Author: Mohajer Azizi
Scientology; Its Origins and Beliefs (Part 19)
5. Belief in the Eternity of the Soul (Thetan) (Continued)
B: The Time of the Creation of the Soul
Regarding whether the soul was created before the body or after it, different views have been presented by scholars. Allamah Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) نقلs two well-known views on this issue:
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A group of scholars—such as Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm, and others—hold that the creation of the soul preceded the body. They support this view with the following Qur’anic and Hadith evidence:
Allah the Exalted says: “وَلَقَد خَلَقنَٰكُم ثُمَّ صَوَّرنٰكُم ثُمَّ قُلنَا لِلمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسجُدُواْ لِـَٔادَمَ”[1] Translation: “We created you, then We fashioned you, then We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam.’”
They argue that the word “thumma” indicates sequence with a temporal interval, which shows that our creation occurred before Allah’s command to the angels to prostrate before Adam. Since our bodies came into existence after that, they conclude that this earlier creation refers to the creation of souls.[2]
Allah the Exalted also says: “وَإِذ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِم ذُرِّيَّتَهُم وَأَشهَدَهُم عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِم أَلَستُ بِرَبِّكُمۖ قَالُواْ بَلَىٰ”[3] Translation: “And [remember] when your Lord took from the children of Adam—from their loins—their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves [saying]: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yes.’”
They say that this taking of testimony and the question “Am I not your Lord?” occurred only with the souls, because at that time the bodies had not yet been created.[4]
Muslim ibn Yasar al-Juhani narrates that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the verse: “وَإِذ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِم ذُرِّيَّتَهُم وَأَشهَدَهُم عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِم أَلَستُ بِرَبِّكُمۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ شَهِدنَآ أَن تَقُولُوا يَومَ ٱلقِيَٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَٰفِلِينَ” Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say, when asked about this verse:
“Allah the Almighty created Adam, then passed His Hand over his back and brought forth his progeny. Then He said: ‘I created these for Paradise, and I will cause them to act with the deeds of the people of Paradise.’ Then He passed His Hand over his back again and brought forth another progeny and said: ‘I created these for the Fire, and I will cause them to act with the deeds of the people of the Fire.’”
A man asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Then what is the role of deeds?” The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “When Allah creates a servant for Paradise, He places him upon the deeds of the people of Paradise until he dies upon one of the deeds of the people of Paradise, and Allah admits him into Paradise because of that deed. And when He creates a servant for the Fire, He places him upon the deeds of the people of the Fire until he dies upon one of the deeds of the people of the Fire, and Allah admits him into the Fire because of that deed.” [5]
Hisham ibn Hakim ibn Ḥizām narrates that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Do we initiate our actions ourselves, or has everything already been decreed?”
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Allah took the progeny of Adam from their backs and made them testify against themselves. Then He divided them into two groups with His two Hands and said: ‘These are for Paradise, and these are for the Fire.’ Those who are for Paradise have been made ready and facilitated for the deeds of the people of Paradise, and those who are for the Fire have been made ready for the deeds of the people of the Fire.” [6]
Those who believe in the precedence of the soul’s creation infer from these two hadiths that since Allah the Exalted took the entire human progeny from the back of Adam عليه السلام and took their testimony regarding His Lordship, it follows that the souls of all humans were created before their bodies.
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Another group of scholars and thinkers hold that the creation of the body preceded the soul. They support their view with the following evidences:
Allah the Exalted says: “يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى”[7] Translation: “O mankind! Indeed, we created you from a male and a female.”
This address is to the human being as a complete entity composed of soul and body. Thus, this verse indicates that the complete existence of a human being comes into being after the creation of his father and mother.[8]
Allah the Exalted says: “فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِي”[9] Translation: “So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit…”
This verse shows that first the body was fashioned and formed, and then the soul was breathed into it. This is the clearest and most explicit evidence for the precedence of the body’s creation over the soul.
The Prophet (PBUH) said regarding the development of the fetus: “إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْماً، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يُرْسَلُ إِلَيْهِ الْمَلَكُ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحَ، وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ: بِكَتْبِ رِزْقِهِ، وَأَجَلِهِ، وَعَمَلِهِ، وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيد”[10] Translation: “Each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop, then he becomes a clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then the angel is sent to him and breathes the soul into him, and is commanded to write four things: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be miserable or happy.”
This hadith indicates that the child’s body first goes through stages of development in the mother’s womb, and only afterward is the soul breathed into it. This is a clear proof that the creation of the body precedes the creation of the soul.
C: The Place of the Soul in the Body
The soul does not have a specific center in the body; rather, it flows throughout the entire human body. Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: “The soul is not confined to a specific part of the body; rather, it permeates the entire body, just as life—which is a non-material state—flows through all the limbs of the body. Life is dependent on the soul; so, when the soul is present in the body, life and vitality are present, and when the soul departs from the body, life also departs from it.” [11]
Continues…
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References:
[1]. al-Aʿrāf: 11.
[2]. Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Rūḥ, p. 453.
[3]. al-Aʿrāf: 172.
[4]. Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Rūḥ, p. 454.
[5]. Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, no. 3076.
[6]. al-Bayhaqī, al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt, no. 696.
[7]. Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt, verse 13.
[8]. Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Rūḥ, p. 466.
[9]. Ṣād: 72.
[10]. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 2643.
[11]. al-Mawsūʿah al-ʿAqadiyyah, vol. 4, p. 169, citing Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, vol. 9, pp. 302–303.
