Guide-to-Sound-Creed-A-Book-on-Muslim-Creed-and-Faith

Principle 5: Beliefin Last Day
273
.:. The Truth about the Soul
Shaykhul-Islim Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"There seems <strong>to</strong> be a uniform agreement among the Companions, the
righteous Tdbi'un (Successors of the Companions), the Salaf (early
Muslim scholars) and the scholars of the Sunnah that the soul is an
independent entity different from the body. It is separablefrom the body
at death, and susceptible <strong>to</strong> happiness, misery or chastisement. The soul
is neither the body nor one ofits components."
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"The sound opinion is that the soul is not composed of sensitive
substance, matter or form. It is not of the distinctive tangible normal
substances. The soul can be referred <strong>to</strong>, and it ascends, descends, and
parts the body, which has been confirmed via legal texts and ratified by
rational evidence. One may say, 'Where is the soul in the body?' To this,
the answer is there is no specific place for it in the human body; it flows
all through it just as life itself. Life is conditioned on the soul; so long
as the soul is still in the body, this body has life, and whenever the soul
departs it, life departs it <strong>to</strong>o."
.:. The Soul is Created
Shaykhul-IslAm Ibn Taymiyah said, "There is a consensus among the Salaf, the
Adherents ofthe Sunnah and Muslim Community that the human soul is created.
Such a consensus has been reported by many Muslim scholars." Ibnul-Qayyim, the
prominent scholar and the student ofShaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, said, "There
are twelve points that prove that the soul is created." What follows are some ofthese
points as given by Ibnul-Qayyim:
1- Allah, Exalted be He, says, t~••Allah is the Crea<strong>to</strong>r of all things,.,"
(Qur'an: Ar-Ra'd: 16) Here, the noun t~ll things" is generic, which
is comprehensive and does not imply any kind of specification. Allah's
Attributes, which are implied in His Names, are ruled out here as Allah,
Glorified be He, is the Lord in Whom the Attributes of Perfection are
inherent. Allah is the Crea<strong>to</strong>r by virtue of His Self and His Attributes;
anything other than Him is created
2- Almighty Allah says, '~ .•For I created you (i.e., Zakariyya; Zechariah)
before, while you were nothing!' (Qur'an: Maryam: 9) Allah, in this verse,
addresses both the soul and the body because the body alone is incapable
ofunderstanding, communicating or reasoning; rather, it is the soul that is
credited with the faculties ofthought, action, and emotion.