Amazingly, the Qur’an Supports the Orthodox Trinity Even Though It Denies the Word Trinity

One of the major contentions between Christianity and Islam is regarding the Basic Attributes of God. Christians believe that God is Trinitarian, One God in Three Persons.
Muslims believe in Tawhid, oneness of God simply with no division within the Godhead.
This has been the source of mutual criticism and theological conflicts between the two faith groups.

The word Trinity is never mentioned in the Bible. Trinity is a human model constructed on the basis of observations in the Bible. Throughout the entire Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament, anything that God alone could do is done by either Father God, or the Word of God, or the Spirit of God. These three appear to work as separate and independent identities (Hupostaseis in Greek), either alone or cooperatively. However, their actions never contradict each other as if they are one essence or substance (Ousia in Greek). One of the main conclusions Christianity is making is the following fact through the above observations. God is so much different from man. For man, one identity or substance can have only one personality unless one has a mental disability of “multiple-personality disease.” However, God is so much different from man, and one God can have three persons in Him. A good comparison could be made by a view from a single-cell animal regarding a multi-cell animal. A single-cell animal can never understand how several cells work together to produce one identity. This requires a breakthrough in the perspective from the single-cell logic to the multi-cell logic. Christians needed this type of breakthrough in their conceptual thinking in trying to understand God and how He works. This Human Model gives greater power to God, and is consistent with all aspects of what God does in the Bible. This is a brief explanation of Trinity. Most descriptions in Christian theology rely too much on historical development, and do not provide necessary explanations for peoples of other faiths to grasp the concept of Trinity.
Interestingly, the Qur’an also shows three agents of God who do godly works. The first one is Allah, who appears to be equivalent to Father God in the Christianity. He created all things, has plans for preserving His creation, and is in control of all things. The second one is the Qur’an, or called Ayat (Revelations, or words) in Arabic. His revelation and the human understanding of that revelation transformed and continue to transform people and human society.  This is equivalent to Word (Logos in Greek) in Christianity. In Arabic, word is Kalimah. Ayat (revelation or words of God) is made up of Kalimah. This Word is manifested in Jesus Christ. That is why most Islamic scholars consider that Jesus Christ in Christianity is equivalent to the Qur’an in Islam instead of Muhammad. The Qur’an literally says that Jesus is Word from God directed to Mary (Q. 4:171). The third one is the Spirit of God, often called the Holy Spirit. Some Islamic scholars think the Holy Spirit is another designation for the Archangel Gabriel. This is entirely wrong. In the background story of Q. 2:144 (see Asbab al-Nuzul), Gabriel told Muhammad that Gabriel is a servant of God like Muhammad and he does not have the capability of performing godly acts. This is consistent with the Christian concept of angels and Archangels: They perform tasks given by God. In the Qur’an, the Holy Spirit performs godly things that God alone can do, just as in the Bible. This description from the Qur’an clearly shows a Trinitarian formulation, even though the specifics are different from the Bible. Also in the Qur’an, God is represented by the pronoun “We” more than 2700 times, much more than in the Bible. Typical Islamic interpretation is that this is the “Royal We.” However, such frequent representation of God by “We”, “Us”. or “Our” cannot be solely ascribed to all cases of Royal We.
Let us now examine a couple of Qur’anic verses that deny Trinity.

Q. 4:171 …Do not say Three (Trinity) … God is only one God, He is far above having a son (waladun )…
Q. 5:116 When God says, “Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to people, ‘Take me and my mother as two gods alongside God’?” (this sentence is followed by denials of Jesus)

These Qur’anic verses deny the misconceptions about God propagated by Collyridians (a Christian heretic in 5th century) and is also a rebuttal for the worship of Mary by catholics at the time of Muhammad. Collyridians taught that Trinity means there are three Gods, Father God, Mother God Mary, and Son God Jesus, implying a biological relationship between Mary, God, and Jesus. No Christian believes in such Trinity today. It is important that Q. 4:171 denies that God would never have a biological son. The word used is Waladun (this word is exclusively used for biological son), instead of Ibnun (this word is used for both biological and spiritual son). The Father-Son relationship in Christianity is a spiritual and relational one. This Qur’anic verse is denying tritheism, father God, mother God, and son God which were believed by heretical Christians in the 7th century Middle East. Islam is teaching as if the Modern Christians still believe this misguided concept of God that some Christians believed in the 7th century Middle East. Islam is teaching that Christians believe that Jesus is a biological son of God. No Christian believes this concept of Trinity today, except certain heretical sects. Just as Islam is against this type of Trinity, Christians are also against this type of Trinity.

In conclusion, the Qur’an shows Trinitarian formulation similar to the Bible, even though there are some differences in specifics: (1) Allah or Father God, (2) His revelation (Ayat) Qur’an or Word from God, and (3) the Holy Spirit. God is a spiritual being, not a physical being, and One God has three persons. This may be compared to a person having Will, Intelligence, and Emotions. In God, His will and plan appear to us as an independent person, and His intelligence or Word appears as an independent person, and His Spirit appears as an independent person. Just as a person cannot deny his word or intelligence as not from him, God cannot say His Word is not Him. Just as a person cannot deny his emotion as not from him, God cannot say His Spirit is not Him.
Before Islam can criticize Christianity for having a Trinitarian God, it should have a clear understanding of the Christian concept of Trinity. If someone who is familiar with the Christian concept of Trinity were to read the Qur’an today, Islam would have come up with its own Trinity for sure.

There are lessons we all can learn from this. Christians should learn about Trinity properly and tell Muslims about it. Many Christians do not have the right understanding on Trinity, and do not provide an accurate concept of Trinity to Muslims or peoples of other faiths.

On the other hand, Muslims should question why Christians believe Trinity and all the basic truths this conveys, that is, God is so much different from man and the concept applicable to man (one identity for one person) may not be applicable to God. Another thing Muslims should do is to read the Qur’an as its text says instead of other people’s interpretations. Most Islamic interpretations are locked with the 7th century Middle East and Muhammad. This is a wrong thing to do. As the time changes, interpretation should change to suit the situations in each era. The Islamic interpretation method should be reformed so that the hearts of Muslims would be open to God in each new generation instead of being fixed in the 7th century Middle East. Christian Missionaries should use this as a bridge to the hearts of Muslims, just as Jesus opened the hearts of Israelites with the Old Testament, emphasizing that Christians love Muslims because God loves them. We all believe in One God. When Muslims and Christians discuss these things rationally and logically, and when they try to understand each other truly with loving hearts, both Christianity and Islam would mature further.

One thought on “Amazingly, the Qur’an Supports the Orthodox Trinity Even Though It Denies the Word Trinity

  1. Thanks for finally talking about > Amazingly, the Qur’an Supports the Orthodox Trinity
    Even Though It Denies the Word Trinity | COTARI < Liked it!

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