the soul (النَّفْسُ)
العقيدة التربية والسلوك
التعريف :
The gentle essence that sustains life, the senses and deliberate movement. According to the majority of scholars, the soul is synonymous with the spirit. Yet sometimes they are treated separately, so as to consider the soul to be related to the body, while the spirit is not.
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
The spirit that is breathed into the body, governs it, and leaves it at death.
الشرح المختصر :
"Nafs" (soul) is a subtle substance that carries the power of life, sensation, and movement. It is of two types: First: Created soul: one of the greatest creatures that Allah has ennobled. It lives in the body for a period of time. At death, it moves from the worldly life to the "Barzakh" life until the Hour comes. This soul has three faculties: speech (the rational faculty), desire (the animalistic faculty), and anger (the irascible faculty). Scholars have categorized the soul into different categories: 1. Category of soul into vegetative, animal, and rational. The rational soul has the attributes of the vegetative and the animal souls, but it surpasses them with the intellect and the will. 2. Category of soul into "Mutam’innah": tranquil (which calls to good manners and is at peace worshiping Allah and obeying Him). "Lawwaamah": reproving (which calls to repentance and seeking divine forgiveness). "Ammarah bis-Soo’": evil-commanding (which is the locus of evils and bad manners such as envy, pride, anger, and aggression).
التعريف اللغوي المختصر :
"Nafs": spirit, self. Derived from "tanfees", which means exiting from interior of something.