Soul vs Body

Ye Nukta Main Ne Sikha Bu-Al-Hassan Se

Ke Jaan Marti Nahin Marg-e-Badan Se

The subtle point that life would not end with the death of the body; I learnt from Abul Hasan

Chamak Sooraj Mein Kya Baqi Rahe Gi

Agar Bezar Ho Apni Kiran Se!

The sun, if it would hate its beam; Will lose all its brilliance.

[Allama Iqbal]

Difference Between Soul and Body

Soul vs Body

Soul and Body are two words that are looked upon as one and the same, but philosophically speaking there is a difference between them in terms of their nature. 

Soul is indestructible. On the other hand, the body is destructible. This is the main difference between soul and body. 

Though there are differences between soul and body one simple fact remains true. Soul and body are very much bound together. 

A soul needs a place to stay. This place to stay is a body. Once the body in which the soul stays comes to any harm and dies or simply succumbs (gives in) to a natural death, the soul moves away.

What is Body?

Body is the physical structure made of flesh, bones, and blood. This structure of a human being normally has different parts such as head, neck, trunk, arms, legs, hands and feet. Body is tangible. You can burn a body by fire, blow it away by a strong wind, wet it using water or cut it into pieces using a weapon as a knife or a sword because a body is tangible. We even can eliminate the body if we want to. That shows that body is not eternal. In other words, the body is not permanent. Even if a body does not suffer such harm as to make an individual die, a body comes with an expiration date. Even without any harm, the body slowly decays over time and once the right time comes, death follows eliminating the functioning capacity of a body. As a result once the body loses the life, body can be buried as according to the practice of the respective religion of the person that has met with death. The body’s journey ends with death.

What is Soul?

Soul is the spiritual part of a human being. Soul does not have different parts as the body does. This part is something intangible. Soul cannot be burnt by fire, it cannot be blown away by the wind, it cannot be made wet by water, and it cannot be cut into pieces by the sword. This is another important difference between soul and body. There is nothing we can do to eliminate a soul. If it cannot be harmed, it cannot be eliminated. That means soul is eternal. Soul is permanent. A person that has realized the supreme nature of the soul is called a liberated person. He is not affected by heat or cold, happiness or sorrow, profit or loss, and victory or defeat.

Soul vs Body

What is the difference between Soul and Body?

Definition of Soul and Body:

• Body is the physical structure made of flesh, bones, and blood.

• Soul is the spiritual part of a human being.

Parts:

• Body has different parts such as head, neck, trunk, arms, legs, hands and feet.

• Soul does not have different parts like the body. It is always spoken of as a whole thing.

Tangibility:

• One can touch the body. So, body is tangible.

• One cannot touch the soul. So, soul is not tangible.

Mortality:

• The body can be eliminated. So, a body is mortal.

• The soul cannot be eliminated. So, a soul is immortal.

• The ability to destroy:

• A person can destroy a body.

• A person cannot destroy a soul.

These are the important differences between the two words, soul and body.

Islamic Reference
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):“It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply”. [az-Zumar 39:42]

And He, may He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning): “It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day”. [al-An‘aam 6:60]

The verse indicates that sleep is a death, and hadeeth indicates when a person sleeps his soul is taken. They both indicate that the soul that is taken in death is the soul that is taken during sleep. [End quote from Fath al-Baari by Ibn Rajab, 3/325]

But the taking of the soul in sleep does not necessarily mean that it is completely separated from the body, as happens in death; rather the fact that the life remains in the body during sleep indicates that the soul is still connected to the body during sleep, but the connection is less than the connection when it is awake. Not every departure of the soul from the body implies death; rather what happens to the body differs according to the type of separation. 

Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The taking of the soul from the body does not necessarily mean that it has departed from the body altogether; rather it may be taken whilst some kind of connection is still present, as in the case of one who is sleeping.

A discussion - Is Life and Death Optional? Yes it is
https://mhmb5.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-discussion-is-life-and-death-optional.html