What Is The Spirit

By Mohamed Hussein Ibrahim

Before talking about the end of the world, we should display the beginning in a summary form to understand how Allah has provided man with the evidences. These evidences make man believe in Allah Who has put the human beings on equal footing. The unlearned and learned understand the evidences.

Allah created Adam from the earth elements. The recent scientific analysis has proved that the body of man contains 18 elements. These elements are the same as the earth elements. Consequently, we observe that science had discovered what the gracious Qur'an showed fourteen centuries ago.

Allah created Adam himself. He ensouled Adam from His soul and granted life to his body, then created Eve from his rib. Man consists of spirit and body. Allah permitted man to discover the laws of the physical body throughout the ages according to his knowledge but He made the spirit unsolved mystery. All researchers tried to discover what is spirit but in vain because the spirit cannot be analyzed scientifically. You can't analyze the spirit in the laboratory not carry out experiments on the spirit to know its laws.

Man Tried to know information about the spirit and he is still trying. Swiss scientist carried out an experiment putting a dying man on a bed with an accurate pair of scales attached. He had found out that man loses a tiny amount of his weight at the moment of his death, i.e. during the coming out of the spirit from the body. After these experiments, Swiss scientist said that the spirit has a tiny weight less than one part of hundred of gram. He claimed that the spirit has a tiny weight and tried to prove that the spirit is a material mass with a tiny weight but was not able to prove it.

There are scientists who disclaim the existence of the spirit and claimed that it is mainly time or nature. Some scientists resorted to philosophy and said it is spirit that grants life to the body. Allah says in His perfect Book.

They asking thee concerning The spirit (of inspiration) Say: "The spirit cometh By command of my Lord: Of knowledge it is only A little that is communicated To you o man

(Sura: Isra') (Verse: 85)

We should realize that there is spirit, body and soul. Soul is the meeting of spirit and material, i.e. mixture of spirit and body. The command of Allah is not applied to spirit only or the spiritless body but it is applied to the mixture of spirit and body, as said by Allah.

By the soul, And the proportion and order Given to it; And its enlightenment As to its wrong And it's right Truly he succeeds That purifies it, And he fails, that corrupts it

We observe that the soul, which is the point at which spirit and material meet, carried out the commandment of Allah. Torture and bliss in Hereafter are for the soul too. Allah restores creation and restore the bodies which meet the spirit to be ready for judgement. We notice that the verses of Qur'an, which refer to the hereafter, don't refer to spirit only nor the body only but they refer to the soul. Allah says:

Then shall every soul Receive its due, Whatever it earned, And non-shall be Dealt with unjustly And there will come forth Every soul with each Will be an (angel) to drive And an (angel) to Bear witness (Sura: Qaf) (Verse: 21)

Then guard yourself against a day, When one soul shall not avail, another (Sura: Al-Baqara) (Verse: 48)

We observe that the commandment of Allah, whether torture or bliss, is for the soul because it is the mixture of spirit and body, i.e. meeting the spirit and material

What is the spirit?

If we want to know what is the spirit, we should declare that it is the divine secret, which grants life to material. In other words, the spirit is Allah's will for us to live or die. Death is considered the beginning of a new stage, which has its laws, and no one knows but Allah.

We have showed that man changes instantly from one state to another. When he puts his head on a pillow to sleep and lays his body on bed, he will change to another state and when he gets up, he changes instantly to another state. In other words, he will move from the law of sleeping to the law of waking, which are different.

The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) peace and blessings be upon him) showed us that life in this world is short if compared to the journey of the greatest life. The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) peace and blessings be upon him) has described this world like a traveller who spent some time in the shade of a tree before his departure. Thus showing us how short it is. The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) peace and blessings be upon him says:

"I am not eager for life in this world, I live in this world like the rider who sat in the shade of a tree before his departure".

Man knows nothing about spirit. The Jews asked the Messenger of Allah about spirit and how it grants life to the body. They thought that the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) will allege an answer depending on himself and thus they can contest his statement and would not believe in his message. Then Allah revealed this???

They ask thee concerning, The spirit (of inspiration), Say: "the spirit cometh, y command of my Lord:, Of knowledge it is only, A little that is communicated, To you O man, (Sura: Isra') (Verse: 85)

This means that spirit is still one of Allah's secrets. We can not solve this secret until the Day of Judgement. The spirit, which is an unsolved secret, is considered an evidence that serves the cause faith. This unsolved secret which makes us pay attention to the ability of Allah, leads us to the way of faith and belief in the existence of Allah the Founder of being and the Creator of the universe.

Although the spirit lies in the body, man knows nothing about it. He does not know how spirit entered or existed. He does not know its place in the human body. Does spirit lie in the brain, which transmits signals to the body in order to move? Does it lie in the heart, which beats when man has been foetus in the mother womb? This heart beats in voluntarily until life ends. Does it lie in the arms, which hit? Does it lie in he legs, which walk? Does it hie in the eyes, which see? Does it lie in the ears, which hear? Does it lie in the tongue, which speak? Where is the spirit?

Al-Azhar

Jumada Al-ula 1421 H.

Posted by: Sister: R.B.