What is meant by "the Spirit" in His — exalted be He — saying: "The Day that the Spirit and the angels will stand forth in ranks"? And is this creature among Allah’s creations that are in the form of human beings, neither angels nor humans, who were created before Adam? And are they from the jinn, or do they have a relation to human beings?

The exegetes differed regarding the meaning of "the Spirit" in the verse: (The Day when the Spirit and the angels will stand in rows), with several opinions. Among them: the spirits of the Children of Adam, or the Children of Adam themselves, or a creation of Allah resembling the Children of Adam, or Gabriel, or the Qur'an, or a mighty angel among the angels. Ibn Kathir favored that they are the Children of Adam, and Ibn Jarir paused, while Al-Sa'di and Ibn Uthaymeen limited it to Gabriel. As for the issue of the existence of a creation before Adam, peace be upon him, there is no explicit evidence from the Book and Sunnah concerning it. It has been reported from some of the Salaf that the jinn inhabited the earth before him, and this is among the matters upon which no action is consequent, and ignorance of it does no harm.