Ruh Allah (epithet)
Rūḥ Allāh (Arabic:روحُالله, lit. Spirit of God) is one of the honorific titles of Prophet Isa (a). This title is explicitly mentioned in numerous hadiths,[1] as well as in Shi'a ziyara texts, in expressions such as "al-salamu 'ala Isa Ruh Allah" (Peace be upon Jesus, the Spirit of God).[2] The term Ruh Allah means "the possessor of the divine spirit." Verse 171 of Qur'an 4 also alludes to this title of Jesus (a), albeit implicitly:
"The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only a Messenger of God, and His Word which He cast to Mary, and a Spirit from Him."
Several explanations have been given for Jesus being given the title "Ruh Allah" (Spirit of God):
- He came into existence by God's command, not through human seed.[3]
- He revived people in matters of religion.[4]
- He brought the dead back to life.[5]
- He was a source of mercy for God's servants (with rūḥ understood in the sense of mercy).[6]
The attribution of "spirit" to God in the expression Ruh Allah is honorific (iḍāfa tashrīfiyya); that is, it refers to a noble and exalted spirit that is worthy of being called "the Spirit of God." The title "Ruh Allah" expresses the reality that, although the human being possesses a material dimension, in spiritual and immaterial terms, he bears a divine spirit.[7]
Ruh Allah is also used as a title for individuals. One of the most well-known figures bearing this title is Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic system.
Notes
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 306; Ṣaffār Qummī, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt, p. 118.
- ↑ Mashhadī, al-Mazār al-kabīr, p. 497; Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs, Miṣbāḥ al-zāʾir, p. 146.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i Jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ, vol. 2, p. 21; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 6, p. 359.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Tarjume-yi Tafsīr-i Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 4, p. 56.
- ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-karīm, vol. 4, p. 256.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 6, p. 359.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 17, p. 127-128.
References
- Qurʾān al-Karīm.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī-Akbar Ghaffārī. 5th Edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1363 SH.
- Mashhadī, Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-. Al-Mazār al-kabīr. Edited by Jawād Qayyūmī. 1st Edition. Qom: Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1419 AH.
- Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-karīm. 1st Edition. Tehran: Wizārat-i Farhang wa Irshād-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. 10th Edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
- Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Miṣbāḥ al-zāʾir. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassasa Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1417 AH.
- Ṣaffār Qummī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Baṣāʾir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil Āl Muḥammad. Edited by Muḥsin Kūchabāghī al-Tabrīzī. 2nd Edition. Qom: Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-Murʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i Jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ. 1st Edition. Translated by Aḥmad Amīrī Shādmihrī. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Rażawī, 1375 SH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i Majmaʿ al-bayān. 1st Edition. Translated by Ḥusayn Nūrī and Muḥammad Mufattiḥ. Tehran: Farāhānī, [n.d].
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Ḥabīb Qaṣīr al-ʿĀmilī. 1st Edition. [n.p]: Maktab al-Iʿlām al-Islāmī, 1409 AH.