Peace,

I believe that one of the main things that we lack as Muslims is a proper understanding of the Spirit and the concept of Spirituality.

In this post, I’ll explain what Islam tells us about the Spirit and how we can use this understanding to have a spiritual life that brings dynamics and depth to our religious practices.

First of all, you need to understand two common myths.

Myth #1: The Soul (النفس) is the same as The Spirit (الروح):

According to mainstream understanding, Muslims see the soul and the spirit as the same. So, when someone dies, Muslims say that his spirit has left his body, but that’s incorrect. The soul departs from the body at death, not the spirit.

The body is alive because of the soul, not the spirit. Among all earthly creatures, including mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects, humans are the only species that possess both a soul and a spirit. The other earthly creatures do not have a spirit. This concept is little understood, yet it has significant consequences for our understanding of our role on earth.

The Quran states explicitly that the Spirit has been blown into Adam, upon which God commanded Angels and Jinn to prostrate to him.

If we examine the two verses above, we will notice that God structured Adam's creation into two phases.

Phase 1: Creation from mud.

The first phase is breathing life into the mud to create Adam; this is the phase when Adam’s soul entered his body.

Phase 2: Completion and Blowing of the Spirit into him.

The second phase is when the Spirit is blown into Adam to equip him to be a successor and the new ruler over earth through a special divine knowledge.

The Spirit was the medium through which Adam received original knowledge from God.

That’s why Adam was so special: He alone had a spirit out of all earthly creatures, and he alone had a special knowledge unlike any other.

This knowledge equipped Adam to earn the title of a successor on earth (خليفة).

That remarkable moment of Adam’s creation came when the spirit was breathed into him. He deserved even Angels as followers of his command to govern and develop social order and authority on Earth.

God created us primarily to be successors on this earth. Therefore, the best way to attain the highest status of a “Successor” is to activate the Spirit God breathed into us since our first Father, Adam.

The Spirit will guide us in living as God intended.

What Happens if You Don’t Activate Your Spirit?

If you neglect your Spirit, fail to cultivate a healthy environment for it, and do not connect with God, you risk losing yourself in this life and the afterlife. This means you risk failing to live meaningfully in this life and falling into hell in the hereafter.

Muslims who cultivate a good relationship with their Spirit would feel closer to God. Consequently, Spiritual Muslims will lead a peaceful and abundant life regardless of their situation and circumstances.

Spiritual Muslims will cultivate:

1. A sense of acceptance that will help them move forward in life
2. And a clear vision to help them navigate through challenges.

Failing to remember God is damaging to your spirituality. The Spirit will not find a place in you and will leave you. If you don’t use your Spirit, you will lose it. God will recall and replace your spirit with a Shaitan, your new associate (Qareen).

Myth #2: Every person has a Devil Qareen.

Not everyone does. The verse is clear. Only those who choose not to practice the remembrance of God daily, God will “exchange” a shaitan for them to be their associates (or Qareen). The exchange that happens is indicated by the word “نُقَيِّضْ” in verse, which signifies an operation of give and take.

The key point is to understand that every person is born with a spirit, and only when a person turns a blind eye to the reminder of God does he lose his Spirit and exchange it for a Shaitan.

A Spiritual Muslim doesn’t have a Shaitan associate; rather, he will have the Spirit as his associate. And the consequences are profoundly different.

1- When Your Associate is a Shaitan:

• Will certainly hinder you from the ˹Right˺ Way while you think you are ˹rightly˺ guided.
• A Shaitan Qareen will always push you to doubt.
• You will have no purpose.
• You will fail to believe except for what you see.
• You won’t believe in the unseen.

This Qareen will start giving you mental problems or sickness. It may start with feelings of depression and anxiety and evolve into severe suicidal thoughts. This type of Qareen seeks to undermine your belief in yourself and make you feel insignificant.

2- When your Associate is your Spirit:

When you constantly remember God, pray to Him, and feel His influence over every aspect of your life:

• Your Spirit will be within you, acting as your companion and your ally.
• It will provide you peace even in the darkest hours of your life. Actually, your life won’t look dark at all.
• The Spirit will provide you with mental structures to strengthen your belief.
• The spirit will deliver God’s messages to you through dreams and Divine knowledge (علم لدني).

Having your Spirit as your ally is the best way to live a fulfilling, peaceful, and successful life both now and in the afterlife. It ensures your entry into paradise, as only those whom God loves receive the blessing of Spirit, while those who choose to forget God will be denied that blessing.

Can You Reclaim Your Spirit Back and Activate It?

Yes. Everyone has the chance to get rid of his Shaitan Qareen and replace it with the Spirit. But this requires genuine faith and good actions. Islam and the Quran have mentioned exactly how the Spirit can activate in you, and that’s why the Angels visit you.

Scholars and translators miss the point that the Rooh can be sent down with a group of Angels. Instead, the mainstream understanding is that this Rooh refers to the revelation that prophets receive through the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel).

However, the truth is deeper and more fascinating.

You can attune your faith and practice particular Islamic rituals so that Angels visit you and bring with them a Spirit you need to give you enlightenment and awakening.

If you want to become a Spiritual Muslim, you need invite Angels into your life. The Best way to do that is to keep the practice of reading the quran as a habit at every Fajr prayer.

This is the simplest way (although it requires great dedication) to activate your Spirit and cast your Devil out of your life forever.

Start firmly but wisely. Don’t overwhelm yourself early on. You need to cultivate your inner strength to win over your Devil.

1. Start with a sincere intention to repent
2. Do your daily prayers;
3. Wake up early in the morning, pray the Fajr prayers and read the Quran.
4. Repeat that for the rest of the prayers.
5. Donate money and food to the poor.

If you don’t have the money to donate, consider helping someone with a skill you know. Maybe you are a lawyer and can help someone in trouble for free. Or you know mathematics and can tutor someone for free once a week.

Get out of your way, and abandon the lavish lifestyle. The Spirit doesn’t like to be among the arrogants.

What are Some Signs That I’m Getting the Spirit Back?

Visions. According to Hadith, the prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that out of all 46 parts of prophecy, only one will be left in the hearts of believers: having visions.

A person sees various kinds of dreams. Some are due to physiological triggers, and some are psychological ones. However, some dreams transcend reality to show us visions, warn us or enlighten us.

Those dreams are called a Good Vision (الرؤية الصالحة) by Muslim scholars.

Since Good Dreams or Visions are part of prophecy, and since prophecy has only been established with the Spirit, it becomes evident that the Good Dreams and Visions are merely signs that we are living a Spiritual Life.

To call the Spirit back, you must repent, keep your body in a pure state through ablution and remember God constantly. Soon, you will start having good visions—vivid symbolic dreams — and you will know deep inside that they are divine messages.