Jesus in the Qur'an: a Spirit from God (Ruhullah)
The Titles of Jesus in the Qur'an and the Bible
Chapters
« Jesus in the Qur'an: the Word of God (Kalimatullah)
This third title is very little different from the second one for once again the title belongs to Jesus alone and God again is the source of the Spirit as he was the source of the Word. (It is sometimes said of Adam that God breathed something of his spirit into him but this must be carefully distinguished from the title Spirit of God which is given to Jesus alone.) Jesus is his Word and his Spirit. This title is also not explained in the Qur'an but frankly supports the Christian belief that Jesus was not a creature made out of dust but an eternal spirit who took on human form.
In this case, however, we do find some evidence in the Qur'an that helps us to identify the meaning of this title. Elsewhere in the Qur'an we read of the "Holy Spirit" (Ruhul-Quds - cf. Surahs 2:87, 2:253, 16:102) and it is presumed that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel. Whoever it is, it is generally agreed that the Holy Spirit is greater than man and comes from heaven and is purely a spirit.
Jesus, however, is now called "a Spirit from him" (ruhun-minhu) from which he has received the title in Islamic traditions "Spirit of God" (Ruhullah). The expression in Quran 4.171, ruhun-minhu ("a spirit from him") is used in exactly the same form in Quran 58.22 where it is said that God strengthens true believers with "a spirit from him". Very significantly Yusuf Ali, commenting on this latter verse in his translation of the Qur'an states that here the "phrase used is stronger" than that for the Holy Spirit (Ruhul Quds). He implies that the Spirit from God is greater than the Holy Spirit and says that it is "the divine spirit, which we can no more define adequately than we can define in human language the nature and attributes of God" (note 5365).
This is a remarkable comment which is clearly a veiled implication that the ruhun-minhu is the very Spirit of the living God, uncreated and eternal in essence. Yusuf Ali says it is "the divine spirit" and that it is as incomprehensible as God himself. This language is unambiguous - the Spirit from God is clearly believed by him to be from the realm of deity and not from the created order. He is, according to this interpretation, practically synonymous with the Holy Spirit in the Christian Bible.
Now this is the very title that the Qur'an gives to Jesus in Quran 4.171. The exact same words are used - he is the ruhun-minhu, "a Spirit from God". If we merely apply Yusuf Ali's interpretation of the expression in Quran 58.22 to the very same expression given as a title to Jesus in Quran 4.171, we can only conclude that Jesus is the "divine spirit, which we can no more define adequately than we can define in human language the nature and attributes of God". He is, therefore, God in essence and nature. Because of the simultaneous denial in 4:171 that Jesus is the Son of God, Yusuf Ali is constrained to deny that the title ruhun-minhu when applied to Jesus implies deity, but he is hardly consistent in his exposition of the Qur'an when he teaches in another place that ruhun-minhu is indeed a divine spirit possessing the nature and attributes of God and is as incomprehensible as God as well.
For our part we believe that, as with the titles Messiah and Word of God, this title Spirit of God also strongly supports the Christian belief that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and that, not in any metaphorical sense, but in an eternal one which is based on the fact that he is very deity himself. The only way Yusuf Ali could avoid this admission when commenting on Quran 4.171 was to frankly contradict what he said in his commentary on Quran 58.22.
Nevertheless all three of these titles not only support but plainly imply that the one they refer to is the Son of God. In the Bible this is clearly the case and in the Qur'an the lack of an explanation for each title, together with the fact that the titles are much the same as those in the Bible, and further together with the underlying implication of each title by itself, leaves us with no other alternative but to conclude that Jesus is indeed the exalted figure that the Bible reveals him to be.
We have concluded our study of the most significant titles of Jesus in the Qur'an. Let us now turn to the Bible and let us briefly examine the two most significant titles of Jesus in this book - Son of Man and Son of God. We are selecting these titles, not simply because the Bible gives them to Jesus, but because these are the two titles which Jesus used of himself more often than any other in describing himself and his mission and ministry on earth.