. Abi Bakr (D.751H/1350M), at-Tibyan fi Aqsami'l-Qur'an, I J, al-Maktabatu't-Tijariyya al-Kubra, Cairo 19331, p. 351. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Qayyim, Tibyan'.)
(49) Ibn Qayyim, Tibyan, p. 339-351.
(50) az-Zumar, 39/42.
(51) al-An'am, 6/60.
(52) Muhammad b. Ismail al-Bukhari (D. 256H/869M), al-Jamiu'l-Musnadu's-Sahihu'l-Mukhtasar min Umuri Rasuli'llah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa Sunanihi wa Ayyamih bi sharhi Ibn Hajar, XIII J+Muqaddima, at-Tab'atu's-Salafiyya,11/115. {Bukhari, Daawat 8} Hadith No: 6314. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Bukhari, Sahih'); Muslim b. Hajjaj an-Nishaburi (D. 256H/874M), Sahihu Muslim, W J, Tahqiq: Muhammad Fuad Abdulbaqi, Daru Ihyai'l-Kutubi'l-Arabiyya, Cairo 1955, 4/2083 {Dhikr 17} Hadith No:2711, Babu ma yaqulu inda'n-nawm. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Muslim, Sahih'.)
(53) Bukhari, Sahih, Tawhid 13; 13/378, Hadith No: 7893. Babu's-Sual bi Asmaillahi Taala; Muslim, Sahih, 4/2085 {Dhikr 17} Hadith No: 2714, Babu ma Yaquluinda'n-Nawm.
(54) 'The term translated as to stop over toward the end of the night is 'Ta'ris. Ta'ris means to stop over (for a traveler) at the end of the night in order to sleep and rest.' Abu's-Saadat al-Mubarak b. Muhammad al-Jazari (Ibn Asir, D. 606H/1209M), an-Nihaya fi Gharibi'l-Hadith wa'l-Asar, IW J, al-Maktabatu'l-Islamiyya, 3/206. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Asir, Nihaya'.)
(55) Bukhari, Sahih, 3/66; {Mawaqit 35}, Hadith No: 595; Abu Dawud, Sunan,1/104 {Salat 11} Hadith No:435; Nasai Ahmad b. Shuayb b. Ali (D. 303H/915M), as-Sunan, IW J Both volumes have two parts. Daru'l-Fikr,Beirut 1930, 2/106, Kitabu'l-Imama, 47 Babu'l-Jamaa li'l-Faiti mina's salat. (Hadis 'Nasai, Sunan')
(56) Ibn Qayyim, Ruh, p.65.
(57) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/114.
(58) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/114.
(59) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, II/67
(60) Sulayman b. Umar al-Ujayli (D.1204H/1789M), al-Futuhatu'l-Ilahiyya bi Tawdihi Tafsiri'l-Jalalayn li'd-Daqaiqi'l-Khafiyya, IW J, Matbaatu Isa al-Halabi, Cairo, III/602.
(61) Ibn Kathir,Tafsir, IW/55.
** The word we translated as creation is mentioned as 'khalq' in the hadith. (Translator's note)
*** The words 'Alaqah' and 'Mudghah' are mentioned in the verses narrating man's phases of creation, too. {See: al-Mu'minun, 23/14; al-Hajj 22/5} It is stated that 'Alaqah' is the group of cells consisting of the sperm of man and the fertilized egg of the woman clinging to the wall of the womb and it is also stated that 'Mudghah' is the phase of the fetus that has some forms like teeth marks on it and whose organs have not formed yet. (See: Kur'ân-Kerim Meâli, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Publications, Prepared by: Doç. Dr. Halil Altuntaş, Dr. Muzaffer Şahin. Explanations related to this verse.) (Translator's Note)
(62) Bukhari, Sahih, Kitabu Bad'i'l-Khalq (Babu dhikri'l-malaika) 6/303, Hadith No:3208; Kitabu'l-Anbiya 1, WI/363 Hadith No:3332; Kitabu'l- Qadar 1, XI/6594; Kitabu't-Tawhid 27, (Qawluhu Taala wa laqad sabaqat kalimatuna) XIII/440; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitabu's-Sunna 16 (bab fi'l-qadar) II/530; Tirmidhi, Muhammad b. Isa b. Thawra (Ö:279H/892M) al-Jami', Daru'l-Fikr, Beirut 1980, W J, Kitabu'l-Qadar 4, III/302, Hadith No: 2220, (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Tirmidhi, Jami'); Ahmad b. Hanbal ash-Shaybani (D.241H/855M), al-Musnad, WI J, Daru'l-Fikr, Beirut,I/382,430; (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad'.)
(63) Muslim, Sahih, Kitabu'l-Qadar 1, Hadith No: 2643, IW/2036
(64) Muslim, Sahih, Kitabu'l-Qadar 1, Hadith No: 2644, IW/2037; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, IW/7.
(65) Muslim, Sahih, Kitabu'l-Qadar 1, Hadith No: 2645, IW/2037.
(66) Muslim, Sahih, Kitabu'l-Qadar 1, Hadith No: 2645, IW/2037.
(67) Muslim, Sahih, Kitabu'l-Qadar 1, Hadith No: 2645, IW/2037.
(68) Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, III/397. Haythami writes the following in 'Majmau'z-Zawaid': "Ibn Main and a group of hadith scholars said Hasif mentioned in the chain of narrators of this hadith was reliable. However, it is disputable whether Hasif is reliable or not. The other narrators of the hadith are reliable." However, the hadith of Hudhayfa we mentioned in the fifth hadith supports this.  
§ "Mukhtalifu'l-hadith, which is one of the most important issues of the science of hadith, means reconciling two hadiths that apparently seem to be contrary or preferring one of them by leaving the other and acting in accordance with the one that is preferred." Prof. Dr. Talat Koçyiğit, Hadis Istılahları, Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi, Ankara 1980, Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Publications (Translator's Note).
(69) Hafiz Iraqi, Abdurrahim b. Husayn (D. 806 H/1403M), at-Taqyid wa'l-Izah Sharhu Muqaddimati Ibni's-Salah, al-Maktabatu's-Salafiyya, 19691, p. 285; Suyuti, Abdurrahman b. Abi Bakr (D. 911 H/1505 M), Tadribu'r-Rawi fi Sharhi Taqribi'n- Nawawi, II J, Daru'l-Kutubi'l-Haditha, Cairo 19662, II/197.
(70) Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Abdurrahmanb. Shihabu'd-din Ahmad (D. 795 H/1392 M), Jamiu'l-Ulumi wa'l-Hikam, One volume, Maktabatu'r-Risala al-Haditha, Amman, p. 51. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum'.)
(71) Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Muhammad b. Abi Bakr (D.751H/1350M), Sharhu Abu Dawud printed in the footnotes of Awnu'l-Ma'bud, al-Matbaatu's-Salafiyya, XII/478 (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Ibn Qayyim, Sharhu Sunani Abi Dawud')
(72) Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 51.
(73) Yahya b. Sharaf an-Nawawi(D.676H/1277M), Sharhu Sahihi Muslim. IX J, Both volumes have two books each, Daru Ihyai't-Turathi'l-Arabi, Beirut, XWI/190. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Nawawi, Sharhu Sahihi Muslim'.)
(74) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/240; Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 47; Nawawi, Sharhu Sahihi Muslim,XWI/191; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/484; Ibn Qayyim, Tibyan, p.347.
(75) Dr. Bar, Khalqu'l-Insan, p. 378.
(76) Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 51.
(77) Muhammad b. Allan as-Siddiqi (D. 1057H/1647M), Dalilu'l-Falihin li Turuqi Riyadi's-Salihin, WIII J, Daru'l-Kitabi'l-Arabi, Beirut, IW/8. (Henceforward, it will be referred to as 'Siddiqi, Dalilu'l-Falihin'.)
(78) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/486.
(79) Halil b. Ahmad as-Saharanfuri (D.1346H/1927M), Badhlu'l-Majhud fi Halli Abi Dawud, XX J, Daru'l-Kutubi'l-Ilmiyya, Beirut, XWIII/238.
(80) Bar, Khalqu'l-Insan, p. 452 ff.
(81) Siddiqi, Dalilu'l-Falihin, IW/8.
(82) Bar, Khalqu'l -Insan, p. 397; Dr. An-Nasimi, at-Tibbu'n-Nabawi, III/337
(83) Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 48.
(84) Qurtubi. al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Qur'an, XII/8.
* See the footnote 61 for the explanation of 'Mudghah'.
(85) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa,IW/242; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/485.
(86) Ibn Qayyim,at-Tibyan, p. 346-347; See the relevant hadiths between the third one and the last one. 
(87) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/242;Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/485.
(88) Nawawi, Sharhu Sahihi Muslim, XWI/191; Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 51.
(89) Qurtubi. al-Jamiu li Ahkami'l-Qur'an, XII/8; Nawawi, Sharhu Sahihi Muslim, XWI/191; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/481,484,485.
(90) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/241
(91) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/242; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/484.
(92) Ibn Abi Hatim made takhrij (tracking, extraction and authentication) of this hadith. See Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 49; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/486.
(93) Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, I/374.
(94) al-Haythami, Ali b. Abi Bakr (D.807H/1404M), Majmau'z-Zawaid wa Manbau'l-Fawaid, X J, Daru'l-Kitabi'l-Arabi, Beirut, n.d., WII/193. 'Sayyiu'l-hifz' is hadith term used for the narrators who could not memorize hadith very well; it is used as criticism.(Translator's Note)
(95) Ibn Qayyim, Tibyan, p. 337; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/481
(96) Ibn Rajab, Jamiu'l-Ulum, p. 49; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/485.
(97) The takhrij of this hadith and the ones to come after this were mentioned above.  
Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/485.
(98) Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/481.
(99) Bar, Khalqu'l-Insan, p. 233.
(100) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/241; Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, XI/481.
(101) Ibn Taymiyya, Fatawa, IW/241.
Dr. Sharaf Mahmut al-Qudat
He is an academician at Jordan University Faculty of Shari'ah. He is also a member of Jordan Islamic Medicine Association. He completed his doctoral thesis at Azhar University in 1981. Dirasat Magazine, Vol. XIII, Issue: 12.

Translated by: Dr. Ekrem KELEŞ, Religious Affairs High Council Expert

Man is composed of the body and the soul. The body is a structure which consists of flesh and bones and originally earth and which maintains its life thanks to the proteins coming from the earth which have undergone chemical and physical change; and this structure is to turn into earth when it dies.

The soul, on the other hand, is a Divine command that comes from Allah and makes the body alive, grants it the ability to see and feel.

Let us think of a dead man; all his body, hands, arms, brain, eyes, heart, is exactly where they are to be. If we tell this person a joke, ask him a puzzle, tell fearsome stories and sorrowful events, does he react to what we say in any way?

What happened to that man, who, when alive, laughed at every joke, became sad at every sorrowful event, who would get scared, happy, sad? Actually, the crucial question is, what leaves the body when one dies without which there is no happiness or sorrow? The answer is the soul.

It means what produces our feelings and what is the source of emotions is the soul. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain away such notions as happiness, idea, thought with an electrical flow between the organs of body. Thanks to the soul, there are feelings. When the trust of the soul is taken away, feelings and ideas abandon the body, too.

During dreams, the soul does not leave the body. The soul has the ability to be present in other places without leaving the body. Indeed, the souls of those who have purified themselves can be present in many places at a time. Abdulqadir Gilani was seen in more than forty places at a time.

During dreams, too, the human soul is connected to the body. However, while dreaming, different windows are opened to various places and realms and the soul views those realms through these windows. It can contact with other people’s souls.
Sleep is a vital need for humans and God created daytime as the time for working for livelihood and the night as the time for sleeping and resting. Sleeping is not nothingness but is a time for resting.

The following definitions are made for spirit:

“Life, liveliness, breath, Gabriel…”

“A law which has got an independent being”

“A law from metaphysical world, which has been given an independent being in order to control the body. A fine being which can pursue its existence when separated from the body.”

Some people asked the Prophet about spirit. He did not answer, waiting for revelation. The revelation which was sent down was quite clear. “Say, ‘The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord’.” The existence of the spirit was confirmed, yet its essence was not explained because it was impossible for the people to comprehend it. Human mind was incapable of comprehending a being from the “metaphysical world.”

Metaphysical world is the world of beings which are freed from size, weight, form and color. Words which are used to describe beings, such as long, short, blue, yellow, rounded, straight, heavy, light and etc, do not have equivalents in the metaphysical world. How can minds which are limited by measurements comprehend what cannot be measured?

It can only know through reasoning that every work has got a doer. Therefore, pondering the magnificent work called Cosmos; it gets to recognize the Creator. And it admits that there cannot be an act without an actor. From this point of view, it approves the existence of an invisible essence, in other words, the spirit, which controls the body perfectly. Besides that is what is expected from it.

The following is stated in a hadith, “He who knows himself knows his Lord.” A prominent Islamic philosopher says: “O man who considers himself a human! Read yourself…” In this sense, one has to try to get to know himself. Starting from ourselves, we are going to reach Him!

What do we know about spirit?

We do not know the spirit itself. Yet we can converse about some of its characteristics. When the body reaches a certain growth in mother’s womb, it is given a spirit.

The spirit, which is the sultan of body, is a conscious, luminous, live being with an external existence. It was created later; however, it is immortal. It is one and cannot be separated or divided into pieces. It is present everywhere in the body with its effects; however, it is not limited to a specific place. It is neither inside nor outside the body. It is neither close to nor far from it. It handles everything at the same time and one thing does not hinder another. It resembles the laws in nature. If law was conscious and wore a physical body, it would be characterized as spirit. A spirit is aware of its own existence and of other beings.

The spirit does things with the help of the physical and non-physical devices it is equipped with. It realizes with its sense, comprehends with its mind, evaluates and decides with its conscience, plans with its imagination, restores information with its memory and loves with its heart. It has got too many skills to count. Some of them are manifested with physical organs. The spirit holds with its hand, sees with its eyes, hears with its ears and walks with its feet… It is dependent on the body as long as it is in the body. Its movements are restricted to what the body can do. Death is when it is freed from the prison of the body and gains freedom. After that, it does not need a body anymore. It sees without eyes, hears without ears and thinks without brain. It waits without a body until the end of time. It gains a brand-new body in the afterlife again.

Our friends ask: “What is spirit like?” I say: “I do not know” and I continue: By saying I do not know, I give the real answer to your question.”

The most advanced knowledge about things, essences of which cannot be known, can be explained by saying “I do not know.” If I did not say so but made some predictions such as “it is tall or short”, “it is here or over there in the body”, or “it is of this or that color”; I would only deceive myself and others. This is because spirit is not the same kind as the body. If one of them is a house, the other is the guest in it. If one of them is a workbench, the other one is the master.

Neither the parts of a house resemble the organs man, nor do the devices of a workbench resemble its master’s organs.

The body and the universe… Both are hard and physical. And the spirit is fine and luminous. In this sense, neither the body nor the universe can give us information about the essence of the spirit. All the predictions we can make depending on them are bound to be deceptive… It is something like looking at the earth and making predictions about gravity.

In Nur Collection, the endlessness of spirit is expressed as follows:

“Spirit is not subject to devastation and dissolution because it is simple and has got unity.”

“Simple” here means that it does not consist of other things. Indeed, one’s spirit is an independent world. It is not a mixture, yet it contains so many things!.. However, those things do not spoil its oneness, its unity. Its mind, memory, senses and emotions resemble neither the organs of body nor the elements of a chemical composition… They do not have separate personalities. Can you ever imagine a mind alone, a self-control alone or a memory alone?

The perfect creation of spirit is a major door for people to find the straight way… Through it, one can understand to some extent the reality that Allah cannot be thought separately from His holy attributions and His existence.

Is spirit merely brain?

Human is a knowledgeable being. He knows both himself and other beings. And he knows that he knows, too. His knowledge is conscious. It is different from a computer disc. It is possible to save lots of information on a disc too; however, that disc is unaware of the knowledge saved on itself. Neither does it have a desire to learn. Desiring knowledge and trying to learn are not characteristics of materials.

Atoms which do not have knowledge will never be knowledgeable no matter how perfectly they can come together. And brain is made up of those unknowledgeable and unconscious atoms. It transforms and restores knowledge, yet it does it unconsciously. It is not any different from a computer disc. It is just a device obeying rules coming from a being called spirit.

The reality of “free will” is a wonder on its own. Choosing, deciding, distinguishing, desiring and refusing are not the jobs of an unknowledgeable mass of flesh. A man who claims that the brain, which is the most perfect organ, has got free will is ridiculous. It does not control, it merely does what the spirit wants.

The brain, which consists of billions of cells, is such a magnificent computer that it dazzles people’s minds. However, like any other computer, it needs to be programmed by someone. The brain resembles a control room which has been made to operate packaged software produced by the spirit and transform it to other parts of the body. It does not have the free will to seek for new ways, different opportunities and other jobs.

We can make it say: “I am a computer”. However, this would be like a tape-recorder. No computer can excel itself, similarly, no brain can excel itself. It only operates within a certain program.

That wonderful device called brain leads the spirit to the Creator, not to denial of Creator. While we know that a simple calculator cannot be without a producer, how can we deny that there is an expert producer of brain, who has got a limitless knowledge and free will

What is the relationship between the spirit and the body?

Spirit: “Life, liveliness, breath, Gabriel…”, “A law which has got an independent being”. “A law from metaphysical world, which has been given an independent being in order to control the body. A fine being which can continue its existence even when it is separated from the body.”

Just as a hard, tough tree bears a fine and elegant fruit, a being which has come out of this enormous and lifeless universe and which does not resemble it: human… While the sun burns, human gets burnt, too; while the winds blow, man breathes; while rivers flow, human drinks to the repletion; the earth produces crops, human consumes them; while the tree is lifeless, man is alive; while universe does not see and hear, human sees and hears…

From now on, that perfect fruit is the eyes and ears of the tree of the universe. With that honorable title, it has been given a major responsibility. Whatever it served to, the universe served it too; whatever it listened to, the universe listened to it too and whatever it looked at, all the servants looked at it too…

There is an invisible lord which pleases or grieves this world, beyond this visible body-house of that fruit called human being. It can reach out its hands to whatever fruit it wants. It can focus its eyes on whatever direction it wants. It can move its feet wherever it wants. All this universe and human body were made for this lord. Colors are for its eyes. Tastes are for its tongue. Knowledge and wisdom are for its mind.

This universe and the body resemble two pages in the presence of the spirit. It reads whichever it wishes to read: the body or the universe… The body and the universe are, from a different point of view, like two different meals in front of spirit. It can taste from both. It loves both of them and thanks the Creator for both of them.
There are so many thought-provoking signs, so many scenes to draw lessons from and so many astonishing pictures in front of spirit: observing the universe, contemplating the body, paying attention to the perfect relationship between the universe and the body, being amazed by dazzling relationship between the body and spirit and through this last one, believing in divine channels between the world of unseen and the world of seen, that is, the world we live in…

Moreover, the spirit is incapable of comprehending its own essence, which paves the way to many realities… Let us emphasize a few of those matters, each of which is finer than the other: the relationship between the spirit and the body is really a wonder. The body is a servant and the spirit is its lord. The servant is obedient to its lord. Tears flowing down from the body’s eyes hint grief. What grieves is neither the eyes nor the machine called body onto which the eyes are mounted. As a matter of fact, the body has got nothing to do with grief. Grief in the spirit manifests itself in the form of tears in eyes.

We shout to a friend who is going on the reverse direction: “Wait, turn back!” In the addressing, our addressee is neither his eardrum nor his feet. The ear is just a receiver. And the feet are unaware of whether they are on the right way or the wrong way.

The acting of the spirit on behalf of the body symbolizes the fact that the world of unseen rules over the world of seen. The feet do not walk on the direction they want, nor does the world move around as it wants. The eyes do not see based on their own will, nor does the Sun scatter its light as it wants.

The body is subject to many influences in this world. However, the influence of the spirit on the body is superior to all of them. Extreme cold has got negative influences on the body too, yet it is never as negative as the influence of betrayal, cruelty and disloyalty have got on it. Some kinds of food can increase blood pressure, yet this increase would look very insignificant when compared to the influences that sadness and excitement makes on the body…

The relationship between the spirit and the body resembles the relationship between sound and meaning in a sense. The sound is the body of the meaning and the meaning is the spirit of the sound. This spirit in neither to the right nor to the left of the body; and it is neither inside nor outside of it… Meaning does not need sound to pursue its existence. It can stay in the memory silently and occur in the mind quietly; and stay in the heart without a word. However, when it wants to be seen and known, then, it is the duty of the sound. When the sound reaches the ear of the addressee, it completes its lifespan. Yet, meaning continues to live.

Meaning existed even before sound. Yet it became audible with sound. And it will continue to exist after sound, too. The spirit is Allah’s law and the body is Allah’s creature. He organizes and controls the body with the spirit. On condition that one is aware that Allah does not resemble any of His creatures, he can find many signs indicating divine realities in his body. When applying those signs into reality, one needs to be very careful. One should not make the mistake of likening the sign to the reality. A point in a map refers to a town, yet it would be ignorance to liken that point to the town. An article indicates to its writer and proves his art. However, it would be nonsense to resemble the writer to the article or to seek writer’s attributions in the article’s features.

When we see the matter from this point of view, we can find some signs in or spirit, pointing out to some realities:

The spirit is the sultan of the world called body. It is one and only, it has not got any partners.

The spirit does not resemble any part or organ of the body.

The spirit itself does not resemble the self of body, nor do the spirit’s characteristics resemble the body’s characteristics.

There cannot be a resemblance between the spirit’s contemplating something and the stomach’s digesting a morsel.

The spirit is not born and it does not give birth; it does not occupy a place in the body. All of those are characteristics of the body.

It is impossible to comprehend the essence of spirit. Whatever prediction made about its self would merely be shirk.

If there were two spirits in a body, there would be mischief in that body …

No matter what one gets through the body, thankfulness must be for the spirit.

The works which the spirit does in the body are without touching, just as the Sun’s rotating the planets around it.

There is no difference for the spirit between controlling a single cell and all cells. The former is no harder than the latter, or the latter is no easier than the former…

From a different point of view:

Some people liken the body to a cage and the spirit to a bird. There are many fine lessons for us to draw from that nice simile. Some of them are as follows:

The body is for the spirit; the spirit is not for the body.

By painting the cage, the bird will not look any more beautiful. Healthiness of the body cannot be an indication of the maturity of the spirit.

By making the cage larger, you cannot improve the bird. Its way of improvement is much more different.

The bird watches the outside from the cage; yet it is not the cage that sees.

“Sight is a sense, through which the spirit watches the world like through a window.” (The Words)

Nobody will keep a bird without a cage in their house. For how many days can we host even a closest relative or friend of us after his/her death?

The bird existed before the cage; and it will continue to exist after flying away from the cage.

This palace of universe is just a room for the spirit. And the body is a cage. When the spirit flies away from the cage, it leaves the palace as well and arrives in larger worlds.

Happy are the spirits that do not get drowned in cages and that are not deceived by the room and that do not lose themselves!

What does it mean, “The spirit is free”?

In Nur Collection, very nice determinations about the essence of spirit; that is, “what the spirit is” have been made. In one of them, it is stated that death is “the freedom of the spirit”.

Freedom means not being bounded, being free.

All of Allah’s attributions are unique. That is to say; no other power can restrict, control or hinder the works of Divine attributions.

***
The spirit, which is a conscious law of Allah, has to comply with human body’s conditions as long as it is in charge of it. As it is implied with the expression “Sight is a sense, through which the spirit watches the world like through a window”, humankind’s watching the world is restricted to what the eye can see. Unless it opens that window called the eye, it cannot see anything. And when it closes its eyes and falls to sleep, doors of another world open for it. And it starts to see all different things in that new world.

***
When one is awake, he can see the environment around him only. In order to see another environment, his body has to go there.

However, during dreams, spirit, which is freed from the body to a certain extent, gains the opportunity to watch different environments with closed eyes.

Yet when one is awake, his body is bounded by time. The eyes can watch events happening at the present time only. On the other hand, during dreams, the spirit can wander around previous times of years and centuries and see and talk to many people who passed away to the barzakh.

In Nur Collection, the following is stated, “death is the big brother of sleep”. Sleep is the little brother of death (The Letters, First Letter). In this sense, spirit’s freedom in sleep is very insignificant compared to its freedom after death.

When the spirit leaves the body, it is freed from its restrictions. It does not need eyes to see, feet to walk, hands to hold and ears to hear anymore. That is to say; its sight, walking, holding and audition are set free from the body’s restrictions.

Sight is an attribution of the spirit. When one is awake, he can see far distances by using this attribution; he can reach the sun and the moon at once. Nevertheless, as spirit is bounded by the body, it is deprived of the opportunity to travel to those places in reality.

A spirit that has left its body gains the opportunity to visit the places which it merely watched from a distance in worldly life.

Death is for the body, not for the spirit. The body, which was created with reasons, in the course of time and by stages, starts to decay by stages and quite quickly as soon as the spirit leaves it. However, since the spirit was created without reasons and at once, it was blessed with the boon of immortality. Those who develop slowly by stages come to an end again by stages. The spirit is not bounded by that rule. The spirit will live eternally thanks to Allah’s making it eternal and that He will not take this boon bestowed on it back.

***
According to the hadith which says “Die before you are dead”, the freedom of the spirit can be realized to some extent while alive. The condition for it is the spirit’s victory over the body. In Nur Collection, the following is stated, “Works of saintly people whose spirits rule over their bodies occur at the speed of spirit.” (Mesnevi-i Nuriye, Şemme). In another book, the following is advised, “Quit your animalism, leave your materiality, and enter the level of life of heart and spirit.” (The Flashes, Seventeenth Flash).

In this sense, when a true believer goes beyond his “vegetal and material” aspect which we can summarize as “growth” and his “animalistic” aspect which expresses all of the functions such as eating, drinking, seeing, hearing, walking, marriage and advances in his “humane” aspect which is centered around “thinking and believing”, the heart and spirit come to the foreground.

Such person’s spirit is somehow free. Nevertheless, this freedom is not leaving the body permanently like it is in death, but it is “not being servant of the worldly life and creatures”.

Such a heart is freed from all restrictions, which lower-self desires, such as “high position, status, wealth, fame and reputation” from then on. He removes the world, as taught in Nur Collection, from his heart, not from his works. He does not break all relations off with the world, yet considers the world a field of afterlife and strives to keep his life on the line of lawfulness and goodness. Therefore, he makes all boons of the world means for the bliss in the hereafter.

One who succeeds it does not drown in the world but walks on it. He does not waste his life just for meeting the needs of his body. He attaches importance to the body only as much as it deserves. He meets lawful needs of his lower-self without extravagating. In addition, he knows very well that the true reason of his creation is neither serving this mortal world nor this mortal body; but it is preparing the spirit, which is immortal, for the eternal life.

A conscious spirit like this reaches the blessed end informed in hadith of the Messenger of Allah “Die before you are dead” by gaining freedom through escaping from restrictions such as the body, world and lower-self.

***

Freedom in the world is avoiding attaching too much importance to causes and especially powerful and wealthy people, getting rid of the lower-self’s restrictions, unreasonable and unlawful desires, avoiding being taken in by mortal aspects of the world and thinking that the aim of life is feeding the body.

A person, who succeeds it, experiences Heaven in this world. And in the afterlife, he can be present in thousands of places at the same time, as his spirit is victorious over his body, and he can taste thousands of delights and joys.

As a matter of fact, all true believers’ spirits will be victorious over their bodies in that land of bliss. However, the state of those who had this honor in this world will be much more different than the others in the afterlife.

Alaaddin Başar (Ph. D.)

Almost everybody agrees that human has two basic components: Soul and self. First, we need to distinguish between soul and self and point out how they two appear, and then answer the question.

Science cannot carry out experiments about soul and self. On the other hand, it can get some results indirectly, through examining the effects that these two leave on human. What psychology and parapsychology do today is this anyway. For instance, drawing conclusions about dreams on body examinations, which take place while sleeping can be considered among this type of indirect examinations.

Human soul constantly longs for his homeland, the hereafter and yearn for it. Yet for a certain time he cannot do it since he is confined to his bodily-cage. On the other hand, the self continuously seeks comfort and welfare and instills them into mans will. As a result, man is under the influence of these two elements. Whichever appears dominant, s/he is forced to that way.

As for music whatever music addresses mans agreeable feelings, brings about decrease in his worldly lusts, and an increase in seeking the hereafter further, we can say that this kind of music is beneficial. However, whatever music addresses mans carnal desires and keeps him/her away from his/her lofty feelings, it is clear that this kind of music is not any nourishment to his/her soul, but poison.

A human being consists of body and soul. Body is like a vehicle and device for soul. Soul owns body and uses it as it wishes. Imam al-Ghazali likened the body to a city and the soul to the governor of that city. There are many proofs to the existence of soul. In this article, we would like to list some of those proofs.

1- Everyone often talks about themselves. They say “in my opinion”, “myself” and shortly they say “me”. When we search for this “me ’s place in our body, we cannot see anything but only human cells. And we cannot see anything other than the facts about cells in them. So, where this “me” could be?

2- Human body is constantly changing. In every minute our body produces innumerable hormones and enzymes; many cells die and they are replaced by the new ones in our bodies. Our cells refresh with the food we intake, and at the same time the substances in cells are replaced by new ones. In this way, a human being changes completely –even the cells- in a matter of a few years. It is a medical fact that our current body will be scattered around in a while and it will regenerate with totally new substances. However, the “me” stays the same although the person changes including his atoms, which are invisible. If we consider that man consists of only physical body and deny the existence of soul, how can we explain it?

3- When we want to do something or say something, how do we come up with this idea? From whence does the idea come? Who speaks it?

4- For instance, when we want to walk, innumerable mechanisms become active with a complicated chain of movements and enable us to walk. Yet, we are not even aware of it at that moment. So what can be the power which organizes those innumerable occurrences and prevents any error from happening?

5- What is the power that provides human beings with movement ability and pursues its aliveness?

6- What is the difference between alive and dead? Why is a human nothing but a pile of flesh when he/she dies, although the body, brain, heart and all neural system inside body stay the same?

7- Let us think about how a cell works. Innumerable incidents happen and the life in a cell pursues properly. A great attentiveness attracts out attention in the mechanism, as if it was all sized up. Not any confusion or danger emerges. So, what is it that makes this perfect organization which we are not even aware of?

8- What manages the complicated actions in a cell? We can answer as “nucleus”. And nucleus is managed by enzymes and the genes in DNA via RNA. Shortly, it can be said that the highest level of DNA which is the brain of the cell is equal to the total of the genes in it. Yet, if we ask what manages DNA, what can the answer be?

9- Let us ask the same question for human brain. Brain manages the body. And brain has got upper centers and lower centers. Some centers are under the control of others. What is the highest center; what is the highest level? Is it cortex? Maybe, yes, because conscious working and our will is related to cortex. However, this cannot be the highest level, because, a person falls into sleep or in narcosis and has hallucinations when there is a disorder in reticular formation even though the cortex is undamaged. In this sense, a highest level in the brain cannot be determined. An approximate conclusion can be made: The highest level of the brain is its total. It is only when every part of the brain is really normal and healthy that any part can carry out its duty properly. So, what is the highest level that controls the brain?

A human being is consists of body and soul. Death happens when soul leaves the body and the soul goes to its real place. And this place is determined by how the soul used the body in earthly life.

As Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum said:

“How could you recognize the King of the universe if Allah did not make you the King of this body and entrust the management to you?”

The false belief that says souls travel between bodies is called tanasuh, with its common use reincarnation. According to this belief, bodies are just like moulds of souls. A soul migrates from a mould to another, from a body to another. The soul of a man, after leaving the body, enters into a body of an animal, which lives in sky, on earth or in the sea and then goes to another animal, after that enters into a body of human being and goes on.

Even some ancient tribes believed that the soul had migrations from a body to another, first to mines later to plants and after that to human beings alternately. Pythagoras tried to give a philosophical form to it by saying the soul changes its body until it prevails upon the matter. This belief dates back to ancient times and mainly primitive people having simple beliefs accepted it. Those, who did not believe in the Scriptures and who are far away from notifications of prophets, became obsessed in this belief since they couldnt understand Gods eternal and permanent stages in hereafter, or since they thought they would quieten the outcries of eternity in their natures and satisfy their wishes in this way, because they couldnt understand these with their narrow minds. In time, it is even covered with a view of philosophy.

A Brief History of Reincarnation:
There are different views about where reincarnation appeared first. According to some sources, the source of this theory is Egypt. Historian Herodotus also had the similar thoughts. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the soul of a dead person continued his life in animals bodies, especially birds and snakes. Egyptians used to believe that the soul entered into an animals body immediately after death and after visiting bodies of many animals, it came back to his own body (body of human).At the age of Pharaohs; this belief effected construction of the pyramids.
In some sources, it is said that Pythagoras carried that outmoded belief to Greek people and via Greeks; it was carried to the West.
In the Orient, It is seen in India widespread. People who believed in hot zones of rivers Ganj and Sent used to believe that souls would live in bodies of birds after death.
When investigated, it is seen that this false belief also existed in religions of primitive tribes before ancient Egypt and India. Similarly, we can see traces of reincarnation belief in totems.
Early people used to believe that souls migrated not only to human bodies but also to animals, plants, and lifeless existences. So, migration of the soul to another human body was called Nash, migration to an animal body that is suitable for features of his soul was called Mash, migration to plants was called Rash migration to mines and lifeless stuffs was called Fash.
This false belief appeared in ancient Greece, Egypt, India, China, and Iran in different ways. For example in India reincarnation belief was generalized to all existences and turned into mystic forms in Buddhism and Brahmanism. In conclusion this belief was accepted; Souls who dont have sins and are clean reach nirvana and sinner souls live in bodies of animals until they get cleaned.
Ancient Egyptians accepted it as a migration only from human body to animal and from animal back to human body.
In ancient Greece, as far as understood from history of philosophy, it was tried to cloth reincarnation a philosophical form by first Pythagoras, Plato, and later Neo-Platonists.
This belief, originated in Egypt, was put into mystic form in India, philosophical form in Greece. It was given the cover of ethical profession and religion in Iran. This belief had believers in religious groups like Zoroastrians and Mazdaki.
In Iran, this philosophy, dating back to ancient history, passed to some branches of Shiite. Unfortunately, even this science and information century, we encounter people having these beliefs. Those people are the ones who are in primitive ages in mind and who suffer depression in upheaval of present world.
We see that reincarnation belief which existed in ancient Greece, India, Egypt and in Mesopotamia lost its effect slowly by spread of heavenly religions especially Islam and faded away from the life of thoughts totally.
We sometimes encounter people who want to re-exhibit this sophistry. First of them are French Charles Fourrier and Pierre Lerou. Both them are strict socialists. They do not believe in souls regarding their ideology. These materialistic people strictly follow the reincarnation belief to harm the belief of hereafter thus finding reasons for their perverted ideologies.
Now they are materialistic tricky (people) who believe this superstition who want to disseminate and propagandize it.

Evidences Indicating Invalidity of Reincarnation
Reincarnation that is opposed to faiths and essentials of all heavenly religions has no scientific base. Total number of believers of reincarnation is so low that it is not worth counting statistically. Before the proves that rebut the assertions I want to mention that; All the existences in the universe from stars to motes are under the possession and domination of an absolute Will, comprehensive Knowledge, prevalent Power signs of an order. That means, all existences do exist and stop existing by Gods actions and regulations. They become active by permission of absolute Knowledge and Will. That majestic Sun those vast systems have moved and done work without fail since they were created, and this shows that souls and bodies cannot be without control, cannot defy the system. Notion of reincarnation that takes the soul out of the system is diametrically contrary to wisdom of God is a big slander to His holy attributes like beneficence, generosity and benevolence, munificence.
Wisdom and Mercy of God rejects that nasty superstition. Will the heavenly Power that make man vicegerent and sultan of world, that assigns heavens and earth to his service and create him in a high rank, perfectly and bestow him with comprehensive capabilities, make the soul which has those properties travel into the bodies of mice, dogs, snakes even monkeys? Will his justify and wisdom, His mercy and compassion, benevolence and bestowment let this be? Will that situation befit to His reputation.
Our religion gives so much value to human that it does not let graves be stepped on. How can God who does not let bones and soils which have bones in it be stepped on make souls of man travel into bodies of animals?
Will God put soul of man, who gets angry when called dog into a body of a dog and let it be tied to his sons door or put it into a body of donkey and let it carry his son on his back.
Notion of reincarnation is also opposed to promise of God .Requirements of His demands and prohibitions will certainly come true. He promises paradise for believers, He will carry out this promise. He will punish wicked those denying His deity, non-believers and discard sowers of dissent with eternal torment. Believers will be rewarded and non-believers and discard sowers of dissent will not be able to escape from torment with their notion of reincarnation.

Notion of reincarnation is also opposed to the fact of existences of prophets and Holy Scriptures. If souls were without control and were free in their moves, we would not need prophets and Scriptures. The greatest assertion of the Prophet after existence of God and divine is to make people believe in eternal life, hereafter. God sent them to provide human race with progress and maturation and to turn their views of life towards the direction of eternal life. Reincarnation is diametrically contradicted with the facts of existences of Scriptures and assignments of the prophets.
Holy Koran, which tells that man is created as a fortunate existence and heavens and earth, day and night, animals and plants are given to his command and he is assigned as a vicegerent to earth and was created in highest rank as a noble existence and some sort of angels strive to take care and protect him, and that he was rewarded to have an eternal life and that believers will be in paradise and non-believers in Hell permanently, completely rejects the notion of reincarnation.
After some explanation about inconsistency of reincarnation, let us to expound the subject in detail.
Inconsistency of Reincarnation in Respect of Logic and Law:
If reincarnation existed and was real, it would include all people. Majority of people would be supposed to remember ex-bodies they lived in and to remember actions they did when they were in them before moving into their present bodies. Demonstrating a superstition that billions of people do not live, know and believe has no value in aspect of logic. For what reasons is this superstition put into peoples minds? To tell the truth, it is thought provoking and teach lesson.
There are three groups of people claiming about reincarnation. These are a few children, psychopaths, and ideological tricksters.
So far, only a few children have claimed that they lived in different bodies. But the remarks of the children who are only about six and seven have no value in respect of law and science, because, they are not adults. No assertion can be proved by the remarks of the children who live their childhood that cannot distinguish the right from the wrong that cannot perceive the difference between right and wrong. They may be under some psychological effects like making the surrounding busy with them and gathering attention, getting prestige, being known, and getting well-done. Therefore, their fantastic and trivial remarks cannot have scientific and legal value.
According the researches, total number of the children who are claimed to have had reincarnation is not more than three or five. The evidence that all the supporters of reincarnation rely on is just the illogical remarks of those children.
To tell about psychopaths, these are mentally ill; their remarks have various contradictions. It is clear that it is nonsense to have comment on remarks of those people. Their declarations are legally invalid and are not taken seriously.
The third group that accepts the notion is insincere and trickster people who have actions for a certain ideology. Some materialistic and irreligious people who dont believe in God and in hereafter make up unreal events and use some people like a tape recorder and cause unrest in the society for money and for their benefit to deliberately spoil the society, to damage peoples faith and break religious tendencies.
As a consequence, we cannot call that superstition which is based on unfounded assertions of a group of psychopath and some trickster people as a reality.
Reincarnation Is Opposed to Laws of Creation:
There are numberless laws that sustain the order of universe and that are made for continuation of life. Harmony, discipline, order, and balance are sustained with these laws. Maker of these laws that include the entire universe and that sustain the balance and embrace all the universe is God.
Laws seen everywhere in the universe like laws of rate, balance, mercy, compassion training shows that nothing in the universe from stars to atoms is free. And that rejects notion of reincarnation. Let us mention on three of them in short.
Reincarnation is opposed to Law of Rate and Balance in the Universe.
All the things in the universe are the results of a planning and programming. A dress sewn with care makes known a fitting book, skill, knowledge and measure of the tailor, likewise measure, tidiness, harmony, esthetics of all things created in the universe make known law of measure and balance, it shows justice, knowledge, wisdom and will of God. When we have a careful look on the universe, we will see that these two laws are recourses of beauty, harmony, balance, and measure and attraction of all things. Because, beauty and esthetic require a careful measure, a precise instrument, a high harmony and accord.

We will try to explain the law of balance with a few examples.
There are some laws that help man live .Catabolism of fats and nutrition in the body and turning into energy occur in an absolute balance. There is also balance between the sun and the earth, the ebb and the flow of the tides indicates that the balance between the moon and the earth. Useful and harmful microbes multiply in a balance. Multiplying of all animals also occur in a balance. Then it is certain that there is a law of balance in the universe, and nothing can go out of it.
Movements of the earth, occurrence of the seasons occur according to this law. System of all atoms is connected to the law of balance. All the places in the heavens, all the systems of galaxies stand in a balance. As it is seen, there exists a law of balance that embraces all parts of the universe.
The law of balance has versatility like physical balance in the universe, biological balance, the balance between the body and the soul.
Catabolism and transformation of fats and nutrition in bodies of all living beings is in an absolute balance. Birth, growing up, nourishment and eventual death of all living beings indicate biological law of balance.
When it comes to physical balance, all places, galaxies, and milky ways in the heaven exist by the law of physical balance. From atomic systems to solar systems are all included in this law. Physical structure and balance of all bodies are arranged according to their duties. For example, physical structures of the sun and the moon suitable to their duties that are substitutes of their souls. One of them cannot substitute the other.
We see that the universe is totally measured and balanced by a divine pair of compasses and underwent a perpetual control and watch in his prevalent pincers.
The law of balance exists between bodies and souls of all animals. God clothed each soul with a body that is suitable for its character and nature. For example, body of a sheep is suitable for its easygoing soul. That soul cannot be a monster even if it takes head and claw of a lion.
Souls of animals have differences among them. For example, souls of a gazelle and a lion, a fish and a bird are different in nature, and wish, shortly in character, they have different degrees.
The laws that occur comprehensively in the universe show that God does not drop the soul of man whom He created perfectly, into the lowest level. He never puts the soul of man who lives in a palace into a hare living in its lair or into a frog swimming in the lake or into a cat chasing after a mouse. These treats are contrary to the law of balance explained above.
2-Reincarnation is opposed to the law of difference.
God preserves personality and character of each animal. We call it law of difference
Each specious in the universe has its own nature. Character of a creature cannot be transformed to another character. The natures of living beings cannot be transformed to their opposites. They never lose their features. For example, features of an apple cannot leave the apple itself. They cannot be taken out. It never becomes a pear or cherry.
This law is also valid in the sun, stars, rivers, mountains, because, in the universe, each creature is unique in its personality. For example, there is no other Ararat mountain or the Nile on the earth. Even seas preserve their personality and do not mix each other.
This law works so effectively and delicately that not only all specious even each living beings is different from the others in marked differences, peculiar features, distinguishing properties. For example, each man has differences from the other people in creation from his face to his fingerprints. This law is made to protect the law among the existences. If all people had similar sorts of features, nobody would know no one, unrest would occur and the law would be spoiled and invalid.
It is known that features and characters of existences cannot be separated from their disposition. Let us think about a bee and a fly, they have different body structures and they are different in detail. For example one of their foot structure is not similar to the other ones., they are distinguished in various features.
Apart from their organs, they are also different in soul and capabilities. A soul of one of them likes garden of flowers while the other one likes sewerage. With this binocular of example, we can look on other specious of animals. No animal can leave its peculiar features and migrate to another specious. This condition appears more clearly between human beings and other animal specious.
If a soul of a man travels into an animal body, he would go with his mind and thoughts, with his way of speaking and writing, with his sense of art and capabilities, shortly with all his features. Then, there would be philosophers, scientists among the animals. They would have culture and civilization, art and literature.
As the law of difference requires, there cant be reincarnation from human to human as well as between animals and human beings and from animal to animal. A man cannot have an absolute resemblance to another man with his knowledge and mind, trust and belief, his intelligence and mercy, his devotion and heroism. For example, Imam Ghazali has a sublime soul and conscience, and then if reincarnation were real, we would have lots of Ibn Sinai, Plato. However, that has not happened in real. A man keeps his disposition and personality both in school life and after graduation and this shows that all his features will be preserved after death. He, with this disposition, will account for his life in small details in the Great Judgment. Gods lofty justice will come so comprehensively that not only human beings but also even all animals will resurrected with their own dispositions and undergo a judgment. Realization of this truth requires the law of difference.
The greatest aim, wisdom, and result of the law of difference are in the hereafter. In the hereafter on the scale called mizan which sins and good deeds of humans are weighed as Koran says, whoever does an atoms weight of good and evil will see it. Because of this accounting, each person who has right for paradise will have different favors and bounties according to his deeds, good actions, and duties. And each person from the people of Hell will suffer torment according to his quantity of sins and faults. Realization of this truth requires preservation of each person his disposition and personality and distinguishing from other living beings.
Reincarnation is also opposed to the law of sustenance, which is the law of Gods giving creatures necessary things for continuances of their life.
Sustenance of each specious is allocated according to disposition personality and importance of that specious. Since God gave man the highest rank which includes the conscious, mind and faculty of speech, he gave the most exceptional, extraordinary and nutritious bounties to him. For example while a chicken is fed with fodder and millet, a man eats chickens and eggs. While sheep eat grass and straw, a man eats meat and drink milk. Even in life, we regard protocol in invitation and acceptance, so Munificent One will of course; will not put him into body of an animal. His wisdom and mercy will not let this happen.
Reincarnation Ruins Honor and Value of Humanity
God created man in the highest rank. He assigned all plants and animals as servant for him. For example, a tree with its fruits, a cow with his milk, and sheep with its flesh are made to work for the service of him. He is the ornament of the universe and vicegerent on the earth. God created the palace of universe with all the things in it, organized, and coordinated it for man. Greatness and majesty of this palace shows honor acceptance of that guest and shows importance of him for Allah.
Man is created to believe in and worship for God. Regarding this wisdom, he is bestowed with precious properties and comprehensive faculties. Yes man has the supreme trust that heavens and earth cannot bear. Of courses, man who is the result of the universe must have a greater and more important aim than the universe.
This aim is, as mentioned above, acknowledgement of God and trying to be a loyal slave to Him. To assent to Him and try to gain His consent and thus gain the right to live in paradise and have an everlasting life both in soul and body.
This false belief of reincarnation is opposed to character and the reality of human being and is opposed to the value given to him. All-Compassionate who gives that value to human being doesnt humiliate, diminish and devaluate his soul by lowering its level and never puts it into a body of a weak animal which serve to him. He does not lower the soul, which is created in value of brilliant, to the level of coal.
The Notion of Reincarnation is opposed to the Demand and Will of God.
Administration of God comprehends all the things. Human being, like all the creatures, is not out of this administration.
Man is in a constant change with his thoughts, tendencies, and wishes. All this changes occur both in respect of time and in respect of place. The fact that we know and live currently is mentioned by God in many verses in different aspects. We mention some of them in translation.
We created man from an essence of clay; then turned him into a sperm drop in a safe place; then changed the sperm drop into a clot of blood and clot into a piece of flesh; then turned the piece of flesh into bones; then clothed the bones with flesh and brought him forth as quite a different creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. Then after that, you will surely die. Then surely you will be raised upon the day of Resurrection.
These verses show that man is under the administration of only God in all situations, levels, and phases he underwent from the creation until the day of Resurrection. In these verses, secrets and wisdoms pertaining to creation are told in nine levels.
God says that when there were no mould and shape o man and without need of a human seed, He created Adam (pbuh) from an essence of clay faultless and without copying.
He declares the creation of white blood, sperm that moved into womb for continuance of human generation. He legalizes the continuance of the generation. He clearly shows His great power.
He says that disposition of man was turned from a sperm drop to a clot and shows advance and training in the change.
Then, he states that this disposition was turned into apiece of flesh from a clot of blood.
After that, shows to mind the columns and pillars that consist of framework of body. That is the phase of way into creation of bones from a piece of flesh.
After this phase, by stating that the bones were clothed with flesh, He again shows the beauty and the wisdom in His administration to our conscience and minds. With the sentence of Then we built him with a totally different creation and invent by showing all material and spiritual gadgets given to man, He expresses how man is created as a delicate nice and perfect being. Now, creation of man is completed, the creation man who is a criteria for realms in the universe and who is a criteria for actions of God and who is the list of things that belongs to the names of God and that has the worth to wonder at, and who is a masterpiece of creation with his body and build, his perception and sense, his conscience, soul and heart. God who gives these properties to human being is, of course, best of creatures. Would God, who creates man in that high rank, drop mans level to animals.
He says that we will be made to die by His will.
The nine stages mentioned in the verses show that no stage of life, no moment of life is out of Gods administration and will. The wisdom behind Gods creation of man in such a high rank is to commit to him supreme trust and great offers.

It is for him to register his being vicegerent on the earth with his will, life and philosophy. It is for him to show his candidacy for eternal bliss with his belief his moral values his actions and life. Of course God will leave man to his own devices neither in the world nor in the in the hereafter. By the demand of verse of Koran, Resurrection will come true and each person will account for his actions. One of the greatest assertions of prophets is the hereafter. Apart from this fact, three fifth of Koran mention about the Resurrection and the hereafter. Apprehensions of supporters of reincarnation have no value against the fact which is as clear as sunshine.
The False Belief Reincarnation is Also Opposed to the Will of Man:
When we regard migration of a soul from a body of any animal to another and then from there to other bodies as an idea, we have two possibilities.
Reincarnation occurs either in permission of Gods demand and will or occur by the souls own prefer and will. Impossibility of former one has been understood by above explanations. As for the second possibility, we have two ways; the migration of a soul from a body to another with his prefers and will. Soul has this migration either consciously or unconsciously. If soul has no conscious, it is impossible for him to have preference, because his actions are out of mind and conscious. The possibility of soul is choosing a body with his will is a shameful sophistry based on numberless impossibilities. To explain more:
To claim that soul has the control his will means accepting that soul has the ability for having preferences He has ability to prefer, then it will be accepted that soul has conscious and reasoning. Considering that soul had a conscious and reason, then it would never prefer to enter into a body of animal. We can infer that, it is impossible for soul of human being to move into bodies of animals and plants.
Let us assume that a soul migrates to bodies of animals by his will. Then we have hopelessly confused problems. For example, according to this theory, the soul must be ready around the testicle or gene and chromosome of numberless animals, which live in weather on land and in sea. Not only a human mind but also even an animal cannot accept such a false illogical idea. Another idea that is illogical; a soul must be ready in the place where parents have sexual relationship at the time of mating. Then where is the turn of duty of the soul at that time.
The soul either waits or inside, there appears these paradoxes: we are to accept that an agreement was made between soul and male and female genes accumulated in uterus, womb, sexual organs, sexual desire, energy for sexual desire, the body generating that energy, the food that feed the body shortly between these and the universe. Impossibility of this is so clear. For example, male and female genes work according to law of desire and appetite. However, this law is comprehensive. To give that law, which comprehends all layers of life, under the serve and will of a weak soul and male and female genes is madness and rejection of God. At this point, questions and impossibilities go on endlessly.
It is a known fact that grows of the body in uterus is dependent on the law of growing. Since body has order and system relatively, creation of it requires endless knowledge, power and will. The plan and the program of the body, which is bestowed with fine wisdom and is created with order and importance, cannot belong to a weak and ignorant soul.
When this sophistry is accepted, how will these questions be answered? Suppose that a soul finds seeds of the animal he likes. Does he himself find out whether it is male or female or make it learn in lab? Does he himself make them male or female or he sometimes enters into bodies of male and sometimes into females, thus, he lives as a male for some time and female for some? On the other hand, if he is male, he always enters into a male body, if female does he leaves as a female all the time. When he was born, why cant he remember his past, his bodies in which he had lived as a male or female? When billions of people cannot remember such kinds of things and how can a few children and some psycho-maniac remember them.
When more-than-one souls wish for the same uterus, are the disagreements sorted out by draw-lots, by fights or by persuasion? And why can a soul need a body of animal?
As it is understood from what we have told so far, the notion of reincarnation is false, baseless, and invalid and a sophistry in respect of wisdom, truth, reason and in respect of mind and conscience. Again, from the explanations above, we see that the notion of reincarnation is opposed to laws in the universe, all languages of wisdom and truth speak clearly that it is a false belief. On the other hand, the notion of reincarnation is a teasing against wisdom and justice, mercy and munificence of God the most high.
Let us think over it; what can be falser than this notion. Such a notion is a real ignorance, prejudice, and fanaticism.
Reincarnation is Also Opposed to Soul-body Relationship:
Let us ask a question to the supporters of reincarnation: Each home is constructed according to importance of the person living in it. Palace is built for sultan, cage for canary. This home-resident relation exists between souls and bodies in advanced level. God created the body of sheep suitable for its lovely and created the body of lion suitable for its wild soul. Examples of this are equal to the number of species even equal to the total number of living beings. God clothed the soul of human, whom he created as a candidate for everlasting bliss and who is bestowed with mind, memory, dream, and many other faculties, with the body, which is most suitable sublime duties like worshipping, contemplation, and gratitude. It is known that features of a disposition cannot leave that disposition. According to the fact that when a soul of human migrates to a body of an animal, he will want to think and contemplate and wish to tell what he knows and exhibit his abilities. Since the body he lives in will fodder suitable in no aspect, he will not be able to continue his life. A soul who is bored and depressed sometimes even in human body will, of course, not be able to live in animal body.
Those who are obsessed with the notion reincarnation put this important guest, who leaves earth when he does this duty , into cages and make him be afraid of human being, sometimes put him into a lion and make him chase after gazelles, and sometimes put him into frogs and make him live in water. They put sometimes sand sometimes fodder, grass, and straw before that important guest. They reject the wisdom and are opposed to truth. They put that important guest, who eats chicken in life, into a body of a chicken and make him eaten sometimes by people sometimes by foxes. They put the cockroachs soul into the body of tiger, who is afraid of everybody and every voice and who is satisfied with what he finds to eat and make him active and hero and make him be fond of gazelle flesh.
And again, supporters of the notion put a soul into several bodies in a day, for example, into the body of a goat in the morning, into the body of an ox in the late afternoon and into the body of a cow in the evening, finally they send him to bed as a monkey.
According to the supporters of this notion, the tiger attacking to a gazelle today was maybe a gazelle itself, or the supporter of this sophistry was maybe a snake yesterday. Maybe poisonous ideas of the supporters were left from the period of being snake.
As a conclusion, perfect harmony and order between bodies and souls show that God never puts souls of human beings, who he created as a centre for the universe and made him civilized innately, gave him mind and knowledge and assign him vicegerent for earth and commander over other creatures, into bodies of animals and never let him travel between plants and mines and never humiliates him.

Atoms, which are deprived of knowledge, cannot gain the quality of Knowing no matter how perfectly they have come together. Brain is also composed of these atoms, which are unconscious, and without knowledge. It conveys and records the knowledge but does it unconsciously. It is just a tool like a floppy disk that performs the orders of a being called spirit.


The reality of Will is a marvel. To choose, to decide, to distinguish, to wish, to refuse, are not the things that an accumulation of flesh would perform. It cannot wish but carries out what spirit commands.

A brain, which is composed of billions of cells, is so marvelous a computer as to boggle mind. But like every computer, it also needs programming by someone. Brain resembles a central established to perform package programming that spirit produces, and convey it to various parts of body. It does not have the will to run after new ways, other possibilities, and different works.

The expression ‘the purification of the soul’ should be understood as the removal of the desires of the soul or, that is the purification of the soul.

In the following verse, “Truly he succeeds that purifies it.” (ash-Shams, 9), the purification of the soul that is encouraged is present. Our scholars explain it as the removal of the bad deeds from the soul, that is, the removal of shirk (polytheism) through belief and the removal of sins through taqwa, and increasing this purification through good deeds.

That is, a person keeps his record clean by doing good things and avoiding bad deeds. In this purification, it is possible to develop spiritually by doing good deeds, purifying the heart and the soul.

The most effective way of protecting the soul from bad deeds and keeping it away from sins is to fulfill the five pillars of Islam. Performing prayers keeps man away from sins. The soul is educated through fasting.

All kinds of words and deeds in the life of man whether in terms of worshipping or ethical virtues become effective in the purification of the soul.

The spirit is a guest of the land of body. The human being leads a kind of plant life till it is four months old in his mothers womb. He came from the penis of his father who is from any race and he found his station inside the womb of his mother coming from any race.

He continues his growth inside that dark place with the grace of his Creator that creates the sperm in his father and makes his mothers womb as a place to grow up.

The concept race is valid only for this world. The baby there has no race. The spirit has not got any race. And in its perfect sense, man is composed of spirit. The body is like his home.

As it is known, man has plant, animal, and human life. His growth is similar to plants and his need of nutrition and salacity are signs of animal life. His ability of thinking worshipping, believing, god-fearing behaviors, his good deeds, virtues exposes his human side. Nutrition, development, and maturation of soul and heart become real in this side. Man who spends his lifetime in this side has actually reached the life level of soul and heart.
And there is an event in which the soul prevails over the body. This is a high honor that great people can get. Actions of people having this level happen at the speed of souls with the expression of Said Nursi. This is reaching the highest life level of heart and soul.
Answer of the second part of the question:
If a person wants to get a divine name, he must strive as possible as he can in this part, train his self, and mature his soul. For example if he wants revelation of the name the All-knowing, he must study for religious knowledge. If he wants revelation of The Generous in advanced level, he must give people generously. If he wants revelation of The Ever Forgiving, he must take forgiving other people as a principle.

1-Calling spirits comes from foreign countries. Its origin is not religion but philosophy.

2-The guest of the spirit calling session that introduce itself as a dead person’s spirit is not that person’s spirit , it is either one of the evil spirits or a jinn that helps devil.

3-The unknown guest of the session can damage the faith of the people that are there and the well-hearted people who hear the untrue declaration from them. For example, it can introduce itself as Mawlana’s spirit. In order to ensure trust on its words, it can read one or two couplets from Mawlana. However, after that it can try to present and indoctrinate the things away from Islam as if they are the words of Mawlana.

This issue is very important at this point: In a faithful dream, evil spirits and the devil cannot take the form of the Prophet. However, during the spirit calling session, perhaps it may give itself the name of the Prophet and then it may talk against Sharia laws (Islamic law) and illustrious practices. If its speech is opposed to Sharia laws and illustrious practices, it is the evidence that the speaker is not a good spirit. It is not a believer or a Muslim jinn. It is an evil spirit and imitates good spirits that way.

Badiuzzaman, who attracts attention to the danger of calling a dead person’s spirit like that, explains how one must get in touch with the spirits as follows:

“With the verses “As also the evil ones, (including) every kind of builder and diver. As also the others bound together in fetters” (4) “And of evil ones, were some who dived for him, and did other work besides; and it was we who guarded them”(5), Allah informs us that the jinn, the most important intelligent inhabitants of the earth after man, may serve him. Contact may be made with them. Devils too may be compelled to give up their enmity and they may serve him willy-nilly. Thus, Almighty God subjected them to one of His servants who was obedient to His commands. Through the allusive tongue of the verses, in meaning Almighty God says: “O man! I made jinn, devils, and their evil obey one of My servants who obeyed Me. If you too are subjugated to my commands, numerous beings, and even jinn and devils, may be subjugated to you.”

Please click on the link given below;

CALLING SPIRITS (NECROMANCY)

Please click on the links given below;

Can you give some information about reincarnation? How can we prove that it is a wrong belief?

Is reincarnation mentioned in the Quran?

Our body needs food; similarly, our spirit needs food. The most important food of spirit is a sound belief and after that worship.

Worship enablesour belief to strengthen and our ethics to maturate. The fruit of the tree of belief that feeds on worship is high ethics. The light of belief glitters in the heart of a person who continues worshipping and the feeling of responsibility settles. Thanks to worshipping, we get rid of bad thoughts and the stains of sins. Besides, a Muslim gains the love of other people by fulfilling his financial worship.

We need to eat and drink as we live; similarly, we need to worship and receive spiritual food as we live. Allah states the following in the Quran:

"And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is Certain." (al-Hijr, 15/99)

Thanks to worship, a believer gets rid of the material bonds of the world and ascends spiritually; the barriers in front of him disappear and the illuminated way of the land of endless bliss opens to him. Worship, which is the indication of our belief and the food of our spirit, strengthens our belief; it makes us a mature believer with ethics and virtues by clearing us from bad thoughts and the stains of sins. Thus, it becomes a means of attaining peace in the world, getting rid of torture in the hereafter and reaching the endless and happy life in Paradise for us.   

Human life becomes meaningful based on fulfilling the duty of servitude toward Allah. The kinds of worship that Allah wants us to perform aim to prevent our human aspect from rusting and to keep it shining.

Man is made up of both a body and a spirit; therefore, harmonious progress and balanced development necessitate showing equal care and attention to both aspects.

Hz. Abu Hurayra narrates:"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Spirits are like congregations that came together. Those who knew each other beforehand will get on well and those who do not know each other will leave."[Bukhari, Anbiya 2; Muslim, Birr 159, (2638); Abu Dawud, Adab 19, (4834).]

Man's spirit exists before he is born. What is mentioned in the hadith is the spiritual life. Spirits see one another and meet in the realm of spirits; some of them get on well with one another and others do not. Therefore, the spirits that like one another in the realm of spirits continue this relation in the bodies that they enter and vice versa.   

This hadith states that human spirits are congregations gathered in groups. The word "mujannada" mentioned in the hadith may mean "reciprocal" or "mixed". As a matter of fact, some spirits form the way of Allah and others the way of Satan.

The word "taaruf" mentioned in the hadith means to know one another. Thus, the spirits that have known one another before entering bodies come together after entering bodies; the good ones com together and the bad ones come together. The spirits that have not met before will not get on well in the world if they come together after they enter bodies.

Nawawi understands this hadith as "congregations that gathered together" or "different groups". He explains knowing one another as"due to a common property Allah placed in their nature when He created them."

Some scholars say, "The spirits meet and get on well because their attributes and ethics were created in a harmonious way."

Some scholars say, "Spirits were created together; the spirits whose natures were not harmonious hated from one another and moved away from one another."

Ibnu'l-Jawzi says, "The following is understood from this hadith: "If a person hates another person who is virtuous and righteous, he needs to search its cause till he eliminates this feeling and gets rid of this property. The same thing can be said for the opposite situation."

Qurtubi says, "Spirits are the same since they are spirits but they differ from one another because of several reasons and they are various."

Spirit has all kinds of equipment that enables man to become perfect. However, all of this equipment is like a nucleus; the nucleus becomes a tree in the course of time through education.

In other words, the energy that is necessary for the development of humanity is potentially present in spirit. However, the transformation of this potential to kinetic energy is possible through time and education.   

As it is known, even the developments that occur based on the material body become a means of development for spirit. For, the being that sees through the eye of the window and that hears through the window of the ear is spirit; feelings and faculties that are not present in angels originate from being material and are perceived through the power of consciousness and intelligence. This makes a different contribution to the development of spirit.     

To sum up, spirit develops through knowledge. The instructions mentioned in the first verses of the Quran that were sent down show that development takes place in spirit:

“Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created― Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful― He Who taught (the use of) the Pen― Taught man that which he knew not.” (al-Alaq, 96/1-5).

Material developments and progress are not genuine; they are metaphorical because they end at the door of the grave. If these developments become a means of spiritual development, it is a different issue; for instance, technology that is beneficial for humanity, knowledge that widens the horizon of knowledge of man and deepens him in the field of wisdom.

Genuine development is the development that elevates the inner world of man to the level of angels and even above it in some aspects. This takes place when each spiritual feeling and faculty is used in compliance with the purpose of creation and divine consent. Thus, these faculties fulfill the worship peculiar to them and become a means of spiritual progress and eternal happiness for man.   

Man whose heart shines with the light of belief has made a progress. Man whose mind is illuminated by knowledge has made a progress.

A compassionate and merciful man is in the way of progress.

Man who uses the feelings of love and fear properly, that is, who loves and fears for the sake Allah has found the two greatest causes for spiritual development.  

Man is like a group of companies on his own with all of his feelings and faculties. He can profit in hundreds or even thousands of aspects; or, he can lose in thousands of aspects.   

For instance, an eye that looks at legitimate things only and helps man learn science is a big source of profit for man. If the same organ is used for looking at illegitimate things and reading harmful books, it can lead man to rebellion and bankruptcy.    

If every organ and faculty is evaluated in this sense, the progress is understood better.

Perfect belief, taqwa and righteous deeds are like the steps of spiritual development; the spirit and heart of man develops and approaches Allah through them. 

Click for more detailed information:

What is spirit (rooh)? Can spirit's essence be comprehended? Is spirit merely brain? What is the relationship between spirit and body?

ANSWER 1:

As it is known, living things are divided into three categories. Plants, animals and humans. Thus, there are three levels of life here. The first one is the life of plants, the second is animals and the highest level is humans. 

In plants, instead of a spirit, there are some kinds of laws. They are laws of growth, development, differentiation, etc. The law which causes semi-living things such as plants - to develop - can be called biological spirit. They are laws of growth, development, differentiation, etc.

Actually, these laws exist in animals and humans, too. The levels of spirit in animals, that is, some feelings and perceptions they have, are at a far below level compared to humans.

Animals have a peculiar spirit, unconscious but favored with inspiration, specific to them.

On the other hand, humans have a spirit which is conscious, created by a direct order of Allah and given an external body.

ANSWER 2:

It is appropriate to divide the realms of the living things, which form the subject matter of biology, into three as plants, animals and humans.

Fungi are included in the realm of plants.

If bacteria and living things with lower structures cannot be included in the realm of plants and animals, they will be regarded between these two realms.

Humans may be included in the realm of animals in terms of cell structure but they are completely different from animals in terms of spirit, consciousness and feelings. Man is the most honorable creature in terms of imagination, memory, curiosity, anxiety, reasoning, vision and meditation he has.

Jinn, angels and spirituality, who have spirits and consciousness, who are not related to the subject matter of biology, and in whose existence we believe, are included in the living things as owners of spirits.

Almost everybody agrees that man has two basic components: Soul and self. First, we need to distinguish between soul and self and point out how they appear and then answer the question.

Science cannot carry out experiments about soul and self. On the other hand, it can get some results indirectly, through examining the effects that these two leave on man. What psychology and parapsychology do today is this anyway. For instance, drawing conclusions about dreams on body examinations, which take place while sleeping, can be considered among this type of indirect examinations.

Human soul constantly longs for his homeland, the hereafter and yearn for it. Yet for a certain time, he cannot do it since he is confined to his bodily-cage. On the other hand, the self continuously seeks comfort and welfare and instills them into man’s will. As a result, man is under the influence of these two elements. Whichever appears dominant, s/he is forced to that way.

As for music, if some music addresses man’s lofty feelings, brings about decrease in his worldly lusts, and an increase in seeking the hereafter further, we can say that this kind of music is beneficial. However, if some music addresses man’s carnal desires and keeps him/her away from his/her lofty feelings, it is clear that this kind of music is not any nourishment of his/her soul, but poison.

According to what scholars state, the word “Saiqa” mentioned in the verse generally means to die. (see Nawawi, Sharhu Muslim, 15/130-131; Ibn Hajar, Fathu’l-Bari, 6/443-446)

However, according to what some scholars like Ibn Athir state, this word is widely used in the sense of dying but it is actually used for a person who dies or faints due to a horrible sound that is heard. (see Ayni, Umdatul-Qari, 12/251)

Since dying is for people who are alive, it is something not understandable that the first hadith states that Hz. Musa dies as a result of the first blowing of the Trumpet. For, we have no knowledge stating that Hz. Musa is alive like Hz. Isa (Jesus).

Some scholars like Qadi Iyad settle this issue as follows:

The word “SAIQA”does not mean death here; it means “fainting”.

That Hz. Musa’s returning to normal state after “SA’Q” is expressed with the word “AFAKA” strengthens this meaning. For, the word “BUITHA” is used for reviving after death and “AFAKA” for recovering consciousness after fainting. That the word “AFAKA” was used when Hz Musarecovered consciousness after fainting at Tur strengthens this meaning.

Accordingly, the word “SA’Q” here expresses the fainting originating from fear after reviving, not death. (see Nawawi, ibid; Ibn Hajar, ibid; Ayni, ibid)

- It is understood from these explanations that this fainting occurs after people revive and come out of their graves “because they fear by thinking that they will be reckoned then”.

After reviving means after spirits uniting with bodies.

It means the fainting of people who consist of spirits and bodies is in question here, not the fainting of the spirit only.

- In addition, there is another interpretation regarding the issue:

The prophets including Hz. Musa have a different life from that of other people in the realm of barzakh. Prophets are superior to martyrs, who are stated to be alive by the verse. Then, their life is stronger.

Accordingly, it can be said the concept “SA’Q” is used in the sense of fainting for all prophets and dying for the people who have not died yet. (see ibid)

Man was created differently from animals. For instance, everything that an animal needs is placed in its spirit before it is born. However, human spirit learns the things that are related to the world in this world.

For instance, man has the ability to drive a car but he cannot drive at the first moment. He has to undergo certain training for it. Similarly, the spirit has to undergo some training in the world to be able to use its properties.

Therefore, Allah does not held man responsible when he is born. He gives man a term of fifteen years.

The spirits of humans and jinn are taken either by Azrael himself or by his assistants.

Prophets are visited by Azrael himself, and he sometimes informs them of his visit. For example, it occurred with the Prophet Adam, Prophet Moses, and even, as stated in a sound hadith, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them), where Azrael sought permission to take his spirit. (al-Haythami, Majmauz-Zawaid, 9/35; Ibn Sa'd, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra, 2/259)

In cases where Azrael does not come personally, the spirit is taken by one of his assistants or directly under his supervision, depending on the deceased's status.

Regarding the removal of animal spirits, scholars have different opinions.

According to some scholars, Azrael takes all spirits, whether human or animal.

According to some others, Allah directly takes the spirits of animals.

The scholars who hold the latter opinion base it on a hadith narration. It is as follows: in summary: "The lifespan of animals is based on their glorification of Allah. Once their glorification ends, their lifespan ends, and Allah directly takes their spirits. Azrael has no duty of taking their souls." (See al-Uqayli, ed-Duafaul-Kubra, 4/321; Daylami, 1/418)

- Ibn Hajar al-Haytami is of the opinion that Azrael takes the spirits of animals. He cites the following two hadiths as evidence:

1) Azrael said to the Prophet Muhammad:

"O Muhammad! By Allah, if I wanted to take the spirit of a mosquito, I would not have the power to do so unless Allah commanded." (Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, al-Fatawal-Hadithiyya, 1/3; al-Fawakihu-Dawwani, 1/100)

- Qurtubi also includes a hadith suggesting that Allah directly takes the spirits of all animals, but he states that there are conflicting hadiths and mentions the ones cited above. (See Qurtubi, Tafsir of as-Sajda, 11)

2) According to a narration from Ibn Abbas, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "I said to Azrael, 'How can you take the spirits of all those living on land and sea?'" (see Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, ibid) (The evidence here is that only animals live in the seas. Also, the phrase "those on land and sea" is general and includes all beings with spirits).

- Imam Malik responded to the question, "Does Azrael take the spirit of the mosquito too?" by asking, "Do they have spirits too?" When they said "yes", Imam Malik said: "Azrael takes their spirits too" and cited the following verse as evidence: "It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death" (az-Zumar, 39:42). (see Qurtubi, ibid)

It is understood from the explanations above that there is more information showing Azrael takes the spirits of animals than the opposite view.

However, if the information indicating that Allah directly takes the souls of animals is sound, the wisdom behind it could be as follows:

Sending an angel to take their spirits could be considered an honor for humans because Azrael is a special official of Allah. That he comes to man to take his spirit at the time of death indicates that man is an honorable being. All humans are honored creatures of Allah though some of them are unbelievers. They were created in the best form.

It should not be difficult to see the difference between sending a messenger to take their spirits and directly taking them without sending a messenger.

The real nature of the spirit cannot be known fully. The spirit does not have the quality of getting old like the body. However, human spirit improves with belief and worshipping. Unbelief and sins worsen human spirit; that is, they lower it. Thus, the spirit can both be improved and worsened.

This issue is explained in the chapter of at-Tin:

"We have indeed created man in the best of molds, Then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the low,- Except such as believe and do righteous deeds: For they shall have a reward unfailing."

The separation of the spirit from the body is called death. Therefore, the spirit is in the body when you are asleep, having an operation and unconscious.

The state caused by anesthesia can be perceived as a deep sleep. We sleep when some part of the anterior cortex layer of the brain is deactivated; similarly, when this layer of the brain is deactivated more deeply by anesthesia, narcotic drowsiness occurs.

It is not possible for the spirit to leave the body when one is asleep; nor can it leave the body during anesthesia. The spirit continues to remain in the body. For, the spirit has external body, is an independent being, has consciousness and is a law of the realm of order; it is difficult to say something clear regarding the issue since we do not know the real nature of the spirit.

Those who claim to be necromancers deceive some ignorant and gullible people in various ways. The most common of them is as follows:

The medium, that is, the necromancer, sets a few cups on a table and lays out some letters. He utters the name of the so-called spirit he will summon. After a while, the cup starts to move, and the sounds of “Knock, knock!...” come from the table. Meanwhile, the letters move left and right. He tries to determine the answers of the so-called spirit to the questions from the movement of the letters.

Is there really a relationship between the phenomenon of spirit summoning and spirits? Are the spirits of dead people really the spirits that mediums claim to summon and talk to? If they are not the spirits of dead people, who are those who make the sound by knocking on the table?

First of all, we should state that nothing in the universe is purposeless, ownerless and unattended. Nothing is left on its own or to chance. Every living and non-living being in the universe is a prisoner of a system, under supervision and control. Nothing is exempt from the comprehensive and all-encompassing laws imposed by Allah Almighty.

Moreover, the fact that Allah Almighty has created the human spirit as the most honorable and the most exalted of all creatures, adorned it with high virtues, turned the universe toward it, and chosen it as His addressee and friend clearly shows that He does not leave its management and control to others. He does not leave it to some miserable impostors.

Even the control over one’s own body is not in one’s power. For example, a person does not even know how the food he eats is distributed after it passes down his throat and how much is distributed to each part of his body. It is indescribable how ridiculous it is for a human being, who is unaware of all of these things in his own inner world, to claim to have control over spirits.

All that is in the sky and on the earth is under the control of Allah. Therefore, the spirits are not left to their own will. If they could act as they wished with their own will, perhaps some of them would not even want to come to the world; and even if they did, they would not want to go.

The following is stated in verse 85 of the chapter of al-Isra: “The spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord.” The verse clearly states that the human spirit comes from the command of Allah. What force can affect a spirit that comes from the Divine Command and have control over it?

Again, it is declared in many verses that the human spirit is not left unattended after death and that its reckoning begins with death. For example, the following is stated in verse 46 of the chapter of al-Mumin:

“In front of the Fire will they be brought, morning and evening: And (the sentence will be) on the Day that Judgment will be established.”

It is clearly stated in the verse above that the unbelievers will be tormented until the Day of Judgment. The following is stated about the believers in verse 32 of the chapter of an-Nahl:

“(Namely) those whose lives the angels take in a state of purity, saying (to them), ‘Peace be on you; enter ye the Garden, because of (the good) which ye did (in the world)’.”

There are many hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) about the situations after death and the torment in the grave. He states the following in one of them:

“The grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the pits of Hell (according to everyone’s deeds).”

So, the spirit, like every creature in the world, is not unattended. After the death of man, his/her spirit is subjected to a constant inspection and reckoning in the realm of the grave, which is called the realm of the afterlife, and is subjected to punishment or reward.

We should also state that just as the realm is not exclusive to matter, the spirit is not exclusive to human beings. The spiritual realms are infinite; the creatures living in those realms are also infinite. As a matter of fact, only Allah knows the number of angels, jinn, devils, in short, spiritual beings.

Now, let us briefly analyze whether these spiritual beings have anything to do with the claim of “spirit summoning (necromancy)”:

The largest group of spiritual beings is angels. Angels have been created from “light”. Angels are in absolute obedience to Allah, they are engaged in duties such as dhikr, glorification, worship and knowledge; and they do not rebel in any way. Therefore, those who bring news to mediums cannot be angels.

As for human spirits, they are divided into four:

1. The spirits of prophets and saints.

2. The spirits of martyrs.

It is clear that those two groups of spirits will not come to mediums.

3. The spirits of sinful believers:

Those spirits who believe in Allah and the Hereafter but who do not do righteous deeds, who fall into debauchery, and indulge in sins, are subject to torment in their graves. It is unthinkable for them to visit mediums because they are busy with their own reckoning.

4. The spirits of unbelievers:

Those spirits are also subject to a permanent and severe torment in the grave. Who would leave these spirits, who are subject to divine torment, to go and tap the tables?

- So, who are those who come and tap the tables as a result of the mediums’ contact?

In order to answer this question adequately, it would be useful to dwell a little on the wisdom behind the creation of human beings. The following is stated in verse 3 of the chapter of al-Insan:

“Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight.”

As it is clearly understood from the meaning of the verse, man has been sent to this world for a test. The world has been opened before him as a place of competition. The separation of spirits like diamonds from spirits like coal necessitates this competition. The separation of the good from the bad in this competition necessitates the creation of devils, who will mess with human beings so that the good and the bad will be distinguished.

Indeed, it is stated in verses 11-18 of the chapter of al-A’raf in the Quran that the devils are creatures devoid of good and created for evil, and that they will mess with human beings and seduce them:

“It is We Who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the angels bow down to Adam, and they bowed down; not so Iblis; He refused to be of those who bow down. (Allah) said: ‘What prevented thee from bowing down when I commanded thee?’ He said: ‘I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay.’ (Allah) said: ‘Get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here: get out, for thou art of the meanest (of creatures).’ He said: ‘Give me respite till the day they are raised up.’ (Allah) said: ‘Be thou among those who have respite.’ He said: ‘Because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on thy straight way: Then will I assault them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: Nor wilt thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for thy mercies).’ (Allah) said: ‘Get out from this, disgraced and expelled. If any of them follow thee,- Hell will I fill with you all.’”

Two points in the verse are closely related to our issue. The first is that the devils are allowed to mess with human beings until the Day of Judgment, and the second is that the devils can approach people from their front, back, right and left sides. Therefore, the devils always manipulate people’s low and animal desires, and deceive them, leading them astray from the right path. One of the ways they seduce people is by using mediums as mascots and corrupting people by giving them false news.

The following is stated in the Quran:

“Shall I inform you, (O people!), on whom it is that the evil ones descend? They descend on every lying, wicked person, (into whose ears) they pour hearsay vanities, and most of them are liars.” (ash-Shuara, 26/221-223)

Yes, those who come when they are called and make noise by tapping the tables of the mediums are the transgressing ones of the devils and jinn.

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states the following regarding the issue:

“This phenomenon proceeds from philosophy and from Europe, and can be extremely harmful to the believers. It is open to exploitation of many sorts, and if it contains one truth, this is mixed with ten falsehoods. For since there is no touchstone, no criterion, to differentiate between truth and falsehood, the jinn which assist evil spirits and Satan may possibly cause harm both to the hearts of those who busy themselves with it, and to Islam. For there are disclosures which they call spiritual matters but which are contrary to the truths of Islam and general beliefs. Evil spirits present themselves as good spirits or even as great saints and may attempt to cause harm to the basic principles of Islam by saying things opposed to them. They may twist the truth and deceive ingenuous people completely.” (Nursi, Emirdağ Lahikası)

We will quote the following verses of the poem of Mawlana regarding the issue:

“If a jinni dominates man and pesters him, the humanity in man is lost.”

“Whatever he says, the jinni actually says it. Whether from this or that part, the word actually belongs to the jinni.”

“At such a time, man’s own self is gone and the jinni has completely dominated him.”

Abu Hurayra (ra) narrates the following about the jinn’s possession of humans:

“Once, the Prophet (pbuh) said:

‘A strong demon from the jinn came to me last night suddenly so as to spoil my prayer, but Allah enabled me to overpower him. I caught him and intended to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that all of you might see him, but I remembered the invocation of Sulayman (Solomon), son of Dawud (David): ‘O my Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a kingdom which, (it may be), suits not another after me.’ So, I repelled the demon like a dog.’”

Babanzade Ahmed Naim states that it is only Allah who knows the numbers of the types of creatures and that the creatures with life do not consist of only humans and animals. He also states that there are other creatures such as angels and jinn in addition to those two groups, citing the Prophet’s declaration as well as the testimonies of pure people as evidence, and includes the following information:

“Jinn live on earth like humans. There are unbelievers and believers among them. They can take different forms and disguises. The existence of angels and jinn is definite based on the declaration of the Quran and the report of our Prophet.”

Ahmed Naim states that the medium’s making chairs move in the air and cups tap on the table without their hands touching them are actually caused by jinn and devils.

- We should first say that the words and the concepts used in the Quran can have different meanings in different contexts. It might not generally be true to evaluate those words only based on their lexical meanings without taking the context into consideration.

- The statement “He rules (all) affairs” in the chapter of as-sajda was understood differently by scholars (as affair, revelation):

a) According to Mujahid, the meaning of that statement is “to manage affairs”.

b) According to Suddi, it means “to send down revelation”. (see Mawardi, the relevant place)

The management of affairs or the sending down of the revelation belongs to Allah but it is known that angels are used for them. For instance, Jibril is the angel of revelation. 

- The management of the affairs: Hz. Jibril manages winds and spiritual armies; Hz. Mikail manages waters and rains; Hz. Azrail manages the affair of taking spirits away. Hz. Israfil is in charge of informing them about the orders he takes from Allah to them. (Mawardi, Qurtubi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

- There are three views about what ascending in the statement of the verse “ascend unto him in a Day” means:

a) Jibril ascends unto him in a day after sending down revelation.

b) The angel that manages the affairs after coming down to the earth ascends unto Him in a day.

c) The news of the inhabitants of the earth and the muwakkal angels that carry the news ascend unto him in a Day. (see Qurtubi, Mawardi, ibid)

- According to Qurtubi, angels are not mentioned clearly in the verse but it is understood from the context. However, angels are mentioned clearly in the verse below:

“The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years.” (al-Maarij, 70/4)

What is meant by “ascend unto him in a Day” in the verse is ascend to heavens / sidratul-muntaha. (Qurtubi, ibid)

- According to Fakhruddin Razi, Allah’s amr (revelation) comes down from up unto to His slaves. The righteous deeds of the slaves that are in compliance with amrs go up from down. (Razi, the interpretation of the verse in question) This explanation is in accordance with the expression of the following verse:

“To Him mount up (all) Words of Purity: It is He Who exalts each Deed of Righteousness (or each Deed of Righteousness makes Words of Purity go up)” (Fatir, 35/10)

- Qadi Baydawi explains the issue as follows: “Allah manages the affairs on earth through means like the angels He sends down from heavens. This management of affairs goes up to Allah in one day again and becomes manifest in His knowledge.” (Baydawi, ibid)

- According to Ibn Ashur, what is meant by the statement “ascend unto him in a Day” is to emphasize that everything takes place based on the creation of Allah. Those deeds of management from the heavens to the earth depend on a cause in appearance but those causes are only veils; the one that creates and manages them is Allah. (cf. Ibn Ashur, the interpretation of the verse in question)

- The information about Hz. Isa’s being ascended to the sky is a fact that is accepted by the great majority of the Islamic scholars. This information is supported by both verses and sound hadiths.

Some of the beings in the material world are good and some are evil; it is quite reasonable that there are good and evil beings in the spiritual world too, and that they exist as elements that maintain the balance in this realm of good and evil.

- There are unbelievers and evil people as well as believers and good ones among humans; similarly, there are both good and evil beings among jinn. There are both believing and unbelieving jinn.

- It is even clearly stated in a verse that the tribe of Satan is from the tribe of unbelieving jinn.

- Among beings, there are those who are tested and those who are not. All angels are all innocent spirits, as they are innocent and have no ability to rebel. Jinn and humans are subjected to testing because they have the ability to both obey and rebel.

Likewise, as a requirement of the test, there are spiritual angels who inspire goodness and evil spiritual jinn/devils who inculcate evil.

- So, arwah tayyiba means clean (good) spirits and arwah khabitha means unclean (evil) spirits. Angels are examples of the former and devils are examples of the latter. Since human beings also have a spiritual aspect, some of them are clean and some are unclean. However, it is a consequence of their own actions; they are not given the attribute of evil from the beginning.

Those spirits are as different from each other as night and day. Just as there are some insects that enjoy filth, there are also nightingales that enjoy the rose and sing sweet songs about it. Something similar is in question related to spirits.

Every spirit goes to the assembly that suits it. One makes friends with those who fit his character.

- Since we are commanded to seek refuge in Allah from the evil of the bad suggesters of men and jinn in the last chapter of the Quran, the chapter of an-Nas, it is an important issue.

The word nafs (soul) mentioned in the verse “When the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like)...” is generally accepted as soul/spirit in general. The spouses of the souls are their special bodies. The soul and the body, which are together in the world, are separated by death. The soul that lives alone in the realm of barzakh will reunite with the body, which is its spouse, on the Day of Judgment.

“O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him” (al-Fajr, 89/27-28)

As a matter of fact, the word nafs is used in the sense of soul in the verse above.

As a secondary meaning, the word nafs is interpreted as class, type and variety. Accordingly, the meaning of the verse is as follows: “When people are sorted out as believers, unbelievers, righteous, sinners...”. This explanation is compatible with the meaning of the following verses:

“And ye shall be sorted out into three classes. Then (there will be) the Companions of the Right Hand… And the Companions of the Left Hand… And those Foremost (in Faith)...” (al-Waqia, 56/7-10) (see Abu Saud, Ibn Ashur, the interpretation of the verse in question).

We can summarize the explanations made regarding the phrase “when the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like)” in the verse as follows:

a. The souls will reunite with the bodies and resurrect; then, they will go to the Gathering Place.

b. Every soul owner will come together with their peers. Prophets will be together with prophets, saints with saints, martyrs with martyrs in the Gathering Place - in Paradise. The unbelievers will be together with the unbelievers, the hypocrites with the hypocrites, the Jews with the Jews, and the Christians with the Christians in the Gathering Place -in Hell.

c. People will be divided into three groups on the Day of Judgment; each person will be in the group that is suitable for their position. (For these and other views, see Tabari, Razi, Ibn Kathir, Alusi, the interpretation of the verse in question).

We are of the opinion that there is no expression that evokes “twin spirit” in the Quran and hadiths. Therefore, such an inference has never been made by Islamic scholars.

Talking freely about an unknown thing such as spirit, which cannot be tested with scientific methods, means going beyond the limits.

Those who ask questions about the nature of the spirit are given the following answer in the Quran: “Say: The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord” and then, the point that “humans have very little knowledge” is particularly emphasized. (see al-Isra, 17/85)

- Energy is defined as “the power that exists in matter and manifests itself in the form of heat and light”.

However, as the verse above indicates, the spirit is a being that does not have a nature that can build and that comes from the realm of command. Those who call it energy think that the spirit is a force that arises based on matter, and do not accept its independent existence.

- It would be beneficial to learn about the issue from Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, who is an expert about it:

“... For according to the Quran’s glorious decree of قُلِ الرُوحُ مِنْ اَمْرِ رَبِّى spirit too is a conscious and living law which has come from the World of the Divine Command, and which Pre-Eternal power has clothed with external existence. That is to say, just as the unconscious laws which proceed from the Divine attribute of will and the World of the Divine Command are always, or mostly, enduring, so is it even more definite that the spirit, which is a sort of brother to them, and like them is a manifestation of the attribute of will and comes from the World of the Command, manifests immortality. It is also more worthy of it, because it is existent, it has an external reality. And it is more potent, more elevated, because it possesses consciousness. It is also more enduring than them, and more valuable, because it is living.” (see Sözler, Yirmi Dokuzuncu Söz, p. 518)

“Spirit is a law possessing external existence, a conscious law. Like the stable and enduring laws of creation, spirit comes from the World of the Divine Command and the attribute of will. Divine power clothes it an existence decked out with senses. He makes a subtle, flowing being the shell to that jewel. Existent spirit is the brother of the conceivable law. They are both enduring and come from the World of the Divine Command. If pre-eternal power had clothed the laws governing in the species of beings in external existence, they would have been spirits. And if the spirit banishes consciousness, it still would be an undying law.” (see Mektubat, Hakikat Çekirdekleri, p. 470).

It is clearly understood from the statements of Nursi that “Spirit is not energy.”