Editing Soul (section)

====Theology (<span lang="ar-Latn">''kalam''</span>)====
[[File:4DModel.jpg|thumb|A visual rendition of the Islamic model of the soul showing the position of {{tlit|ar|nafs}} relative to other concepts]]
[[Al-Ghazali]] ({{floruit|11th century}}) reconciles the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] views on the soul with Avicennan philosophy ({{tlit|ar|falsafa}}).<ref>Tamer, Georges. Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazālī. Papers Collected on His 900th Anniversary. Vol. 1. Vol. 94. Brill, 2015. p. 101.</ref> Al-Ghazali defines human as a spiritual substance ({{tlit|ar|d̲j̲awhar rūḥānī}}), neither confined, nor joined, nor separated from the body.<ref>Abul Quasem, M. (1975). The ethics of al-Ghazali: A composite ethics in Islam. p. 44.</ref><ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> It possesses knowledge and perception.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> He identifies the immaterial self with the {{tlit|ar|al-nafs al-muṭmaʾinna}} and {{tlit|ar|al-rūḥ al-amīn}} of the Quran and {{tlit|ar|nafs}} for bodily desires which must be disciplined.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref><ref>Rassool, G. H., & Luqman, M. M. (2022). Foundations of Islāmic psychology: From classical scholars to contemporary thinkers. Routledge. p. 81.</ref> He, however, refuses to elaborate on the deepest nature of the soul, as he claims it is forbidden by ''[[sharia|sharīʿah]]'', on grounds that it is beyond comprehension.<ref>Abul Quasem, M. (1975). The ethics of al-Ghazali: A composite ethics in Islam. p. 44.</ref>

According to al-Ghazali, {{tlit|ar|nafs}} consists of three elements: animals, devils, and angels.<ref>Rassool, G. H., & Luqman, M. M. (2022). Foundations of Islāmic psychology: From classical scholars to contemporary thinkers. Routledge. p. 80.</ref> The term for the self or soul is [[Qalb|heart]] ({{tlit|ar|ḳalb}}).<ref>Rassool, G. H., & Luqman, M. M. (2022). Foundations of Islāmic psychology: From classical scholars to contemporary thinkers. Routledge. p. 80.</ref><ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> The {{tlit|ar|nafs}}, in al-Ghazali's concept of the soul, is best be understood as [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]], a 'vehicle' ({{tlit|ar|markab}}) of the soul, but yet distinct.<ref>Abul Quasem, M. (1975). The ethics of al-Ghazali: A composite ethics in Islam. p. 44.</ref><ref>Rassool, G. H., & Luqman, M. M. (2022). Foundations of Islāmic psychology: From classical scholars to contemporary thinkers. Routledge. p. 81.</ref> The animalistic parts of {{tlit|ar|nafs}} is concerned with bodily functions, such as eating and sleeping, the devilish part with deceit and lies, and the angelic part with comtemplating the signs of God and preventing lust and anger.<ref>Rassool, G. H., & Luqman, M. M. (2022). Foundations of Islāmic psychology: From classical scholars to contemporary thinkers. Routledge. p. 80.</ref> Accordingly, the inclinations towards following either {{tlit|ar|nafs}} or the intellect is associated with supernatural agents: the angels inspire to follow the intellect ({{tlit|ar|ilhām}}) and the devils tempt to give in into evil ({{tlit|ar|waswās}}).<ref>amer, Georges. Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazālī. Papers Collected on His 900th Anniversary. Vol. 1. Vol. 94. Brill, 2015. p. 104.</ref><ref>Zaroug, Abdullahi Hassan (1997). "Al-Ghazali's Sufism: A Critical Appraisal". Intellectual Discourse. 5 (2): 150.</ref>

[[Qadi Baydawi|Al-Baydawi]]'s psychology shows influence from the writings of al-Ghazali, whom he also mentions explicitly.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> His classification of souls is elaborated in his ''{{tlit|ar|Ṭawāliʿ al-anwār}}'', authored {{circa|1300}}.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> Like, al-Ghazali, he is in support of the existence of the soul as independent from the body and offers both rational as well as Quranic evidence.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> He further adds that {{tlit|ar|nafs}} is created when the body is completed, but is not embodied itself, and is connected with {{tlit|ar|rūḥ}}.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref>

When discussing the souls, al-Baydawi establishes a cosmological hierarchy of heavenly Intellects.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> Accordingly, God, in his [[Tawhid|unity]] ({{tlit|ar|tawḥīd}}), first creates the Intellect ({{tlit|ar|ʿaḳl}}), which  is neither body, nor form, but the cause of all other potentialities. From this Intellect, a third Intellect is produced up to the tenth Intellect, which in turn influences the elements and bring fourth the spirits ({{tlit|ar|arwāḥ}}). Below these Intellects are the "souls of the spheres" ({{tlit|ar|al-nufūs al-falakiyya}}) identified with the heavenly angels.<ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref> Below them are the incorporeal earthly angels, both [[Cherubim#In Islam|good]] and [[Shayatin|evil angels]] ({{tlit|ar|al-kurūbiyyūn}} and {{tlit|ar|al-s̲h̲ayāṭīn}}), angels in control of the elements and the "souls of reasoning" ({{tlit|ar|anfus nāṭiḳa}}), as well as djinn.<ref>Calverley, E. E. & Pollock, J. (Eds.). (2022) Nature, Man and God in Medieval Islam: Volume One. Brill. pp. 645–647.</ref><ref>Calverley, E. E., & Netton, (2012). Nafs. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0833</ref>