Editing Ghost (section)

===Islam===
[[File:Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani - A Soul Symbolized as an Angel - Walters W65944A - Full Page.jpg|thumb|Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani – A Soul Symbolized as an Angel]]
''Rūḥ'' ({{langx|ar|روح|links=no}}; plural ''arwah'') is a person's immortal, essential self — [[pneuma]], i.e. the "spirit" or "[[soul]]".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Carmona |editor-first=Alfonso |last=Bedir |first=Murteza |year=2006 |title=El Sufismo y las normas del Islam—Trabajos del IV Congreso Internacional de Estudios Jurídicos Islámicos: Derecho y Sufismo |chapter=Interplay of Sufism, Law, Theology and Philosophy: A non-Sufi Mystic of 4th–5th/10–11th Centuries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_W8a2UbniY8C&pg=PA262 |pages=262–3 |publisher=Editora Regional de Murcia |isbn=84-7564-323-X |oclc=70767145 |access-date=2017-07-15 |via=Google Books |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024085406/https://books.google.com/books?id=_W8a2UbniY8C&pg=PA262#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The term is also used for ghosts.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gerda |last=Sengers |title=Women and Demons: Cultic Healing in Islamic Egypt |publisher=BRILL |year=2003 |isbn=978-90-04-12771-5 |oclc=50713550 |page=50}}</ref> The souls of the deceased dwell in [[barzakh]]. Only a barrier in [[Quran]], in Islamic tradition this refers to an entire intermediary world between the living and the afterlife. The world, especially cemeteries, are perforated with several gateways to the otherworld or barzakh.<ref>Christian Lange ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'' Cambridge University Press, 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-521-50637-3}} p. 122</ref> In rare occasions, the dead can appear to the living.<ref>Werner Diem, Marco Schöller ''The Living and the Dead in Islam: Epitaphs as texts'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-447-05083-8}} p. 144</ref> Pure souls, such as the souls of [[Wali|saints]], are commonly addressed as [[rūḥ]], while impure souls seeking for revenge, are often addressed as [[Ifrit|afarit]].<ref>Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad ''The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection'' Oxford University Press 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-19-515649-2}} page 153</ref> An inappropriate [[Islamic funeral|burial]] can also cause a soul to stay in this world, whereupon roaming the earth as a ghost. Since the just souls remain close to their tomb, some people try to communicate with them in order to gain hidden knowledge. Contact with the dead is not the same as contact with [[jinn]], who alike could provide knowledge concealed from living humans.<ref>Werner Diem, Marco Schöller ''The Living and the Dead in Islam: Epitaphs as texts'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-447-05083-8}} p. 116</ref> Many encounters with ghosts are related to dreams supposed to occur in the [[Malakut#Suhrawardi and the Imaginal Realm|realm of symbols]].

Belief in spirits have not ceased to exist in Muslim belief. Smile of new-born babies is sometimes used as a proof for sighting spirits, like ghosts. However, the connection to the [[Barzakh|other world]] fades during life on earth but is resumed after death. Once again, smiling of dying people is considered as evidence for recognizing the spirit of their beloved ones. Yet, Muslims who affirm the existence of ghosts, are carefully when interacting with spirits, as the ghosts of humans can be as bad as the jinn. Worst of all, however, are the devils.

Muslim authors, like [[Abu Hamed Mohammad ibn Mohammad Ghazali|Ghazali]], [[Ibn Qayyim]] and [[Suyuti]] wrote in more details about the life of ghosts. Ibn Qayyim and Suyuti assert, when a soul desires to turn back to earth long enough, it is gradually released from restrictions of Barzakh and able to move freely. Each spirit experiences afterlife in accordance with their deeds and condictions in the earthly life. Evil souls will find the afterlife as painful and punishment, imprisoned until God allows them to interact with other others. Good souls are not restricted. They are free to come visit other souls and even come down to lower regions. The higher planes (''[[Illiyin|ʿilliyyīn]]'') are considered to be broader than the lower ones, the lowest being the most narrow (''[[Sijjin|sijjīn]]''). The spiritual space is not thought as spatial, but reflects the capacity of the spirit. The more pure the spirit gets, the more it is able to interact with other souls and thus reaches a broader degree of freedom.<ref>Jane Idleman SMith Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad ''The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection'' State University of New York Press Albany 1981 {{ISBN|0-87395-506-4}} p. 117-125</ref>

The [[Ismailism|Ismailite]] [[Falsafa|Philosopher]] [[Nasir Khusraw]] conjectured that evil human souls turn into [[Demon#Islam|demons]], when their bodies die, because of their intense attachment to the bodily world. They were worse than the jinn and [[Peri|fairies]], who in turn could become devils, if they pursue evil.<ref>Valery Rees ''From Gabriel to Lucifer: A Cultural History of Angels'' Bloomsbury Publishing, 04.12.2012 {{ISBN|978-0-85772-162-4}} p. 82</ref> A similar thought is recorded by [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]].<ref>Gertsman, Elina; Rosenwein, Barbara H. (2018). The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 103. {{ISBN|978-1-107-15038-6}}. {{OCLC|1030592502}}. Retrieved 25 February 2020</ref>

The ghosts of saints are thought to transmit blessings from God through the heavenly realm to whose who visit their graves. Therefore, [[Ziyarat|visiting the graves of saints and prophets]] became a major ritual in Muslim spirituality.<ref>JOSEF W. MERI ''ASPECTS OF BARAKA (BLESSINGS) AND RITUAL DEVOTION AMONG MEDIEVAL MUSLIMS AND JEWS1'' in "Medieval encounters" 1999 NV, Brill Leiden p. 47-69</ref>