What's the difference between soul (nafs) and ruh (spirit)?

Question

Someone said soul creates emotions, but I think all emotion and thought is created by the the brain when it responds to different forms of consciousness. Emotions and thoughts are just conditioned consciousness people voluntarily create for themselves which aren't real, they're just illusions. We think are real because we can 'feel' them because of a chemical release in our bodies, which our consciousness again responds to by creating new thoughts based on it.

Where would the soul and spirit come into all of it?

Answer 1

Ask an imam.

Answer 2

Soul is the spirit, which has the ability to feel and your soul would be going to the barzakh when u die and physically you will be on this earth in the grave. its the soul which feels all the pain, you know *spirituality*

and Nafs is like desire, how you control your desires means how u control your Nafs ~!

Answer 3

etymologically there is no difference.

Answer 4

soul is ruh, nafs is the thing in u that makes u desire and want, all humans, regardless of level of piety have nafs, but what type of nafs u have determines f u r a saint or devil and everything in between.

Answer 5

The Meaning of Nafs

by Muhammad 'Afifi al-'Akiti ©

In the Name of God, Most Compassionate and Merciful

Praise be Allah, Who has adorned the aspect of man by granting him good stature and proportion,

Safeguarding him from increase and decline in his aspect and measurements,

We ask for His forgiveness and guidance,

We seek refuge from the evils, which are in ourselves and the wicked in our actions,

And may the blessings and salutations be invoked upon Muhammad, His Prophet .

To proceed:

{ As for whoever exceeded the limits and preferred the life of this world, surely his abode will be the Fire; and as for whoever feared to stand before his Lord and restrained the desires of his self, surely his abode will be the Garden. } Sura 79:39-40

Ibn Kathir says:

"The Mu'min are a people who have been prevented through the Qur'an from indulging in the pleasures of this world; it comes between them and what might destroy them. The Mu'min is like a prisoner in this world, who tries to free himself from its shackles and chains, placing his trust in nothing in it, until the day he meets his Creator. He knows full well that he is accountable for everything that he hears, sees and says, and for everything that he does with his body."

(Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, vol. 9 pg. 276, Cairo 1352)

There are two kinds of people, one are those whose Nafs have overcome them and led them to ruin because they yielded to them and obeyed their impulses. The other kinds are those who have overcome their Nafs and made them obey their commands.

Nafs (pl. Anfus or Nufus) lexically means soul, the psyche, the ego, self, life, person, heart or mind. (Mu'jam, Kassis)

Although some scholars have classified the Nafs up to 7 stages, there is agreement among Ulama' that in the Qur'an, Allah (s.w.t.) has described at least 3 main types of the Nafs. And these are in rank from the worse to better: Nafs al-Ammara Bissu' (the Nafs that urges evil), Nafs al-Lawwama (the Nafs that Blames) and Nafs al-Mutma`inna (the Nafs at Peace).

(Chapter 12 v. 53 in the Tafsir of al-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, 30 vols., Bulaq 1323 & also in Imam Baghawi's Tafsir: Lubab al-Ta'wil fi Ma'alam at-Tanzil, 8 vols. Cairo, 1308)

A summary of these states of the Nafs are given by Imam Tabari in his Tafsir of Surah Yusuf verse 53:

1. Nafs al-Ammara Bissu' (The Soul which Commands):

This is the Nafs that brings punishment itself. By its very nature it directs its owner towards every wrong action. No one can get rid of its evil without the help from Allah. As Allah refers to this Nafs in the story of the wife of al-Aziz (Zulaikha) and Prophet Yusuf (s):

"The (human) soul is certainly prone to evil" (12:53).

Allah also says:

"And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure; but Allah purifies whomever He wishes, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing." (24:21)

This Nafs resides in the world of the senses and is dominated by earthly desires (Shahwat) and passions….

Evil lies hidden in the Nafs and it is this that leads it on to do wrong. If Allah were to leave the servant alone with his self, the servant would be destroyed between its evil and the evil that it craves; but if Allah grants him success and help, then he will survive. We seek refuge in Allah the Almighty, both from the evil in ourselves and from the evil of our actions.

2. Nafs al-Lawwama (the Soul that Blames):

Allah refers to this Nafs,

"And I do call to witness the Nafs that blames" (75:2).

This Nafs is conscious of its own imperfections.

Hasan al-Basri said, "You always see the believer blaming himself and saying things like 'Did I want this? Why did I do that? Was this better than that?"….

3. Nafs al-Mutma`inna (the Soul at Peace):

Allah refers to this Nafs,

"O Self, in complete rest and satisfaction!" (89:27).

This Nafs is tranquil as it rests on the certitude of Allah.

Ibn Abbas (r) said, "It is the tranquil and believing soul".

Al-Qatadah (r) said, "It is the soul of the believer, made calm by what Allah has promised. Its owner is at rest and content with his knowledge of Allah's Names and Attributes, and with what He has said about Himself and His Messenger , and with what He has said about what awaits the soul after death: about the departure of the soul, the life in the Barzakh, and the events of the Day of Qiyamah which will follow. So much so that a believer such as this can almost see them with his own eyes. So he submits to the will of Allah and surrenders to Him contentedly, never dissatisfied or complaining, and with his faith never wavering. He does not rejoice at his gains, nor do his afflictions make him despair - for he knows that they were decreed long before they happened to him, even before he was created…."….

(Al-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, vol. 13, Bulaq 1323)

Imam Baghawi says,

"The Nafs al-Mutma`inna has an angel to help it, who assists and guides it. The angel casts good into the Nafs so that it desires what is good and is aware of the excellence of good actions. The angel also keeps the self away from wrong action and shows it the ugliness of bad deeds. All in all, whatever is for Allah and by him, always comes from the Soul which is at Peace.

The Nafs al-Ammara Bissu' has Shaytan as its ally. He promises it great rewards and gains, but casts falsehood into it. He invites it and entices the soul to do evil. He leads it on with hope after hope and presents falsehood to the soul in a form that it will accept and admire."

Ibn al-Qayyim also mentioned the states of Nafs:

"The Nafs is a single entity, although its state may change: from the Nafs al-Ammara, to the Nafs al-Lawwama, to the Nafs al-Mutma`inna, which is the final aim of perfection….

It has been said that the Nafs al-Lawwama is the one, which cannot rest in any one state. It often changes, remembers and forgets, submits and evades, loves and hates, rejoices and become sad, accepts and rejects, obeys and rebels.

Nafs al-Lawwama is also the Nafs of the believer….It has also been mentioned that the Nafs blames itself on the Day of Qiyamah - for every one blames himself for his actions, either his bad deeds, if he was one who had many wrong actions, or for his shortcomings, if he was one who did good deeds. All of this is accurate.

(Madarij as-Salikin fi Manazili Iyyaka Na'budu wa Iyyaka Nasta'in, vol. 1 pg. 308)

Sa'id Hawwa says regarding these Nafs:

"Depending upon its condition, the Nafs exist in multidimensional. When the Nafs is tranquil because of obeying Allah, and the soul opposes its desires, this soul is known as Nafs al-Mutma`inna. Regarding this, Allah has spoken about it in the Qur'an (89:27-28). But if the soul does not attain peace with itself, rather being exposed to desires, then such soul is known as the Nafs al-Lawwama because this soul reproaches its owner due to the owner's carelessness in fulfilling out Allah's wishes - Qur'an (75:2). More so, if the soul submits to lusts and allows itself to be seduced by Shaytan, such a soul is known as Nafs al-Ammara Bissu'. Allah tells the story about the wife of al-Aziz (Zulaikha) in Qur'an (12:53).

(Tarbiyatun nar Ruhiyah, pg. 32, Cairo: Dar al- Salam, 1408)

There is a famous Arabic saying:

"O soul..Watch out! Help me with your striving,

in the darkness of the nights;

so that on the Day of Qiyamah,

you will win a good life on those heights."

May this be of benefit.

And the last of our prayers,

"Glory to your Lord, the Lord of Honour & Power! He is better from what they ascribe to Him! Peace be upon the Messengers! Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (37:180-182)

Muhammad 'Afifi al-'Akiti

Belfast, 4 May 1997.

Copyright: Published originally in BICNews.

BICNews is an excellent global news and Islamic feature service availble through e-mail.

Send your requests to bicnews-request@ MailingList.net or

check out its internet site at

belfastislamiccentre.org.uk

Related links at other sites:

•   The 68 Blemishes of the Nafs

http://www.abc.se/~m9783/nafs.html

What is 'ruh', that has been given to human beings from ALLAH?

Can it be measured? What colour does it have? Does it take any room or place? Is it inside or outside the body? To the ones who want to understand the 'ruh', which is one of ALLAH's Oneness secrets, ALLAH wants our Prophet to say this:

"Errûhu min emri rabbi" (Isra, 17:85), what means: "Ruh is under my Rab's command ."

This divine answer, which looks very small from the outside, could fill many volumes of books.

As 'ruh' is a very fine lesson, it is explained in the divine edict with symbols. To be able to understand this lesson, we have to know about the sphere of command, the sphere of creation.

Here is a particle of the explanation about this ayat by those, who know about these spheres, who know in ALLAH's way and who are profiting from Muhammed's podium:

They are giving this answer to the people who ask, if ruh is inside the body:

"Ruh is from the sphere of Command. Something that is from the sphere of Command is far from any kind of being joined together. It is such a divine delicacy, that spreading each moment, and that is revealing continuously. It doesn't fade, nor does it die and it is impossible, that is falls into pieces. This amiable thing, that is aware of many inner meanings, has been the object of a manifestation, that is able to know itself and everything. It is not our right to talk about the true nature of ruh. Only our Prophet can talk about the true nature of ruh. We only can talk about its attitudes."

After these explanations we divide ruh into four parts:

1. Human Ruh

2. Animal Ruh

3. Vegetable Ruh

4. Ruh of the lifeless

We leave the Animal Ruh, the Vegetable Ruh and the Ruh of the lifeless to the scientist who are dealing with positive science; scientists who are only searching for the relation between different events and who only can answer the question "why?".

"As we mentioned above, the human Ruh is a divine command. The fact that things are changing, renewing or turning is not damaging its true nature.

Rasulallah is saying about this ayat: "Ruh is from the Sphere of Command. As ALLAH told Ruh to appear, it became manifest. Even if not, this object, which is not part of material. densitive or heavy things; which is like the sun giving benefit to objects, that are not included to its own circle."

Rasulallah is saying about the 'Animal Ruh': "It comes from the sphere of creations. It is a fine smoke, that depends on the desire of the divine command called 'Human Ruh'. This is the part, that will encounter non-existence at the moment of death."

Such is the matter with people who believe, that there is only the non-existence after death. They are not able to understand the there's the 'Human Ruh' besides the 'Animal Ruh'.

Because there are many events showing us, that Ruh will not disappear when it will be seperated from the body. For example the fact of having presentiments is a peculiarity of Ruh.

Vaiti says: " With the Ruhs, that are called 'nefs of the eloquence', ALLAH has become manifest with perfectioln and maturity; and He covered with His glorious name SETTAR; and He gave to Ruh a certain amount of the attributes to know, to see and to feel; by this He made the universe energetic, alive and active. The experts of Physics have not been able to reach its truth or to lift the curtain of Ruh to become the owner of its power. If Ruh had not been covered, maybe each ignorant would have thought that this must be ALLAH and they would have prostrated Ruh and by this they would have fallen into a mistake and they would have commited a sin."

According to Ibni Sinâ: "Human beings personel truth is not this blood-and-bone-sack of fifty of sixty kilogramms."

Before Ruh entered the body, there was no seperation like my Ruh, your Ruh, anybody's Ruh or the Ruh of some selected men. But after being related with creations, they got expressions like:

- Ervah-i âliye

- Ervah-i lâtife

- Ervah-i süfliye

Ervah-i âliye: exalted Ruh; Ruhs that have found perfection, that have found salvation; these are the Ruhs of the messenger and their inheritors

Ervah-i lâtife: fine Ruh;

Ervah-i süfliye: fallen Ruh; these are the Ruhs of people who go to the Ahir as Unbelievers, Hypocrists or Tyrans.



Ismail Hakki Bursevi is dividing ruh into two:

- imperial Ruhis; is turned to the sphere of command;

- animal Ruh; is turned to the sphere of creations



Concerning the imperial Ruh is the observer and the superior of the animal Ruh. On the other side, the animal Ruh is the coordinater and mover of all creations.

The imperial Ruh and his perception never vanishes after human body dies and turns to a ruin by the command of ALLAH.

As for the animal Ruh, its centre is the heart and its circulation places are: liver, lungths, kidneys and brain and it is distributed in the whole organismby blood. The animal Ruh consists of elements and before it entered the human body it was a power from the unseeable knowledge of the imperial Ruh.

When the imperial Ruh and the animal Ruh are entering the body-statue, then movement will appear in the bodies. All the movements belong to the animal Ruh. Peculiarities like to arrange, to know, to talk, to think belong to the imperial Ruh. If they weren't, none of those work of arts that have been made by humans could have been done.



Summing up we can say:

Human Ruh is an everlasting enigma. According to the scholars, only wise men who followed the hadith "Die before you are death" can understand its real meaning.

Indeed, let's stay awhile in the presence of this ayat:

"When I have fashioned him In due proportion and breathed into him of My Ruh..." (15:29)

To show His wish very clearly, ALLAH declares with this ayat that He has placed Ruh in a neighbourhood which accepts levelings.

Here's a word of our Prophet: " ALLAH has created this Adem, that we know, after thousands of Adems." So this means, that we are the children of the last Adem.

Look at this greatness! Times before these thousands of Adems have been created, ALLAH created six different beings and millions of years later, He created our ancestors.

So the mud and the clay of Adem and Eve (yes, of creations, whose first and last page have been torn out hidden in power) have been placed in the Ruh. Then the expression: "I blew My breath upon them" means: "I made the light of the Ruh flame up, I gave him love."

The fact, that creation of the first couple is an indefinite secret, is the most appearantly prove of the divine sentence: "ALLAHu lâ ilâhe illa hüvel hayyül kayyûm".

Yarabb! May goodness, selât and selâm be upon Muhammed and his family.

http://www.angelfire.com/al/AhmedBaba/wh...

Answer 6

As far as  I know, Soul and body have an effect on each other. For example if the body is hurt the soul feels injured too and if someone is emotionally hurt (that is soul in my opinion) the body feels the pain too.

As far as emotions are concerned I think thats what Ruh (soul). I dont think there is a diffrence in the spirit and soul.