A Philosophical Analysis of the Mutual Connection Between the Soul and the Body in the Holy Quran

Understanding the connection between soul and body is one of the complex issues in psychology. Psychologists emphasize the two-way connection between the soul and the body. In this research, an attempt has been made to analyze three types of links between the two in the Holy Quran: 1) the effect of the mental state on the physical state (spiritual-physical), 2) the effect of the physical state on the mental state (physical-spiritual), and 3) the effect of the mental state on another mental state (spiritual-spiritual). The verses indicating the connection between cognition and tears, the effect of sin on the face and appearance, hearing the divine verses and the trembling of the skin, and the relationship between the piety of the heart and lowering the voice, are among the signs of spiritual-physical connection. And the verses that emphasize the connection between crime and hardness of heart, and sin and rust of the heart, are a sign of physical-spiritual connection. The verses that express the connection between divine mercy and the softness of the heart, thoughtfulness, and the opening of the locks of the heart, refer to the spiritual-spiritual connection. The philosophical basis of these three types of mutual influence between the mental and physical states should be sought in the two theories of the soul’s ‘Spiritual temporarily and endurance’ and its ‘Physical temporarily and endurance’. In the present study, using the method of rational analysis, the verses related to each of the three types of links have been re-examined and their psychological foundations have been explained.