* He is Debating with a Christian and is Asking: Does God Have a Spirit?.

** |
I am debating with a Christian and he said to me that God has a
spirit. My question is: does Allaah have a spirit (a spirit like the
spirit of man, angels and all other creatures). Is the spirit
something that is created or what?.
Praise be to Allaah.
No one has the right to describe Allaah except inthe way in which He
has described Himself or His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) has describedHim, because no one knows more about Allaah
than Allaah, and no created being has more knowledge of his Creator
than the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him). Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Say, Do you know better or does Allaah?"
[al-Baqarah 2:140]
"And follow not (O man, i.e., say not, or do not, orwitness not) that
of which you have no knowledge. Verily, the hearing, and the sight,
and the heart of each of those ones will be questioned (by Allaah)"
[al-Isra' 17:36]
The spirit or soul is not one of the attributes of Allaah, rather it
is one of the things that have been created by Allaah. It is mentioned
in conjunction with Allaah in some texts by way of honouring, for
Allaah is its Creator and Sovereign, He takes it (indeath) whenever He
wills and He sends it whenever He wills.
What we say about the spirit is the same as what we say about the
"House of Allaah", the "she-camel of Allaah", the "slaves of Allaah"
and the "Messenger of Allaah". All of these created things are
mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way of honouring.
Among the texts in which the spirit is mentioned in conjunction with
Allaah is the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
"Then He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him the
soul [lit. "His soul"] (created by Allaah for that person)"
[al-Sajdah 32:9]
This is speaking of Adam (peace be upon him).
Allaah also says concerning Adam (interpretation of the meaning):
"So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathedinto him (Adam)
the soulwhich I created for him [lit. "My soul"], then fall (you)
down prostrating yourselves unto him"
[al-Hijr 15:29]
And Allaah says:
"She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to
her Our Ruh [angel Jibreel (Gabriel)], and heappeared before her in
the form of a man in all respects.
18. She said: 'Verily, I seek refuge with the Most Gracious (Allaah)
from you, if you do fear Allaah.'
19. (The angel) said: 'I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to
announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.'"
[Maryam 19:17-19]
Here the word "rooh" (spirit) refers to the slaveand Messenger of
Allaah Jibreel, whom He sent to Maryam. Allaah mentionshim here in
conjunction with Himself in the phrase roohuna (Our rooh or spirit) by
way of honouring him. Here He is mentioning a created being in
conjunction with his Creator.
In the lengthy hadeeth about intercession it says: "Then Moosa will
come and will say: 'I am not able for it; rather go to 'Eesa for he is
the spirit of (i.e., created by) Allaah and a Word from Him.'"
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7510; Muslim, 193.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:Simply mentioning something in conjunction with Allaah does not
mean that that thing is a Divine attribute, rather specific created
things may be mentioned in conjunction with Allaah and their
attributes are not divine attributes, according to scholarly consensus
- as in the phrases, "the House of Allaah", the "she-camel of Allaah",
the "slaves of Allaah". The same also applies to the phrase "the
spirit (rooh) of Allaah" according to the earliest generations of the
Muslims and their imams and their common folk. But if something that
is one of His attributes and is not an attribute shared by anyone else
is mentioned in conjunction with Him, such as the Speech of Allaah,
the Knowledge ofAllaah, the Hand of Allaah, and so on, then this is
one of His attributes.
End quote from al-Jawaab al-Saheeh, 4/414.
This principle was mentioned by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah in
several places. The point is that things which are mentioned in
conjunction with Allaah are of two types:
1 - Entities which exist separately. These are mentioned in
conjunction with Allaah by way of honouring, such as the House of
Allaah and the she-camelof Allaah, and also the spirit (rooh) of
Allaah, which is not a divine attribute, rather it is something that
exists separately. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, according to the lengthyhadeeth of al-Bara' ibn 'Aazib
which describes how man dies and his soul or spirit (rooh) comes out:
"It comes out flowing like a drop of water from the mouth ofa vessel...
and he (the Angel of Death) takes it, and when he takes it they (the
angels) do not leave it in his hand for an instant but they take it
and put it in that shroud with that perfume... and there comes out from
it a smelllike the finest fragrance of musk on the face of the earth,
and they ascend with it..."
See the report of this hadeeth in Ahkaam al-Janaa'iz ib by al-Albaani, p. 198
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When
the soul (rooh) is taken, the eyes follow it." Narrated by Muslim,
920.In other words, when the soul is taken the eyesfollow it, watching
to see where it goes. All of this indicates that the soul is something
that exists separately.
2 - Attributes that do notexist separately, rather they need an entity
to belong to, such as knowledge, will and power. If it is said, "the
Knowledge of Allaah", the "Will of Allaah" and so on, this is
mentioning the attribute in conjunction with the One to Whom it
belongs.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his book al-Rooh:
... Does the rooh exist from eternity or is it something that is created?
Then he said: This is an issue which some scholars got wrong and many
groups of the sons of Adam went astray concerning it, but Allaah has
guided the followersof His Messenger to the clear truth concerning
it.The Messengers (blessings and peace be upon them) are unanimously
agreed that the soul is created and taught and trained. This is a
basic belief in the religion of the Messengers (blessings and peace be
upon them), just as it is a basicbelief in their religion that the
universe is created, and that physical bodies will be resurrected, and
that Allaah alone is the Creator and everything besides Him is
created.
Then he quoted al-HaafizMuhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi as saying: There
is no dispute among the Muslims concerning the fact that the souls
(arwaah) that are in Adam and his sonsand 'Eesa and other sonsof Adam
are all created by Allaah, who created them and fashioned them and
made them, then He mentioned themin conjunction with Himself as He
mentioned all His creation in conjunction with Himself, as He says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is
inthe earth"
[al-Jaathiyah 45:13] End quote from al-Rooh, p. 144
Some people may be confused about what Allaah says about 'Eesa (peace
be upon him) in the verse (interpretationof the meaning):
"The Messiah 'Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a
Messenger of Allaah and His Word, ("Be!" -- and he was) which He
bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by Him [lit.
from Him]"
[al-Nisa' 4:171]
They think, as the Christians do, that the word min (lit. from)
implies being part of Him and that the Rooh (spirit) is a part of
Allaah.In fact the word min here implies that this Spirit comes from
Allaah,its starting point and origin is with Allaah, because He is its
Creator and Controller.
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The words in the verse and hadeeth, "a Spirit (Rooh) from Him" are
like the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
"And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is
inthe earth; it is all as a favour and kindness from Him"
[al-Jaathiyah 45:13]
"From Him" means that itis created by Him and comes from Him, not from
Him in the sense of being part of Him, as theChristians say. Rather it
isreferring to the starting point of that soul, as in the first verse
quoted. Mujaahid said that the phrase "And a Spirit from Him" means a
Messenger from Him. Others said that it meanslove from Him, but the
former is more correct, which is that he is a created being from a
created soul, and the soul is mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by
way of honouring, just as the she-camel andthe House are mentioned in
conjunction with Allaah in other verses (interpretation of the
meaning):
"This she-camel of Allaahis a sign unto you"
[al-A'raaf 7:73]
"and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it"
[al-Hajj 22:26]
And it says in the saheeh hadeeth: "Enter upon myLord in His House";
it is mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way of honouring. All of
this is of the same type and comes under one heading.
End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 1/784
Al-Aloosi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:It is narrated that a
skilled Christian doctor of al-Rasheed debated with 'Ali ibn al-Husayn
al-Waaqidi al-Marwazi one day and said to him:"In your Book there is
something which indicates that 'Eesa (peace be upon him) is part of
Allaah," and he recited this verse to him (interpretation of the
meaning):
"The Messiah 'Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a
Messenger of Allaah and His Word, ("Be!" -- and he was) which He
bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by Him [lit.
from Him]"
[al-Nisa' 4:171]
Al-Waaqidi recited the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
"And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is
inthe earth; it is all as a favour and kindness from Him"
[al-Jaathiyah 45:13]
and said: Then that means that all things must also be a part of Him,
exalted and glorified be He. The Christian ceased his arguments and
became Muslim, and al-Rasheed rejoiced greatly.
And he said (may Allaah have mercy on him): The Christians have no
proof for their claim to be honouring 'Eesa (peace be upon him) with
regard to the Spirit being mentioned in conjunction with God, because
this is also mentioned with regard to things other than him.In the
Gospel of Luke it says that Jesus said to hisdisciples:
"...how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him"
Luke 11:13 (NIV)
In the Gospel of Matthewit says that John the Baptist was filled with
the Holy Spirit when he was in his mother's womb.
In the Old Testament it says that God said to Moses:
"Bring me seventy of Israel's elders ... I will take of the Spirit that
is on you and put the Spiriton them."
Numbers 11:16-17 (NIV)
It also says concerning Joseph:
"So Pharaoh asked them,'Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom
isthe spirit of God?'"
Genesis 41:38 (NIV)
It also says in the Old Testament that the spirit of God descended
upon Daniel... and there are other such verses.
End quote from Rooh al-Ma'aani, 6/25.
It says in the Gospel of Luke:
"and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit"
Luke 1:41 (NIV)
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and
devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy
Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die
before he had seen the Lord's Christ [Messiah].
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts"
Luke 2:25-27 (NIV)
This clearly shows that the Spirit is an angel who brings revelation,
and that 'Eesa (peace be upon him), the "Lord's Christ (i.e.,
Messiah)" is a servant of God. God is the One Who anointed him and
made him the Christ or Messiah.
And Allaah knows best.