The essence or SPIRIT that comprises every quanta is also the source of consciousness within every unit of existence. Hence, everything in the universe is conscious, albeit consciousness itself is indivisible.
Therefore, every activity that transpires in the universe, far from coincidental, is conscious and deliberate, despite how disorderly it may seem at times.
Even the animals, plants, and the cells that we may think are not ‘conscious’ have individual consciousness and act in a specified order. However, they are not aware of this themselves, and as long as we remain confined to our sensory perception, we cannot become aware of it either.
Here is a verse from the Quran to validate this:
“There is nothing that does not exalt (tasbih) Him with hamd (evaluation of the corporeal worlds created with His Names, as He wills)! But you do not perceive their functions!”[1]
Indeed, it is impossible for one who limited by his five senses to discern the reality of the quants, its relation to consciousness, and the order in which they operate. It may only be ‘known’, but not duly understood!
Here is a verse from the Quran regarding the spirit:
“And they (the Jews) ask you, (O Muhammad) about the spirit. Say, “The spirit is from the command (amr; the manifestation of the Names) of my Rabb. And you have been given little of this knowledge (this answer is for the Jews who asked this question).”[2]
A renowned scholar of recent centuries, Ismail Haqqi Bursawi, construes this verse in one of his works. Bursawi notes that the word “qalil” comes from the root word “iqlal” which means “to reduce/remove something” hence the verse means, “regarding the spirit, everyone will have knowledge according to their capacity” …
When the miniscule radial particles we call the photons come together in a specific sequence and amount they form the essence of humans and jinn, and when this composition densifies to a certain degree it forms their different levels and types. However, some partially conscious photons form the type of consciousness we see most commonly in humans.
Among all the countless creations in the universe, humans and jinn have the level of consciousness and hence ‘spirit’ that can be evaluated by humans.
What differentiates humans from others is the capacity and strength of consciousness and the density of their composition, which makes them bound to the laws of ‘matter’.
The following information is from the reputable interpretation of the Quran (Hak Dini Kur’an Dili) by the distinguished scholar Elmalili Hamdi Yazir. Note that it is completely aligned with my explanations:
Regarding the spirit, there are three main definitions;
- The initiator of an action
- The power of life
- The inception of understanding
The spirit, as an initiator of an action, is the power that forms matter. What gives direction and form to matter, is therefore the spirit. For example, electricity, based on this definition, as well as everything that gives form and direction to matter, is spirit.
The spirit, defined as the power of life, is different to this. It is broader in its scope to the spirit defined as the initiator of an action; it is the source of all life throughout existence. It manifests itself even through vegetation and all animal and human life. The spirit carries a greater scope as it manifests itself through humans.
The spirit, in its final definition encompasses traits such as causality, contemplation, knowledge, will power, and the ability to explain, that pertain to humanity. For this reason, it has been called the human spirit, also commonly referred to as consciousness.
What differentiates the human spirit from the animal spirit is its capacity to observe its essential reality. For this reason, the Quran states ‘and breathed into Him from my spirit’. We recognize this spirit through our conscience, will power, and desire to observe and know our essence. Had the spirit had not been of a greater potential than what manifests through human awareness, we would not have had the capacity to discern the reality of matter and existence no matter the depth of our knowledge. This spirit, as the source of understanding, is the source of man’s corporeality, but it is also man’s creations program, his capacity or incapacity to observe the reality of existence and beyond. (Hak Dini, Vol: 4; Page: 3198-3199)