Imam Ghazali writes in the beginning of the third volume of his
famous book Ihya Ulumdin - "It is by means of soul that man is the best of
creations as it is by means of soul that man acquires the knowledge of God and His
attributes and by no other organs of the body.
It is by means of soul that man can go to the nearness of God and
make efforts to realise Him. So soul is the king of the body and its different organs are
its servants to carry out its orders and commands. It is accepted by God when it remains
free from things other than God. When it is attached to things other than God, it drifts
away from God. It is the soul which will be asked and rebuked. It becomes fortunate if it
is purified and cleansed, and it becomes unfortunate if it is kept impure. It is the
knowledge of soul which is the root of the knowledge of God. When man does not know
himself he does not know God.
Majority of men are ignorant of soul and its attributes as a
screen is cast between soul and baser self. God says: God moves between a man and his soul
and controls it and its attributes. It is between the two fingers of the Merciful. It
sometimes reaches the last limit of the devil and sometimes rises so high as to the throne
of the Almighty. He who does not enquire about his soul is included among those persons of
whom God says in the following verse: "They forgot God and so He made their souls
forgetful. They are the transgressors."
See the Qur'anic verses in Sura 'Al Shams' enlightening us on
some of these aspects - "By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and
its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; Truly he succeeds that purifies it, and
he fails that corrupts it!" ( 7 10).
It should be noted that various terms have been used to denote
the human soul, such as 'Nafs, Ruh, Qalb and Aql'.
According to Imam Ghazali, Nafs has got two meanings - The first
meaning is passion or baser and lower self. Passion is a comprehensive word consisting of
greed, anger and other evil attributes. The Prophet (pbuh) said: Your greatest enemy is
your passion lying by your two sides. The second meaning of Nafs is soul as described
above. When Nafs assumes calmness and has removed passion, it is then termed Nafs Mutma
Inna or satisfied soul as God says: O satisfied soul, return to your Lord satisfied and
satisfying Him (89:27).
In the first meaning, Nafs is with the party of devil. When the
calm nature of Nafs does not become perfect, it is called Nafs lawwamah or selfaccusing
soul, as much a soul rebukes one for neglect in divine duties. If soul gives up protests
and surrenders itself to the devil, it is called Nafs Ammarah or passion addicted to
evils.
This can be considered as three important stages of the
development of human soul, as the Holy Qur'an coins it. The first one is Ammara. The
Qur'an uses this word in Sura Al Yusuf "Nor do I absolve my own self (Of blame):
the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow his Mercy: but
surely My Lord is OftForgiving, most Merciful" (Sura 'Yusuf' - 53).
The second one is Lawwama as referred to it in Sura AlQiyama
when Allah says: "And I do call to witness the selfreproaching spirit: (Eschew
Evil)." And the third one; the highest stage of all, when it achieves full rest and
satisfaction. This is Mutma Inna as the Qur'an uses in Sura AlFajr - "(To the
righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction!
Come back thou to thy Lord, well pleased (thyself), and wellpleasing unto Him!
"Enter thou, then, among my Devotees! Yea, enter thou My Heaven!" (2730).
Ruh: It has got also two meanings. It means first a material
thing within the heart which vibrates the whole body like the current of electricity and
which runs through the veins of the body. It is called 'life'. It has got the power of
touch, hearing, sight, smell and the power of the other limbs of the body. The second
meaning of Ruh is an immaterial subtle thing which is called soul and not life. God says:
They ask you about Ruh. Say: It is a command from my Lord 17:85.
