The Qur’an describes Allah creating Adam’s body and then giving him life: e.g. “And [Allah] fashioned him and breathed into him of His Spirit…” (Qur’an 15:29; cf. 32:9). Classical Islamic teaching draws two linked conclusions:

1. Two components: humans have a physical component (body — clay, biological form) and a spiritual component (rūḥ) that gives real life, consciousness, moral agency, and responsibility.
2. Divine origin of the rūḥ: the rūḥ is a direct gift from Allah. It is not produced by anatomy or chemistry alone and it is not reducible to brain processes. The Qur’an and the main Sunni theological traditions treat the rūḥ as a created reality that God assigns — a metaphysical fact, not a natural byproduct.

So in theological terms, “breathing” indicates an act by God that confers true living, awareness, and moral accountability — not merely the activation of a complex biological machine.