QUESTION:
What is the Holy Spirit? If it’s unknown, is it then logical that it is better than the Infallibles (may peace be upon them) so that it may help to aim the Infallibles and give them success?
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
Just so that we may correct the understanding of this concept: the Holy Spirit is not an independent creature, but rather it is a part of the Infallible’s being. However, we do not know the reality of this similar to how we don’t know the rest of things related to the Infallibles (may peace be upon them). This misunderstanding of the subject has its root in those narrations which say that the Holy Spirit moves along with the Imams (may peace be upon them), upon which certain people assume that it’s an independent being. In reality, it is not independent but is rather similar to logic, which moves along with the human beings but is still a part of their being. Several narrations indicate that the Holy Spirit is a part of the Infallible’s being, among which is the following that is narrated on the authority of Al-Mufaddhal, son of Omar, of Abi-Abdillah al-Sadiq (may peace be upon him), who said:
Allah (Glorious and Exalted is He) put five spirits in the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family): the spirit of life through which he may creep and crawl, and the spirit of strength through which he may arise and strive, and the spirit of lust through which he ate, drank and had intercourse with women in a legal way, and the spirit of faith through which he believed and was just, and the Holy Spirit through which he carried Prophethood. As soon as the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family) was taken (unto Allah), the Holy Spirit moved to the Imam (after him).
Al-Kafi, by Al-Kulayni, volume 1, page 272
This narration solves the misunderstanding. It proves that the Holy Spirit is a part of the Infallible’s being and that it isn’t an independent creature so that we may feel it strange for the Infallibles to seek aid from it. Moreover, such criticism is similar to saying: How can the Messenger of Allah aid and assist himself?! Or: How can Imam al-Sadiq aid and assist himself?!
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib
