The Truth of Soul and Spirit in the Quran and Islam

In the history of Islamic sciences, we come across with some subjects common between Islamic philosophy and the Quran, controversial among the men of intellect and interpretation. One of such subjects is that related to soul and spirit. There are three views among the Islamic thinkers regarding the truth and creation of soul and spirit: 1. The immaterial spirit of man has been created before the body. This is approved by some narrations. 2. The immaterial spirit and the material body have been created simultaneously and the moment when the body of man has achieved the capacity of accepting the spirit, God has created the spirit in it. 3. The spirit of man comes into existence in the body and remains as a sprit. That is, the immaterial spirit of man has neither been created before his body not together with his body, rather the spirit is the manifestation of the appearance of a material body that comes into existence together with the appearance of the body and reaches its spiritual immateriality through essential development. In this article, we are going to discuss the different views given by the Quran and Islamic philosophy regarding the soul and spirit. To do this, first we will deal with different meanings of soul and spirit in the Quran and among the philosophers, and then we will have an analysis and a criticism of the given views.