What Is Man?

[عبد الرحمن العجمي]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of God the Merciful
Know, dear reader, that man truly is the ethereal soul, i.e. the spiritual spirit; and man is not the material body which will disintegrate after death and become soil.

Really, the material body is not more than a mould in which the soul is formed, so that when its formation is completed and it comes of age [or attains the adulthood], then no need for the body after the separation of the soul from it. While as regards the body: it is not more than flesh and bones; so the body, from which the soul has separated, will be like a laid board: does not think, does not understand and does not feel the pleasure and pain.

Therefore, the true man is the soul. [This also is the meaning of the word نفس , i.e. soul, in the Arab poetry, some of which is mentioned by the late Mohammed-Ali Hassan, the interpreter of the Quran and the Bible, in his Arabic book.]

God -be exalted - said in the Quran 35: 22
وما يَسْتَوي الأحياءُ ولا الأمواتُ ، إنّ اللهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشاءُ ، وما أنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ في القُبُورِ
The explanation:
(Nor are the living equal with the dead. God makes to hear whomsoever He will, but you cannot make those in their graves to hear.)

Here, God – celebrated be His praise – says to His prophet Mohammed – peace be on him –: These disbelievers do not hear what you say; because of their extreme stubbornness, just as that the dead [bodies buried] in the graves: do not hear anyone that talk with them. Hence, this Quranic revelation confirms that the dead [body], from which the soul is separated, does not hear anyone that talks with it; because no life in it.

God – be exalted – said in the Quran 27: 80
إنَّكَ لا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوتى ولا تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ الدُّعاءَ إذا وَلَّوا مُدْبِرِين
The explanation:
(Truly, you [Mohammed] cannot cause the dead to hear, nor can you cause the deaf to hear the call [specially] when they turn back [away from you.] )

Therefore, these Quranic revelations declare that dead bodies neither hear nor understand; because they are dead bodies having not any life, and will vanish after some years and become soil. Therefore, one who claims that the soul will return to the body in the grave and the dead will become alive and will be judged, I say to him: These are not more than imaginary and wrong words, having no reality.

However, the Judgment, Reward and Punishment in the “Barzakh” world [i.e. the after death world] ; it is special for the soul only, but not for the body; because the body does not feel anything of that; while souls survive and do not disintegrate.

God – be exalted- said in the Quran 2: 154
وَلا تَقولوا لِمَن يُقْتَلُ في سبيلِ اللهِ أمْواتٌ ، بَلْ أحياءٌ ولكن لا تَشْعُرُون
The explanation:
( And say not of those who are slain in God’s way: ‘They are dead.’ No, they are alive [by their souls], though you perceive [them] not.)

The interpretation:
Do not think about those killed in the way of God [i.e. while they were striving and fighting for the sake of God,] that their life has ended; because you see their bodies cast on the ground, and their blood coming out; but they are alive, while you cannot perceive them; because you see the bodies and cannot see the souls; and in fact the true man is the soul, not the body.

God – be exalted – said in the Quran 3: 169
وَلا تَحْسَبَنَّ الّذينَ قُتِلُوا في سَبيلِ اللهِ أمْواتاً ، بَلْ أحْياءٌ عِندَ ربِّهِم يُرْزَقُون
The explanation:
(Think not of those who are slain in the way of God as dead. Not so, but they are living, in the neighborhood of their Lord [in the heavenly paradises], having provision [from the fruit of these paradises, and drinking of their rivers.])

Therefore, (in the neighborhood of their Lord) means: in the ethereal layers, i.e. in the paradises, provided of its fruits and drinking of its rivers.

If God - be exalted – meant by that their bodies, then He would say: They are living in the graves, finding their provision.

Also, God - be exalted - said in the Quran 39: 26-27
قِيلَ ادْخُل الجَنّةَ قالَ يا لَيْتَ قَوْمي يَعْلَمُون . بِما غَفَرَ لِي رَبِّي وجَعَلَنِي مِنَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ
The explanation:
(It was said [to him]: “Enter Paradise.” He said: “Would that my people know.”
“ That my Lord has forgiven me and that He has made me one of the honored.” )

Then, while this man was killed; how could it be said to him: “Enter Paradise”? But the addressing was to his soul, not to his body; because the soul survives and does not disintegrate; therefore, when his ethereal soul entered into Paradise, at that time his soul said: (“Would that my people know.”)

God - be exalted – said, talking about the people of Noah, in the Quran 71: 25
مِمّا خَطِيئاتِهِمْ أغْرِقُوا فَأُدْخِلُوا ناراً
The explanation:
(Because of their sins, they were drowned [in the flood], then were admitted into a Fire.)

So, in case their bodies were drowned, then how were they admitted into the Fire? In fact, the meaning is: Their bodies were drowned in the water, and their souls were admitted into the Fire.

Moreover, know [dear reader] that the admission into Paradise in the “Barzakh [or the after-death] world” is special for some souls, and the same is true about the admission into Fire.

The Glorious Lord said in the Quran 22: 58
وَالّذِينَ هاجَرُوا في سَبيلِ اللهِ ثُمَّ قُتِلُوا أوْ ماتُوا لَيَرْزُقَنَّهُمُ اللهُ رِزْقاً حَسَناً ، وإنَّ اللهَ لَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرّازِقِين
The explanation:
(And those who emigrated [from Mecca to Medina, and joined Prophet Mohammed] for the sake of God [and His good pleasure], and then were slain, or they died, God will provide for them a good provision [ from the fruits of Paradise]; for, surely, God is the Best of providers.)

Therefore, (God will provide for them a good provision [ from the fruits of Paradise] ) means: He will provide their souls; because the soul survives and do not disintegrate [or die.]