1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

9 Questions

In the Quran, Allah often says he knows what is in your hearts and what is in your breasts. What does Allah mean when he says he knows what is in your breasts, is that the heart again, the nafs or something else?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

The difference between the heart قلب and the breast or chests صدور in Quran has been discussed by many scholars of Tafseer. We see some non Shia scholars claim that there is no difference between heart and breast. We can not accept this opinion because of the clear mention of hearts and breasts in the same Quranic verses which must mean a difference in the meanings.

Among many opinions, we can say that the breast or chest is wider than the heart and it is effected by the state of mind and feeling of comfort or discomfort. That is why we read the supplication of prophet Moses (AS): O my Lord, extend my breast (Taha: 25).

The heart is our inner which is the origin of our intentions, while the breast is effected also by outside reasons and factors which make us feel comfortable or otherwise. That is why we read in Sura Al-Inshiraah how Allah (SWT) tells His Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) mentioning His bounties on him: Did not We extend your breast? ألم نشرح لك صدرك which means that Allah (SWT) Has granted him this bounty of making his breast big and extended.

In Quran we read about Quran that it is : Cure for what is in the breasts وشفاء لما في الصدور (Younus : 57). What is in breasts can be a mixture of our feelings and our thinking and reactions to other factors surrounding us. 

No doubt, heart is the Centre of the breast (Hearts inside the breasts) (ولكن تعمى القلوب التي في الصدور) )(Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are inside the breasts that grow blind) Al-Hajj : 46.

Wassalam
Who do the Shi'a recite the short Durood for the Prophet (s) and his Aal and not mention Hazrat Ali? If it is said that Ali was part of the Aal then does it not suggest that he was taken to Mubahala as a kid of the Prophet (s) rather than his Nafs?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

When we recite Durood (Salawaat) we mention the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and his Progeny (Ahlul Bayt)(AS) and Hazrat Ali (AS) is the head of Ahlul Bayt (AS) after the Prophet (SAWA).

Imam Ali (AS) was brought in Mubahala as Nafs of the Prophet (SAWA) while Hasan (AS) and Husain (AS) where brought as the sons of the Prophet (SAWA).

Imam Redha (AS) when Al-Ma'moon asked him about he greatest tribute of Ali in Quran, said : Mubahala when Allah mentioned Ali as Nafs of the Prophet (SAWA).

Wassalam
How do you explain the concept of Nafs according to the Qur'an?
Rebecca Masterton

There are different ways of explaining the concept of the soul. You may want to search for the article 'Explanation of Soul or Self in the Holy Qur'an and Atman in the Ancient Upanishads' by Dr. Ali Reza Khajegir and Mohammad Reza Afroogh, in the Journal of Religion and Theology, Vol. 2, SRYAHWAR Publications.

Also, see the work by Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini on the Ma'ad in the Qur'an on this website.

If you read French, you may also want to read about the work of ‘Alaudawlah Semnānī and Qādī Sa‘īd Qummī in Henry Corbin, En Islam Iranien, pps 176-180. Here, they talk about the different levels of the soul that correpond to different levels of time. I have translated these pages if you would like me to send them.
How do you explain the concept of Nafs according to the Qur'an?
Zoheir Ali Esmail

Thank you for your question. In some translations of the Qurʾān the term nafs is translated in almost every instance it appears as the soul. This can be misunderstood as although the term is used to denote the spiritual aspect of the human in some instances, in many others it is better translated as the individual, rather than specifically the soul or spiritual aspect of the human. It is not a completely incorrect use of the word soul as it can be used to mean an individual in English too, like in the phrase: “don’t tell a soul”. It is more that we are aware of the context of such a phrase and therefore would not misinterpret it to mean “don’t tell a spiritual aspect of an individual”.

The spiritual element of a human is also referred to in other instances as the rūḥ, especially in the story of the creation of Adam (see 32:9; 15:29; 38:72), although the term rūḥ doesn’t always denote spiritual aspect of the human either (see for example 40:15; 16:2; 97:4). 

The rūḥ and nafs are not interchangeable terms. 

It is a later philosophical development which equates the nafs with the soul of the human and that has perhaps caused some confusion regarding the linguistic meaning of nafs used in the Qurʾān.

The term nafs and its derivatives occur more than 250 times in the Qurʾān and it denotes the individualisation of an essence. A referent of this general term is the human nafs (other referents include jinn 6:130 including Satan 18:51 and God Himself see 6:12), either:

1. in terms of its inner or spiritual aspect, with the commanding soul, al-nafs al-ammārah (see 12:18; 12:53; 20:96, 50:16; 64:16; 53:23; 59:9) where Satan whispers (see 47:25) and if fought results in heaven (see 70:40-41). The commanding self is fought with the blaming self or conscience, al-nafs al-lawwāmah (75:2) so that a person reaches a clear conscience al-nafs al-muṭmainnah (89:27)

2. or in terms of an individual, as when Moses said: “Lord, I have killed a person (nafs) among them, and I fear they will kill me!” (see 28:33; also for example 2:155; 5:45; 17:33; 18:74; 25:68; 61:11)

References

* Al-Muṣṭafawī, Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, (12) 196-199.

* Emil Homerin, “Soul” in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, Brill, (5) 80-84