Rūḥ
Definition
The ruh — spirit — is the divine breath that Allah blew into Adam at creation, the aspect of the human being most directly connected to the divine. Al-Ghazali is characteristically humble about the ruh: the Quran itself, when asked about it, replied 'the spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you have been given of knowledge only a little.' He refuses to over-define what the scholars have agreed must remain partially mysterious, but presents what can be known: the ruh is the animating principle of the spiritual life, the aspect of the human being that is capable of ascending toward Allah and that returns to Him at death.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Rūḥ.
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"In sum: to the measure the body is made light, the spirit is refined and lightened and seeks its higher world; and to the measure the body grows heavy and sinks toward appetites and comfort, the spirit grows heavy and descends from its world and becomes earthly and low. So you see a man whose spirit is in the highest company while his body is there beside you: he lies asleep on his bed and his spirit is at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, circling the Throne. And another stands in service with his body while his spirit is down below, circling among the lowest things. So when the spirit parts from the body it joins its company, whether the highest or the lowest."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Fawāʾid — Points of Benefit, Volume Two
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"by which to prefer the beneficial over the harmful. Just as a human being has no life until the angel, who is God's messenger, breathes into him of His spirit, and he becomes living by that breath, though before it he was among the dead — so likewise there is no life for his spirit and his heart until the Messenger breathes into him of the spirit cast upon him. God Most High has said: "He sends down the angels with the spirit of His command upon whom He wills of His servants." And He said: "He casts the spirit of His command upon whom He wills of His servants." And He said:"
— Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Fawāʾid — Points of Benefit, Volume One
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"Him a light by which He walks among the people like one who is in the depths of darkness from which He cannot emerge. Likewise in His statement, And thus we have revealed to you a spirit of our command. You did not know what the book or faith was, but we made it a light by which we guide whom we will of our servants. It has been said that the pronoun in made it refers to the command, others say it refers to the book, and some say it refers to faith. The correct view is that it refers to the spirit, meaning we made that spirit which we revealed to you a light. It is called a spirit because it brings life, and it is made a light because it brings illumination and"
— Ibn al-Qayyim, The Wholesome Rain of Good Words
Appears in
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