In this video, we will talk about who the Holy Spirit is in Islam and Christianity, to shed light on Muslims confusion regarding the matter of the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit is known in the Bible and agreed upon by all Christian denominations. And this is a so important topic that a lot of Muslims avoid to discuss or try to deceive people who don’t have knowledge about Quran or Islam.
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The Holy Spirit in Islam
Muslim scholars were confused and said that the Spirit of God was what took over His work, while others pushed in the direction of confusing the human spirit with the Spirit of God. Since the ambiguity of the meaning of the spirit has been proven among those around us, they have given it 15 interpretations that are astonishing due to their many and different types.
The truth is that this confusion of the scholars and Imams is due to the lack of a clear concept of the Holy Spirit in Islam. Opinions differed about the reality of the Holy Spirit until they reached about fifteen opinions that came as a comment on twenty texts from the Qur’an in which the name of the Holy Spirit was mentioned.
The 15 interpretations:
1- Gabriel: “And when We replace a verse with a verse, and God knows best what He sends down, they say, ‘You are an inventor.’ Nay, most of them do not know. Say, ‘It was sent down by the Holy Spirit from your Lord with the truth, that He might strengthen those who believe and as guidance and good tidings for the Muslims.’” (An-Nahl 101, 102).
2- A great king and the greatest of the angels in rank, and he was created in the image of Adam: Verse 38 of Surat Al-Naba’ about the Holy Spirit: “He is a great king. After the Throne, God has not created a creation greater than him.” Al-Tabari said in his interpretation of the same verse: “He is the greatest of the angels in rank.. He was created in the likeness of people, not people… He was created in the image of Adam.”
3- Greater than the angels: Al-Tabari says about the Holy Spirit: “An angel from the fourth heaven, and He is greater than those in the heavens, the mountains, and the angels. He praises God 12 thousand times every day. From every praise God creates an angel from the angels who comes in one row” ( Al-Tabari, vol. 30, p 13, 14).
4- “It is He who gives life to the dead and hearts”: Al-Baydawi mentioned in the interpretation of verse 87 of Surat Al-Baqarah about the Holy Spirit: “It is He who gives life to the dead or hearts,” and Al-Razi said that it is: “The Spirit of God. It is the cause of life.” (Al-Razi, vol. 5, p. 521).
5 – It is the degree of the descent of lights: Al-Tabari mentioned in his interpretation of verse 38 of Surat Al-Naba’ about the Holy Spirit: “It is at the degree of the descent of lights from the majesty of God, and from it they branched out into the souls of all the angels and human beings,” and in Al-Jalalayn’s interpretation of verse 22 of Surat Al-Mujadila he said. Concerning the Holy Spirit: “He is a light from God.”
In Al-Tabari’s interpretation of the previous verse, he said about the Holy Spirit: “He is proof from God, a light, and a guidance.” Al-Naysaburi said in his interpretation of Surat Al-Ma’arij: “The Holy Spirit is the first degree of descent of lights from The majesty of God, and from Him it branches out to all the other angels.”
6 – He is a mercy: In Al-Baydawi’s interpretation of verse 22 of Surat Al-Mujadila, he said about the Holy Spirit: “He is a mercy from God’s command. He is the conscience of faith.”
7 – It is the books that were revealed to the prophets: In Al-Tabari’s interpretation of verse 15 of Surat Ghafir, he said about the Holy Spirit: “It is the books that God revealed to His prophets.”
8 – He is the one to whom God has designated His knowledge: In Al-Baydawi’s interpretation of verse 85 of Surat Al-Isra, he said about the Holy Spirit: “He is the one to whom God has designated His knowledge.”
9 – It is the Gospel of Jesus: In Al-Baydawi’s interpretation of verse 87 of Surat Al-Baqarah, he said about the Holy Spirit: “It is the Gospel of Jesus.”
10 – He is the spirit of Jesus: In Imam Al-Razi’s interpretation of verse 85 of Surat Al-Isra, he said about the Holy Spirit: “It is the spirit of Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, and He placed it in him to purify him from the possession of Satan or for his honor before God Almighty, and therefore in addition to himself Almighty.”
The Qur’an mentioned that God supported Jesus with the Holy Spirit: “When God said, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My blessing upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Holy Spirit’” (Al-Maeda 110), “And We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Holy Spirit” (Al-Baqarah 253).
11 – It is the greatest name of God: In Al-Baydawi’s interpretation of verse 87 of Surat Al-Baqarah about the Holy Spirit, he said: “It is the greatest name of God by which Jesus used to give life to the dead.” Al-Zamakhshari said: “It is the Gospel, or the spirit of Jesus, or the greatest name of God that gives life.” It causes the dead” (Al-Zamakhshari, vol. 1, p. 162).
12 – He is the One who created the minds of creation: The Qur’an said: “And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you have not been given of knowledge except a little” (Al-Isra 85).
In Imam Al-Razi’s interpretation of this verse, he said: “He is the One who created the minds of creation that fall short of “His knowledge” and in Sayyid Qutb’s interpretation of verse 87 of Surat Al-Baqarah, he said about the Holy Spirit: “What is the Holy Spirit or who is the Holy Spirit that came in various places?… There is no way to perceive it with the means of the human mind and its limited perceptions, and it is good not to spend energy on Trying to realize its essence…
The Holy Spirit is the force of God’s creation, directed by God’s command and God’s will to where God wants and as God wants, and this is all that the human mind has the power to imagine or receive.” Then it is advised not to delve into trying to know the nature of the soul because it is beyond the level of understanding of the human mind.
13 – He is the eternal, uncreated Spirit of God: “Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hariri Al-Bayoumi said in the book “The Spirit and Its Essence”: “The Holy Spirit is the spirit of spirits, and He is free from entering under the saying “Be” with which God used to create creatures, and therefore it is not permissible It is said that the spirit is created, because it is a special facet of truth, and existence is based on that facet. It is a spirit, not like spirits, because it is the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is not created, and that Spirit is the expression of the divine face.”
14 – He is God: Abd al-Karim al-Jabali said: “The Holy Spirit is uncreated, and the uncreated is eternal, and the eternal is God and no one else” (Journal of the College of Arts, May 1934). The Holy Spirit, because it is God, is the one who gave life to man, and the “Qur’an” said about God’s creation of Adam: “
When I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down in prostration to him” (Surat Al-Hijr 29) “Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His Spirit” (Surat Al-Sajdah 9), and granting life is the work of God alone, so any created being, no matter how high his status, has no control over it. Giving life to others.
15 – The spirit is between non-creation and immortality: “Ahmad ibn Hanbal” said: “To say that the spirit is created is an innovation, and to say that it is eternal is blasphemy.”
Our Questions to Muslims and they need to answer, how can you claim to know God without knowing whether God has a spirit in Himself or whether it is a spirit devoid of a Spirit? How can He be alive without His Spirit?! Since your interpreters did not find any hint or opinion about the nature of the spirit…
And whether it is contemporary with God or a participant in eternity, they resort to saying: It is a hidden secret that has not been given to us to comprehend… while they say about it that it is unparalleled and above all other creatures, and connected to God in a hidden way.
Is it strange that He is not created, yet they have refrained from acknowledging His eternity?! This is for fear of being considered a god, but this position reveals a dilemma, as how can these descriptions of him lead to recognition of his sublime authority and presence in every place, since he is described as the face of God and is attributed to him originating from God and residing in humans, and that he is eternal, and who dares to say that he A creature that is considered innovative, then comes a pause without acknowledging its reality, so we see why all this confusion and this turmoil? The Qur’an did not clearly explain the Holy Spirit.
Rather, the meaning of the verses indicates that God supported Jesus Christ with His Holy Spirit to perform miracles and grant Him the ability to create, heal the sick, speak in the cradle, revive the dead, that is, restore life to their dead bodies, etc. Christ alone was singled out for all of these miracles, which he performed by himself without asking God for permission, because his body carried the Spirit of God with him inseparably, so he would say to the dead person, “Arise,” and he would rise immediately.
As for the interpreters of the Qur’an and those who uncover its ambiguity, they strive to explain the meaning of the Holy Spirit in ways that differ from each other. Many commentators and scholars unanimously agreed to interpret the Spirit of God as the angel Gabriel, or Gabriel, based on the verse that says, “So We sent to her Our spirit, and he appeared to her as a perfect human being.”
Some of them interpreted it as: the Spirit of God – the greatest name of God – the human spirit – the Gospel.
The question is who is the normal human being who appeared to Mary? Is it Gabriel who appeared to her as a human being, or Jesus Christ who appeared in her womb as a normal human being after the divine breath? This is what the commentators differed on as well!
As for the Gospel, the words are completely clear, like the sun, and there is no ambiguity or Qur’anic ambiguity in it.
So the verse was like this when the angel Gabriel gave the good news to Mary, saying to her:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; the holy one who will be born will be called the Son of God.”
This explains the author of the Qur’an quoting this verse and distorting it to [So We sent to her Our spirit, and she appeared to her as a perfect human being].
The Holy Spirit of God united with the wombs of the Virgin Mary and created Jesus Christ, about whom the Qur’an said [human being together], that he was born and not created according to the Christian faith. The Holy Spirit here is not Gabriel, as the commentators of the Qur’an claim.
Shiite Muslims say that the Holy Spirit is a greater creation than Gabriel and Michael. He is not Gabriel, but greater in status than him. He is the one who guides the prophets, meaning he supports and guides them, and the one who guides the prophets is God alone.
So the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Himself.
If the Holy Spirit were Gabriel or the angels of God, the Qur’an would not have said: [The angels and the Spirit descend. Peace be upon them until the beginning of the dawn]. Is Gabriel not one of the angels? Why (angels and spirit)?
If the spirit were Gabriel, why would God say to the angels: “When I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down before him and I will prostrate.”
(I breathed into him from My Spirit) meaning the spirit emanating from God’s own being (his spirit). It is the spirit of life, the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is not Gabriel, not the Qur’an, and not angels close to God, as the commentators claim. It is the divine life that comes from God, about which Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. “.
If Gabriel were the spirit, as some ignorant commentators claim, Muhammad would have known him, and would not have asked for a time period before those who asked him about the nature of the spirit. He would have answered them immediately and said that the spirit is the angel Gabriel who brings me revelation.
And if he did not know that he was Gabriel and asked him for the answer, Gabriel would have told him. Directly, he is not the spirit, and he did not say to him that [the spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you have not attained knowledge except a little]. Why this twisting and turning, wouldn’t it be easier for Gabriel to confess to Muhammad that he is the Holy Spirit and that he has two or three names: Gabriel and the Faithful Spirit or the Holy Spirit!
My Muslim brothers: If you are in doubt about what has been revealed to you, then ask those who read the Holy Book before you.
The Holy Spirit in Christianity.
In Christianity, unlike Islam, we find that the Holy Spirit is known to all Christians, in all denominations, and there is no difference between the Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic Christian denominations.
the Holy Spirit emerges as a dynamic and essential figure, integral to the Christian understanding of God’s nature and interaction with humanity. While definitions may vary, a comprehensive exploration of the biblical narrative unveils a nuanced and multifaceted portrayal of the Holy Spirit.
the Bible defines the Holy Spirit as a distinct person within the triune nature of God—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an abstract force or mere influence but a personal entity with attributes of intellect, emotion, and will. This divine personhood is exemplified in passages like John 14-16, where Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, Counselor, and Advocate a presence with agency and intention.
The Breath of God:
The Old Testament lays a foundational understanding of the Holy Spirit as the very breath or Spirit of God. In Genesis 2:7, the Spirit breathes life into Adam, imparting the divine essence to humanity. This breath signifies not only the sustaining force of life but also the intimate connection between God and His creation. Throughout the Old Testament, the Spirit’s role as the breath of God is evident in moments of creation, inspiration, and empowerment.
The Work of Creation and Redemption:
The Bible defines the Holy Spirit through His active involvement in the grand narrative of creation and redemption. In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit hovers over the waters, participating in the act of creation. This creative role is complemented by the Spirit’s engagement in the redemptive plan, from empowering judges and kings in the Old Testament to descending upon Jesus at His baptism in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit, as defined by biblical narratives, is intricately woven into the tapestry of God’s unfolding story of salvation.
Indwelling Presence:
The New Testament introduces the concept of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence within believers. In passages like 1 Corinthians 6:19, believers are described as temples of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing a profound union between God’s Spirit and the hearts of those who follow Christ. This definition underscores the personal and transformative nature of the Holy Spirit’s relationship with believers, guiding, empowering, and sanctifying them from within.
Guidance and Empowerment:
Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the Holy Spirit is defined by His role as a guide and empowerer. The Spirit leads individuals like Moses, Joshua, and the prophets in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, Jesus promises that the Spirit will guide believers into all truth (John 16:13). Acts 1:8 portrays the Spirit’s empowering function, as believers are endowed with power to be witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth.
In the end, we ask Muslims to think about how the God of the Muslims did not clarify who the Holy Spirit is. On the contrary, when people asked Muhammad about the spirit, God commanded him to answer that the matter of the spirit is the concern of God alone. Is it really the case that the spirit is a matter of distraction and abandonment? Muslims are confused about explaining who he is? Or is it Muhammad’s ignorance about the holy Spirit?
How do Muslim scholars say that saying that God is a spirit is blasphemy? So, who is God then? Read the bible to know who is the true God.
I invite you, my beloved Muslim women and men, to do as God has commanded you to ask the People of the Book, that is, Christians, to know who the Holy Spirit is, and to know the truth, and the truth will free you and give you reconciliation with God and eternal life.
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