A Comparative Study of the Time of Ensoulment in Islam and Other Religions

Abstract

From ancient times, the beginning of human life and when a fetus should be qualified as human rights has been largely debated among scholars and different religions. Judaism, after a period of considers the embryo to have a human soul, but in this religion, fetus is considered to be perfect when its head is out of the womb or appears. In Christianity, there are two perspectives on the beginning of human life from the moment of coagulation and the beginning of human life after a period of coagulation, but the exact time has not been set for the latter. The lack of precise determination of the time of the soul's ensoulment is related to the human's lack of knowledge of the soul and its non-physical dimensions.; thus, to determine the matter, one should refer to the Holy Quran and traditions. The Holy Qur'an considers the stages of growth to be six stages including: nutfa, alaqa, mudgha, ‘izam, lahm and embryo in which the spirit is blown but no time has been set for these stages. Given the traditions in this subject, ensoulment take place at the end of four months and the doctrine of jurists who know the time of each stage of embryo development to be 20 days is in line with this time. This view is also consistent with scientific findings and the practice of the general public.

Keywords

• fetus
• life
• ensoulment
• islam
• religions