['Aalim Network QR] Holy Spirit (Followup)

[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 following elaboration on the question of the Holy Spirit was
provided by Shaykh Panah.  The original question and answer is reproduced
here, followed by the two follow-up questions and Shaykh Panah's reply. 

Wasalaam,

Mustafa Rawji
Acting Moderator, 'Aalim Network

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ORIGINAL 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
			----------------------------

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION #1:

Bismehi Ta'aala

Dear brother:
I recall that Allameh Tabatabai in his "Al-Mizan" goes into a lengthy
discussion about "Ruh al-Qudus" and says that it is NOT an angel, but a
separate entity which performs the will of Allah.  He points to Suratul
Qadr which says that the Angels and the "Ruh" are sent down.  Imam 'Ali
(A) also confirms this in the Nahjul Balagha.  In al-Kafi, Imam al-Sadiq
(A) expounds on the five ruhs (arwah) which provide the infallibility and
knowledge to the Imams (A) [I apologize for not quoting the ahadith
here--I am not in my home city this month].

Could you kindly clarify this issue further.  Forgive me if I have
misunderstood you.
			

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION #2:

Brother Muhammed:

Thank you brother for elaborating on the opinions of the ulema regarding
'The Rouh'. 

The question I have is that the third argument is supported by clear
rawayts in Al-kafi in which the Imma clearly explain the The rouh does
Allah biddings as it says in the Quran. On questioning on the verse the
Imma said that this Rouh is greater than Jibrail and Michael. Our imma say
more on this subject. they further add that the rouh guided our Prophet and
tranferred to each imam on his death. Hence their knowledge was transferred
completely.

What is you opinion on this? 
 
Sincerest and humble regards.
			-----------------------------

ANSWER:

Dear brothers: 

	Salamun Alaykum, thank you for your attention and your questions.
Since both of your questions are very much related, here I give the same
response to the both. The following remarks might clarify some the points
raised in my original response.

1- First of all please note that you can find the four different views I
listed in my original response in "Majam'-u-L-Bayan" by Marhum Tabrasi
(known as Tabarsi) and "Rauz-u-L-Jinan and Rauh-u-L-Jinan" by Abu-L-Futuh
-Al-Razi. Two of the greatest Shia scholars of the Holy Qur'an.

2- Secondly, it is good to keep in mind that the verse in discussion was
(2: 87), in which the reference is made to Rouh-u-Lqdus. In my original
response, under the third view it was mentioned that some scholars believe
that Rouh-u-Lqdus is the same as Al-Rouh mentioned in (17:85), and believe
since Al-Rouh is an angel, Rouh-u-Lqdus is also an angel. But these
scholar do not identify this angel. There I did not expand on this view
because it did seem plausible to me even though some prominent scholars
follow this view. In any case, I did not made any attempt to discuss who
Al-Rouh was because there are many different opinions on this subject. I,
rather, kept my response focused on Rouh-u-Lqdus (not Al Rouh). Given the
position of  the verse (16: 102), I found the fourth view, i.e.,
considering Rouh-u-Lqdus and Jebreil (AS) the same, more acceptable. I was
well aware that this conclusion cannot be made about Al Rouh, since in
verses (16:2), (78:38), and (97:40) seem to make a clear distinction
between Al Rouh and angels. There are also some Hadith from Massumin (AS)
suggesting the same distinction. But as I believe, I might have seen some
explanation as to why this distinction in these verses is made between Al
Rouh and other angels while he is also angel. I believe that at least one
scholars was of the opinion that the distinction is one of honor. In other
words since the rank of Al Rouh is much higher than those of other angel's
Allah (SWT) has named him separately. In any case this was not my position
to make any statement as to whether Al Rouh was an angel or not.


 3- But as it was mentioned in your follow up questions, Allameh Tabatabai
(RA) has a different position from what I stated in my response. He
believes Al Rouh mentioned in (16:2), (78:38), and (97:40); Rouh-u-Lqdus
mentioned in(2:87), and (16:102); and Rouh-u-Lamin mentioned in (26:193)
are all the same. According to Allameh Tabatabai's interpretation "Amin"
and "Quds" are attribute of Al Rouh, who is descended by Jebreil (AS) and
the Holy Qur'an is brought by him to Prophet Mohammad (SA). This view can
be considered a fifth view on Rouh-u-Lqdus. Even here Allameh Tabatabai
(RA) says Rouh-u-Lqdus descends with Jibreil and is distinguished from
angels "be-wajhen" ( in a way, or from one aspect) (see Almizan, Arabic
ed. Volume 13,  p. 209, 1372 H.S. Tehran: Dara-u-Al-Kutub-e- Al-Islamieh).
Allameh Tabatabai (RA) also mentions the other four views and critiques
them.

	Thank you for your comments.

With Regards,

Mohammad