: Spirit
is God’s most ambiguous and invisible secret. Only Him knows and realizes its
everlasting truth and essence. Almighty
God relates: “And they ask you (O Muhammad, concerning the spirit; say: ‘the
spirit is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And
of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little’.” (Holy Qur’an: 17:
85).
Contemporary
scientists have attempted tom make some research on the truth of this
secret. They have held conferences for
the same purpose. But their conclusion
was that the spirit is an unknown secret which mankind has not known its truth
yet.
One of
the conferences is the one which was held in New York in 1959, when six scientists from
different parts of the world met at a round table in an attempt to understand
something about the origin and evolution of life on the surface of this
earth. The Russian scientist Alexander
Obarin, a biochemist in he Soviet Academy of Sciences, and greatly interested
in the evolution of life, was among the participants. The end of the conference was no better than
its beginning. It did not lead to any
findings, but confirmed the fact that the secret of life is unknown, and that
there is no hope that science will reach one day.
We
believe in the existence of the spirit because of its outstanding effects in a
tangible world, which is replete with life and living creatures. The difference between the life of human
beings and that of animals is that the life of the animal is instinctive and
confined to the world of concrete material of food, drink and desire, while the
life of man is distinguished to be above that, as it belongs to a world of
values, manners, ideals, virtues and noble feelings, and the life of science,
thought, and search for the secrets of the universe and benefiting from
them. If human beings try to do without
these values, they regresses into the world of animals. This fact is typically portrayed in the
Qur’an, God says: “while those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as
cattle eat; and the Fire will be their abode” and “And surely, We have created
many of the jinn and mankind for Hell.
They have hearts wherewith they understand not, and they have eyes
wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth).
They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.” (Holy Qur’an:
7:179)