Does the Christian Trinity exist in islam
Question: Does the Christian Trinity exist in Islam?
In Christianity, they use the word “Trinity” as the cornerstone of that religion. Is this belief mentioned in the Qur’an? If this is a correct belief, does it not fall under the preliminaries of polytheism?Answer:
Praise be to Allah. Yes, this belief is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, but it is false and its proponents are called disbelievers and polytheists. Allah the Almighty says: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary.’” (Al-Ma’idah 5:17). Allah the Almighty also says: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the third of three.’ And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, a painful punishment will surely touch those who disbelieve among them.” (Al-Ma’idah 5:73). Allah the Almighty also says: “And the Jews said, ‘Uzayr, the son of Mary, is a disbeliever.’” Allah, and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement with their mouths; they imitate the statement of those who disbelieved before. Allah’s destruction! How are they deluded? They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah, and the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship One Allah. There is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above what they associate with Him. (At-Tawbah: 31)
This has become one of the matters whose knowledge is widespread among Muslims. Therefore, they agreed that the Christians are disbelievers, and they even agreed that whoever does not disbelieve in them is a disbeliever. Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab said in Nawaaqid al-Islam al-Mujma’a ‘alayhi wa sallam: “Whoever does not disbelieve in the polytheists, or doubts their disbelief, or confirms their doctrine, is a disbeliever.”
We are surprised by this question, which its author thinks that the polytheism that the Christians have is present in the religion of the Muslims. Therefore, we advise the questioner to read the books of beliefs that explain monotheism, its meaning and rulings, and also explain polytheism and its types, and to listen to useful recordings on that, because this is one of the most obligatory duties upon the servant. This Trinity that the Christians believe in is not one of the preliminaries of polytheism, rather it is polytheism itself, and the Trinity that the later Christians invented cannot be proven by any reason or instinct, nor by any of the divine books that Allah, the Most High, revealed.
Ibn al-Qayyim said:
This is the case with all the people of misguidance with their leaders and followers. When the ignorant Christians debate with a monotheist about their Trinity, its contradictions and lies, they say: The answer is on the priest. The priest says: The answer is on the bishop. The bishop refers the answer to the patriarch, the patriarch to the bishop, the bishop to the door, and the door to the three hundred and eighteen people of the council who met during the reign of Constantine and presented to the Christians this Trinity and polytheism that contradicts reason and religions... “Miftah Dar al-Sa’adah” (2/148).
As for the wording, it did not appear in the Qur’an or the Sunnah. Rather, the word “Trinity” appeared in the speech of scholars when they spoke about the Trinity in “cleansing with stones, ablution, ritual bathing, washing the dead, glorifying God in bowing and prostration, asking permission to enter the house, and other things.”
The meaning in all of the above is doing the command three times, and it has nothing to do with the Trinity of the Christians, which God Almighty made clear was their saying and their command to believe in the Oneness of God Almighty and to believe in Jesus as a messenger and not a god.
Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
Allah the Almighty said: {O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion and do not say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was only the Messenger of Allah and His Word which He directed to Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers and do not say, “Three.” Desist; it is better for you.} So Allah the Almighty mentioned in this verse “the Trinity” and forbade them from them and explained that the Messiah is only {the Messenger of Allah and His Word which He directed to Mary and a spirit from Him.”} And He said: {So believe in Allah and His messengers}, then He said: {And do not say, “Three.” Desist; it is better for you.} “The Correct Answer” (2/15).
Some Christians thought – due to their ignorance – that the plural pronoun indicating glorification in the words of Allah the Almighty: {Indeed, We have granted you (O Muhammad SAW)}, {Indeed, We have sent it down} indicates their corrupt belief, the belief in the Trinity.
Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
The doctrine of the early Muslims, their leaders, and their successors is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard the Qur’an from Gabriel, and Gabriel heard it from Allah, the Almighty. As for His statement, “We recite,” “We decrease,” and “When We recite it,” this is the form in the speech of the Arabs for the One, the Great, who has helpers who obey Him. So if His helpers do something by His command, He says, “We did it,” just as a king says, “We conquered this country,” and “We defeated this army,” and so on. This is because He only acts through His helpers, and Allah, the Almighty, is the Lord of the angels, and they do not speak before Him, and they act by His command, and they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and they do what they are commanded. He is, in addition to this, their Creator and the Creator of their actions and their power, and He is independent of them, and He is not like the king whose helpers act by power and movement, by which they are independent of Him. So His statement regarding what He did to His angels, “We did it,” is more appropriate and more fitting than the statement of some kings.
This wording is from the “ambiguous” which it was mentioned that the Christians used as evidence against the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, regarding the Trinity when they found in the Qur’an {Indeed, We have given you a victory} and the like. So God condemned them because they abandoned the clear statement of the Qur’an that God is one, and they held fast to the ambiguous statement which allows for the one who has his counterpart, and who has his helpers who are his servants and creation, and they followed the ambiguous statement seeking thereby to cause temptation, which is the temptation of the hearts by imagining multiple gods, and seeking its interpretation, and none knows its interpretation except God and those firmly grounded in knowledge.
“Majmoo’ al-Fatawa” (5/233, 234).
The content of the doubt:
A group of sophists claim that although Islam apparently rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it has in fact hinted at its manifestations that are evident in the Basmala that Muslims repeat, and in the many divine attributes that Islam has attributed to God - the Almighty - especially the name "Al-Wadud" which calls for a kind of harmony in the divine essence between its hypostases that constitute its reality, and perhaps they have added to that what is common in the Holy Qur’an of attributing actions to God with the collective pronoun, as in His Almighty saying: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian” (9) (Al-Hijr).
They believe that the doctrine of the Trinity that Jesus brought - according to them - is the only concept that bridges the gap between the Lord and His servants with the bonds of love that were established by his incarnation and then his crucifixion as a ransom for them and an atonement for their sins.
Ways to refute the doubt:
Details:
First. The contradiction in the doctrine of the Trinity:
They begin their argument by citing some verses of the Holy Qur’an that call for the oneness of God and the rejection of the Trinity, which no matter how hard they try to convince people that it is monotheism, it will inevitably lead them back to the fact that it is multiplicity and Trinity. They comment on the verses mentioned in the content of the doubt, which is the Almighty’s saying: “And when Allah said, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as gods besides Allah?’ He said, ‘Glory be to You! It is not for me to say that which I have no right to. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is in my soul, and I do not know what is in Your soul. Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen.’” (116) (Al-Ma’idah), and the Almighty’s saying: “O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion and do not say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah and His word which He bestowed upon Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers and do not say, ‘Three.’ Desist; it is better for you. Allah is only one Allah. Glory be to Him above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.” (171) (An-Nisa), and the Almighty’s saying: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary.’ Say, ‘Then who can control anything against Allah if He wills to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother and whoever is on the earth?’” All of them (Al-Ma'idah: 17), and they say: These verses clarify that Muhammad heard from some of the heretics among the Christians that there are three gods, they are Allah, Mary, and Jesus, so he responded to this heresy, and repeated time and time again that God is one.
And if they quote this text from the Torah and the Gospel: “The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, and Mark 12:29), then why do they make this one of the three distinct from the other, as they are two entities, and the sane person does not understand anything from this expression except that, and yet they are one God for the Christians!!
Dr. Abdul Halim Mahmoud says: “I once heard - and I almost could not believe my ears - the Patriarch of the Copts of Egypt say about Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, when he was crowned: He sits at the right hand of his Father on the throne, and they are one!”
If the statements of their holy book sometimes include the statement of one God, and then you rely on the Trinity, this means that they contradict their conception of the one God, and they depart from what their book states. It has been proven to scholars that the doctrine of the Trinity among Christians is a doctrine borrowed from ancient pagan religions, such as the religion of Brahmanism and Buddhism, and the paganism of the ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans” [1].
No matter how much Christians try to combine monotheism and the Trinity, it is an unsuccessful attempt, like someone who combines opposites. These people express their contradiction and the contradiction of their followers by saying: Christians do not worship three gods, but one God in a comprehensive oneness, which is: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Monotheism in the Christian faith is not the worship of one God, but a complex group, and it is one God whether you understand that or not!!
Their denial of the divinity of Mary in words, and their worship of her in action:
These claimants say: “No true Christian has said that the Virgin Mary is a god, With all appreciation and love for her. I wish that in their denial of the divinity of Mary, they were expressing all Christians, for we are not fans of disagreement, and God Almighty has called us to meet with the People of the Book on a common word: “Say, ‘O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you’” (Al Imran: 64).
The Protestant sect of the Christian sects - a sect that appeared late - is the only one that denies the divinity of Mary, as for the other sects, all of them say that Mary is divinity, and although the Christians worshipped Mary, it is not proven that they called her a god, as they called Jesus - peace be upon him - and from here we realize the accuracy of the Qur’anic expression when it said about Mary and Jesus - peace be upon them - together: “And when God said, O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as gods besides God’” (Al-Ma’idah: 116), and taking is not naming, so it is true in worship, and it certainly happened, while God Almighty said in their belief about Jesus in particular: “They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary’” (Al-Ma’idah: 72). So
they worshipped him and called him a god, and this is in accordance with the reality of the Christians: “And who is more truthful than God in statement (87)” (An-Nisa’), and about the Christians’ worship of Mary - peace be upon her - Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida says: “This worship that is directed by Christians’ devotion to Mary, the mother of Christ - peace be upon them - includes: a prayer with supplication, praise, seeking help and intercession, and a fast that is attributed to her and named after her, and all of that is associated with humility and submission. So humility is due to her remembrance and her images and statues, and the belief in her unseen authority that enables her, in their belief, to benefit and harm in this world and the hereafter by herself or through her son, and they have stated the obligation of worshipping her[2].
So it became clear that what these people claim after that is in agreement with the Protestants and a departure from the consensus of the Eastern and Western churches, or is it a type of deception in their belief that people will believe them in everything they say?! Allah the Almighty said: “And they were commanded only to worship one God; there is no god except Him” (At-Tawbah: 31). Although we find some Christian groups denying the intention of the Lady Mary in worship - as is the case with the Protestants - that was in later stages, and that does not detract from the wording of the Qur’an; for the worshipped in the Qur’an, as well as the one who is followed completely, is called a god. Among that is the saying of Allah the Almighty: “They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah, and the Messiah, the son of Mary” (At-Tawbah: 31), and the saying of Allah the Almighty: “Have you seen he who has taken as his god his own desire and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and has put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah? Will you not remember?” (23) (Al-Jathiyah), and the saying of the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: “Cursed is the slave of the dinar and the dirham, the velvet and the cloak, if he is given he is satisfied, and if he is not given he is not satisfied” [3].
Second: Failed attempts to introduce the Trinity into the Holy Qur’an:
It is surprising that a group of these claimants would try to introduce the Trinity into the Holy Qur’an, even though they do not acknowledge that the Qur’an was revealed from God.
This is a clear sophistry, as the Qur’anic verse says: “O People of the Scripture, do not transgress” until the Almighty’s saying: “The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of God and His Word which He bestowed upon Mary and a spirit from Him” and it did not say: God, His Word, and His Spirit are in one entity, as these people fabricate against the Book of God Almighty. Rather, Jesus, son of Mary, was described in the verse with three attributes: that he is a messenger of God, that he is His Word, and that he is a spirit from Him. These are three descriptions of the Messiah, and God, the Word, and the Holy Spirit are not one entity in their claim. The verses’ emphasis on the attribution of Jesus to Mary, “Jesus, son of Mary,” is a response to the Christians who attribute him to God and claim that he is the son of God.
Describing him as a messenger of God is an emphasis that he is a servant of God who obeys Him by conveying His message, and describing him as His Word is an indication of his unusual birth, as he is the implementation of the Word of God, which is His Almighty’s saying: “Be.” This understanding of the word “Be” is the most apparent and famous of what has been said in its interpretation.
Some priests have used as evidence to prove the Trinity in Islam the Almighty’s saying: And the Most High said: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.” For it contains three names, which indicates the trinity. We say to them: You have fallen short. You must prove the seventeenth rank in the Qur’an, and the existence of seven gods at the beginning of Surah Ghafir, which is as follows: “Ha Meem (1) The revelation of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (2) The Forgiver of sin, the Accepter of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Lord of bounty. There is no god but He. To Him is the final destination. (3) (Ghafir). Rather, they must say that the existence of seventeen gods is proven from the Qur’an by three verses at the end of Surah al-Hashr, in which seven thrones are mentioned, one after the other, as names of the Essence and attributes.
And the beautiful names of Allah are ninety-nine, so does that mean that there are multiple gods in Islam? Islam is more than anything else keen on deepening the Muslim’s belief in pure monotheism, and there are many verses on that. Allah the Almighty said: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And whoever associates with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin” (48) (An-Nisa’). Allah the Almighty said: “Say: He is Allah, the One (1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge (2) He neither begets nor is born (3) And there is none comparable to Him” (4) (Al-Ikhlas).
As for the Trinity, Islam rejected and denounced it, just as the Holy Qur’an rejected it in the previous manner. Therefore, their claim that the Basmalah indicates the Trinity is nothing but a fallacy; it did not occur to Muslims that they worship a Trinity, one of whose “hypostases” is Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - just as the Christians have a Trinity, one of whose “hypostases” is “Jesus.” Allah the Almighty said, addressing His Prophet Muhammad: (110) (Al-Kahf).
When the Messenger (peace be upon him) died, the news of his death came to the Companions like a thunderbolt, and some of them could hardly believe this news. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to them: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad has died, and whoever worshipped Allah, then Allah is alive and will not die.”[4] This is the belief of the Muslim, not what they claim[5]!
The meaning of the Almighty’s statement: “And a spirit from Him” is by His creation and formation like all created spirits. He only added it to Himself as a way of honor and respect, just as one says: the House of Allah, and the She-camel of Allah.
They say: The Qur’an agrees with the Bible in attributing the action and the first-person pronoun in the plural form to God. Neither the Bible nor the Qur’an mentions the speech of a created being, whoever he may be, speaking about himself in the plural form, which indicates the unity of essence with the multiplicity of hypostases in the Supreme Self.
For example, in the words of God Almighty: “We sent down to Our servant” (Al-Baqarah: 23) it is in the plural form, and in the words of God Almighty: “Allah is He Who sent down the Book” (Al-A’raf: 196) it is in the singular form. The first form refers to the plural of the hypostases, and the second form refers to the unity of the essence.
This distinction between what came in the plural form and the singular form in the two previous verses is a slander against God Almighty. It is not in the Holy Qur’an that God is one in His essence, a plural in terms of the hypostases, and each hypostasis is distinct from the other, but the difference in expression is according to the difference in the situation, for each situation has its own saying. If the situation requires expressing it in the plural, it is expressed in the plural, and if the situation requires expressing it in the singular, it is expressed in the singular.
Expression with the present tense nun in the present tense verb, such as: “And We send down” and “If We will, We can send down upon them from the sky a sign, and their necks will remain humbled to it” (4) (Al-Shu’ara’)... etc., and with “na” which is in the root Its use for a group of speakers may come for the singular person himself, as the law is issued with the phrase: We are the President of the Republic, and God - the Almighty - is more deserving of being glorified and more deserving.
The situation may require expressing it in the singular form to prove that He alone is the one to whom the action is attributed in the face of those who associate others with God, so the singular form in such a case is more indicative of that meaning.
The expression in the plural form may be an indication that the action expressed, even if it was by the command of God - the Almighty - it occurred and was issued with causes, and at the hands of His soldiers from the angels who carry out His command in His creation.
In this form, the Almighty God expresses Himself and His soldiers who carry out His command, as in His saying, the Most High: “Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have put forth and what they left behind. And all things We have enumerated in a clear register” (12) (Ya Sin), and His saying, the Most High: “And indeed, We are its recorders” (94) (Al-Anbiya), and He said: “And We are nearer to him than you, but you do not see” (85) (Al-Waqi’ah). It is known that the angels of death are close to the dead.
Thirdly, the attachment to the divine attributes in proving multiplicity:
Some of these people have taken another path to prove that Islam has approved the doctrine of the Trinity, even in one of its forms, by interpreting some of the divine attributes that have been established for God from eternity in a way that necessitates their need for other multiple parties, and that the complete unity of the divine self is not consistent with these attributes.
Here they resort to interpreting the Qur’an in a pagan interpretation, and how strange! The deniers of the Qur’an have become its interpreters. And he who does not know the methods of the Arabs in their language has become an argument against it, even though he lacks its alphabet!!
These people have claimed that: One of the beautiful names of Allah is Al-Wadud, so love is one of His attributes, and our knowledge that this attribute is eternal indicates that there are multiple hypostases in the divine unity, to exchange love between them before anything was created, otherwise in the infinite eternity the attribute of love was idle, and it began to work, so Allah began to “love” after He created the angels and people, and God forbid that He is capable of change.
The truth is that Al-Wadud is one of the beautiful names of God, indicating His attribute, which is love. The meaning of Al-Wadud is the one who loves good for all creation, so he treats them well and praises them (meaning: he reminds them of what brings them closer to Him, and responds to them in it). It is close to the meaning of Al-Raheem, but mercy is an addition to the one who is shown mercy, and the one shown mercy is the one in need and distress. The actions of Al-Raheem require a weak one shown mercy, while the actions of Al-Wadud do not require that. Rather, the favor is by way of beginning from the results of love. [6]
The attribute of love in Allah - the Almighty - does not require mutual love between Him and others, so that it would be necessary to say that there are hypostases that exchange love between them in eternity, as they imagined. Rather, love is the will to do good and bestow favors on creation. He - the Almighty - wants to do good to His creation from eternity, a will as old as His existence - the Almighty - but His will is implemented by the realization of goodness and bestowal on creation when creation comes into existence later. This is the meaning of what the scholars of monotheism say about this attribute and other attributes of Allah, that the attribute is ancient and its object is new. If what they say were true, that the antiquity and eternity of the divine attribute necessitates the eternity of creation - as they claimed that the eternity of Allah’s love necessitates the eternity of the beloved - then all creation would be described as eternal!
And if these people acknowledge Allah’s love for them, then they are eternal! The truth is that the attribute of God, “the Loving,” is eternal, but the penetration of love and its fruits through kindness and favors is delayed with the creation of creation. If we give illustrative examples, this confusion will be removed for seekers of truth. For example, if a person learns the profession of medicine, engineering, trade, or any other profession, then through this learning he becomes characterized by this attribute, so he becomes a doctor, engineer, merchant, or something else, whether he actually practices these works or not.
God, the Almighty, has been characterized by the attribute of love since eternity, because He knows that its effects will later be realized when He creates creation. God, the Almighty, has not changed, so the attribute is eternal and continuous in Him, the Almighty, but its effect appeared when the creature upon whom He bestowed favors appeared. So the change is in the creature, not in the Creator.
There is no reason, then, to claim that the existence of three hypostases in one God solves a problem related to belief in the eternal attributes of God - the Almighty - that have their effect, such as hearing and speech. These attributes are divine - as we mentioned - even if they have contemporary connections, their effects and results occur later when creation occurs, and there is no contradiction or ambiguity in that. Accordingly, there is no need to believe in distinct hypostases, each of which is distinct from the other. The Father - according to them - is something different from the Son, and the Holy Spirit is different from both of them together. However, the three are one God, so God is the sum of the three. Is there any ambiguity, complexity, and contradiction after that?!
God is one and has attributes of perfection that are not hidden - what we know and what we do not know - as the heavenly laws have informed us, so there is no ambiguity or problem. However, true Christianity brought by Christ - peace be upon him - did not call for the Trinity, but it was invented by the pagan Paul, and it became popular after that and became a doctrine despite being a human creation.
Fourth. The truth of the call of Jesus, peace be upon him, and the influence of Paul in distorting Christianity:
We have learned that the texts of the Gospel speak of monotheism and do not contain their alleged trinity, and the Holy Qur’an confirms this, as it came confirming what they had, correcting and adding. So if the prophets acknowledged the doctrine of monotheism and called for it throughout the ages and centuries, would a sound mind accept accusing Christ of having contradicted the prophets and called for something other than what Heaven had commanded?! So we find the Holy Quran stating, as His Eminence Sheikh Abu Zahra said: “That the doctrine of Christ is complete monotheism with all its people: monotheism in worship, so that none is to be worshipped except God, monotheism in creation, so that the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything between them is God alone, with no partner for Him, and monotheism in the essence and attributes, so that His essence is not composed, and He is free from resembling accidents, glory be to Him [7]. God
Almighty said: “And the Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates others with God - God has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are no helpers for the wrongdoers (72)’” (Al-Ma’idah). And He - Glory be to Him - said on the tongue of Christ, peace be upon him: “I said to them nothing except what You commanded me, ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them” (Al-Ma’idah: 117). And when the Christians tried to take the call of Christ out of monotheism and dress it in the garment of paganism, God dressed them in the garment of disbelief. God Almighty said: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Indeed, I have been a disbeliever.’” Allah is the third of three, and there is no god but one God (Al-Ma’idah: 73).
He also confirmed the humanity of Christ, peace be upon him, when He, the Most High, said: “The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; many messengers passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They both used to eat food” (Al-Ma’idah: 75). It is appropriate for someone who eats food to speak, and whoever is like that cannot be a god besides God: “Say, ‘Do you worship besides God that which has no power to harm you or to benefit you?’” (Al-Ma’idah: 76). The Qur’an goes on to correct the current Christian belief, saying: “The Messiah would not disdain to be a servant of God, nor would the angels brought near” (An-Nisa’: 172). It is strange that Christ would not be arrogant about the servitude of the One God, and the Christians would not be pleased with that for him!
So Jesus - peace be upon him - only called for the monotheism of God, so Christianity entered after him other than monotheism, and Jesus was only a messenger of God, Lord of the worlds, and if Christ had been otherwise and his belief differed from the belief of the prophets, the book of Islam would have stated that, which history has witnessed to be truthful, and the wise to be infallible[8].
Paul’s call to paganism and the Trinity in the guise of Christianity:
Paul - Jewish by upbringing, Stoic by culture, and Roman by thought - was able with all cunning and deceit to create in society a new belief that later opposed the belief in monotheism, and he was one of the fiercest enemies of Christianity, as the Acts of the Apostles attest to. Suddenly, he embraced Christianity as a result of a light that he says shone around him from the sky near Damascus, changing the course of his life, and he became the first preacher of Christianity, and his story, which we do not wish to elaborate on - as that is of no use - indicates a sick mind that distinguished Paul, and what is called Pauline Christianity appeared, which belittles the teachings of Christ and looks at them with mockery and contempt.
The truth is that the psychological crisis that Paul - the later Christian apostle - was going through made him simply accept the pagan beliefs that surrounded his environment, and arrogantly reject the belief in monotheism, and his letters are evidence of that. Charles Jeanbert says: “A detailed study of Paul’s major letters reveals to us a mixture of ideas, which at first glance seem strange, as they combine ancient sacred texts, concepts prevalent in Greek pagan circles, and Eastern religious myths” [9].
It is known that this mixture was helped by his ancient culture, as he was in an environment that believed in the human god, the crucified god, etc., so he was able, by virtue of his upbringing, to create a new belief among the simple people, especially since he had a mind that combined Judaism and Romanism, and through it he achieved what he wanted, so he depicted the new belief that opposed the belief in monotheism in his letters, and the Christian councils later relied entirely on these letters and their obscure terminology.
When Christ says: “I am a servant and apostle of God, a man and the Son of Man,” we see Paul saying: “He - that is, Jesus - peace be upon him - is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For in him all fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven...” (Colossians 1:15-20), and other such nonsense. By this he wants Christ - not Christianity - to be a new doctrine of a special kind, wearing the garment of Christ. So that people may accept it later, and after that, this is Paul whom Trinitarian Christianity takes as its apostle and believes in all his sayings, and does not disobey his command, and he is the one who admits that he did not meet Christ in his life, and did not receive the principles of Christianity from him, and therefore, it is not right to adhere to the sayings of a mentally ill person[10]!
And it is unfortunate after all that that in their holy book the Lord admits the corruption of his prophets, so how can their words be the revelation of God? "Therefore he has given their wives to others, and their fields to possessors; because from the least to the greatest, everyone is greedy for gain; from the prophet to the priest, everyone deals falsely." (Jeremiah 8:10).
So how can they trust the words of their prophets and priests after that, if the Knower of the Unseen has described them as liars, that is, they say what God did not say and claim that it was revealed by Him, is this not evidence of distortion? Is this not the greatest evidence of withdrawing trust from this book, and these prophets? If their prophets were thieves, robbers, and liars, what are they?[11]
Fifth: The failure of the doctrine of the hypostases in guiding the Christian conscience:
Many of the promoters of Christianity seek to compare the relationship between man and God in Christianity and Islam, and they portray the God of Christianity as merciful and kind, descending from His heights in the form of a redeeming human being who bears the sins of mankind that they inherited from their ancient forefather, and that this incarnation of God brings man closer to his Creator, and connects them with bonds of affection and love. This is in contrast to the God of the Muslims, the Most High, the Most Majestic, who is not satisfied with anything from His servants except bowing and submission.
What they claim is entirely false, for the alleged love cannot be achieved by mixing the reality of divinity with the reality of servitude, and they are two independent realities that cannot be mixed except by returning to the perceptions of the pagans who sensed a divine spirit pervading everything, to the point that this led them to sanctify aspects of nature, animals, and stones.
God, according to Muslims, is forgiving and loving. He calls His servants to obey Him with love, as He - the Almighty - said to His Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Say, ‘If you love God, then follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. God is Forgiving and Merciful.’” (31) (Al Imran).
Thus, He calls you without complication or entering into the labyrinths of hypostases and incarnation in order to bring Him closer to His servants.
And let the wise man ask himself when this pagan belief is dictated to him, what will it bring to me and my relationship with my Lord if I believe that God is a group or company composed of three, each of the three distinct from the other? Has my relationship with God been made right by this belief? Or is the gap widening because of it? Doesn’t man rely on the Son of God to save him from inherited sins, which tempts him to make mistakes and distance himself from God through his disobedience; thus the relationship between him and his Lord worsens and the alleged gap widens?
Westerners’ eagerness to embrace Islam:
Through research and studies, the followers of Christianity in this era looked to Islam and found it to be a religion that is compatible with nature, in harmony with science, and in harmony with reason. It is a religion that does not embody God and does not elevate humans to the level of divinity. It is a religion that hates polytheism and rejects the Trinity, and calls for belief in one God in His actions, with no partner. Everything is based on His command, and everything is subject to Him. Whoever speaks hears his speech, and whoever is silent knows his secret. Whoever lives, his sustenance is upon him, and whoever dies, his return is to Him. He is above everything, and there is nothing below Him. He is the Owner of everything, there
is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing (11) (Ash-Shura). The evidence for this oneness is spread throughout the universe, and in everything there is a sign indicating that He is the One. It is written in the Book of Islam: “Is He who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you from the sky water, and We caused to grow thereby gardens of delight? It was not for you to cause their trees to grow. Is there a god with God? Rather, they are…” (60) (An-Naml).
The Christian monotheists looked at these Qur’anic verses and other cosmic verses and became certain that the belief in monotheism in Islam is the correct and pure belief that the heart finds peace in and the mind is convinced of. So they turned to Islam with complete confidence and began to spread the pure belief in monotheism in various parts of the world. There
is much evidence of this:
In the Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper, there was news that thirty people declared Islam in the United Arab Emirates during the month of January 1988, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fifty-one people from various nationalities declared their Islam, and eleven thousand Christians declared their Islam in the years 1987 and 1988 in North Korea, and in France the number of Muslims reached 1.5 million Muslims, and in America their number reached 7.5 million Muslims in the year 1988, and in London, the stronghold of Christianity, about 76 thousand monotheists converted to Islam on the anniversary of the birth of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace[12].
This and much more confirms that Islam, not Christianity, is the religion of tomorrow. The statements of these people indicate the extent of their conviction in Islam and its doctrine. For example, the Frenchman Monsieur Etienne Dinet says about Islam: “The Islamic religion is the only religion in which God has not taken a human form, or any other form. As for Christianity, the word ‘God’ is surrounded by that human image of an old man, very old, and he has shown all the signs of old age, decrepitude, and decay, from deep wrinkles on his face[13] to a white, loose, neglected beard, which evokes in the soul the memory of death and annihilation.”
The American writer Maryam Jamila believes that the incarnation is inherited from primitive pagan religions, but the claim that it was inspired by heaven is completely untrue. She found bishops who said that Christianity must be subject to the law of development and change. The writer also says: I read about dance parties inside the church in Washington, and about a priest in New York City who is appointed as a consultant for some musical groups and tours with them in nightclubs, and about a group of young priests who establish a counseling service for homosexuals in San Francisco. About this doctrine, she says: “The pure and precious doctrine in Islam rejects all forms of nationalism, racism, and the Trinity, the worship of saints and the sanctification of images, and priesthood, and makes the believer sympathize with all creatures that God created, and fear of anyone other than God protects him, and pushes him toward piety and not despair.
So, in light of belief in the doctrine of monotheism, suicide, pessimism, and despair are things that have no place in the soul of the believer[14].
Conclusion:
(*) Refuting the slander of the missionaries against the verses of the Holy Qur’an, Dr. Muhammad Jumah, 1985. This is the truth: Refuting the slander of the church priest, Muhammad Muhammad Abd al-Latif ibn al-Khatib, Egyptian Press, Cairo, 1979. Is the Qur’an infallible? www.islameyat.com
[1]. Tafsir al-Manar, Muhammad Rashid Rida, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut, 2nd ed., Vol. 6, p. 33.
[2]. Tafsir al-Manar, Muhammad Rashid Rida, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut, 2nd ed., Vol. 7, p. 263.
[3]. Narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Asceticism, Chapter on What is to be avoided from the temptation of wealth (6071), and in another place.
[4]. Narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Funerals, Chapter on entering upon the deceased after death when he is wrapped in his shroud (1185), and in other places.
[5]. Lights on the Positions of Orientalists and Missionaries, Shawqi Abu Khalil, World Islamic Propagation Society, Libya, 2nd ed., 1428 AH/1999 AD, p. 250.
[6]. The Most Sublime Objective in Explaining the Beautiful Names of Allah, Al-Ghazali, Al-Jundi Library, Cairo, pp. 114, 115.
[7]. Lectures on Christianity, Muhammad Abu Zahra, Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, Cairo, 3rd ed., n.d., p. 12.
[8]. Christianity between Monotheism and the Trinity and the Position of Islam towards it, Dr. Abdel Moneim Fouad, Al-Obeikan Library, Saudi Arabia, 1st ed., 1422 AH/2002 AD, pp. 69: 97.
[9]. Christianity: Its Origin and Development, Charles Junibert, Translated by: Dr. Abdel Halim Mahmoud, Dar Al-Maaref, Cairo, 4th ed., 1998 AD, p. 91.
[10]. Christianity between Monotheism and the Trinity and the Position of Islam towards it, Dr.
[11]. See: Jesus is not the Messiah, whose interpretation is: the Messiah, Alaa Abu Bakr, Wahba Library, Cairo, 1st ed., 1426 AH/2006 AD, pp. 38: 54.
[12]. Al-Rai Al-Aam Newspaper, Cairo.
[13]. Al-Gha’ira: the deep.
[14]. Christianity between monotheism and the Trinity and the position of Islam towards it, Dr. Abdel Moneim Fouad, Al-Obeikan Library, Saudi Arabia, 1st ed., 1422 AH/2002 AD, pp. 330: 332.
A group of sophists claim that although Islam apparently rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it has in fact hinted at its manifestations that are evident in the Basmala that Muslims repeat, and in the many divine attributes that Islam has attributed to God - the Almighty - especially the name "Al-Wadud" which calls for a kind of harmony in the divine essence between its hypostases that constitute its reality, and perhaps they have added to that what is common in the Holy Qur’an of attributing actions to God with the collective pronoun, as in His Almighty saying: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian” (9) (Al-Hijr).
They believe that the doctrine of the Trinity that Jesus brought - according to them - is the only concept that bridges the gap between the Lord and His servants with the bonds of love that were established by his incarnation and then his crucifixion as a ransom for them and an atonement for their sins.
Ways to refute the doubt:
- The Christian belief in Jesus - peace be upon him - is a contradictory and disturbed belief that no mind can accept or conscience can be reassured by.
- The many attempts made by some Christian writers to prove that Islam approved some aspects of the Trinity are so far-fetched and obstinate that they lose their value and become unworthy of consideration.
- Some Christians cling to the multiplicity of divine attributes in Islam to say that there is a kind of multiplicity in Islam that contradicts what Muslims know about their religion and what they understand about these attributes.
- Jesus, peace be upon him - like other messengers - did not call for anything but the oneness of God Almighty, and many Christian beliefs go back to Paul, whose biography is not without doubts and suspicions.
- The doctrine of the Trinity in Christianity has failed to reassure the Christian conscience, especially in the modern era; this explains the Westerners’ eagerness to embrace Islam.
Details:
First. The contradiction in the doctrine of the Trinity:
They begin their argument by citing some verses of the Holy Qur’an that call for the oneness of God and the rejection of the Trinity, which no matter how hard they try to convince people that it is monotheism, it will inevitably lead them back to the fact that it is multiplicity and Trinity. They comment on the verses mentioned in the content of the doubt, which is the Almighty’s saying: “And when Allah said, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as gods besides Allah?’ He said, ‘Glory be to You! It is not for me to say that which I have no right to. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is in my soul, and I do not know what is in Your soul. Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen.’” (116) (Al-Ma’idah), and the Almighty’s saying: “O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion and do not say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah and His word which He bestowed upon Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers and do not say, ‘Three.’ Desist; it is better for you. Allah is only one Allah. Glory be to Him above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.” (171) (An-Nisa), and the Almighty’s saying: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary.’ Say, ‘Then who can control anything against Allah if He wills to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother and whoever is on the earth?’” All of them (Al-Ma'idah: 17), and they say: These verses clarify that Muhammad heard from some of the heretics among the Christians that there are three gods, they are Allah, Mary, and Jesus, so he responded to this heresy, and repeated time and time again that God is one.
And if they quote this text from the Torah and the Gospel: “The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, and Mark 12:29), then why do they make this one of the three distinct from the other, as they are two entities, and the sane person does not understand anything from this expression except that, and yet they are one God for the Christians!!
Dr. Abdul Halim Mahmoud says: “I once heard - and I almost could not believe my ears - the Patriarch of the Copts of Egypt say about Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, when he was crowned: He sits at the right hand of his Father on the throne, and they are one!”
If the statements of their holy book sometimes include the statement of one God, and then you rely on the Trinity, this means that they contradict their conception of the one God, and they depart from what their book states. It has been proven to scholars that the doctrine of the Trinity among Christians is a doctrine borrowed from ancient pagan religions, such as the religion of Brahmanism and Buddhism, and the paganism of the ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans” [1].
No matter how much Christians try to combine monotheism and the Trinity, it is an unsuccessful attempt, like someone who combines opposites. These people express their contradiction and the contradiction of their followers by saying: Christians do not worship three gods, but one God in a comprehensive oneness, which is: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Monotheism in the Christian faith is not the worship of one God, but a complex group, and it is one God whether you understand that or not!!
Their denial of the divinity of Mary in words, and their worship of her in action:
These claimants say: “No true Christian has said that the Virgin Mary is a god, With all appreciation and love for her. I wish that in their denial of the divinity of Mary, they were expressing all Christians, for we are not fans of disagreement, and God Almighty has called us to meet with the People of the Book on a common word: “Say, ‘O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you’” (Al Imran: 64).
The Protestant sect of the Christian sects - a sect that appeared late - is the only one that denies the divinity of Mary, as for the other sects, all of them say that Mary is divinity, and although the Christians worshipped Mary, it is not proven that they called her a god, as they called Jesus - peace be upon him - and from here we realize the accuracy of the Qur’anic expression when it said about Mary and Jesus - peace be upon them - together: “And when God said, O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as gods besides God’” (Al-Ma’idah: 116), and taking is not naming, so it is true in worship, and it certainly happened, while God Almighty said in their belief about Jesus in particular: “They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary’” (Al-Ma’idah: 72). So
they worshipped him and called him a god, and this is in accordance with the reality of the Christians: “And who is more truthful than God in statement (87)” (An-Nisa’), and about the Christians’ worship of Mary - peace be upon her - Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida says: “This worship that is directed by Christians’ devotion to Mary, the mother of Christ - peace be upon them - includes: a prayer with supplication, praise, seeking help and intercession, and a fast that is attributed to her and named after her, and all of that is associated with humility and submission. So humility is due to her remembrance and her images and statues, and the belief in her unseen authority that enables her, in their belief, to benefit and harm in this world and the hereafter by herself or through her son, and they have stated the obligation of worshipping her[2].
So it became clear that what these people claim after that is in agreement with the Protestants and a departure from the consensus of the Eastern and Western churches, or is it a type of deception in their belief that people will believe them in everything they say?! Allah the Almighty said: “And they were commanded only to worship one God; there is no god except Him” (At-Tawbah: 31). Although we find some Christian groups denying the intention of the Lady Mary in worship - as is the case with the Protestants - that was in later stages, and that does not detract from the wording of the Qur’an; for the worshipped in the Qur’an, as well as the one who is followed completely, is called a god. Among that is the saying of Allah the Almighty: “They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah, and the Messiah, the son of Mary” (At-Tawbah: 31), and the saying of Allah the Almighty: “Have you seen he who has taken as his god his own desire and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and has put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah? Will you not remember?” (23) (Al-Jathiyah), and the saying of the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: “Cursed is the slave of the dinar and the dirham, the velvet and the cloak, if he is given he is satisfied, and if he is not given he is not satisfied” [3].
Second: Failed attempts to introduce the Trinity into the Holy Qur’an:
It is surprising that a group of these claimants would try to introduce the Trinity into the Holy Qur’an, even though they do not acknowledge that the Qur’an was revealed from God.
- This group tries to compare their belief in the three hypostases with what they imagine from the phrase of the Qur’an: God, His Word, and His Spirit, saying: And all are in one essence.
This is a clear sophistry, as the Qur’anic verse says: “O People of the Scripture, do not transgress” until the Almighty’s saying: “The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of God and His Word which He bestowed upon Mary and a spirit from Him” and it did not say: God, His Word, and His Spirit are in one entity, as these people fabricate against the Book of God Almighty. Rather, Jesus, son of Mary, was described in the verse with three attributes: that he is a messenger of God, that he is His Word, and that he is a spirit from Him. These are three descriptions of the Messiah, and God, the Word, and the Holy Spirit are not one entity in their claim. The verses’ emphasis on the attribution of Jesus to Mary, “Jesus, son of Mary,” is a response to the Christians who attribute him to God and claim that he is the son of God.
Describing him as a messenger of God is an emphasis that he is a servant of God who obeys Him by conveying His message, and describing him as His Word is an indication of his unusual birth, as he is the implementation of the Word of God, which is His Almighty’s saying: “Be.” This understanding of the word “Be” is the most apparent and famous of what has been said in its interpretation.
Some priests have used as evidence to prove the Trinity in Islam the Almighty’s saying: And the Most High said: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.” For it contains three names, which indicates the trinity. We say to them: You have fallen short. You must prove the seventeenth rank in the Qur’an, and the existence of seven gods at the beginning of Surah Ghafir, which is as follows: “Ha Meem (1) The revelation of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (2) The Forgiver of sin, the Accepter of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Lord of bounty. There is no god but He. To Him is the final destination. (3) (Ghafir). Rather, they must say that the existence of seventeen gods is proven from the Qur’an by three verses at the end of Surah al-Hashr, in which seven thrones are mentioned, one after the other, as names of the Essence and attributes.
And the beautiful names of Allah are ninety-nine, so does that mean that there are multiple gods in Islam? Islam is more than anything else keen on deepening the Muslim’s belief in pure monotheism, and there are many verses on that. Allah the Almighty said: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And whoever associates with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin” (48) (An-Nisa’). Allah the Almighty said: “Say: He is Allah, the One (1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge (2) He neither begets nor is born (3) And there is none comparable to Him” (4) (Al-Ikhlas).
As for the Trinity, Islam rejected and denounced it, just as the Holy Qur’an rejected it in the previous manner. Therefore, their claim that the Basmalah indicates the Trinity is nothing but a fallacy; it did not occur to Muslims that they worship a Trinity, one of whose “hypostases” is Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - just as the Christians have a Trinity, one of whose “hypostases” is “Jesus.” Allah the Almighty said, addressing His Prophet Muhammad: (110) (Al-Kahf).
When the Messenger (peace be upon him) died, the news of his death came to the Companions like a thunderbolt, and some of them could hardly believe this news. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to them: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad has died, and whoever worshipped Allah, then Allah is alive and will not die.”[4] This is the belief of the Muslim, not what they claim[5]!
The meaning of the Almighty’s statement: “And a spirit from Him” is by His creation and formation like all created spirits. He only added it to Himself as a way of honor and respect, just as one says: the House of Allah, and the She-camel of Allah.
- An attempt to drag the Qur’an to acknowledge the Trinity, even if it is imposed on the Holy Qur’an, or even imposed on the mind and the Arabic language of the Qur’an, even if it contradicts the reality stated in the Holy Qur’an!!
They say: The Qur’an agrees with the Bible in attributing the action and the first-person pronoun in the plural form to God. Neither the Bible nor the Qur’an mentions the speech of a created being, whoever he may be, speaking about himself in the plural form, which indicates the unity of essence with the multiplicity of hypostases in the Supreme Self.
For example, in the words of God Almighty: “We sent down to Our servant” (Al-Baqarah: 23) it is in the plural form, and in the words of God Almighty: “Allah is He Who sent down the Book” (Al-A’raf: 196) it is in the singular form. The first form refers to the plural of the hypostases, and the second form refers to the unity of the essence.
This distinction between what came in the plural form and the singular form in the two previous verses is a slander against God Almighty. It is not in the Holy Qur’an that God is one in His essence, a plural in terms of the hypostases, and each hypostasis is distinct from the other, but the difference in expression is according to the difference in the situation, for each situation has its own saying. If the situation requires expressing it in the plural, it is expressed in the plural, and if the situation requires expressing it in the singular, it is expressed in the singular.
Expression with the present tense nun in the present tense verb, such as: “And We send down” and “If We will, We can send down upon them from the sky a sign, and their necks will remain humbled to it” (4) (Al-Shu’ara’)... etc., and with “na” which is in the root Its use for a group of speakers may come for the singular person himself, as the law is issued with the phrase: We are the President of the Republic, and God - the Almighty - is more deserving of being glorified and more deserving.
The situation may require expressing it in the singular form to prove that He alone is the one to whom the action is attributed in the face of those who associate others with God, so the singular form in such a case is more indicative of that meaning.
The expression in the plural form may be an indication that the action expressed, even if it was by the command of God - the Almighty - it occurred and was issued with causes, and at the hands of His soldiers from the angels who carry out His command in His creation.
In this form, the Almighty God expresses Himself and His soldiers who carry out His command, as in His saying, the Most High: “Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have put forth and what they left behind. And all things We have enumerated in a clear register” (12) (Ya Sin), and His saying, the Most High: “And indeed, We are its recorders” (94) (Al-Anbiya), and He said: “And We are nearer to him than you, but you do not see” (85) (Al-Waqi’ah). It is known that the angels of death are close to the dead.
Thirdly, the attachment to the divine attributes in proving multiplicity:
Some of these people have taken another path to prove that Islam has approved the doctrine of the Trinity, even in one of its forms, by interpreting some of the divine attributes that have been established for God from eternity in a way that necessitates their need for other multiple parties, and that the complete unity of the divine self is not consistent with these attributes.
Here they resort to interpreting the Qur’an in a pagan interpretation, and how strange! The deniers of the Qur’an have become its interpreters. And he who does not know the methods of the Arabs in their language has become an argument against it, even though he lacks its alphabet!!
These people have claimed that: One of the beautiful names of Allah is Al-Wadud, so love is one of His attributes, and our knowledge that this attribute is eternal indicates that there are multiple hypostases in the divine unity, to exchange love between them before anything was created, otherwise in the infinite eternity the attribute of love was idle, and it began to work, so Allah began to “love” after He created the angels and people, and God forbid that He is capable of change.
The truth is that Al-Wadud is one of the beautiful names of God, indicating His attribute, which is love. The meaning of Al-Wadud is the one who loves good for all creation, so he treats them well and praises them (meaning: he reminds them of what brings them closer to Him, and responds to them in it). It is close to the meaning of Al-Raheem, but mercy is an addition to the one who is shown mercy, and the one shown mercy is the one in need and distress. The actions of Al-Raheem require a weak one shown mercy, while the actions of Al-Wadud do not require that. Rather, the favor is by way of beginning from the results of love. [6]
The attribute of love in Allah - the Almighty - does not require mutual love between Him and others, so that it would be necessary to say that there are hypostases that exchange love between them in eternity, as they imagined. Rather, love is the will to do good and bestow favors on creation. He - the Almighty - wants to do good to His creation from eternity, a will as old as His existence - the Almighty - but His will is implemented by the realization of goodness and bestowal on creation when creation comes into existence later. This is the meaning of what the scholars of monotheism say about this attribute and other attributes of Allah, that the attribute is ancient and its object is new. If what they say were true, that the antiquity and eternity of the divine attribute necessitates the eternity of creation - as they claimed that the eternity of Allah’s love necessitates the eternity of the beloved - then all creation would be described as eternal!
And if these people acknowledge Allah’s love for them, then they are eternal! The truth is that the attribute of God, “the Loving,” is eternal, but the penetration of love and its fruits through kindness and favors is delayed with the creation of creation. If we give illustrative examples, this confusion will be removed for seekers of truth. For example, if a person learns the profession of medicine, engineering, trade, or any other profession, then through this learning he becomes characterized by this attribute, so he becomes a doctor, engineer, merchant, or something else, whether he actually practices these works or not.
God, the Almighty, has been characterized by the attribute of love since eternity, because He knows that its effects will later be realized when He creates creation. God, the Almighty, has not changed, so the attribute is eternal and continuous in Him, the Almighty, but its effect appeared when the creature upon whom He bestowed favors appeared. So the change is in the creature, not in the Creator.
There is no reason, then, to claim that the existence of three hypostases in one God solves a problem related to belief in the eternal attributes of God - the Almighty - that have their effect, such as hearing and speech. These attributes are divine - as we mentioned - even if they have contemporary connections, their effects and results occur later when creation occurs, and there is no contradiction or ambiguity in that. Accordingly, there is no need to believe in distinct hypostases, each of which is distinct from the other. The Father - according to them - is something different from the Son, and the Holy Spirit is different from both of them together. However, the three are one God, so God is the sum of the three. Is there any ambiguity, complexity, and contradiction after that?!
God is one and has attributes of perfection that are not hidden - what we know and what we do not know - as the heavenly laws have informed us, so there is no ambiguity or problem. However, true Christianity brought by Christ - peace be upon him - did not call for the Trinity, but it was invented by the pagan Paul, and it became popular after that and became a doctrine despite being a human creation.
Fourth. The truth of the call of Jesus, peace be upon him, and the influence of Paul in distorting Christianity:
We have learned that the texts of the Gospel speak of monotheism and do not contain their alleged trinity, and the Holy Qur’an confirms this, as it came confirming what they had, correcting and adding. So if the prophets acknowledged the doctrine of monotheism and called for it throughout the ages and centuries, would a sound mind accept accusing Christ of having contradicted the prophets and called for something other than what Heaven had commanded?! So we find the Holy Quran stating, as His Eminence Sheikh Abu Zahra said: “That the doctrine of Christ is complete monotheism with all its people: monotheism in worship, so that none is to be worshipped except God, monotheism in creation, so that the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything between them is God alone, with no partner for Him, and monotheism in the essence and attributes, so that His essence is not composed, and He is free from resembling accidents, glory be to Him [7]. God
Almighty said: “And the Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates others with God - God has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are no helpers for the wrongdoers (72)’” (Al-Ma’idah). And He - Glory be to Him - said on the tongue of Christ, peace be upon him: “I said to them nothing except what You commanded me, ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them” (Al-Ma’idah: 117). And when the Christians tried to take the call of Christ out of monotheism and dress it in the garment of paganism, God dressed them in the garment of disbelief. God Almighty said: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Indeed, I have been a disbeliever.’” Allah is the third of three, and there is no god but one God (Al-Ma’idah: 73).
He also confirmed the humanity of Christ, peace be upon him, when He, the Most High, said: “The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; many messengers passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They both used to eat food” (Al-Ma’idah: 75). It is appropriate for someone who eats food to speak, and whoever is like that cannot be a god besides God: “Say, ‘Do you worship besides God that which has no power to harm you or to benefit you?’” (Al-Ma’idah: 76). The Qur’an goes on to correct the current Christian belief, saying: “The Messiah would not disdain to be a servant of God, nor would the angels brought near” (An-Nisa’: 172). It is strange that Christ would not be arrogant about the servitude of the One God, and the Christians would not be pleased with that for him!
So Jesus - peace be upon him - only called for the monotheism of God, so Christianity entered after him other than monotheism, and Jesus was only a messenger of God, Lord of the worlds, and if Christ had been otherwise and his belief differed from the belief of the prophets, the book of Islam would have stated that, which history has witnessed to be truthful, and the wise to be infallible[8].
Paul’s call to paganism and the Trinity in the guise of Christianity:
Paul - Jewish by upbringing, Stoic by culture, and Roman by thought - was able with all cunning and deceit to create in society a new belief that later opposed the belief in monotheism, and he was one of the fiercest enemies of Christianity, as the Acts of the Apostles attest to. Suddenly, he embraced Christianity as a result of a light that he says shone around him from the sky near Damascus, changing the course of his life, and he became the first preacher of Christianity, and his story, which we do not wish to elaborate on - as that is of no use - indicates a sick mind that distinguished Paul, and what is called Pauline Christianity appeared, which belittles the teachings of Christ and looks at them with mockery and contempt.
The truth is that the psychological crisis that Paul - the later Christian apostle - was going through made him simply accept the pagan beliefs that surrounded his environment, and arrogantly reject the belief in monotheism, and his letters are evidence of that. Charles Jeanbert says: “A detailed study of Paul’s major letters reveals to us a mixture of ideas, which at first glance seem strange, as they combine ancient sacred texts, concepts prevalent in Greek pagan circles, and Eastern religious myths” [9].
It is known that this mixture was helped by his ancient culture, as he was in an environment that believed in the human god, the crucified god, etc., so he was able, by virtue of his upbringing, to create a new belief among the simple people, especially since he had a mind that combined Judaism and Romanism, and through it he achieved what he wanted, so he depicted the new belief that opposed the belief in monotheism in his letters, and the Christian councils later relied entirely on these letters and their obscure terminology.
When Christ says: “I am a servant and apostle of God, a man and the Son of Man,” we see Paul saying: “He - that is, Jesus - peace be upon him - is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For in him all fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven...” (Colossians 1:15-20), and other such nonsense. By this he wants Christ - not Christianity - to be a new doctrine of a special kind, wearing the garment of Christ. So that people may accept it later, and after that, this is Paul whom Trinitarian Christianity takes as its apostle and believes in all his sayings, and does not disobey his command, and he is the one who admits that he did not meet Christ in his life, and did not receive the principles of Christianity from him, and therefore, it is not right to adhere to the sayings of a mentally ill person[10]!
And it is unfortunate after all that that in their holy book the Lord admits the corruption of his prophets, so how can their words be the revelation of God? "Therefore he has given their wives to others, and their fields to possessors; because from the least to the greatest, everyone is greedy for gain; from the prophet to the priest, everyone deals falsely." (Jeremiah 8:10).
So how can they trust the words of their prophets and priests after that, if the Knower of the Unseen has described them as liars, that is, they say what God did not say and claim that it was revealed by Him, is this not evidence of distortion? Is this not the greatest evidence of withdrawing trust from this book, and these prophets? If their prophets were thieves, robbers, and liars, what are they?[11]
Fifth: The failure of the doctrine of the hypostases in guiding the Christian conscience:
Many of the promoters of Christianity seek to compare the relationship between man and God in Christianity and Islam, and they portray the God of Christianity as merciful and kind, descending from His heights in the form of a redeeming human being who bears the sins of mankind that they inherited from their ancient forefather, and that this incarnation of God brings man closer to his Creator, and connects them with bonds of affection and love. This is in contrast to the God of the Muslims, the Most High, the Most Majestic, who is not satisfied with anything from His servants except bowing and submission.
What they claim is entirely false, for the alleged love cannot be achieved by mixing the reality of divinity with the reality of servitude, and they are two independent realities that cannot be mixed except by returning to the perceptions of the pagans who sensed a divine spirit pervading everything, to the point that this led them to sanctify aspects of nature, animals, and stones.
God, according to Muslims, is forgiving and loving. He calls His servants to obey Him with love, as He - the Almighty - said to His Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Say, ‘If you love God, then follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. God is Forgiving and Merciful.’” (31) (Al Imran).
Thus, He calls you without complication or entering into the labyrinths of hypostases and incarnation in order to bring Him closer to His servants.
And let the wise man ask himself when this pagan belief is dictated to him, what will it bring to me and my relationship with my Lord if I believe that God is a group or company composed of three, each of the three distinct from the other? Has my relationship with God been made right by this belief? Or is the gap widening because of it? Doesn’t man rely on the Son of God to save him from inherited sins, which tempts him to make mistakes and distance himself from God through his disobedience; thus the relationship between him and his Lord worsens and the alleged gap widens?
Westerners’ eagerness to embrace Islam:
Through research and studies, the followers of Christianity in this era looked to Islam and found it to be a religion that is compatible with nature, in harmony with science, and in harmony with reason. It is a religion that does not embody God and does not elevate humans to the level of divinity. It is a religion that hates polytheism and rejects the Trinity, and calls for belief in one God in His actions, with no partner. Everything is based on His command, and everything is subject to Him. Whoever speaks hears his speech, and whoever is silent knows his secret. Whoever lives, his sustenance is upon him, and whoever dies, his return is to Him. He is above everything, and there is nothing below Him. He is the Owner of everything, there
is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing (11) (Ash-Shura). The evidence for this oneness is spread throughout the universe, and in everything there is a sign indicating that He is the One. It is written in the Book of Islam: “Is He who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you from the sky water, and We caused to grow thereby gardens of delight? It was not for you to cause their trees to grow. Is there a god with God? Rather, they are…” (60) (An-Naml).The Christian monotheists looked at these Qur’anic verses and other cosmic verses and became certain that the belief in monotheism in Islam is the correct and pure belief that the heart finds peace in and the mind is convinced of. So they turned to Islam with complete confidence and began to spread the pure belief in monotheism in various parts of the world. There
is much evidence of this:
In the Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper, there was news that thirty people declared Islam in the United Arab Emirates during the month of January 1988, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fifty-one people from various nationalities declared their Islam, and eleven thousand Christians declared their Islam in the years 1987 and 1988 in North Korea, and in France the number of Muslims reached 1.5 million Muslims, and in America their number reached 7.5 million Muslims in the year 1988, and in London, the stronghold of Christianity, about 76 thousand monotheists converted to Islam on the anniversary of the birth of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace[12].
This and much more confirms that Islam, not Christianity, is the religion of tomorrow. The statements of these people indicate the extent of their conviction in Islam and its doctrine. For example, the Frenchman Monsieur Etienne Dinet says about Islam: “The Islamic religion is the only religion in which God has not taken a human form, or any other form. As for Christianity, the word ‘God’ is surrounded by that human image of an old man, very old, and he has shown all the signs of old age, decrepitude, and decay, from deep wrinkles on his face[13] to a white, loose, neglected beard, which evokes in the soul the memory of death and annihilation.”
The American writer Maryam Jamila believes that the incarnation is inherited from primitive pagan religions, but the claim that it was inspired by heaven is completely untrue. She found bishops who said that Christianity must be subject to the law of development and change. The writer also says: I read about dance parties inside the church in Washington, and about a priest in New York City who is appointed as a consultant for some musical groups and tours with them in nightclubs, and about a group of young priests who establish a counseling service for homosexuals in San Francisco. About this doctrine, she says: “The pure and precious doctrine in Islam rejects all forms of nationalism, racism, and the Trinity, the worship of saints and the sanctification of images, and priesthood, and makes the believer sympathize with all creatures that God created, and fear of anyone other than God protects him, and pushes him toward piety and not despair.
So, in light of belief in the doctrine of monotheism, suicide, pessimism, and despair are things that have no place in the soul of the believer[14].
Conclusion:
- The attempt to extract an admission of the Trinity from the Holy Quran is an arbitrary attempt, ignoring the verses of the Quran that declare the Trinity false and forbid believing in it. The verses that they used as evidence for the Trinity have no connection to it, neither closely nor remotely. This is evidence of their ignorance of the Arabic language, as there is a proper saying for every situation.
- As for the Qur’an’s description of Jesus as the Word of God and a spirit from Him, it is a metaphor for the fact that he came into existence - peace be upon him - through the penetration of the Word of God Almighty (Be) without the usual causes, and that he was created by God’s direct creation of him, and by the breathing of the Holy Spirit into Mary, and his being attributed to God came by way of honor and respect, like our saying: the House of God, and the she-camel of God.
- The Islamic belief in God is that He - the Almighty - is one in all His attributes, and no Muslim understands from the multiplicity of attributes a multiplicity in the reality of the divine self in the way that the Christians claim about Jesus, peace be upon him. Rather, it is not within the capacity of human imagination to comprehend a self devoid of its attributes.
- Modern Western liberation from the dominance and authority of the Church has revealed the inadequacy of the Christian faith in guiding the conscience and reassuring the mind regarding the many problems of man. This explains the eagerness of many Westerners to embrace the true Islam.
(*) Refuting the slander of the missionaries against the verses of the Holy Qur’an, Dr. Muhammad Jumah, 1985. This is the truth: Refuting the slander of the church priest, Muhammad Muhammad Abd al-Latif ibn al-Khatib, Egyptian Press, Cairo, 1979. Is the Qur’an infallible? www.islameyat.com
[1]. Tafsir al-Manar, Muhammad Rashid Rida, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut, 2nd ed., Vol. 6, p. 33.
[2]. Tafsir al-Manar, Muhammad Rashid Rida, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut, 2nd ed., Vol. 7, p. 263.
[3]. Narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Asceticism, Chapter on What is to be avoided from the temptation of wealth (6071), and in another place.
[4]. Narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Funerals, Chapter on entering upon the deceased after death when he is wrapped in his shroud (1185), and in other places.
[5]. Lights on the Positions of Orientalists and Missionaries, Shawqi Abu Khalil, World Islamic Propagation Society, Libya, 2nd ed., 1428 AH/1999 AD, p. 250.
[6]. The Most Sublime Objective in Explaining the Beautiful Names of Allah, Al-Ghazali, Al-Jundi Library, Cairo, pp. 114, 115.
[7]. Lectures on Christianity, Muhammad Abu Zahra, Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, Cairo, 3rd ed., n.d., p. 12.
[8]. Christianity between Monotheism and the Trinity and the Position of Islam towards it, Dr. Abdel Moneim Fouad, Al-Obeikan Library, Saudi Arabia, 1st ed., 1422 AH/2002 AD, pp. 69: 97.
[9]. Christianity: Its Origin and Development, Charles Junibert, Translated by: Dr. Abdel Halim Mahmoud, Dar Al-Maaref, Cairo, 4th ed., 1998 AD, p. 91.
[10]. Christianity between Monotheism and the Trinity and the Position of Islam towards it, Dr.
[11]. See: Jesus is not the Messiah, whose interpretation is: the Messiah, Alaa Abu Bakr, Wahba Library, Cairo, 1st ed., 1426 AH/2006 AD, pp. 38: 54.
[12]. Al-Rai Al-Aam Newspaper, Cairo.
[13]. Al-Gha’ira: the deep.
[14]. Christianity between monotheism and the Trinity and the position of Islam towards it, Dr. Abdel Moneim Fouad, Al-Obeikan Library, Saudi Arabia, 1st ed., 1422 AH/2002 AD, pp. 330: 332.
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