['Aalim Network QR] Holy Spirit

[Mustafa Rawji <mrawji@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salaamun alaykum,

	The reply to the following question was kindly provided by Shaykh Panah.

Wasalaam,

Mustafa Rawji
Acting Moderator, 'Aalim Network

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QUESTION:
 
 What is the Holy Spirit mentioned in Qur'an in 2:87?
         
         2:87  And most certainly We gave Musa the Book and we sent apostles
 after him one after another; and we gave Isa, the son of Marium, clear
 arguments and strengthened him with the holy spirit. What! whenever then an
 apostle came to you with that which your soul did not desire, you were
 insolent so you called some liars and some you slew.
 
ANSWER:

Dear Brother/Sister:

	As to who is Rouh-u-Lqdus referred to in 2:87, there are a few
different opinions. They are the following:

1- Some scholars believe it is Hazrat Isa (AS) himself and they base their
opinion on  the verse (4:171) of the Holy Qur'an which refer to Hazrat Isa
as His (Allah's) Rouh (Spirit). These people argue that Al-Qudos is one of
the Holy names of Allah (SWT) (see 59:23). They also argue the verse
(17:85) gives them some justification to believe "rouh" in the Holy Qur'an
is used to refer to the soul or spirit of human beings and animals
therefore given all these verses one can conclude that the Rouh-u-Lqdus 
is Hazrat Isa(AS)'s soul which was blessed upon him not through a father.
But there are some weaknesses in this argument. One is the fact that in
(17:85) the question is about "Al-Rouh" not "rouh" and we have no reason
to believe it is human soul. Another problem is the fact that in (2:87)
Allah (SWT) says that Hazrat Isa was strengthened with the Holy Spirit. This
is indication that they were two different beings, not one.

2- A second group of scholars believe Rouh-u-Lqdus that strenghtened
Hazrat Isa (AS) is his book, Injil (Bible). They argue this since Allah refers
to revelation and His Wahi to Prophet Mohammad (SA) as "rouh" [see (40:15)
and (42:52)].

3- A Third group of scholars have argued that Rouh-u-Lqdus is an angel.
They have based their opinion on (40:15), (70:4), and (97:30). This
interpretation seems more plausible except that it is not clear who this
angel is.

4- Another group of scholars agree that Rouh-u-Lqdus is an angel but they
show that he is the angel of Wahi (revelation), i.e. Hazrat Jibrail (AS).
They base their argument on the verse (16:102) which clearly states the
Holy Qur'an is revealed to Prophet Mohammad's heart by Rouh-u-Lqdus.
 
	In my opinion the last explanation is the best one and Rouh-u-Lqdus 
must be another name for Hazrat Jibrail (AS).

With Regards,

Mohammad