The Holy Spirit: Allah’s Co-Creator & Life-Giver

The Quran identifies another being that is fully divine and yet subordinate to Allah, one who even has the ability to manifest himself in human form.

According to the Islamic scripture, the Spirit of Allah, also called the Holy Spirit, is a divine being who creates and gives life in the exact same fashion that the Muslim deity does. In fact, it was Allah’s Spirit who appeared to the blessed mother of Christ as a man in order to announce to her that he had come to cause her to miraculously conceive her son without the need for sexual intercourse:

And mention in the Book Mary when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place, and she took a veil apart from them; then We sent unto her Our Spirit (Ruhana) that presented himself to her a man without fault. She said, ‘I take refuge in the All-merciful from thee! If thou fearest God … He said, ‘I am but a messenger come from thy Lord, to give (li-ahaba) thee a boy most pure. She said, ‘How shall I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste?’ He said, ‘Even so thy Lord has said: “Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed.”‘ S. 19:16-21 Arberry

Note here that the Spirit appears as a man, communicates with Mary, refers to himself as an apostle/messenger of Allah, and tells the mother of Christ that he shall personally give her a pure, faultless son.

The Arabic word for “give” (ahaba) means to give/grant/bestow/present etc., just as the following lexical source confirms:

Waw-ha-Ba = to give/grant/bestow, dedicate, offer as a present/gift.

Wahaba (prf. 3rd. p. m. sing.): Has granted etc.

Wahabat (prf. 3rd. p. f sing.): She dedicated, offered.

Wahabnaa (prf 1st. p. plu.): We granted.

Yahabu (imp. 3rd. p. m. sing.): He grants.

Ahabu (imp. 1st. sing.): I give. Hab (prt. m. sing.): Bestow.

Al-Wahhaab (n. ints.): The most liberal bestower. One of the names of Allah.

wahaba vb.

(1) perf. act. 6:84, 14:39, 19:49, 19:50, 19:53, 21:72, 21:90, 26:21, 29:27, 33:50, 38:30, 38:43

impf. act. 19:19, 42:49, 42:49

impv. 3:8, 3:38, 19:5, 25:74, 26:83, 37:100, 38:35

wahhab n.m. 3:8, 38:9, 38:35

Lane’s Lexicon, Volume 8, pages: 222, 223 (Project Root List: http://www.studyquran.co.uk/25_WAW.htm)

And here a few examples from the Quran itself where this verb is used in respect to Allah granting offspring to specific individuals:

Then Zachariah prayed to his Lord saying, ‘Lord, give me (hab) of Thy goodness a goodly offspring. Yea, Thou hearest prayer.’ S. 3:38 – cf. Q. 19:5-6; 21:90

And We gave (Wa’wahabna) to him Isaac and Jacob — each one We guided, And Noah We guided before; and of his seed David and Solomon, Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron — even so We recompense the good-doers — S. 6:84 – cf. Q. 14:39; 19:49-50; 21:72; 29:27

And We gave (Wa’wahabna) unto David Solomon; how excellent a servant he was! He was a penitent. S. 38:30

Remember also Our servant Job; when he called to his Lord, ‘Behold, Satan has visited me with weariness and chastisement.’ ‘Stamp thy foot! This is a laving-place cool, and a drink.’ And We gave (Wa’wahabna) to him his family, and the like of them with them, as a mercy from us, and a reminder unto men possessed of minds; and, ‘Take in thy hand a bundle of rushes, and strike therewith, and do not fail in thy oath.’ Surely We found him a steadfast man. How excellent a servant he was! He was a penitent. S. 38:41-44

To God belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He creates what He will; He gives (yahabu) to whom He will females, and He gives (wa’yahabu) to whom He will males. S. 42:49

We are even told elsewhere in the Islamic scripture how the Spirit caused Mary to conceive:

And Mary, Imran’s daughter, who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and she confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Books, and became one of the obedient. S. 66:12 – cf. Q. 21:91

Allah breathed his Spirit into Mary’s body with the obvious purpose of causing her to get pregnant with her blessed and glorious Son.

This isn’t the only time that the Spirit was breathed out by Allah in order to create and give life:

And when thy Lord said to the angels, ‘See, I am creating a mortal of a clay of mud moulded. When I have shaped him, and breathed My spirit in him, fall you down, bowing before him!’ S. 15:28-29 – Q. 32:9; 38:71-72

Allah breathed forth the Spirit into Adam when he was still clay in order to animate his body, thereby causing him to become a living being.

Not only does this expressly identify the Spirit is as a co-creator with the Muslim deity, it further affirms that the Holy Spirit is not a creature but an eternal and inseparable aspect of Allah’s very own being.

The fact that the Quran describes Allah breathing out his Spirit shows that the Holy Spirit originates from Allah himself, and is therefore not a part of creation. As such, the Spirit must be eternal since nothing that is a part of, and which originates from, Allah’s own being can be said to be created.

There’s more.

The Holy Spirit is said to have strengthened Jesus:

And We gave to Moses the Book, and after him sent succeeding Messengers; and We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear signs, and confirmed him (wa’ayyadnahu) with the Holy Spirit; and whensoever there came to you a Messenger with that your souls had not desire for, did you become arrogant, and some cry lies to, and some slay? S. 2:87 – cf. Q. 2:253; 5:110

In fact, this is the same Spirit that comes from Allah who also strengthens all true believers wherever they may be:

Thou shalt not find any people who believe in God and the Last Day who are loving to anyone who opposes. God and His Messenger, not though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their clan. Those — He has written faith upon their hearts, and He has confirmed them (wa’ayyadahum) with a Spirit from Himself (biroohin minhu); and He shall admit them into gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to dwell forever, God being well-pleased with them, and they well-pleased with Him. Those are God’s party; why, surely God’s party — they are the prosperers. S. 58:22

However, in order for the Spirit to be able to strengthen all the faithful, no matter how numerous, and no matter where they happen to be, the Holy Spirit must be omnipotent and omnipresent, as well as omniscient. And yet the only way that the Spirit can possess such qualities is if he is truly divine, since God alone is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present.

This explains why the late Quranic translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali could say that the Holy Spirit is not only divine, but also beyond human comprehension:

… Cf. ii 87 and 253, where it is said that God strengthened the Prophet Jesus with the holy spirit. Here we learn that all good and righteous men are strengthened by God with the holy spirit. If anything, the phrase used here is stronger, ‘a spirit from Himself’. Whenever any one offers his heart in faith and purity to God, God accepts it, engraves that faith on the seeker’s heart, and further fortifies him with the Divine Spirit, which we can no more define adequately than we can define in human language the nature of God. (Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Quran, p. 1518, fn. 5365; bold emphasis mine)

Ali clearly saw that the Quran’s depiction of the Holy Spirit meant that Allah’s Spirit had to be fully divine, and essentially one with the Muslim deity.

Yusuf Ali wasn’t the only one since the Ahmadiyya scholar and Quranic translator Maulana Muhammad Ali stated something similar in reference to Q. 15:29:

29a. This shows that man is made complete when the Divine spirit is breathed into him. It should be noted that the Divine spirit (Ar. ruh) does not mean here the animal soul in man, but the Spirit of Allah, that gives him perfection. (Source: http://www.muslim.org/english-quran/ch015.pdf; bold and underline emphasis mine)

And here is what he wrote with respect to Q. 32:9:

9a. This verse shows that the spirit of God is breathed into every man. This points to a mystical relation between human nature and Divine nature. The word ruh does not here mean the animal soul, because the animal soul is common to man and the animal kingdom. It is something that distinguishes man from the animal world. It is due to the spirit Divine that he rules creation and its due to the same Divine spirit in him that he receives a new life after death – a life which he lives in God and with God – the meeting with God or liqa Allah, as it is called in v. 10. (Source: http://www.muslim.org/english-quran/ch032.pdf; bold and underline emphasis mine)

It is obvious that both Alis could see from the Quran’s depiction of the Holy Spirit that he is no mere created entity.

Now some Muslims may object and argue that the Holy Spirit is none other than the angel Gabriel. There are two major problems with this assertion.

First, the Quran on several occasions distinguishes the Spirit from all of the angels, thereby proving that the Spirit is not an angelic being:

By his own behest will He cause the angels to descend WITH the Spirit on whom he pleaseth among his servants, bidding them, “Warn that there is no God but me; therefore fear me. S. 16:2 Rodwell

(Whereby) the angels AND the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years. S. 70:4 Pickthall

On the day when the angels AND the Spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the Beneficent alloweth and who speaketh right. S. 78:38 Pickthall

The angels AND the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees. S. 97:4 Pickthall

Second, here is the response Muhammad gave when he was asked about the Spirit’s identity:

And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit); Say: “The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.” S. 17:85 Hilali-Khan

According to some of the Muslim expositors, this verse is about the Holy Spirit:

608– Al-Kalbi said that Jibril for a period of time did not appear after the people had asked the Prophet about the people of the cave, Zul-Qarnain AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. He had hoped that Jibril would be sent to him so that he could ask him the questions about them. He found it difficult to answer the people’s questions. So when Jibril was finally sent, the Prophet said, “You have lingered and I have been misunderstood. I was so eager to see you.” So Jibril replied, “I was more eager than you, but I follow orders. Whenever I am sent, I can come. Otherwise I cannot come.” Later this verse was revealed. (Imam Al-Wahidi An-Naisaburi, Reasons and Occasions of Revelation of the Holy Quran: English-Arabic Text, translated by Haythem Kreidly [Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah, Beirut, 2nd edition 2012], p. 404; bold and capital emphasis mine)

681– The scholars said that the Jews questioned the Prophet ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT. SO ALLAH REVEALED THE VERSE IN MECCA; “And they ask you (Oh Muhammad) concerning the Spirit, Say, ‘The Spirit is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge you (mankind) have been given only a little.’” (Al-Israa’, verse 85) WAS REVEALED. So, when the Prophet migrated to Medina, the rabbis of the Jews said to him, “We were told that you say, ‘The Spirit is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.’’’ (Previous verse) Did you mean us or your people?” He replied, “Both were meant.” They also asked, “Did you not recite in what has been revealed to you that we have the Torah which contains knowledge of everything?” The Prophet said, “However its knowledge is little compared to that of Allah. Thus Allah gave you that which if you had followed it the Prophet, it would have benefitted you.” Then they said, “Oh Muhammad how do [sic] claim this when you say, ‘and he to whom wisdom (or knowledge) is granted, is indeed granted abundant good.’ (Surah Al-Baqara, verse 269) How could the two things exist, a little knowledge and ‘abundant good’?” For that reason Allah revealed the verse, “And if all the trees on the earth were pens and the sea (were ink wherewith to write), with seven seas behind it to add its (supply), yet the Words of Allah would not be exhausted. Verily, Allah is the All-Mighty, All-Wise.” (Surah Luqman, verse 27). (Ibid., pp. 460, 462; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Here was the perfect place for Muhammad to have come right out and stated that the Spirit is none other than angel Gabriel. However, instead of identifying the Spirit as Gabriel, Muhammad plainly admitted that his and mankind’s knowledge of the Spirit was limited, thereby showing that he did not think for a moment that the Spirit was some created angelic being.

The fact is that the Muslim scripture describes the Spirit, not as some creature, but as the eternal breath of Allah who, though subordinate and subject to the Islamic deity, is nonetheless fully divine since he is depicted as creator and life-giver, who is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.

The Spirit is even described as a personal being, one that appears to and communicates with others, and who has the ability to take on human nature and manifest as a man.

In light of the foregoing, what more could the Quran say to confirm that the Holy Spirit is God and one with the Islamic deity?

Further Reading

Muhammad Testifies: The Holy Spirit is Incomprehensible!

Critiquing Shabir Ally’s Debate Tactics Pt. 2c

The Quran Testifies: The Holy Spirit is God!