Main /
Hundred Questions - Transformation of Bodies (tabaddul-i ajsam)
Transformation of Bodies (tabaddul-i ajsam)
Q42 Is there any life after death? Is it possible for the soul to live in many successive bodies?
A42 Regarding life after death there is sufficient discussion under Question 41, therefore, only the second part of the question is answered here, which is about the transformation of bodies. In this connection, first I am answering positively, then some clear proofs are presented for it.
- First proof: It should be known that the Spirit of God and the Light of God is one and the same thing. When the Qur'an used to reveal to the holy Prophet, God proclaimed that His Light was never going to be extinguished (9:32; 61:8). This means that the Spirit, which God had breathed into Adam (15:29; 38:72) has continued in the chain of succession of the Prophets and Imams from one body to another. This is a proof that human souls also change one body for another. For the Spirit of God in its practical guidance has presented this model.
- Second proof: According to the Qur'an we are the children of Adam (May peace be through him) and when Noah's (May peace be through him) Ark was floating in the deluge we were in the loins of his companions in the form of small spiritual particles (17:3) and we have appeared here having passed through generation after generation. So it is a fact that the soul continues to change its body.
- Third proof: According to the Qur'anic verse (29:64) the abode of the hereafter is alive, and that which is alive is first and foremost the human being and then the animal. This shows that before appearing in this world, the human being was in a body and will be transferred to a body after leaving the present body; whether the body is subtle (latif) or dense (kathif), whether human or animal. Thus, it is a valid proof that the soul always uses bodies like garments.
- Fourth proof: Our body decays completely in forty days, wearing itself out in the form of atoms. At the same time in the same span of time it is re-constituted completely by means of new atoms. According to this calculation our body changes nine times in the year. An assessment of how the body continues to be constituted from one side and wears out from the other can be made from the growth of hair and nails. It is evident from this that the human body always continues to change. That is, the soul continues to change bodies, one after the other.
- Fifth proof: It is mentioned in several places of the Qur'an and particularly in the chapter Ya-Sin (36:36) that God has created all things in pairs in such a way that they cannot subsist without being pairs, such as the body and soul. This means that without the body the soul cannot stay and without the soul the body perishes, as is clear from the [decayed] body, which the soul has left. The cause of the subsistence of this universe is that it has a great soul that is called the Universal Soul. This shows that the soul cannot stay without the body rather it transfers from one body to another.
- Sixth proof: Our soul has three kinds of body; one is physical (khaki) which is the present body, the second is luminous (nurani) and the third is originated (ibda`i). Their knowledge is related to spiritual experience as well as to Qur'anic wisdom (16:81). Thus, the soul always has a link with these bodies.
| Chapter Index | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter |