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Which is created first in a human being: the soul or the body?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The formation of a human being goes through several stages, and the insufflation of the soul precedes most of them. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abdullah bin Mas'ud that he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Indeed, the creation of each one of you is gathered in the womb of his mother for forty days, then he becomes a clot of blood for a similar period, then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel, and he is commanded with four words. It is said to him: Write down his deeds, his sustenance, his lifespan, and whether he will be wretched or سعاد سعيد (blessed). Then the soul is breathed into him." Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar explained that the fetus undergoes three stages over 120 days, each stage lasting 40 days, after which the soul is breathed into it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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