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Elevating the Soul

Elevating the Soul

By: Sheikh Safwat Gaafar
Translated by: Khaled Farid, Montreal


1-The “Animal Soul” 
Humans share this soul with every other living thing. It is the power that animates the body and regulates bodily functions like breathing and digestion. It lacks awareness and free will.

2-The “Soul of Honor (or distinction)”
Almighty Allah has said in the Holy Koran:” And we have honored the children of Adam”. How then were the children of Adam honored? They were honored, by being granted the “Soul of Honor”. The “Soul of Honor” puts us one step above the rest of Creation, this is the key distinction between Humanity and the rest of creation. This soul was in fact created from the “Holy Spirit” or “Divine Soul” itself. To this soul, Allah has granted seven characteristics, which give it its uniqueness by allowing it to consciously interact with its earthly surroundings:

·   Sight
·   Hearing
·   Desire
·   Speech
·   Life
·   Free will
·   Knowledge seeking

The seven above-mentioned qualities are those, which make human beings unique. This uniqueness of humans vs. every other living thing extends even to the angels and the demons. 

However, it is to be understood that the “Soul of Honor” was granted for one purpose only, and that is to allow us to make our way through Dunya (this temporal world). It is a purely materialistic soul, which does not have the power to connect us to the spiritual realms. Furthermore, the above-mentioned characteristics are always under a relentless assault by the seven nafs (egos). Over time, they will be corrupted and other, less desirable qualities such as arrogance will take over.

Yet, as we all know so well, human beings were not created for the same reason as other things that live on Earth. Our purpose is not to live, eat, drink, and reproduce for if such were the case, why then were we honored above the rest of Creation? What then is the reason why God created us? The answer is to be found in the Holy Quran“ I have created the jinnand humankind onlyfor My worship” (Al Thariat: 57).

“Worship “ in this context is not limited to the acts of adoration such as prayer etc. Worshipping Allah means to properly use time and space for the glory of Allah. Therefore, any action however mundane is an act of worship if it permissible by the Sharia and done with the intention of pleasing Allah the almighty. 

It goes without saying that such a merciful God as almighty Allah would not create us for such a lofty purpose without giving us the tools to achieve this purpose. That is why we were granted this third, and most unique of souls: “The Soul of Faith”.


3-The “Soul of Faith”

The first thing almighty Allah ever created was the light of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). And from this light was created the “Soul of Faith”. Every soul is an individual spark of the Prophet’s light, which makes its way into the human heart and creates this link between the human being and the invisible realm, the realm of Allah and the prophets.


But the “Soul of Faith” is not to be taken for granted. If neglected, it withers and dies. It needs therefore to be fed, groomed, nurtured. Mawlana Sidi Fakhreddin has shown us the way, for he has said :” Zikr, is the food of the soul”
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