“وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا”
“They ask you about the Rūḥ. Say: The Rūḥ is of the command of my Lord, and you have been given but little knowledge.” (Qur’an 17:85)
This verse is often cited to emphasize the mystery of Rūḥ, as if to discourage inquiry. But in truth, it marks the beginning of a journey, a divine invitation to expand our understanding. Yes, we were given little knowledge—but that knowledge did not remain little.
It expanded when Allah “SWT” told us about His conversation with the angels (2:30), revealing the contrast between their limited program of praise and Adam’s expansive program of consciousness and choice. It expanded further when He breathed into Adam of His Rūḥ, activating the divine faculties of learning, naming, and moral agency. And it continued to expand as He revealed more of His knowledge to us—through prophets, through scripture, and through the unfolding of human awareness.
The Qur’an itself calls revelation Rūḥ. Gabriel is called Rūḥ al-Amīn and Rūḥ al-Qudus, not merely as a spiritual being, but as the trusted bearer of divine knowledge. Every time the word Rūḥ appears in the Qur’an, it marks a moment of transmission: a divine interface between God’s command and human awakening.
This article traces those moments and shows how Rūḥ is not just “spirit.” It is knowledge through revelation or inspiration. It is consciousness. It is the divine program of elevation.
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Rūḥ in the Creation of Adam
“When I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Rūḥ, fall down in prostration before him.” (15:29; 38:72)
This is the moment Adam becomes fully human—not through physical formation alone, but through the infusion of Rūḥ. This breath is not simply life, it is awareness. It is the divine endowment of consciousness, intellect, and moral agency. Adam receives the capacity to learn, to name, to choose, and to repent when he makes the wrong choice.
Classical view: Most exegetes, such as al-Ṭabarī (d. 923), understood this as God breathing “a spirit” into Adam, giving him life.
Contemporary insight: We can understand this “breath” as the divine program of consciousness, enabling Adam to become teachable, communicative, and self-aware (cf. Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’an, 1980).
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Rūḥ as Revelation and Scripture
“And thus We have revealed to you a Rūḥ by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor faith, but We made it a light…” (42:52)
“He sends down the Rūḥ by His command to whomever He wills among His worshipers…” (40:15)
Here, Rūḥ is explicitly equated with revelation. The Qur’an itself is called Rūḥ, because it brings life to hearts and clarity to minds.
Classical view: Al-Rāzī (d. 1209) interpreted Rūḥ here as divine guidance that revives dead hearts.
Contemporary insight: This aligns with seeing Rūḥ as revealed knowledge, scripture itself—a living program of guidance.
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Rūḥ as Gabriel: The Trustworthy Messenger of Knowledge
“Which the Trustworthy Rūḥ brought down into your heart…” (26:193–194)
“Say: The Holy Rūḥ has brought it down from your Lord in truth…” (16:102)
Gabriel is repeatedly called Rūḥ al-Amīn and Rūḥ al-Qudus. These titles describe his function as the carrier of divine knowledge, the conduit through which revelation flows.
Classical view: Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373) confirmed that Rūḥ al-Amīn is Gabriel, entrusted with revelation.
Modern scholarship: Angelika Neuwirth and other Qur’an scholars emphasize Gabriel’s role as mediator of divine knowledge, not just as a mystical being.
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Rūḥ as Strength and Divine Support
“For those [believers], Allah has instilled faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a Rūḥ from Him.” (58:22)
Here, Rūḥ appears as divine reinforcement: clarity, steadfastness, and moral strength.
Classical view: Al-Qurṭubī (d. 1273) described this as an unseen support, a form of tranquility (sakīna).
Contemporary insight: It can also be seen as cognitive and ethical empowerment, an inner clarity that sustains the believer.
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Rūḥ in the Creation of Jesus
“The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was a messenger of Allah, His word directed to Mary, and a Rūḥ from Him.” (4:171)
Jesus is described as a Rūḥ from God, not in a biological sense, but as a bearer of divine knowledge and miraculous insight. His speech in the cradle, his healing, and his moral clarity all reflect this divine infusion.
Classical view: Many exegetes paralleled Jesus and Adam, both given life by the divine Rūḥ.
Contemporary insight: We can highlight Jesus as a vessel of divine wisdom, uniquely empowered with knowledge and guidance.
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Rūḥ as Mystery and Divine Command
“The Rūḥ is of the command of my Lord…” (17:85)
This verse acknowledges the mystery of Rūḥ—but even here, it is linked to knowledge. It is the very thing that enables us to seek knowledge, yet its full nature remains beyond our grasp.
Classical view: Al-Ṭabarī interpreted this verse as God withholding the full reality of Rūḥ from human understanding.
Contemporary insight: Rather than shutting down inquiry, this mystery reminds us that Rūḥ is the bridge between the known and the unknowable.
Conclusion: Rūḥ as the Divine Program of Knowledge
Across the Qur’an, Rūḥ consistently refers to moments when God bestows new capacities, guidance, or clarity upon humanity. In Adam, it was the activation of consciousness. In revelation, it was scripture itself. In Gabriel, it was the delivery of knowledge. In believers, it was strength through insight. In Jesus, it was embodied wisdom. And in the realm of mystery, it remains the command of God, ever calling us to learn more.
This tracing confirms a powerful insight: Rūḥ is not merely “spirit” in the abstract. It is God’s program of awakening, the interface of divine knowledge and human growth.
To recognize this, we must approach the Qur’an with fresh eyes—as if it were revealed to us yesterday. Classical interpretations provide us with a foundation of respect and continuity, but our responsibility is to carry the meaning forward into today’s language and today’s level of knowledge. Fazlur Rahman often reminded us that the Qur’an is a book of “moral and intellectual challenge,” not of static formulas. Similarly, al-Ghazālī described revelation as “light cast into the heart,” suggesting a continuous illumination.
The Qur’an itself tells us: “We will show them Our signs on the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth” (41:53). This verse directs us to constantly integrate new discoveries of the human mind, conscience, and cosmos into our reading of the Book. To freeze our understanding is to contradict the Qur’an’s own dynamism.
Therefore, the challenge before us today is not to abandon tradition, but to revive it through renewal (tajdīd). The task is to re-examine Qur’anic concepts—such as Rūḥ, qalb (heart), ʿilm (knowledge), and ʿadl (justice)—through the same lens: faithful to the past, but alive to the present. Only then will the Qur’an continue to fulfill its timeless mission of enlightenment, elevation, and guidance for all humanity.
The story of Rūḥ reminds us that God did not intend us to remain in ignorance. He gave Adam consciousness, He gave prophets revelation, He gave believers strength, and He gave humanity a continuous command to seek. Our duty, then, is clear: to keep reading, questioning, and expanding, until our little knowledge becomes worthy of the divine trust placed in us.