What is the soul (ruh) in Islam?
The ruh (soul) is the life Allah breathes into each human, the part of us that lives on after the body dies. The Quran says its true nature is known only to Allah and that people have been given only a little knowledge about it. Muslims believe it is created, not divine, and will be reunited with the body at the resurrection.
What the Quran says
When people asked the Prophet ﷺ about the soul, Allah revealed:
So Islam is honest about the limits: we know what the soul does and where it goes, but not exactly what it is. That humility is part of faith in the unseen.
When does the soul enter the body?
Allah describes creating Adam and then breathing into him "of My soul" (Quran 15:29), which scholars explain as a soul created by Allah and honored by being linked to Him, not a piece of God. For every baby, the Prophet ﷺ said that after the stages of growth in the womb an angel is sent to breathe the soul into it (Sahih al-Bukhari 3208). Most scholars place this at around 120 days of pregnancy.
Ruh and nafs
You'll hear two words. Ruh usually means the soul or spirit as the source of life. Nafs means the self, often used for the soul with its desires: the self that urges evil (Quran 12:53), the self that blames itself (Quran 75:2) and the self at peace (Quran 89:27). Many scholars say they refer to the same soul seen from different sides.
What happens to the soul at death?
- It is taken by the Angel of Death. See Who is the Angel of Death in Islam?
- The eyes follow it. When the Prophet ﷺ closed Abu Salamah's eyes, he said that when the soul is taken, the sight follows it (Sahih Muslim 920).
- It lives on in the barzakh, feeling comfort or distress until the Day of Judgement. See What is barzakh?
- It returns to the body at the resurrection.
The soul also leaves the body in a lighter way during sleep (Quran 39:42), which is why sleep is called a "little death".
- The ruh is the created life-giving soul, not part of God.
- Its full nature is known only to Allah (Quran 17:85).
- An angel breathes it into the baby in the womb (Sahih al-Bukhari 3208).
- It lives on after death and rejoins the body at the resurrection.
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