The soul's connection to the body

Question:

Is there anything in Islam to explain the soul's connection to the body?


Answer:

Praise be to Allaah. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The soul (al-rooh) is connected to the body in five different ways, to which
different rules apply.

Its connection to the body as a foetus in his mother's womb.

Its connection to the body after a person is born.

Its connection to the body when a person is asleep, when the soul is
connected in one way and separated from it in another way.

Its connection to the body in al-Barzakh (the period between a person's
death and the Day of Resurrection), when it has departed from the body and
separated from it, but is not separated completely in such a way that there
is no connection at all. We have mentioned at the beginning of this reply
that there are ahaadeeth and reports which indicate that the soul is
returned to the body when somebody sends the greeting of salaam to a
deceased person. This returning is of a special nature which does not mean
that the life is restored to the body before the Day of Resurrection.

Its connection to the body on the Day when bodies will be resurrected. This
is the most perfect type of connection to the body, and has no comparison to
the previous types, because after that the body will never die, sleep or
have anything wrong with it.

When a person is asleep, his soul is in his body and he is alive, although
his being alive is not the same as that of a person who is awake, for sleep
is comparable to death. Similarly, when a dead person's soul is returned to
his body (when the greeting is sent upon him), he is in a state between one
who is alive and one who is dead, whose soul is not restored to his body.
This is like the case of a sleeping person who is in a state between life
and death. We hope that this will dispel a lot of your confusion.