Soul

Soul (also called naf or ruux in Somali) is a concept denoting a non-physical part thought to confer life, especially in humans, encompassing consciousness, mind, and identity. The idea appears in major religions, ancient cultures, and philosophy, and has no single definition agreed upon by all.

The distinction between the terms naf and ruux varies from language to language. In Arabic, nafs typically refers to the self and desire, while ruuh is used for the breath of life. In English, soul and spirit are likewise differentiated by some religious thought.

Religious thought

In Islam, the soul is understood as created by God and persisting after death until the Day of Judgment. The Quran contains verses concerning the spirit and the taking of the soul. Islamic scholars have debated the state of the soul between death and resurrection (the barzakh). Christianity and Judaism similarly hold that a person possesses a soul that continues to exist and is held to account.

Hinduism and Buddhism differ in their views. In Hinduism, the atman is the eternal soul that transmigrates through successive births (samsara). Buddhism presented the doctrine of anatta, which denies the existence of a permanent, unchanging soul.

Philosophy

In Greek philosophy, Plato held that the soul is distinct from the body and persists beyond it. Aristotle viewed the soul as the form of a living thing—the body's principle of life—rather than as a separate entity. In later centuries, René Descartes proposed a dualism of mind and body, which gave rise to the problem known as the mind-body problem.

In modern neuroscience and psychology, contemporary science generally explains mental functions in terms of brain activity, without invoking the concept of a soul separate from the body. This is not a proof for or against the existence of soul; it reflects only that scientific method is concerned with what can be measured.