He is Debating with a Christian and is Asking: Does God Have a Spirit?
Question

                I am debating with a Christian and he said to me that God has a spirit. My question is: does Allaah have a spirit (a spirit like the spirit of man, angels and all other creatures). Is the spirit something that is created or what?.
Praise be to Allah.No one has the right to 
      describe Allaah except in the way in which He has described Himself or His 
      Messenger  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has described 
      Him, because no one knows more about Allaah than Allaah, and no created 
      being has more knowledge of his Creator than the Messenger of Allaah  
      (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Allaah says (interpretation 
      of the meaning): 
“Say, Do you know better 
    or does Allaah?”
[al-Baqarah 2:140] 
“And follow not (O man, 
    i.e., say not, or do not, or witness not) that of which you have no 
    knowledge. Verily, the hearing, and the sight, and the heart of each of 
    those ones will be questioned (by Allaah)”
[al-Isra’ 17:36]

    The spirit or soul is not one of the attributes of Allaah, rather it is one 
    of the things that have been created by Allaah. It is mentioned in 
    conjunction with Allaah in some texts by way of honouring, for Allaah is its 
    Creator and Sovereign, He takes it (in death) whenever He wills and He sends 
    it whenever He wills. 
What we say about the 
    spirit is the same as what we say about the “House of Allaah”, the 
    “she-camel of Allaah”, the “slaves of Allaah” and the “Messenger of Allaah”. 
    All of these created things are mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way 
    of honouring. 
Among the texts in which 
    the spirit is mentioned in conjunction with Allaah is the verse 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 
“Then He fashioned him 
    in due proportion, and breathed into him the soul [lit. “His soul”] (created 
    by Allaah for that person)” 
[al-Sajdah 32:9] 
    
This is speaking of Adam 
    (peace be upon him). 
Allaah also says concerning 
    Adam (interpretation of the meaning): 
“So, 
    when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him (Adam) the soul 
    which I created for him  [lit. “My soul”], then fall (you) down prostrating 
    yourselves unto him”
[al-Hijr 15:29]
And Allaah says: 

    “She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We 
    sent to her Our Ruh [angel Jibreel (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in 
    the form of a man in all respects.

    18. She said: ‘Verily, I seek refuge with the Most Gracious 
    (Allaah) from you, if you do fear Allaah.’

    19. (The angel) said: ‘I am only a messenger from your Lord, 
    (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.’”

    [Maryam 19:17-19]
Here the word “rooh” 
    (spirit) refers to the slave and Messenger of Allaah Jibreel, whom He sent 
    to Maryam. Allaah mentions him here in conjunction with Himself in the 
    phrase roohuna (Our rooh or spirit) by way of honouring him. Here He 
    is mentioning a created being in conjunction with his Creator. 
In the lengthy hadeeth 
    about intercession it says: “Then Moosa will come and will say: ‘I am not 
    able for it; rather go to ‘Eesa for he is the spirit of (i.e., created by) 
    Allaah and a Word from Him.’” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7510; Muslim, 193.  
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn 
    Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Simply mentioning something in 
    conjunction with Allaah does not mean that that thing is a Divine attribute, 
    rather specific created things may be mentioned in conjunction with Allaah 
    and their attributes are not divine attributes, according to scholarly 
    consensus – as in the phrases, “the House of Allaah”, the “she-camel of 
    Allaah”, the “slaves of Allaah”. The same also applies to the phrase “the 
    spirit (rooh) of Allaah” according to the earliest generations of the 
    Muslims and their imams and their common folk. But if something that is one 
    of His attributes and is not an attribute shared by anyone else is mentioned 
    in conjunction with Him, such as the Speech of Allaah, the Knowledge of Allaah, the Hand of Allaah, and so on, then this is one of His attributes. 
End quote from al-Jawaab 
    al-Saheeh, 4/414. 

    This principle was mentioned by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah in several 
    places. The point is that things which are mentioned in conjunction with 
    Allaah are of two types: 
1 – Entities which exist 
    separately. These are mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way of 
    honouring, such as the House of Allaah and the she-camel of Allaah, and also 
    the spirit (rooh) of Allaah, which is not a divine attribute, rather it is 
    something that exists separately. Hence the Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, according to the lengthy hadeeth of 
    al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib which describes how man dies and his soul or spirit 
    (rooh) comes out: “It comes out flowing like a drop of water from the mouth 
    of a vessel… and he (the Angel of Death) takes it, and when he takes it they 
    (the angels) do not leave it in his hand for an instant but they take it and 
    put it in that shroud with that perfume… and there comes out from it a smell 
    like the finest fragrance of musk on the face of the earth, and they ascend 
    with it…” 
See the report of this 
    hadeeth in Ahkaam al-Janaa’iz ib by al-Albaani, p. 198 
The Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the soul (rooh) is taken, the 
    eyes follow it.” Narrated by Muslim, 920. In other words, when the soul is 
    taken the eyes follow it, watching to see where it goes. All of this 
    indicates that the soul is something that exists separately.  
2 – Attributes that do not 
    exist separately, rather they need an entity to belong to, such as 
    knowledge, will and power. If it is said, “the Knowledge of Allaah”, the 
    “Will of Allaah” and so on, this is mentioning the attribute in conjunction 
    with the One to Whom it belongs. 
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah 
    have mercy on him) said in his book al-Rooh: 
… Does the rooh exist from 
    eternity or is it something that is created? 
Then he said: This is an 
    issue which some scholars got wrong and many groups of the sons of Adam went 
    astray concerning it, but Allaah has guided the followers of His Messenger 
    to the clear truth concerning it. The Messengers (blessings and peace be 
    upon them) are unanimously agreed that the soul is created and taught and 
    trained. This is a basic belief in the religion of the Messengers (blessings 
    and peace be upon them), just as it is a basic belief in their religion that 
    the universe is created, and that physical bodies will be resurrected, and 
    that Allaah alone is the Creator and everything besides Him is created. 
Then he quoted al-Haafiz 
    Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi as saying: There is no dispute among the 
    Muslims concerning the fact that the souls (arwaah) that are in Adam and his 
    sons and ‘Eesa and other sons of Adam are all created by Allaah, who created 
    them and fashioned them and made them, then He mentioned them in conjunction 
    with Himself as He mentioned all His creation in conjunction with Himself, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 
“And has subjected to 
    you all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth”
[al-Jaathiyah 45:13]

    End quote from al-Rooh, p. 144 

    Some people may be confused about what Allaah says about ‘Eesa (peace be 
    upon him) in the verse (interpretation of the meaning): 
“The Messiah ‘Eesa 
    (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allaah and 
    His Word, (“Be!” — and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a 
    spirit (Rooh) created by Him [lit. from Him]”
[al-Nisa’ 4:171]
They think, as the 
    Christians do, that the word min (lit. from) implies being part of 
    Him and that the Rooh (spirit) is a part of Allaah. In fact the word min 
    here implies that this Spirit comes from Allaah, its starting point and 
    origin is with Allaah, because He is its Creator and Controller. 
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah 
    have mercy on him) said: 
The words in the verse and 
    hadeeth, “a Spirit (Rooh) from Him” are like the verse (interpretation of 
    the meaning): 

    “And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and 
    all that is in the earth; it is all as a favour and kindness from Him”

    [al-Jaathiyah 45:13]

    “From Him” means that it is created by Him and comes from 
    Him, not from Him in the sense of being part of Him, as the Christians say. 
    Rather it is referring to the starting point of that soul, as in the first 
    verse quoted. Mujaahid said that the phrase “And a Spirit from Him” means a 
    Messenger from Him. Others said that it means love from Him, but the former 
    is more correct, which is that he is a created being from a created soul, 
    and the soul is mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way of honouring, 
    just as the she-camel and the House are mentioned in conjunction with Allaah 
    in other verses (interpretation of the meaning): 

    “This she‑camel of Allaah is a sign unto you”

    [al-A’raaf 7:73] 

    “and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it”

    [al-Hajj 22:26]
And it says in the saheeh 
    hadeeth: “Enter upon my Lord in His House”; it is mentioned in conjunction 
    with Allaah by way of honouring. All of this is of the same type and comes 
    under one heading. 

    End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 1/784 
Al-Aloosi (may Allaah 
    have mercy on him) said: It is narrated that a skilled Christian doctor of 
    al-Rasheed debated with ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Waaqidi al-Marwazi one day and 
    said to him: “In your Book there is something which indicates that ‘Eesa 
    (peace be upon him) is part of Allaah,” and he recited this verse to him 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 

    “The Messiah ‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no 
    more than) a Messenger of Allaah and His Word, (“Be!” — and he was) which He 
    bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by Him [lit. 
    from Him]”

    [al-Nisa’ 4:171]

    Al-Waaqidi recited the verse (interpretation of the 
    meaning): 

    “And has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and 
    all that is in the earth; it is all as a favour and kindness from Him”

    [al-Jaathiyah 45:13]

    and said: Then that means that all things must also be a part 
    of Him, exalted and glorified be He. The Christian ceased his arguments and 
    became Muslim, and al-Rasheed rejoiced greatly. 

    And he said (may Allaah have mercy on him): The Christians 
    have no proof for their claim to be honouring ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) with 
    regard to the Spirit being mentioned in conjunction with God, because this 
    is also mentioned with regard to things other than him. In the Gospel of 
    Luke it says that Jesus said to his disciples:  
“…how much more will your 
    Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”

    Luke 11:13 (NIV) 
In the Gospel of Matthew 
    it says that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was in 
    his mother’s womb. 

    In the Old Testament it says that God said to Moses:  

    “Bring me seventy of Israel's elders … I will take of the 
    Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them.” 

    Numbers 11:16-17 (NIV) 

    It also says concerning Joseph:  

    “So Pharaoh asked them, ‘Can we find anyone like this man, 
    one in whom is the spirit of God?’” 

    Genesis 41:38 (NIV) 
It also says in the Old 
    Testament that the spirit of God descended upon Daniel… and there are other 
    such verses. 

    End quote from Rooh al-Ma’aani, 6/25. 

    It says in the Gospel of Luke: 

    “and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”

    Luke 1:41 (NIV) 
“Now there was a man in 
    Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for 
    the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 
It had been revealed to 
    him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's 
    Christ [Messiah]. 
Moved by the Spirit, he 
    went into the temple courts”
Luke 2:25-27 (NIV) 

    This clearly shows that the Spirit is an angel who brings 
    revelation, and that ‘Eesa (peace be upon him), the “Lord’s Christ (i.e., 
    Messiah)” is a servant of God. God is the One Who anointed him and made him 
    the Christ or Messiah. 

    And Allaah knows best.