Guest guest Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 They ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: " The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: Of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you. " If it were Our Will, We could take away that which We have sent thee by inspiration: Then wouldst thou find none to plead thy affair in that matter against Us. surah 17: 85-86 Al Isra' (The Night Journey) Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, 1989.) http://www.adishakti.org/text_files/ruh_of_allah.htm " Islam for Modern Students (Spirit by Hamid S. Aziz) Some people have asked about the concept of Spirit in Islam, and there appear to be several views about this. Here, this concept will be examined using all references to it in the Quran. The word spirit is connected with breath and, therefore, with air. The breath is what keeps us alive and yet air was a mystery in that it was invisible. Spirit, therefore, stands for something very subtle. It refers to inner experiences — consciousness, conscience and will. It is responsible for revelation, inspiration, intuition and insight as opposed to knowledge which comes through the outer senses. The Spirit is by the Command of Allah:- " They ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little. " 17:85 " It is naught save mercy from thy Lord. " 17:87 We may suppose that it refers to something very fundamental which cannot be explained in terms of anything else. It is by or comes by the command of Allah. It may refer to a fundamental force in the Universe which carries information or Truth, for Allah has created everything with his Word and with Truth. It is likely that the stage by stage condensation of the Spirit is responsible for all levels of the heavens and earths. " Allah it is who created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof. The Commandment cometh down among them slowly, that ye may know that Allah is Able to do all things, and that Allah surroundeth all things in knowledge. " 65:12 " But His command when he intendeth a thing, is only that he says unto it: Be! And it is " 36:82 " He created the heavens and the earth with truth, and He shaped you and made good your shapes and unto Him is the journeying. " 64:3 and 6:73 " His Word is Truth, and His will be the Sovereignty on the day when the trumpet is blown. " 6:74 The Spirit ascends into Heaven and descends into the earth. " From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways whereby the angels and the spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years. " 70:3-4 " The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees. Peace until the rising of the Dawn. " 97:3-5 These two verses speak about two different cycles of events — there appears to be a spiritual circulation. " Lord of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, the Beneficent; with Whom none can argue. On the Day when the angels and the Spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the Beneficent allows and who speaks right. That is the True Day. So whoso will should seek recourse unto his Lord. " 78:38 This refers to the Final Day of Judgement. The Universe itself is a cycle and will be wound up (28:88). Things begin with the Spirit and end with it. The Divine Spirit has been breathed into man and this is what gives him consciousness:- " So when I have made him (man) and have breathed into him of My Spirit, do ye (angels) fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him. " 15:29 also 38:72 " He directed the ordinance from the heavens unto the earth; then it ascends unto Him in a Day, whereof the measure is a thousand years of that ye reckon. Such is the knower of the invisible and the visible, the Mighty, the Merciful, who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay; then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid; then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His spirit; and appointed for you hearing, and sight and hearts. Small thanks give ye! And they say: When we are lost in the earth, how can we then be re-created? Nay but they are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord. " 32:7-10 Note: — (1) the change of person from the third to the second — he has become aware of himself. He has received some of the qualities of the creator. (2) Three faculties are mentioned — hearing, seeing and feeling. These should be understood as referring not just to outer senses, but to inner ones, in particular to conscience, consciousness and will. (3) that " small thanks " refers to ungratefulness — people do not act according to the spirit in them. The spirit has become dormant. (4) The possibility of resurrection is connected with the spirit. However, we have to distinguish Nafs (soul) from Ruh (spirit). Whereas the Spirit is a Universal principle, each person has his own soul and it can degenerate or it can be made to grow. " Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. " 4:1 and 7:189 " And the soul and Him who perfected it and inspired it with (conscience of) what is wrong for it and what is right for it. He indeed is successful who causes it to grow, and he indeed is a failure who stunts it. " 91:7-10 " Surely We created man in the best stature, then We reduced him to the lowest of the low, save those who believe and do good works and theirs is a reward unfailing. So who henceforth will give the lie to thee about the judgement? Is not Allah the most conclusive of all judges? " 95:4-8 " Whosoever does right, it is only for the good of his own soul that he does right, and whosoever errs, errs only to its hurt. No laden soul can bear another's load. We never punish until We have sent a messenger. " 17:15 Also 2:223,231, 3:25,30, 5:105, 6:12,20,70,164, 7:53, 9:42, 10:108, 11:21, 14:51, 20:15 and many more. The soul may be regarded as a local organisation of the spirit and contains the information relating to the individual (his inherited and acquired characteristics and those created by his own efforts at integration). That consciousness is connected with the soul can be seen from the fact that sleep and death are alike:- " Allah receives souls at the time of their death, and the soul which dies not in its sleep. He keeps that soul for which he has ordained death and dismisses the rest till an appointed term. Lo! Herein verily are signs for people who take thought. " 39:42 The existence of the Spirit within man makes him a Vicegerent, a person who ought to be serving Allah, and exercising the faculties he has received on behalf of Allah. He was made as an instrument through which Allah can act more directly. " When thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a Vicegerent in the earth, they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. And He taught Adam all the Names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform me of the Names of these if ye are truthful. They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge saving that which Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower, Wise. " 2:30-32. Man, having been given some of the divine powers could act partly independently with his own initiative, creativity and sense of responsibility, though still dependent for these powers on Allah. This independence is not possible for the angels. In particular man was given the capacity to form concepts (the Names may also refer to the Attributes of Allah). It is this which gave him the power to do the evil and chaos which the angels feared, but Allah knew better. He could through experiences and trials lead them towards voluntary surrender. The spirit exists in man as a Trust:- " Lo! We offered the Trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it. Lo! He has proved a tyrant and a fool. " 33:72 Here again we see that man is accused of not allowing it operate on behalf of God. " Nay verily man is rebellious that he thinks himself independent. lo! Unto thy Lord is the return. " 96:6-8 This dormant spirit in man can be reactivated by the Messengers. These are persons who have already been chosen by Allah to be guided by the Spirit. " He sends down the angels with the Spirit of His Command unto whom He will of His bondmen saying: Warn mankind that there is no god save Me, so keep your duty unto Me. He hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. High be He exalted above all that they associate with Him. " 16:2-3 " The Exalter of ranks, the lord of the Throne, He casts the Spirit of His command upon whom He will of His slaves, that He may warn of the Day of Meeting. " 40:15 " O you who believe! Obey Allah and the Messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you (brings you alive), and know that Allah comes in between the man and his own heart, and that He it is unto Whom ye will be gathered. " 8:24 " Even as We have sent unto you a messenger from among you, who recites unto you Our revelations and causes you to grow, and teaches you the Scripture and Wisdom, and teaches you that which ye knew not. " 2:151 Muhammad was such a messenger:- " Say (O Muhammad): The Holy Spirit hath revealed it (the Quran) from thy Lord with Truth, that it may confirm the faith of those who believe and as a guidance and Good Tidings (gospels) for those who have Surrendered (to Allah). " 16:102 " And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our Command. Thou knowest not what the Scripture was nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! Thou verily dost guide unto a right path., the path of Allah, unto whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Do not all things reach Allah at last? " 42:52-53 " And lo! It (the Quran) is a revelation of the Lord of the Worlds which the True Spirit hath brought down upon thy heart, that thou mayest be one of the warners in plain Arabic speech. " 26:192-195 Note that there is a connection between the notion of Spirit and Light. The spiritual regeneration or resurrection is brought about thus:- " Is he who was dead and We have raised him unto life, and set for him a light wherein he walks among men, as him whose similitude is in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge? Thus is their conduct made fair seeming for the disbelievers. " 6:123 Other Prophets were also inspired:- " Lo! We inspire thee as We inspired Noah and the Prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms. And messengers We have mentioned unto thee before and messengers We have not mentioned unto thee; and Allah spake directly unto Moses. " 5:163-164 and many other verses. Believers are also strengthened with the Spirit:- " Thou wilt not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan. As for such, He hath written faith upon their hearts and had strengthened them with the Sprit from Him, and He will bring them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide. Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him. They are Allah's Party. Lo! Is it not Allah's Party who are the successful? " 58:22 Compare this with 89:27-30 Jesus was such a Messenger:- " And verily We gave unto Moses the scripture and we caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs, and We supported him with the Holy Spirit. Is it ever so, that when there comes unto you a messenger from Allah with that which you yourselves desire not, you grow arrogant, and some disbelieve and some you slay. " 2:87 " And those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others, and of whom there are some unto whom Allah spake, while some of them He exalted above others in degree; and We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs and We supported him with the Holy Spirit. And if Allah had so willed it, those who followed after them would not have fought one with another after the clear proof had come unto them. But they differed, some of them believing and so disbelieving. And if Allah had so willed they would not have fought one with another, but Allah does what He will. " 2:253 " When Allah said: O Jesus son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel and when I inspired the disciples saying: Believe in Me and My Messenger, they said: We believe. Bear witness that we have surrendered unto Thee (i.e become muslim) " 5:110-111 " And when Jesus, son of Mary, said; O children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was revealed before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who comes after me, whose name is the Praised One. yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say; This is mere magic. " 61:6 See also 3:50 " But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah? The disciples said: We will be Allah's helpers. We believe in Allah and bear thou witness that we have surrendered unto Him (i.e become muslim). " 3:52 Since, the Spirit is in all human beings, the Quran does not regard Jesus as being more than human. " The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers the like of whom had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat food. See how We make the revelations clear for them and see how they turn away! " 5:75 " O people of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. " 4:171 " Lo! The likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! And he is. " 3:59 This is, of course, how Allah created all things. " When the angel said: O Mary! Lo! Allah gives thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah). " 3:45 " Then We sent unto her (Mary) Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art God-fearing. He said: I am only a Messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has touched me, neither have I been unchaste? He said: So it will be. Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And it will be that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is thing ordained. " 19:17-21 Note that:- 1. The Spirit is a Messenger from God, something which transmits truth. 2. The Spirit appeared in the form of a man. This appearance has been called Gabriel. Gabriel is said to be an Archangel made of spirit as angels are made of light and jinn of fire. 3. Jesus is the Messiah, and a Revelation for mankind which had been pre-ordained. He is a revelation in the same sense that the Quran is a revelation. The conception of Jesus is described as follows:- " And she who was chaste, therefore We breathed into her something of Our Spirit and made her and her son a token for all people. " 21:91 and also 66:12 This is, of course, how Allah introduced the Spirit into man. " H.S. Aziz, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1998, 9:57 AM ----------- " " Even though Jews and Muslims both find the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation almost blasphemous, they have produced their own versions of these controversial theologies. Each expression of these universal themes is slightly different, however, showing the ingenuity and inventiveness of the human imagination as it struggles to express its sense of " God. " Because this is such a big subject, I have deliberately confined myself to the One God worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims, though I have occasionally considered pagan, Hindu and Buddhist conceptions of ultimate reality to make a monotheistic point clearer. It seems that the idea of God is remarkably close to the ideas in religions that developed quite independently. . . . Mystics have seen God incarnated in a woman, for example. Others reverently speak of God's sexuality and have introduced a female element into the divine. This brings me to a difficult point. Because this God began as a specifically male deity, monotheists have usually referred to it as " he. " In recent years, feminists have understandably objected to this. . . . Yet it is perhaps worth mentioning that the masculine tenor of God-talk is particularly problematic in English. In Hebrew, Arabic and French, however, grammatical gender gives theological discourse a sort of sexual counterpoint and dialectic, which provides a balance that is often lacking in English. Thus in Arabic al-Lah (the supreme name for God) is grammatically masculine, but the word for the divine and inscrutable essence of God — al-Dhat — is feminine. " Karen Armstrong, A History of God, Ballantine Books, 1993, p. xxi-xxiii. ----------------- " The Primordial Mother (Ruh of Allah) was the Primordial Power of Divine Love. The Power of God (Ruh of Allah) separated from God (Allah) itself. God was the Witness — Witness of the Play of the Divine Power (Ruh of Allah). There is no difference between the Two. God Almighty (Allah) and His Power (Ruh of Allah) are just like the sun and his rays. For us, for human beings it is impossible to conceive the mystery. Moreover, in our ego, we think we can understand Him. " Shri Adi Shakti Devi The Mystery Of God, U.K. — June 8, 1981 ----------- " Adi Shakti's Power is divine; is described in every religion; same in Islam called Ruh. In Bible is called the All- Pervading Power. It's called as Alak — that cannot be seen; Niranjana, the One that is beyond any attachment . . . All these words are used for this Divine Power. People have heard about it; people have sung about it but unfortunately very few people felt it. And when they felt it they didn't know how to give it to others; how to make others feel it. So whatever they talked became sort of story or some nonsensical thing. Nobody could believe that they have felt anything like that or could imagine that there is such a Power really existing. Now luckily it has become quite a universal fact for all of you — that you know there is this Power. You are sure about this Power because you can feel it within yourself. And when you feel it you feel very joyous . . . the Power of Adi Shakti (Ruh of Allah) — She tells you the Truth. " Shri Adi Shakti Devi Cabella, Italy — June 9, 1996 ------------- " Sadashiva is the God Almighty (Allah) and He is a Writer of the Play of the Primordial Mother (His Ruh). The combination between Sadashiva and the Primordial Mother is just like the moon and the moonlight or the sun and the sunlight. We cannot understand such relationships in human marriages or human relations. Whatever the Adi Shakti is creating, which is the desire of Sadashiva, is being witnessed by Him and when He is watching this Creation, He is witnessing all of it. He witnesses the whole Universe and He witnesses this Mother Earth. All the Creation, that is done by the Adi Shakti. His Power is of Witnessing. The Power of Adi Shakti is thus All-Pervading Power. " Sri Dvaita-varjita Devi Delhi, India — March 14, 1994 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 shriadishakti , " Manoj " <map5166@r...> wrote: > > Hi Mr. Jagbir Singh, > > Could you kindly increase the font-size of the matter that you > send us, so that it could become more clearly readable? > > Thanks & Regards, > Manoj Pisharoti > Dear Manoj, Posts made directly from the forum, whether font size 9 or 18, become standard once sent. The only way to increase font size is to use Mail and address it to the forum, a time consuming process as adjustments have to be made - re-paragraphing, editing etc. It will be easier if you just copy the entire post, paste and then increase font size. Thank you. jagbir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 shriadishakti , " jagbir singh " <adishakti_org> wrote: > shriadishakti , " Manoj " <map5166@r...> wrote: > > > > Hi Mr. Jagbir Singh, > > > > Could you kindly increase the font-size of the matter that you > > send us, so that it could become more clearly readable? > > > > Thanks & Regards, > > Manoj Pisharoti > > > > Dear Manoj, > > Posts made directly from the forum, whether font size 9 or 18, > become standard once sent. The only way to increase font size is to > use Mail and address it to the forum, a time consuming process > as adjustments have to be made - re-paragraphing, editing etc. > > It will be easier if you just copy the entire post, paste and then > increase font size. Thank you. > > jagbir btw, if reading posts from within Internet Explorer, the font size can be changed by the reader (top status bar: View: text size) zy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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