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onsciousness is the most mysterious aspect of the mind or brain function. The term is considered to be extremely complex and practically indefinable.1 Philosophically, the mystery is still surrounding the nature and relationship between the mind, the brain, the soul and the self. As regards all the body systems and how they work, major scientific advances are being made but the least understood is the question of how the human brain works, and of all the brain functions the most mysterious is what is consciousness?2,3 Furthermore, sleep is an interesting phenomenon that is experienced by all living animals including man.4 Growing evidence indicates that the brain is the major benefactor from sleep which maintains neuronal and synaptic integrity in dynamic stabilization and is viewed as an actively induced and homeostatically controlled and organized function.5,6 However, no single location in the central nervous system could be identified as a defined center for the control, organization and regulation of sleep and consciousness.4,7 Neurophysiology. The known neurophysiological concepts of “consciousness” and “sleep”4 consider consciousness as 2 states: 1) awareness is a high level of integration which confers on the individual an understanding of the self and its surroundings and requires the contribution of the cerebral cortex and 2) arousal or wakefulness is a more primitive level of consciousness which is predominantly dependent on the Ascending Reticular Activating System of the brain stem. Sleep, on the other hand, is a state of physiological alteration of consciousness, which is readily reversible. During sleep, the interaction of the body with the environment is temporarily suspended while the vital functions of the body are maintained to keep the status of living. Quranic concept. In the Holy Quran the specific concepts of sleep, consciousness and death are considered as separate stages or phases of the ‘state of self”. The Holy Quran divides the “state of self” into 2 main phases or states: 1) A state of consciousness and 2) A state of “Wafat”. The state of consciousness can then be subdivided into: i) Awareness and ii) Arousal (wakefulness) along the same lines of conventional physiological understanding. The state of “Wafat” is further subdivided into: i) Sleep (temporary death) and ii) Death (“normal” death) (“It is Allah Who takes the souls at death and those who die Not (He takes) during their sleep. Those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life). But the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed. Verily in this are signs for those who reflect” Sura #39, verse #42).8 The main difference between the state of sleep and death in the present context is the maintenance or not of the “vital functions” which, in turn essentially indicates whether the body is alive or dead. Thus, the word “wafat” indicating either sleep or death is unique in the sense that it means effectively removal of “consciousness”. Hence, the meaning given in the translation as “taking of the soul” is not really accurate because the “soul” is the extra component that when its removal is added to “wafat” results in death. Therefore, when “wafat” occurs alone the loss of consciousness is temporary, indicating sleep or any other state of altered consciousness with preserved vital functions. Figure 1 shows a flow chart of the Quranic concept of the “states of self” with Arabic translations of the terms. Thus, the