Islam prides itself claiming to be one of the greatest monotheistic religions. But what do the evidences really show? Be prepared for a shock at what Islamic evidences themselves reveal. Evidences will be presented to prove the existence of not only serious internal contradictions but also significant errors regarding the claim of monotheism in Islam. Let’s begin.
Surah 4:171: O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was no more than a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: far exalted is He above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. (Yusuf Ali)
O Followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds of truth in your religious beliefs, and do not say of God anything but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God’s Apostle – the fulfillment of His promise which He had conveyed unto Mary – and a soul created by Him. Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, “God is a trinity.” Desist from this assertion for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God. (Muhammad Asad)
Trinity is the central doctrine of the religions of Christendom. According to the Trinity doctrine, it is believed that there are three divine persons consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And each are said to be God, and yet together being but one God.
Surah 4:171 is specifically addressed to the “Christians” with Allah strongly denouncing their belief in the Trinity dogma. And Allah charges the “Christians” with worshipping a triune God. And he warns them against such form of worship. Hence, the Qur’an is very certain that “Christians” believe in the Trinity. And that they worship a triune deity. According to Islam, those who believe in the Trinity are guilty of committing Shirk. Shirk is the sin of attributing partners to God. And it is an unpardonable sin in Islam.
It is logically impossible for God to be a Trinity and not to be a Trinity at the same time. Therefore, Allah cannot be the same as the triune God of the “Christians.” And the Qur’an agrees:
Surah 5:73: “They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word of blasphemy, verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.” (Yusuf Ali)
As such, can “Christians” and Muslims really be worshipping the same God? Absolutely not! And Muslims will gladly agree on this fact. Yet, the following Qur’anic verse states explicitly that “Christians” and Muslims are worshipping the same Allah. And Allah even commands Muhammad to inform the “Christians” that the triune God whom they worship and the Allah that Muslims worship are one and the same. Does not this then strongly suggest that Allah is conceding that he is actually a triune God? Read for yourself what Allah states in the following Qur’anic verse:
Surah 29:46: And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere disputation, unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury: but say, “We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow in Islam.” (Yusuf Ali)
And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in a way that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender. (Pickthall)
This identification of Allah with the triune God of the “Christians” becomes even more certain when we notice that such recognition is not given to any of the false gods of the unbelievers. In fact, Allah commands Muhammad to say to the unbelievers the very opposite of what he commanded Muhammad to say to the “Christians.”
Surah 109:1-6: Say (Prophet), ‘Disbelievers: I do not worship what you worship, you do not worship what I worship, I will never worship what you worship, and you will never worship what I worship: you have your religion and I have mine.’ (Abdel Haleem)
We learn two vital facts from our analysis of the above Qur’anic verses.
One: The Qur’an evidently makes a distinction between the triune God of the “Christians” and the false deities worshipped by the unbelievers. This distinction strongly suggests the acceptance of one as true and the rejection of the other as false. This is not a hypothetical conclusion. In fact, not only does the Qur’an make a clear distinction between the “Christians” and the unbelievers but it also extols the “Christians” as true believers until the “Day of Resurrection.”
Surah 3:55: Allah said: “O Jesus! I am going to recall you (from your mission) and raise you up to Myself. I will clean you of those who rejected you and exalt your followers above the unbelievers until the Day of Resurrection.” (Farook Malik)
Two: The Qur’an clearly identifies the triune God of the “Christians” with Allah. When we put two and two together, it is very obvious that Surah 29:46 is clearly acknowledging that Allah is none other than the triune God of the “Christians.” And we are not the ones saying this but Allah. Recall what Allah commanded Muhammad to say to the “Christians”: “Our Allah and your Allah is one.”
Well Muslims, you have to make a decision here. You have to either admit that there is a serious contradiction in the Qur’an or you have to come to terms with the fact that you are also worshipping the same triune God that the “Christians” worship. Either option proves Islam false. But there is more. The Qur’an is also clearly in error when it generalizes all Christians as believers of the Trinity doctrine. This is absolutely false.
True followers of Christ do not believe in the Trinity doctrine. Neither do they worship a triune God. Nor does the Bible teach the Trinity doctrine. True Christians recognize the fact that the Trinity doctrine is based on the teachings of paganism. According to the Bible not even Jesus is taught to be equal to the Almighty God. The churches of Christendom are clearly in error when they teach the Trinity making Jesus equal to the Almighty God. The Trinity degrades the Almighty God making him equal with others. To believe in the Trinity is to reject the clear teachings of Jesus. He clearly testified:
John 14:28: If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am.
Before we proceed, it is absolutely necessary to clarify that this does not mean that we believe that Jesus is nothing more than a prophet as Islam teaches. Contrary to what is taught in Islam, Jesus is truly the unique Son of God. And the Bible clearly identifies him as such. And Almighty God himself testifies to this truth:
2 Peter 1:17: For he received from God the Father honor and glory when words such as these were conveyed to him by the magnificent glory: “This is my Son, my beloved, whom I myself have approved.”
Among the many variations of the Trinity doctrine, the most popular is defined as the following:
“Three divine Persons –the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit –each said to be eternal, each said to be almighty, none greater or less than another, each said to be God, and yet together being but one God.”
The Trinity is not a Bible teaching. When the nation of Israel received the Law covenant, which is an integral part of the Bible, they were given the following commandment:
Deuteronomy 6:4: “Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.
Without ambiguity, the Bible clearly states that God is one – not three in one. Therefore, Israel was commanded to worship just one God. How important is it for us to understand this command? According to Dr. J. H. Hertz:
“This sublime pronouncement of absolute monotheism was a declaration of war against all polytheism…, The Shema (The confession of the oneness of God as expressed in the prayer based on Deuteronomy 6:4) excludes the trinity of the Christian creed as a violation of the Unity of God.”
Since Jesus was a Jew by birth, he was instructed to follow this same command. After his baptism, when tempted by the Devil, he said:
Matthew 4:10: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”
Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:13. We can learn at least two things from this incident. First, Satan was trying to entice Jesus to worship someone other than Jehovah, an attempt that would have been absurd if Jesus were part of the same God. Second, Jesus made it clear that there is just one God who must be worshipped when he said “him alone” and not “us” which he would have done if he were part of a Trinity. The Trinity doctrine has confused people for centuries. On the other hand, Jesus enlightened his followers and clearly spoke of his Father as “the only true God.”
John 17:3: This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
The Encyclopedia of Religion admits:
“Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity.”
And the New Catholic Encyclopedia also says:
“The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the Old Testament.”
And as we have noted, the concept of Trinity is alien to the teachings of Jesus in the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament). And scholars agree on this.
The Encyclopedia of Religion says:
“Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity.”
The teaching of the Bible that God is one is called “Monotheism.” Monotheism in its purest form does not allow for the concept of a Trinity. To define monotheism in terms of a Trinity is like describing a triangle circle. Thousands of times throughout the Bible, God is spoken of as one person. When he speaks, it is as one undivided individual. The Bible could not be any clearer on this matter. Consider now an outstanding evidence of this fact in the following Bible account:
Mark 10:17-18: As he was going on his way, a man ran up and fell on his knees before him and put the question to him: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?” Jesus said to him: “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except one, God.”
Why was Jesus unwilling to be called “good”? Because in the absolute sense, only God is good. Jesus recognized that not only is Jehovah unique but he is also the ultimate standard of what is good. By this, Jesus acknowledged that the glory of Jehovah does not belong to anyone else – not even to him.
Isaiah 42:8: “I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory.”
Why would all the inspired writers of the Bible speak of God as one person if he were actually three persons? Surely, if God were composed of three persons, he would have had his Bible writers make it abundantly clear so that there could be no doubt about it. At least the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures who had personal contact with God’s own Son would have done so. But they did not. Instead, what the Bible writers did make abundantly clear is that God is one Person. The Bible makes it clear that the Almighty God is a unique, single Being who has no equal:
Isaiah 45:5: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else. With the exception of me there is no God.”
Psalm 83:18: “You, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”
The Bible does not indicate any change in the understanding of a supreme God even after the coming of Jesus to the earth. The following Bible verse which was inspired to be written years after the coming of Jesus, clearly states:
Galatians 3:20: “God is only one.”
As we have noted, Jesus Christ addressed his Father as “the only true God.” Never did he refer to God as a deity of plural persons. That is why, with the exception of Jehovah, no one else is called “Almighty” in the Bible. To do so would void the meaning of the word “Almighty.” Since Jehovah alone is supreme, neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit is ever addressed as “Almighty” in the Bible.
Genesis 17:1: “I am God Almighty.”
Today some “Christians” who believe in the Trinity claim that they believe in one God but who consists of three different personalities. If true, then all three would be equally Almighty since it is maintained that these three personalities are not three Gods but one. Then, how is it that some vital facts are known only to the Father and not to the Son? (Mark 13:32)
Moreover, even long after Jesus was raised to the heavens, the Bible speaks of the superior position of Jehovah over everything and everyone – including Jesus Christ. It clearly tells us that while it impossible for the Almighty God to submit to Jesus, in the same passage, it shows Jesus submitting to God. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28) Clearly they are two different entities.
Many more arguments can be presented to prove the errors of the Trinity doctrine. However, that is not the main focus of this article. Our goal is to save sincere Muslims from the falsehood of Islam. It must be noted that even if we were to set aside the erroneous teaching of the Trinity doctrine and compare Allah with the monotheistic God of the Holy Bible, the problem still remains. The evidences still show that the Allah of the Qur’an and Jehovah, the monotheistic God of the true Christians are not the same as the Qur’an claims. Jehovah has a Son:
John 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.
And Allah does not:
Surah 6:101-102: Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself) created everything, and He is the Knower of all things. That is Allah, your Lord, there is no god but He; the Creator of all things, therefore serve Him, and He has charge of all things. (Shakir)
In view of this significant difference, how can Muhammad then testify in the Qur’an: “Our Allah and your Allah is one.”? Whichever way we look, the Qur’an is clearly in error. The ensuing segment is even more damaging to Islam. To begin, we need to fully understand how the disposition of God’s Almightiness governs and permeates every single action of his.
When the taking of an oath is required, men swear by the greater. And this lends weight to the oath. As it will be shown later, Islamic law also agrees on this point. And the Bible testifies to this truth:
Hebrews 6:16: “For men verily swear by the greater, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation”
And in complete conformity with this divine rule, Jehovah upholds this perfect standard of righteousness even when it comes to his own personal involvement. Since God is the unique Creator of every living thing that came into existence, there can be no one above or greater than him. Neither is anyone equal to him. In harmony with this divine truth, each time God swears, he swears by himself because no one is greater than him. We will now look at a few examples in the Holy Bible:
Hebrews 6:13: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself.”
In the Book of Genesis, Jehovah said to Abraham:
Genesis 22:16-18: “By myself I have sworn, says Jehovah…, And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
And in the Book of Isaiah, Jehovah said:
Isaiah 45:23: “By myself I have sworn, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow…,”
And in the Book of Jeremiah, Jehovah said:
Jeremiah 22:5: “By myself I do swear, declares Jehovah.”
Jehovah the Greatest could not swear by someone or something. Therefore, in absolute harmony with his divine standard, he swore by himself. And as for humans, the reason for swearing by God, or in God’s name, is to call upon him to be our witness. To be the judge of our honesty and sincerity in what we are saying. The implication is that if one is lying or if one is not keeping his word, then God may hold that person accountable and punish him.
Islamic law also sees this point and therefore views the swearing by anything besides Allah as an act of idolatry. Such an act is judged as associating partners with Allah which is an unpardonable sin in Islam. Thus, according to the teachings of Islam, the only one to whom a Muslim can make an oath to is Allah and none other. Here are some examples to prove this:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 177:
Narrated ‘Umar: The Prophet said, “If anybody has to take an oath, he should swear only by Allah.”
Sahih Muslim, Book 015, Hadith Number 4040:
Muhammad said: He who has to take an oath, he must not take oath but by Allah.
Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 21, Number 3242:
Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do not swear by your fathers, or by your mothers, or by rivals to Allah; and swear by Allah only, and swear by Allah only when you are speaking the truth.
Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 21, Number 3245:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: Sa’id ibn Ubaydah said: Ibn Umar heard a man swearing: No, I swear by the Ka’bah. Ibn Umar said to him: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) say: He who swears by anyone but Allah is polytheist.
According to the teachings of the Qur’an, the worst possible sin that a Muslim can commit is to make a vow to anyone or anything besides Allah. Such an act is judged as associating partners with Allah. According to Islam, that Muslim will now be regarded as a “polytheist.” Those who commit this type of sin will never be forgiven by Allah:
Surah 4:48: Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases; and whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin. (Shakir)
The renowned Muslim scholar, Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah wrote the following:
An exclusive right for Allah, such as vowing, for example, should not be given to anyone or thing, except Allah alone. The Messenger of Allah said: “He who intends to swear, let him swear by Allah or keep silent.” He also said…, “He who swears by other than Allah, will have committed Shirk.” (Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, Zad-ul Ma’ad fi Hadyi Khairi-l ‘Ibad, Volume 4, p. 320)
Let us now look at a divine bombshell in the Qur’an. Unbelievable as it may seem to Muslims, Allah commits shirk – the very sin of polytheism that he forbids his worshippers to do. Allah swears practically by anything and everything other than himself. Allah swears by to both animate and inanimate things. To name some, Allah swears by:
The angels, the wind, the mountain, the star, the pen, the moon, the night, the dawn, the day of resurrection, the sky, the day of judgment, the sun, the earth, the soul, the creation of male and female, the fig, the olive, the even and odd numbers, the Qur’an, the city of Mecca.
If this is not polytheism, then what is it? Are these things greater than Allah that he would swear by them? What is the value of the pen, the fig or the olive compared to Allah? Does not this put Allah in an inferior position making him lower than his creation? When Allah swears to something that is less than himself, he is actually weakening the value of his oath. He diminishes the weight of his claim. An oath is supposed to increase the weight or seriousness of what one says. For instance, when Allah swears by the fig, he either elevates the fig to the position of a deity or he decreases the value of the oath to the value of the fig. Either way it is wrong. When Allah’s promises are accompanied by oaths to trivial things, it leaves little to be trusted.
To ensure our readers that we are not making this up, a few citations from the Qur’an is provided here:
Surah 36:2: “I swear by the Qur’an full of wisdom” (Shakir)
Surah 51:1: “I swear by the wind…” (Shakir)
Surah 53:1: “I swear by the star when it goes down.” (Shakir)
Surah 68:1: “Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write….” (Shakir)
Surah 79:1-2: “I swear by the angels…,” (Shakir)
Surah 95:1-3: By the fig and the olive. Mount Sinai. And this honored town (Mecca). (Khalifa)
Surah 52:4: “I swear by…, the House (Kaaba) that is visited.” (Shakir)
The last example quoted above is Surah 52:4, which is an early Meccan Surah. It is significant to note that at the time when Allah swore by the Ka’ba in Surah 52:4, it was still a pagan shrine filled with 360 idols. Can you imagine God swearing by a pagan shrine?
Islamic law itself clearly states that the one “who swears by other than Allah, will have committed Shirk” – the unforgivable sin. Of what value is this divine law when Allah himself diminishes it by swearing to something other than himself? Does it not become obvious that Allah himself is guilty of committing shirk? For Allah to swear by others, he is ascribing partners to himself. This is clearly an act of idolatry. Not only is Allah inconsistent but he also contradicts himself. Going by the evidences provided by the Qur’an itself, Allah shows himself to be an irrational deity – a god of confusion.
In contrast, Jehovah is consistent in everything he does. The truth regarding the consistency of Jehovah is revealed in the following Bible verse:
1 Corinthians 14:33: For God is a God not of confusion, but of peace.
These references are quite damaging for the Muslim position that none is greater than Allah. These Qur’anic verses show that Allah and Jehovah cannot be the same God. Jehovah swears only by himself since there is no one greater than him. Whereas, Allah swears by a host of inferior things. Therefore, when Allah swears by these inferior things, it implies that those things are either on the same level of greatness as Allah or even greater. Allah is thereby making the created things his equal, turning finite creatures into fellow gods who are comparable to him in greatness.
According to Allah’s own verdict, he is guilty of making himself a partner to a host of living and non-living things. And shockingly, Allah even swore by the Ka’ba when it was still a pagan shrine, making himself partner to the 360 idols. This is clearly polytheism and Allah is the one committing it. Allah cannot be trusted to act in a certain defined way. He is capricious. The Qur’an gives us the perception that Allah can do anything he fancies. Nothing can stop him – not even when his actions or words collide with the divine standard of righteousness. Allah who breaks his own divine laws cannot be trusted. If Allah is able to commit the worst sin, the unforgivable sin, can Muslims really trust him with their eternal salvation?
In contrast, Jehovah upholds his own divine principles, which are not only supreme but also perfect. He is unchanging in his ways because he lives by the very lofty standard that he himself sets up as divine dimension of righteousness. He can be trusted because he is consistent in his actions. Therefore, Jehovah is reliable. As such, we can be very sure of the way he will deal with us.
James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of the celestial lights, who does not vary or change like the shifting shadows.
