greed and desire. For example, the Quran attributes
to Joseph the declaration, “Selfishness [nafs] incites
evil” (Q 12:53), and promises, “As for the one who
fears standing before his lord and prevents the self
[nafs] from desire, indeed the garden [of paradise]
will be the place of refuge” (Q 79:40–41). It also
states that each person [nafs] will taste death (Q
3:185) and will be held to account on JUdgment
day (Q 74:38).
The Islamic concept of spirit, as distinct from
nafs, is often expressed by the word ruh. It occurs
21 times in the Quran in contexts involving
themes of creation and revelation. In contrast
to nafs it can be treated as either a masculine or
feminine noun, and unlike nafs, which refers to
the human being as an individual person, ruh is
closely identified with God. For example, after
forming Adam from clay, God brought the first
human being to life by breathing his spirit (ruh,
Q 32:9) into formed clay or mud. In a similar
manner, mary conceived JesUs after receiving the
breath of God’s spirit (Q 66:12). In one instance,
Jesus is identified with the spirit (Q 4:171), and
in three other verses, God is said to have strength-
ened Jesus with the holy spirit (ruh al-qudus, Q
2:87, 253; 5:110). The holy spirit is also credited
with bringing God’s true revelation to Muham-
mad (Q 16:102). The association of the spirit with
revelation is also evident in Q 97, where it is said
to have descended with the angels on the night
oF destiny. Commentators later connected this
sura with the occasion of Muhammad’s receiving
of the first revelation of the Quran and identified
the spirit of revelation with the angel gabriel.
Outside of the Quran, the hadith continue to use
ruh, to mean the “human spirit.”
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350), a noted
Hanbali jurist and theologian, is often credited
with summarizing the key points of orthodox
doctrine concerning the human soul, which he
identified with the spirit. Reflecting post-quranic
views, he maintained that while the body is mor-
tal, the soul is created and immortal. It infuses the
body like water in roses or fire in charcoal. Ibn
Qayyim employed quranic phrases to ascribe to
the embodied soul (nafs) three different charac-
teristics: it incites a person to do evil, upbraids a
person for wrongdoing, and instills blissful tran-
quility that will lead to salvation. In other words,
each person possesses a lower self or soul that
inclines her or him to sin and wrongdoing and
a higher one that inclines to the good and virtu-
ous. The orthodox maintained, in opposition to
some philosophers and mystics, that the soul had
a material quality that received its own individual
characteristics. Upon death the soul is separated
from the body and takes on a life of its own, with
the ability to hear and see, in anticipation of the
Final Judgment. It was widely held that the angel
of death came to extract the soul from the body
at a person’s appointed time, which could be easy
or difficult, depending on how the deceased had
lived his or her life. Souls of prophets and martyrs
go to paradise. The souls of other people enter a
transitory state (barzakh) during which they might
travel and have visions of paradise and the Fire.
Eventually they return to body to undergo the
“interrogation of the grave,” when they are asked
about their faith by angels known as Munkir and
Nakir. Afterward, the soul is believed to remain
near the body and suffer or sleep until the resur-
rection, when it is reunited with the body again.
Belief in the presence of the souls and spirits of the
dead near the body is widely held and is reflected
in FUnerary ritUals and burial practices. In many
Muslim societies, people believe that the souls of
the dead can be encountered in dreams, and they
have the power to help or harm the living. There
are also beliefs and rituals connected with spirit
possession in different Muslim cultures.
Muslim philosophers and mystics did not
always accept the doctrines about the soul and
spirit that were taught by the Ulama. They formed
their understandings by combining Islamic belief,
sometimes minimally, with ideas derived from
Hellenistic philosophy and personal experience.
Thus, philosophers like al-Kindi (d. ca. 870), a
native of Iraq, maintained that the soul was imma-
terial and immortal. Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi
(d. ca. 925), a Persian physician and philosopher
familiar with the writings of Plato (d. ca. 347
b.c.e.), argued that the soul was one of five eternalK 632 soul and spirit