Allah Breathes from His Spirit

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على نبيه الكريم

وعلى اهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المظلومين

One of the holy names of Allâhumma is al-Hayy, the Living. Allâh possesses the divine attribute of hayât or life, He is a living God unlike the ’’gods’’ of the idolaters, which are dead and lifeless. According to the Torah:

וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם, עָפָר מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו, נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים; וַיְהִי הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה

Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

The fact that Allâh breathes is one of His attributes. It points to the fact that He is a living God. The Torah says that Allâhumma breathed the breath of life into man whom He formed from dust. The Qurân reaffirms this:

الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ ۖ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنسَانِ مِن طِينٍ ﴿٧﴾ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ ﴿٨﴾ ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِ ۖ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٩﴾

Who perfected everything which He created and began the creation of man from clay. Then He made his posterity out of the extract of a liquid disdained. Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His Spirit and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful.

Sûrah 32:7-9

The breath or breathing of Allâh Most High from His Spirit is what gives life to man. The Nafakh or breath of Allâh not only animates man, but is one of the forms of divine inspiration to him. This is evident in the example of the virgin Mary:

وَالَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّوحِنَا وَجَعَلْنَاهَا وَابْنَهَا آيَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ۞

And the one who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her from Our Spirit and We made her and her son a sign for the worlds.

Sûrah 21:91

وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ۞

And Mary daughter of Amram, who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and she believed in the Words of her Lord and His Scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.

Sûrah 66:12

In these two Verses, Allâh refers to Himself and His act of breathing into the virgin Mary from His Spirit in the plural: ’’We breathed into her of Our Spirit’’. This may indicate that Allâh’s blowing from His Spirit into the virgin Mary was through the agency of the Angels, and thus for the purpose of inspiring her to ’’believe in the Words of her Lord and His Scriptures’’. In the case of Adam, however, Allâh speaks in the singular:

فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ۞

So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him from My Spirit, then fall down for him in prostration

Sûrah 15:29; 38:72

This indicates that Allâh’s blowing of His Spirit into Adam was direct without the agency or intermediation of the Angels. In fact, the latter were being addressed by Allâh.