Ruh/Holy Spirit in Islam

 Accusation: Are Muslims confused about the concept of Ruh, and who the Holy Spirit is in the Quran?

 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah and peace and blessings be on Prophet Muhammad sas.

 

There has been some confusion due to the efforts of certain critics of Islam in attempting to lay the claim that Muslims are not sure of the identity of the Holy Spirit and its role in Islamic Theology. They purpose that for Muslim’s to claim the Holy Spirit is the Angel Gabriel, the angel of revelation, that they will run into problems in making such claims. The base for this concept is the assertion that if we read every single verse of the Quran that contains the word Ruh, or some variation thereof, it cannot possibly mean the Angel Gabriel and as such Muslims are forced into an intellectual corner. However, as we shall see, this claim by critics is a false one, as no Muslim with the knowledge of the Arabic of the Quran would make this claim, nor should critics with the same standards make such accusations. We will first begin with an explanation of the root word Ruh which can be understood from its entry found in Dictionary of The Holy Quran by ‘Abdul Mannan ‘Omar, which is powered by the top Arabic Linguistic sources, most notable being Edward Lane’s Arabic English Lexicon. To quote the Dictionary regarding the word Ruh:

            “Ruh-Breath of life, Soul, Spirit, Inspiration, Revelation, Essence, The Quran, Joy and happiness, Mercy, Life-giving words of Allah, Prophet’s divine message(because of its life giving qualities), Angels, Arch-Angel Gabriel.”

Depending on the context and direct phrase being used, the above definition, along with the related words in the root or Ruh, Raha, all mean a variation of the above. Therefore it is obvious that not every time the word Ruh, or any variation of the root word Raha, will not mean the Angel Gabriel, however it should be noted that the word Ruh does mean the Angel Gabriel.

            Some examples from the Quran as to the various meanings and contexts of the word Ruh can be seen in the following:

Ruh(Gabriel): 26:193, 67:12, 70: 4, 78:38, 97:4

Ruh-ul-Qudus:(sometimes translated as Holy Spirit or Spirit of Allah): 2:87, 5:110, 16:102.

Ruh( where it means soul, spirit): 15:29, 17:85, 58:22

 

The above index references are taken from The Noble Quran translated and commentary done by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan. He also used the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir and Tafsir of Tabari in understanding the linguistics and interpretation of the Quran. With all of this in mind we can see from not only a scholarly perceptive and also the language of the Arabic, that there is no confusion regarding the meaning of the word Ruh and its root words. In fact it is clear from the context of each verse what the word is denoting, hence no error in reasoning on views of the word.

            Now with regards to certain missionary tactics claiming that Ruh can mean Holy Spirit in the sense of the Christian Trinitarian theological position, we will see from the Arabic of the Quran that this cannot be the case based on a linguistic level. To quote from The Noble Quran by Muhammad Muhsin Khan on the phrase Ruh-ullah:

“According to the early religious scholars from among the Companions of the Prophet pbuh and their students and the Mujtahidun, there is a rule to distinguish between the two nouns in the genitive construction:

(A)  When one of the two nouns is Allah, and the other is a person or a thing, e.g.(i) Allah’s House(Bait-ullah),(ii) Allah’s Messenger,(iii) Allah’s slave(Abdullah), (iv)Allah’s Spirit(Ruh-ullah) etc. The rule of the above words is that the second noun, e.g., House, Messenger, slave, spirit, etc, is created by Allah and is honorable with Him and similarly Allah’s spirit may be understood as the spirit of Allah, in fact, it is a soul created by Allah, i.e. ‘Jesus, and it was his word: Be!- and was created(like the creation of Adam).

(B)   But when one of the two is Allah and the second is neither a person nor a thing, then it is not a created thing but a quality of Allah, e.g. Allah’s knowledge, Life, Allah’s Statement, Allah’s Self.”

 

Therefore we can see from as far back as the time of the Prophet and his Companions, the identity  of the Angel Gabriel, and the understanding of the word Ruh and any variation thereof was clearly understood based on the linguistics and the context of the verses.

 

4:82 (Y. Ali) Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.