format_quote Originally Posted by
Eric H
Greetings and peace be with you talibilm;
I would be interested to hear an Islamic understanding of the spirit, even though it is described as a mystery.
Blessings.
Eric
Eric thank you for your kind words but sorry for my belated reply because the following hadith states the reason
Muslim :: Book 39 : Hadith 6712
'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported: As I was going along with Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) in a cultivable land and he (the Holy Prophet) was walking with the support of a wood, a group of Jews happened to meet him. Some of them said to the others: Ask him about the Soul. They said: What is your doubt about it? There is a possibility that you may ask him about anything (the answer of) which you may not like. They said: Ask him. So one amongst them asked him about the Soul. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) kept quiet and he gave no reply and I came to know that revelation was being sent to him, so I stood at my place and thus this revelation descended upon him:" They ask thee 'about Soul. Say: The Soul is by the Commandment of my Lord, and of
Knowledge you are given but a little" (xvii. 58).
AFAIK , its an ORDER of Allah and it happens at the destined time of its arrival and departure for every living thing. But These words '
Soul & Spirit ' has been used (translated) interchangeably and in multiple ways so its a must that we have CONTEMPLATE FIRST in what sense it was used or meant For.
example like the above hadith
& the next hadith are the same
but uses the word soul & spirit interchangeably
Narrated Ibn Masud:
I was with the Prophet at one of the farms of Medina while he was leaning on a date palm leaf-stalk. He passed by a group of Jews and some of them said to the other, Ask him (the Prophet) about the spirit. Some others said, "Do not ask him, lest he should tell you what you dislike" But they went up to him and said, "O Abal Qasim! Inform us bout
the spirit." The Prophet stood up for a while, waiting. I realized that he was being Divinely Inspired, so I kept away from him till the inspiration was over. Then the Prophet said, "(O Muhammad) they ask you regarding the spirit, Say:
The spirit its knowledge is with my Lord (i.e., nobody has its knowledge except Allah)" (17.85)
(This is a miracle of the Qur'an that all the scientists up till now do not know about the spirit, i.e, how life comes to a body and how it goes away at its death) (See Hadith No. 245, Vol. 6)
& the below hadith 'spirit' is used in the sense of Trait of feelings & nature
Dawud :: Book 14 : Hadith 2509
Narrated Mu'adh ibn Jabal:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Fighting is of two kinds: The one who seeks Allah's favour, obeys the leader, gives the property he values, treats his associates gently and avoids doing mischief, will have the reward for all the time whether he is asleep or awake; but the one who fights in a boasting spirit, for the sake of display and to gain a reputation, who disobeys the leader and does mischief in the earth will not return credit or without blame.
&
Dawud :: Book 23 : Hadith 3520
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:
reported the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) as saying: There are people from the servants of Allah who are neither prophets nor martyrs; the prophets and martyrs will envy them on the Day of Resurrection for their rank from Allah, the Most High.They (the people) asked: Tell us, Apostle of Allah, who are they? He replied: They are people who love one another
for the spirit of Allah (i.e. the Qur'an), without having any mutual kinship and giving property to one. I swear by Allah, their faces will glow and they will be (sitting) in (pulpits of) light. They will have no fear (on the Day) when the people will have fear, and they will not grieve when the people will grieve.He then recited the following Qur'anic verse: "Behold! Verily for the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve."
& other understandings on spirit could be contemplated from the following hadiths
Narrated Abdullah:
Allah's Apostle said, "The key of the Unseen are five: Verily with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour He sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs.
No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and
no soul knows in what land it will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware." (31.34)
&
Bukhari :: Book 8 :: Volume 77 :: Hadith 593
Narrated 'Abdullah:
Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an angel and orders him to write four things, i.e., his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter).
Then the soul is breathed into him. And by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it."
&
Muslim :: Book 24 : Hadith 5268
Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said: Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you. have created.
&
Bukhari :: Book 4 :: Volume 55 :: Hadith 644
Narrated 'Ubada:
The Prophet said, "If anyone testifies that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone Who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His Slave and His Apostle, and that Jesus is Allah's Slave and His Apostle and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit created by Him, and that Paradise is true, and Hell is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few." (Junada, the sub-narrator said, " 'Ubada added, 'Such a person can enter Paradise through any of its eight gates he likes.")