The Soul-Body Relation from the Perspective of the Wujūdiyyah Ṣūfī Metaphysics with a Special Focus on Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas’s Metaphysical Framework

Abstract

This paper draws from the works of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas to elaborate three aspects pertaining to the nature of the soul-body relation that can be taken as a genuine solution to the problem of their interaction. The methodology employed is philosophical analysis to elaborate such aspects as derived from the tradition of the Wujūdiyyah Ṣūfī metaphysicians, that is to say, the discussion on the soul’s ontological nature as nonexistence (ʿadam); the soul as a spiritual “subtlety” (al-laṭīfah al-rūḥāniyyah); and man as a new creation (muḥdath or khalqan ākhar). The first two provide the metaphysical and epistemological bases for the positing of man as a new creation consisting of both the spiritual aspect (insān) and the bodily aspect (bashar). Both supply a holistic understanding of the nature of man which includes not only his spiritual and the metaphysical aspect, but also his ethical and societal aspect. These are contrasted with similar discussions from the Western intellectual tradition such as the Cartesian dualism and the Hegelian conception of the Absolute Spirit.