Ruh-Nafs-Body

I would like to add more to the discussion as I feel spiritualism is almost a lost art in Shiite Islam. Many of us are entangled in a faith which, if they do not nurture, can be quite lacking. I feel if anybody will read the various techniques I have put forward with understanding and apply these in their life, he will be a much different person. I beg Maula Imam e Zaman ajtfs, to help us all with a better understanding of this beautiful faith. he human being is composed of three essential components, these are! "uh, #afs and $ody. %et us very briefly try to understand all these three& RUH (Soul, Spirit): In the 'oly (uran it is very briefly described as )Min *mr e "abbi.) *l+*sra ,- says, ) hey ask you about "uh, tell them it is from the *mr of my "abb, and you .mankind/ have been given no knowledge about it but a little) herefore, we must believe that whatever we have been told about "uh is only a small portion of its totality. Maula *meer e 0ainat 1sua2 has classified "uh into - types while discussing other creations, and some additional types while e3plaining their 'oly Selves. 1suaj2 In #ehj ul *srar on page 45, following has been quoted from 0afi 6+7, 87,7 under the title ) ypes of "uh) )9or 8rophets who are a group of sabiqeen .forerunners/, there are five spirits! :/the holy spirit ."uh al+(uds/ who obtains knowledge for them and because of whom they can carry the repository of prophesy 7/ the spirit of faith ."uh al+;emaan/ through which they have faith, fear of the %ord and justice </ the spirit of strength ."uh al+quwwa/ through which they can e3pend effort in obedience to *llah 4/ the spirit of longing .ruh al+shawah/ through which they desire to serve *llah and satisfy their natural needs -/ the spirit of movement .ruh al+$adan/ or the spirit of life which allows them to move . he 8rophet 1saaw2 and the *immah 1asws2 are attributed as having ruh al+madraj or ruh al+hayat in other hadith/ 8rophets were descended with "ooh ul (uds and it was this which helped them to understand things. =ith "ooh ul Imaan they worshipped *llah1jj2 and abstained from Shirk. =ith "uh ul (uwwa they peformed jihad against their enemies and strived for essentials of livelihood. =ith "uh al+Shawah they enjoyed food and did nikah e halal with young females. =ith "uh ul $adan they

used to move around. he last four types are also found in the Momins who are also called as *shab e >ameen .companions of *li .sua/ and the last hree can possibly be found in 0afirs who are also called as *shab e Shimal.? 8roperties of "uh ul (uds& In different ahadith in *lkafi different properties of "uh al (uds have been described. hese are! @ It does not sleep. @ It does not become ignorant @ It does not annihilate. @ It does not indulge in lahw e la)b .amusement, playing games) usually associated with things which would take one away from Ibadah/ @ It understands whatever is from under the *rsh till lowest under the earth. @ It protects from 'adasan .all types of nijasat that necessitates wudu or ghusl/. 8l keep it in mind that a simple 8rophet can not get najis, let alone the 9amily of Infallibles sua aj. @ ;nables hem 1as2 to %iqa .encounter/ *llah. @ *cts as a station for the nuAool .decent/ of =ahi .revelation/. @ Boes not let nafs die, till hey 1as2 have heir 1as2 riAq complete. . his e3plains why Imam 1sua2 was not killed when 'e 1sua2 was poisoned :5 times and why the :Cth poisoning was resultant in death/ In another narration in *l+0afi, someone asked Maula *meer ul Momineen1sua2, )Is "uh not Dabriel 1a.s2)) Maula 1sua2 said, )Dabriel is amongst the angels and ruh is non+Dabriel) Maula 1sua2 repeated this sentence. he person said, what you are saying is too big. here is none who believes that ruh is something other than Dabriel 1as2 Maula 1sua2 said, )>ou are a deviant and are quoting from deviants. *llah 1swt2 said to holiest of 8rophets 1s*aww2 that the *mr of *llah 1jj2 has arrived and tell the people not to become impatient! *llah 1jj2 is far above having a partner, '; 1swt2 descends angels along with "uh which is from amongst al+*mr, upon the Ene)s 1as2 from his slaves whom *llah 1jj2 wants)
SOME OTHER TYPES O RUH:

here are some other types of "uh that pertain to :4 'oly Infallibles and have not been described in the above said 'adith. hese have been narrated at many other places, I quote just two. "ef& $ehr ul Maarif p<-:, #ehj ul *srar p <F.. *bu 'amAa himali quotes Maula *meer e 0ainat sua. ?)#o doubt *llah jj is =ahid and *had and is unique and solitary in oneness. '; jj spoke a

sentence which was all #oor. 9rom this #oor the 'oliest of the 8rophets 1saaw2, Myself 1sua2 and my 'oly 8rogeny .sua aj/ were made. hen another sentence was spoken which was all "ooh. hen this "ooh was stationed in our bodies. 'ence we are 0alimatullah and "uhullah.) *t another place it is narrated by Maula =ali e #ajaf sua, )*nd I have been strengthened by "uh ul *Aamah) hese additional types of "uh .ruh al+hujjah and ruh al+aAamah/ establish the supremacy of the 'oliest of the 8rophets and his 'oly 8rogeny .sua.aj/ over all other 8rophets . It is also confirmed by the famous 'adith that all 8rophets were created from the perspiration drops of this #oor e *wwal s*aww. Much can be written about the qualities of these types of "uh but I have just quote two references from the famous 'adith e #oorani by Maula *meer e 0ainat . $ehr ul Maarif, #ehjul *srar/. )E Salman 1ra2G *llah swt said that '; swt connects with any of his Slaves he likes, through his "uh. *nd this "uh is not given to anybody but to the Ene who is blessed with *mr and Might. hat)s why I can alive the dead, and know what is in the skies and the earth and I am 0itab e Mubeen.) )E Salman 1ra2G Muhammad .s*aww/ is the one to establish 'ujjat and I am the 'ujjat of *llah jj over all the creations. hat was the reason that the "uh ascended up the skies along with 'IM .s*aww./) I have tried to be e3tremely brief in e3plaining the basic concepts about "uh.

$EB>&
#ow we describe $ody very briefly. It is a balanced combination of different tissues which perform different actions to complete a single functioning unit, the single 'uman $eing. =e need not to discuss much to e3plain body as this visible part of human being has been very thoroughly elaborated in books of *natomy and 8hysiology. =e all observe that this body is functional as long as it is alive. It stops functioning just after the soul departs. So it is actually the soul that works out of this instrument. Hust think for an e3ample. >ou have different electronics at your home. ;very instrument has a different fuction and purpose. Ene unit is to provide cooling while another is to provide heat and is to cook food, etc etc. *ll these work only when they are supplied with current. Iurrent is invisible. $ut when it gets connected with an instrument designed to use that current, it proves its e3istance. So body is the instrument through which the invisible rooh proves its e3istance and capabilities.

N! S:
%ike the soul, this is also a non+material thing and is beyond the range of human senses. %et me give you two e3amples before going into function etc. :/ >ou have two concrete slabs of the same siAe and shape say ::F sq feet each. >ou can not call these two slabs a room. o convert these to a room, you need to construct walls or pillars in between these two slabs. Er! you have a room but you remove the walls or pillars between the floor and the

roof. he room will not e3ist. Same is the role of #afs in the human body. It is like walls connecting the floor and the roof! #afs connects he Soul and he $ody. 7/ Ionsider you have two things, water and fire. =ater is cold and fire is hot. >ou want to transfer the heat of fire in water. $ut you can not directly combine these two as they are not compatible with each other. =hosoever is more in quantum will finish the lesser one. o achieve your objective of heating water you use a pot. =ater is put in the pot and the pot is placed on the fire. he pot receives the heat from the fire and transfers it to water. he greater the conductivity of the pot, the faster the water will receive the heat from the fire. he 8ot is like the role of nafs in our selves. "uh is absolutely %ateef .subtle, light/ while body is absolutely 0athif .heavy and dark/. Similar to fire and water, they are not compatible, it is necessary for there to be something in between so that the qualities of life .growth, movement, reproduction etc/ are transferred from "uh into the body. his linking structure is #afs. =hen *lmighty wants to kill a human being, the nafs is turned dead! ruh gets free and separated from the body. 9rom this one can understand the philosophy of the ayat )0ullo nafsin Aaiqatil maut) .;very self shall have a taste of death/ .see! <&:,-, 7:&<-, 7J&-C/ #afs is not just a linkage, but it has its own function as well. It is the centre of desires, emotions and feelings. hese desires, emotions and feelings have a direct effect on the conductivity of nafs. hat is why we find in 'oly (uran lot many verses promoting the importance of purity of nafs. *lmighty assigns his messengers to promote aAkia of #afs .cleanliness of spirit/ only for the reason that this taAkia .cleanliness/ increases the conduction of the qualities and properties contained in the sole and human body gets a better utility. In many ahadith, we see that a limiting of desires is promoted. %ong desires are not liked by *aimma ahireen 1sua aj2. =hy) $ecause these desires reduce the conductivity of nafs, the ill desires also do the same. aAkiat boosts the conduction of the properties and quality of ruh into the body. #ow let us understand what are "iaAat) "iaAat are the procedures that help in two ways. 9irstly these increase the receptivity of body, secondly these help in eliminating the impurities from nafs. hose who want to know more about #afs, please refer to #ehj ul *srar and the famous 'adith of Maula *meer e 0ainat sua whereby Maula sua described to 0umail 1ra2 the four types of nafs, every type having - classes and every class having two sub classes.

So"# $ON$%US&ONS:
9rom the types of ruh we have studied, we can classify the creation in to si3 groups& Stones have one type of ruh, "uh al (uwwa which gives them strength. 8lants have two arwah .plural for ruh/! "uh ul (uwwa and "uh ul Shawah, which give them strength and power of reproduction. *nimals and 0afirs have three arwah! "uh ul (uwa, "uh al Shawah, and "uh ul Madraj, which enable them to have strength, power to reproduce and energy and organs to move. In 'oly (uran there are many ayaat where some people have been graded like animals or even worse than those.

.Sura Huma/ Momin have four arwah! "uh ul quwa, "uh al+Shawah, "uh al+Madraj and "uh al+;emaan. =ith this 4th ruh, a momin can differentiate between haq and batil. his 4th ruh is not by birth but it is attained by accepting the divine leadership. "ememberG *cceptance of divine leadership is reflected through ones actions and not by claims. hose who claim that the have accepted the divine leadership but act otherwise are not momins but rather they are munafiqs. In #ehj min $alaghatil Imam *l+Sadiq! Maula 1sua2 said! he soul of a momin is created from a soul which is so close to the *lmighty soul as the rays are close to the sun. 8rophets 1as2 have a fifth ruh as well i.e., "uh al+(uds. Its qualities have been written above. 'ow can a human being with three arwah come close to the 'oly 9amily of Infallibles sua aj who are far above that of even the 8rophets 1as2) * momin, though heKshe may look like a kafir physically, is quite different from a kafir. Momineen contain 4 arwah while a kafir has three. 'ow can one say that Masumeen sua aj are absolutely like human beings while none of us knows the 'oly Structure they have. Hust try to visualiAe a personality whose! L "ooh is "ooh Mllah L #afs is #afs Mllah L $ody is jumb Mllah * man knows very little about his own ruh, just a bit about his own nafs, and despite hundreds of thousands books and research articles written .published or unpublished/ on his body but still many many points remaining unknown to him. 'ow can he even think that he knows the personalities with "uh Mllah, #afs Mllah and Humb Mllah) hose sua aj who have been described as secrets of *llah jj. hat)s why Mrafa say that peak of human knowledge is that he discovers his own ignorance. 'e understands the reality that he does not even begin to understand any portion of the oceans of knowledge. SP&R&TU!%&SM is th# '(o)l#d*# that #+plai(s th# "#thods to i(,r#as# th# ,apa,ity a(d utility of th# -ody. It does not create any thing new, rather it tries to ma3imiAe the strengths and powers built in the structure of a Momin. 0afirs and Munafiqs also perform spiritual e3ercises but they remain of the armies of jahl as they are devoid of "uh e Imaan. >ou may do any spiritual e3ercise in this era of Dhaibat, but nothing matches dua e ajeel as salwat e 0amila. 0eep reciting as much as you can. he figure of <:< is valuable. 'ere is the wording&