judgment’’ (Sura 16:58–59).
[ 49 ]Within these teachings, though, lies
a critical philosophical problem: the soul
isspiritual. Unlike the body, the human
soul, being a spirit, has no parts because
it has no matter — in other words, it
cannot be divided because it has
nothingtodivide. Catholic belief
recognizes this by teaching that all
human souls are created directly and
immediately by God at the moment of
conception. In teaching that men and
women were created from a single soul,
Islam contradicts sound logic; this belief
seems to be a corruption of the Genesis
creation account in which the bodyof
Eve is formed from a part of
Adam’sbody, that is,arib(Gn 2:21–23). No
‘‘division of soul’’ is mentioned.