What is a soul?

[lavikor201]

What is a soul?
by Rabbi Mendy Hecht

A. The soul is to the body what the astronaut is to the spacesuit—it functions like a battery, giving the body life and animation. Take the astronaut out of the suit, and the suit’s basically useless. Take the soul out of the body, and the body basically collapses. (Which is what death is—separation of body and soul.)


B. A soul is Divine energy. It is existence beyond matter. It is that part of you that exists beyond matter, beyond your body and your five senses. It cannot be seen or experienced physically; the senses are simply the wrong devices to contain and measure the soul (just as you can’t see love or music or hold democracy in your hands). It is impossible to give a concrete definition of a soul, since a soul is not a tangible entity. It’s not matter—it’s energy, but neither is it physical energy. It’s G-dly energy, a little piece of G-d within you. One would actually have to shut down the senses to experience the soul—if you were blind, deaf, tongueless, noseless, and touch insensitive, you would still be alive inside yourself. But what part of you is still alive? That’s the soul.


Each soul is the expression of G-d’s intention and vision in creating that particular being.

C. Simon Jacobson, author of Towards of Meaningful Life, explains the soul like this: “A soul is our inner identity, our raison d’être. The soul of music is the composer’s vision that energizes and gives life to the notes played in a musical composition. The actual notes are like the body expressing the vision and feeling of the soul within them. Each soul is the expression of G-d’s intention and vision in creating that particular being. The soul is the very fabric of our being—as conceived by G-d’s vision in wanting us to exist. Each of us is a unique musical note in a grand cosmic composition. It is incumbent upon us to discover our soul—our higher calling—and play its unique music.” Wow.

[al-fateh]

whatever you wrote has no solid proof behind it

no one will ever know what a soul really is. its not a speciment that can be examined

no one knows

[lavikor201]

whatever you wrote has no solid proof behind it

no one will ever know what a soul really is. its not a speciment that can be examined

no one knows

You sound like an Atheist. Just change each time you wrote soul and replace it with "G-d" and then read your post.

[al-fateh]

you make it seem like you guys know what a soul

is LOL

so what color is it?

exactly....

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[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


What is the nature and definition of the soul
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?re...n=eng&txt=soul


Peace.

[Allah-creation]

lavikot, Is that the jewish believe of a soul?

[Dahir]

lavikot, Is that the jewish believe of a soul?

I'm sure Lavikor is giving the Theist description of a soul, goes for Islam and Christianity as well as Judaism and maybe even Zoroastrianism.

Lavikor is onto a good point.

[lavikor201]

lavikot, Is that the jewish believe of a soul?

It is the Rabbi's who wrote the pieces definition of a soul. It may correspond with Jewish belief but I am unsure since I am not edcuated enough to awnser confidently what exactly the Jewish definition of a soul is.

[جوري]

I'm sure Lavikor is giving the Theist description of a soul, goes for Islam and Christianity as well as Judaism and maybe even Zoroastrianism.

Lavikor is onto a good point.

Bro dahir do you know what zoroasterians worship? have you read about their rituals? especially when it comes to death and burial?

[جوري]

As for the soul "inma alroo7 min amr rabbi" only God knows what it is.... I don't think it can be defined by anything physical or mathematically calculable with an earth bound law of physics ... certainly the soul goes on after we have perished so we can't judge it as Energy....... I am comfortable not having a definition for the soul... I am comfortable not having a definition for the conscious yet knowing they are an unintelligible part of us...

[Joe98]

whatever you wrote has no solid proof behind it

no one will ever know what a soul really is. its not a speciment that can be examined

no one knows

Spoken like a true athiest :D

[Joe98]

... certainly the soul goes on after we have perished.......

According to Islamic belief, the body is take up to paradise where we can enjoy physical pleasures.

Where does the soul go?????

[lolwatever]

^ up2 the barzakh ;) he might think u mean the paradise heaven ...

[جوري]

yup there is the Barzakh.... there is the day of judgment and then there is the final destination... each entails something different...

[Joe98]

But Muslims told me that a sinner will have the skin burnt in fire over and over again for all eternity.


Where is the body?

[جوري]

But Muslims told me that a sinner will have the skin burnt in fire over and over again for all eternity.


Where is the body?

yup... that is after (death) -- (day of judgment) once in hell jouhnama wa'bes almaseer.... why do you not read carefully?:? we don't know where the soul goes once a person is dead there are different schools of thoughts also depending on what kind of person you are... there are threads on it in the Akhira section addressing this is more details...

[Joe98]

Where are you between death and the day of judgement?

[جوري]

Where are you between death and the day of judgement?

soul is in the barzakh... also depends on what kind of person you are...... however if you were cremated you'd be dust... if you were burried you'd decay........ anything unclear?

[جوري]

here found this if you are still interested........
Name of Questioner
Khan - India

Title
Al-Barzakh and the Life in the Grave

Question
As-Salamu `alaykum. What is "Al-Barzakh"? I have heard that God has created special place for dead people. Do their souls live there? What about the Prophets? Do their souls also live there? My second question is: Does the dead person know what goes on in this life and what happens to his relatives? Thank you.

Date
24/Aug/2003

Name of Counsellor
IOL Shari`ah Researchers

Topic
The Unseen, Muslim Belief



Answer



Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.


In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.


All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


Dear brother in Islam, we would like to thank you for showing keenness on knowing the teachings of Islam, and we appreciate the great confidence you have in us. May Allah enlighten our hearts with the light of Islam!

With regard to your first question, Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali, instructor of Islamic Heritage at the Faculty of Education, Kuwait and Imam of Dahiat As-Sabahiyya Mosque, answers:

“Literally Al-Barzakh means interval or a barrier between two things. Allah Almighty says: “Between them is a Barzakh (Barrier) which they do not transgress.” (Ar-Rahman: 20)

Technically, it stands for an intermediary stage between this life and another life in the Hereafter; it’s an interval between death and the Day of Resurrection. Allah says: “Before them is a Partition till the Day they are raised up.” (Al-Mu’minun: 100)

This does not mean that there would be special places for every soul, but the souls of dead people are in different places according to the level of their Iman: some of them will be on the highest paradise with the souls of Prophets and martyrs; some believers will be in a particular place in Paradise before the Day of Judgment; some will have their graves like gardens of Paradise and some will have it like pits of the Hell-Fire. All of these cases and states of people will be in the period of Al-Barzakh, each one according to the status of his Iman.

As for your second question, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, answers:

“The dead person does not know anything of the life of living people because he or she lives in a completely different world. However, it is reported that the dead person feels the footsteps of those who walk over him or her. It is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at the people of the well, in which the bodies of the disbelievers killed in the Battle of Badr were thrown and said, “Have you found true what your Lord promised you?” `Umar asked, “You are addressing dead people.” The Prophet replied, “They hear better than you do, but they cannot reply.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

These narrations refer to the period that closely follows the death of a person, but after that, the deceased moves completely to a new different world where he or she will not be aware of anything of what happens at this life. This may be confirmed by the verse: “Thou canst not reach those who are in the graves.” (Fatir: 22)”

[Woodrow]

Where are you between death and the day of judgement?

Perhaps, for an atheist it would be Toledo, Ohio.








That isn't quite the joke it seems on the surface. The reason I answer that way is because what we believe is based upon faith and is not possible to fully explain in terms of location or state of being. It would be much more understandable to many that do not have the concept of faith to accept Toledo or any tangible realm. But, we do not have anything we can show as a specific local that you could quantify and locate on a map or star chart. We have faith that we believe the Qur'an is true and we do have tangible proves to show the validity of the Qur'an. (that is a seperate topic). Based on why we believe the Qur'an is the True word of God(swt) that is sufficient proof that we are aware that we have a soul and that it will dwell in a place after the physical body is long gone.

[جوري]

It is strange but I don't think terribly difficult to explain... when you sleep you can go anywhere.... you can be in pain, you can be distressed... you can hang out with the sisters of Mercy, you can rule the world....yet never leave the bed and no one around you would know if you were air borne or dancing with bleezebub?... only difference is death is permanent and the final destination can be a continuous nightmare........ anyhow this is an analogy but closest I can come up with....

[Trumble]

What is a 'soul'? A theoretical device to solve certain philosophical and theological problems, no more

You are born, live a while, and then die. That's it. Eternal cause and effect means that you will always leave your mark on the Universe, and still be in it in a sense even after your death, but I see no reason to believe in any sort of eternal soul - let alone an afterlife - other than wishful thinking.

[syilla]

but i thought buddhist belief that after you died you turn to other type of physical body/form like cats dogs depends on how good are you...but it has the same soul

[Trumble]

but i thought buddhist belief that after you died you turn to other type of physical body/form like cats dogs depends on how good are you...but it has the same soul

No, Buddhists do not actually believe in reincarnation in that sense, despite the popular misconception. What carries on after death is not an individual soul as Christians and muslims perceive it.

The formal doctrine is called "dependent origination". The 'reborn' being is not the same as the one that died, it is the result of causal factors originating (as far as any causal factor can originate) in previous 'lives'. Every action we make and indeed thought we have has the effect of putting other processes in motion. These processes in turn become causes, with their own effects, and so on. At death these factors (whether a person is 'good', 'bad', etc) enter into the causal process ('karmic causality') which leads to another embodied sentient being born, the initial nature of that sentient depending upon actions of the now-deceased in one or more of their previous 'lives'.

It really isn't as complicated as it sounds, but my explanation was not the best, I fear. Simply, Buddhists believe not that a 'new' person is, or has the same soul, as the 'old' one, but that the 'old' persons actions caused the new person (or animal, or whatever). The better or more spiritually advanced (the better their karma) the deceased, the better start in a spiritual sense their successor gets - although that may not be obvious to them!

[syilla]

thank you....

is it like recycling the soul? :rolleyes: