Back to search

Is there a divine attribute of Allah called a spirit, based on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "The people of the earth will migrate migration after migration, to the migration of Abraham, until only the worst of its people remain; the lands will cast them out, and the Spirit of the Most Merciful will detest them"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

This hadith is weak, and there is no other authentic evidence proving "the Spirit" as an attribute of Allah. Al-Bayhaqi interpreted "the Spirit" as the Self (Nafs), and the attribute of the Self is affirmed for Allah Almighty, being His very Essence (Dhat) Most Glorified. The attribution of "the Spirit" to Allah in the Qur'an is an attribution of honor, not an attribution of a characteristic, because the Spirit is one of Allah's creations, and Allah is its Creator and Owner. This attribution signifies honor and specificity, and it is not an attribute inherent in Allah's Essence.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy