Rooh

The Process of Creation
A Qur'anic Perspective

by Dr Israr Ahmad

Now when we scrutinize the other uses of the term rooh in the Qur'an, the following portrayal emerges:

1.     At four places the phrase rooh-al-qudus (the rooh of holiness) is used: Al-Baqarah [2:87], Al-Baqarah [2:253], Al-Maidah [5:110] and Al-Nahl [16:102]. And in one place the phrase al-rooh-ul-ameen (the trustworthy rooh) is used: Al-Shura [26:193]. The English translation of these verses follows:

i.                   “We gave Isa, the son of Maryam, veritable signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit.” [2:87,253]

ii.                “Allah will say: O!'Isa, the son of Maryam, remember the favor I had bestowed on you and on your mother; how I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, so that you spoke to men in the cradle and of age.” [5:110]

iii.             “Say: The Holy Spirit brought it down from your Lord in truth to reassure the faithful, and to give guidance and good news to those who surrender themselves to Allah.” [16:102]

iv.             “The Trustworthy Spirit has descended with it (The Qur’an).” [26:193]    

According to the overwhelming majority of scholars, the reference is to the Archangel Gibraeel (Gabriel) in all these places.

2.     At two places the phrase “the angels and the rooh” is used: Al-Ma'arij [70:4] and Al-Qadr [97:4]. In one place the phrase “the rooh and the angels” is used: Al-Naba [78:38]. While there are various other opinions too, the majority position is that this phrase is a conjunction between the general and the specific (in the first two references) and between the specific and the general (in the last reference) where the specific (ar-rooh) refers to Archangel Gibraeel. An opinion often cited by a minority, however, is that the reference here is to the human souls or to that most exalted angel who is the repository of human souls.

3.     In Surah Al-Mujadilah [58:22] the phrase “…..He strengthened them with a rooh from Himself” is used to describe the invisible succor that Allah bestows upon the believers during their temporal existence. This succor refers to the support that comes to believers from the unseen (spiritual) realm of reality and in light of other references in the Qur'an (Al-Anfal, 8:112 and Aal-e-Imran, 3:124125), it appears that this most likely means the succor which comes to the believers through the agency of angels.

4.     The term rooh has been used six times in the Qur'an by Allah as an addendum in relation to His Exalted Being. Three times this term is used in the context of the process of the “creation”, “moulding” and “fashioning” of the human being. After the physical body of the human being was “created” and “shaped” out of clay, Allah blew from “…..My rooh (or “…..His rooh”)”. The three places in the Qur'an where the word rooh is used in relation to this process are: Al-Hijr [15:29], Al-Sajdah [32:9] and Saad [38:72]. And on three occasions this term is used in relation to the conception of Prophet 'Isa(pbuh). Twice (Al-Anbia, 22:91 and Al-Tahreem, 66:12) it is mentioned that “…..We breathed of Our rooh into that …..” which was in the womb of Maryam. And at one place (Maryam, 9:17) the term “…..Our rooh” explicitly refers to the angel that was sent to Maryam to give her the glad tidings of the noble child she was to give birth to.

5.     Lastly, and in the context of the present discussion most importantly, in Surah Al-Nisa [4:171] where the term kalimah is used to refer to Prophet 'Isa (pbuh),  the phrase “…..a rooh from Him” is also used.

In light of the evidence that has been presented above, the following point is absolutely clear and beyond doubt: there is an intimate and intrinsic relationship between the kalimah (or word) “Be!” of Allah, His amr and the term rooh. And the angels, the souls of the human beings, and Divine Revelation belong more or less to the same spiritual realm.

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The intimate and intrinsic relationship among the angels, human spiritual souls, and Divine Revelation --- and the close relation of all three of them to the Being of Allah --- is clearly demonstrated by another frequently used Qur'anic term, noor, possibly best translated in English as ‘Light’. This can be substantiated thus:

1.        It is quite obvious that the Qur'an designates Divine Revelation as being noor. In Surah Maidah [5:44-45], the Torah and the Gospel are both referred to as being “….. Guidance and light”, and in Surah AlAn'aam [6:91] the words “….. Light and guidance for humanity” are used to describe the Torah.  In the same manner Allah used the term noor to refer to the Qur'an itself. In Surah Al-Maidah [5:15], the Qur'an is called “…..a light and a clear writ”. In Surah Al-Aaraf [7:157], the Qur'an is called the “…..light that has been sent down accompanying him (Muhammad pbuh) …..” In Surah Al-Taghabun [64:8], the words “…..the light that We have sent down …..” are used to describe the Qur'an.

 

2.       In an authentic hadith narrated by ummul momineen Ayesha, it is explicitly stated about the angels that “Allah created them from light”. This hadith has been reported by Imam Muslim.

 

3.       In a famous hadith that however is not reliable according to the standards set by hadith scholars but which is nonetheless oft-quoted by mystical sages and by many commentators of the Qur'an, the term noor is used to describe the spiritual soul of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In this hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) says: “The first thing that Allah created was my noor.” Similarly, there is another hadith (the authenticity of which has not yet been ascertained by me) in which the Prophet (pbuh) gave the following reply to his companion Jabir’s query as to what was the first item that was created in all of the created order: “the noor of your Prophet, O Jabir, the noor of your Prophet!” It was reported to me by reliable sources that the Late Maulana Ghulam Murshid (1894-1979) -- a well-known Qur'anic scholar of Lahore --- used to quote this hadith in his discourses. 

 

4.       As far as the Being of Allah is concerned, the word “noor” is the best similitude that can be used, keeping in mind the finitude and limitations of the human mind. In Surah Al-Noor [24:25], we read the following words: “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.” And in an authentic hadith narrated by Ayesha it has been stated that since Allah is noor, He cannot be seen.

In light of the evidence presented above, is it too farfetched to conclude the following? In relation to the process of bringing into being the entirety of creation, the initial Divine Word “Be!” took the form of a heavenly, simple and indivisible light during the first stage of its devolution. By means of the ontological stuff of this light, Allah bestowed the honor of existence to the angels and the human spiritual souls, whose essence is light and each of whom possesses not only an individual personality and consciousness but is also endowed with the supreme blessing of self-consciousness.

One cannot dismiss it as impossible if, out of the angels and human spiritual souls that were created from light, the one who received the distinction of being the first was the “noor” or spiritual soul of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Here, it must be emphasized that just as the Qur'an has identified the human spiritual souls and the angels (both of whom are not only conscious but also self-conscious) as being related to the domain of amr, in exactly the same manner the Qur'an has also identified the speech and communication between the human spiritual souls and the angels as belonging to the domain of amr, the technical term for such communication being wahi or revelation. The speech and communication of Allah with the human spiritual souls and angels is also related to the domain of amr and referred to as wahi. The following two ayaat of Surah Al-Shura offer the most comprehensive and outstanding Qur'anic account of this matter --- so comprehensive and momentous regarding the subject of wahi that there is no other parallel to them anywhere else in the Qur'an: 

“And it is not given to any mortal that Allah should speak unto him other than through revelation (wahi), or from behind a veil, or by sending an (angel as an) apostle to reveal, by His leave, whatever He wills (to reveal); for, verily, He is Exalted, Wise. And thus, (O Muhammad pbuh) We have revealed unto thee a rooh from Our amr. (This revelation came to you) you did not know what revelation is, nor what faith is; but We have caused this Qur'an to be a noor, whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants, and verily (on the strength thereof), you too shall guide (people) unto the straight way.” [Al-Shoora, 42:51-52]

In these two ayaat, the resplendence with which the terms rooh, amr, wahi and noor have been mutually associated with each other is not only magnificent, it is also eye opening and immensely  thought-provoking. In the context of the present discussion these ayaat are of utmost importance because the argument that has been presented above regarding the process of descent from the original Eternal and Necessary Being to the observable particulars of possibility and contingency, has revolved around the meaning and significance of these four terms and that is why, in my opinion, the two above-mentioned verses of Surah Al-Shura are at the pinnacle in shedding light on this subject.

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In summary, the first stage in the long journey from genesis and “the event of creation” at the metaphysical level to the “process of creation” and “shaping” --- in other words, the first level or station of the series of descents --- relates to various Qur'anic locutions like kalimah, kalimaat, rooh, wahi, amr and the command Kun (Be!). Probably the Divine Word “Be!” takes the form of a singularly subtle and simple “light”. This “light” did not emit any heat and was also free from any commotion or movement. The oft-used and extremely important Qur'anic terms kalimah and kalimaat, rooh and wahi, amr and noor are related to this first stage in the process of devolution. And at this stage the two categories of beings created from this ethereal and simple light were not only conscious and personified as individuals but also self-conscious beings. One of these categories consisted of highly honored angels whose count cannot be encompassed, including the Archangel Gibraeel – the rooh of holiness/the-trustworthy rooh. The following ayah refers to the huge number of the angels:

“And no one knows the battalions of your Lord except Him …..” [Al-Muddathir, 74:31]

It has already been noted that there is an authentic hadith narrated by Ayesha in which it is explicitly stated that  the angels were created from light. The other category of self-conscious beings that was created from the primal noor consisted of the spiritual souls of all the protohuman beings who were to ever appear on the surface of the earth, including those of Prophet Adam (pbuh) and Prophet Muhammad a. It was from a collective assembly of these human fully self-conscious spiritual souls who were,  according to a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah and recorded by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, in the form of “huge multitudes” that Allah (swt) took the Primordial Covenant of “Am I not your Lord?” The Qur'an narrates that Allah (swt) asked the collective assembly of the human souls the question: 

 

“Am I not your Lord?” and “…..they all answered: Yes! Most certainly." 

[Al-A'araf, 7:172] 

 

After taking this Primordial Covenant the repose of the “first death” was imposed on these souls and they were carefully placed in a “storehouse of souls”. It is from this resting place that they are lifted when the time comes to “blow” them into the physical body of the human fetus who has been gestating in the mother’s womb. As already mentioned, there is an opinion among some of the scholars that the “storehouse of souls” is that archangel al-rooh that is mentioned three times in the Qur'an along with angels with the conjunctive “and” appearing between the two [AlM'aarij, 70:4; Al-Naba, 78:38; Al-Qadr, 97:4].

It must be emphasized that in this domain of “light” that came into existence at the first stage of descent, the dimension of serial time did not exist. Consequently, the beings that are blessed with existence at this stage are unbound by the limitations of time and space. In other words, it takes the angels and the human spiritual souls no “time” to travel from the heavens to the earth or the other way around, to say nothing of traveling from the East to the West or vice versa. In other words, they can do this instantaneously. In the above pages, I have explored the ethereal, spiritual and primeval ontological plane of existence --- the very first realm in the process of descent from the Creator. The created beings of this realm are prior to the creation of space and time and thus belong to the sphere of transcendent, primordial and purely spiritual realm.

Source:  The Process of Creation

 to be continued  . . . .