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It seems that St. Aphrahat along with many Arabic Christians in the early Church believed in the heresy of soul sleep.  Aphrahat, and it seems to some extent Ephraim the Syrian, and Tatian the Syrian and many of the Syriac speaking Christians believed that "the soul is buried along with the body." Are these individuals, particularly Aphrahat, considered Saints in the Coptic Orthodox Church?  If so, how and why since even Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists quote Aphrahat to support their claim that human souls are unconscious when they depart from the body.

St. Ephraim the Syrian also says that the soul is unconscious and does not enter Paradise since it has no consciousness when it is outside the body: That blessed abode is in no way deficient,.for that place is complete and perfected in every way, and the soul cannot enter there alone, for in such a state it is in everything deficient—in sensation and consciousness; but on the day of Resurrection the body, with all its senses, will enter in as well, once it has been made perfect.... When Adam was in all things complete, then the Lord took him and placed him in Paradise. The soul could not enter there of itself and for itself, but together they entered, body and soul,.... (Hymns on Paradise VIII: 7,9).

There seems to be evidence that many Arab Christians, particularly Syriacs, believe such things in the early Church. How can this be?

Also, why do we, during the First Litany of The Compline Prayer in the Agpeya, say, "...O my soul.... inside the grave, dust does not praise. And among the dead, no one remembers, neither in hades, does anyone give thanks." This is partly from the Psalms but the fact that dust does not praise, why is this a threat to the soul?  Is the soul unconscious in the dust like the above Syriac Fathers like Aphraht teach?  Why do we repeat this?  Why do we also say that among the dead, no one remembers, since the rich man remembered Lazarus, Abraham, and even his brothers who were still on earth even while he was in Hades according to the Gospel of Luke?

These Syriac teachers seem contrary and completely at odds with other saints who state that:
St John Cassian: The souls of the dead not only do not lose consciousness, they do not even lose their dispositions – that is, hope and fear, joy and grief, and something of that which they expect for themselves at the Universal Judgement they begin already to foretaste… They become yet more alive and more zealously cling to the glorification of God. And truly, if we were to reason on the basis of the testimony of the Sacred Scripture concerning the nature of the soul, in the measure of our understanding, would it not be, I will not say extreme stupidity, but at least folly, to suspect even in the least that the most precious part of man (that is, the soul), in which, according to the blessed Apostle, the image and likeness of God is contained, after putting off this fleshly coarseness in which it finds itself in this present life, should become unconscious – that part which, containing in itself the power of reason, makes sensitive by its presence even the dumb and unconscious matter of the flesh?" (First Conference of Abba Moses)

St John Chrysostom: Do not say to me, 'He who has died does not hear, does not speak, does not see, does not feel, since neither does a man who sleeps.' If it is necessary to say something wondrous, the soul of a sleeping man somehow sleeps, but not so with him who has died, for [his soul] has awakened.

Does the soul of regular believers sleep unconsciously until the resurrection with a few exceptions like the saints? There are many, including some Easter Orthodox, who teach that is what happens, whether we are conscious or not after death until the time of the resurrection is pure speculation. This thought can seriously weaken someone's faith and joy because it means we are basically cut off from feeling God's love immediately after physical death, weakens one's resolve and bravery in the face of martyrdom, and basically one is an atheist, without God between death and the resurrection since he is unconscious.

When God created humanity, He breathed life into the dust, and it became a living soul (cf. Genesis 2:7). The word "became" means the soul is the product of the union of the body and the spirit. Adam became the product of the entrance of God's spirit into the body, and the soul is the outcome of this union between the body and the spirit. 
 
At the time of death, the spirit separates from the body. The spirit is either transferred to the Paradise of Joy or to Hades (cf. Luke 16:19-31). The body returns to the dust and the soul, which is the product of the union of the body and spirit, dies or rather sleeps, until the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16) when the spirit returns to the body, and thus, the soul rises again.
 
Sometimes, soul and spirit are used interchangeably based on the context, but they are different. As humans, we have spirits, but at the same time we are not spirits. We also have souls and bodies. Angels are different because they are created as spirits of fire (Psalms 104:4). It is our spirits that long to connect with God, whereas the soul, additionally, is the animate life and base of the senses, affection, and desires, whether toward life or toward sin. In addition, there is division between the soul and the spirit. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The body is the shell tactically interacting with the world around us, encompasses the soul, which is the function of our emotions, mind, senses, and psyche. The soul encompasses the spirit, which is the connecting factor with God in the spiritual realm. Thus, as marrow supplies nourishment to the bones and body, so the spirit nourishes the soul and body. Throughout the Divine Liturgy, the priest says to the congregation, "The Lord be with you," and the congregation responds, "And also with your spirit." The spirit is the source of life and strength for the body and the soul. Finally, the Holy Scripture confirms that man is body, soul, and spirit. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
 
The soul has three levels: senses, instincts, and intellect.
 
The souls of the plants have senses only.
The souls of the animals have senses and instincts only.
The souls of the humans have senses, instincts, and intellect. The intellect came from the breath of God that is the spirit that He breathed into the body.
 
So, when fathers speak about the death of the soul, they are referring to the soul which is the outcome of the union of the body and spirit.
 
When other fathers say that the soul does not die at all, they are using "the soul" to mean "the spirit" because these two words are used interchangeably in many references in the Scripture, as well as in the writings of the early Church Fathers. 
 
Both St. Aphrahat and St. Ephraim the Syrian are recognized and revered amongst the early Church Fathers.