Assalaamu alaykum. Lately, in the past weeks, I have been seeing someone whom I know, but they are not the person whom I know. Does Allaah create another human being (their vessel) to be similar to another human being, except that their soul is different? Another word for this is doppelgänger.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Resemblance between some people is a fact, and it is not surprising; sometimes you may find this between relatives or among distant people who are not related.

It is proven in the Sunnah that the Prophet resembled Ibraaheem (Abraham) . Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, “… and I saw [in a dream] Ibraaheem standing in prayer, and the closest of the people in resemblance to him, from those I have seen, is your companion (meaning himself). When it was time for the prayer, I led them (in prayer).” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Also, Ja‘far ibn Abi Taalib and Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali resembled the Prophet .

Al-Baraa' ibn ‘Aazib narrated that the Prophet said to Ja‘far ibn Abi Taalib, "You resemble me in both appearance and character."

In Musnad Ahmad, ‘Uqbah ibn Al-Haarith said, “I went out with Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq after the death of the Prophet by some nights, and ‘Ali was walking beside him. Abu Bakr passed by Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali, who was playing with some boys, so he took him on his shoulders and said, ‘I ransom you by my father; you resemble the Prophet, and you do not resemble ‘Ali.’ He said, ‘And ‘Ali was laughing.’”

Allah knows best.