Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Resurrection (Ma’ad) in the Quran Soul in the Quran In order to identify the viewpoint of Islam with regard to the reality of the self of man we can utilize three types of verses: First type: Verses related to death. In some verses, the Almighty Allah has compared death to ‘Tawafi’ (taking up).
For example: وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَتَوَفَّكُم بِالَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِالنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَى أجَلٌ مُسَمّىً ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ \* وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ وَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُمْ حَفَظَةً حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ تَوَفَّتْهُ رُسُلُنَا وَهُمْ لَايُفَرِّطُونَ And He it is Who takes your souls at night (in sleep), and He knows what you acquire in the day, then He raises you up therein that an appointed term may be fulfilled; then to Him is your return, then He will inform you of what you were doing.
And He is the Supreme, above His servants, and He sends keepers over you; until when death comes to one of you, Our messengers cause him to die, and they are not remiss. (6:60-61) وَقَالُواْ أَءِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِى الْأَرْضِ أَءِنَّا لَفِى خَلْقٍ جَدِيدِ بَلْ هُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ كَافِرُونَ \* قُلْ يَتَوَفَّاكُم مَّلَكُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِى وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ And they say: What! when we have become lost in the earth, shall we then certainly be in a new creation? Nay!
they are disbelievers in the meeting of their Lord. Say: The angel of death who is given charge of you shall cause you to die, then to your Lord you shall be brought back.
(32:10-11) أللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِى لَمْ تَمُتْ فِى مَنَامِهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِى قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمّىً إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.
(39:42) In the above verses and other similar ones, death is describes as the taking up of the souls, which is accomplished by the Almighty Allah and the angel of death (Malakul Maut). Thus Raghib Isfahani has stated that ‘Tawaffi’ implies taking up of the reality of a thing completely.