Does Islam reject the Trinity?

One of the biggest criticisms of Christianity by Muslims is the trinity.  Islam will claim that Jesus, as a mere human. could not have been God.  In Islam, the Holy Spirit is not God's Spirit but is actually argued to be a messenger of God like Muhammad. or angel Gabriel. What are some key Qur'anic criticisms to the concept of the Trinity?  Below I explain three such criticisms and show that they suffer logical and internal consistencies.


In "Say not three", Is Mary God?

The Qur'an says not to believe in the trinity, by asserting "say not three":

"O people of the Book, be not excessive in your Faith, and do not say about Allah anything but the truth.The MasīH ‘Īsā, the son of Maryam, is only a Messenger of Allah, and His Word that He had delivered to Maryam, and a spirit from Him. So, believe in Allah and His Messengers. Do not say “Three”. Stop it. That is good for you. Allah is the only One God. He is far too pure to have a son. To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. And Allah is enough to trust in." Qur'an 4:171, Usmani

But which three is the Qur'an talking about?  The Qur'an does not explicitly deny the Holy Spirit as God.  Many Muslims instead reinterpret it as the angel Gabriel. The following verse accuses Christians of taking Mary as a god:

"And when Allah said, “O ‘Īsā, son of Maryam, did you say to the people: ‘Take me and my mother as gods beside Allah?” He said, “Pure are You, it does not behoove me to say what is not right for me. Had I said it, You would have known it. You know what is in my heart, and I do not know what is in Your’s. You alone have full knowledge of all that is unseen." Qur'an 5:116, Usmani

The "three" mentioned in this verse are not Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but Allah, Isa (Jesus) and Mary.  Regarding Jesus and Mary on equal par with Allah was regarded not right.  This line of argument of criticizing association of Mary with God is also found in 5:72-75.

A little below in this passage, belief in this "trinity" is shown to attract divine judgment:

"If You punish them, they are Your slaves after all, but if You forgive them, You are the Mighty, the Wise.” Qur'an 5:118, Usmani

This passage is about the judgment day, as surah 5:119 shows:

"Allah will say, "This is a day on which the truth of the truthful shall benefit for them. For them there are gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will live forever. Allah is well-pleased with them and they are well-pleased with Him. That is the great achievement." " Qur'an 5:119, Usmani

Muhammad obviously thought that Christians were taking Mary as god. Furthermore, Qur'an says that this is what will be judged on the judgment day, not revering the Holy Spirit.  No Christian denomination believes that Mary is God today.  Muhammad appears to be attacking a straw man.


Was Jesus Raised or Did He Die?

Surah 4:157 is a well-known verse used to deny Jesus' death on the cross, but in context of the rest of the Qur'an, does this claim really make sense?  Death was expected of the messengers of Allah:

"Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!" Surah 5:75, Yusuf Ali

This verse talk of many who, like Jesus, were according to the Qur'an messengers but "who had passed away before him". This is a peculiar comparison with Jesus, for in the Qur'an Jesus never passed away. According to surah 3:55, he was raised straight to heaven instead of dying on the cross:

"When Allah said: “O ‘Īsā , I am to take you in full and to raise you towards Myself, and to cleanse you of those who disbelieve, and to place those who follow you above those who disbelieve up to the Day of Doom. Then to Me is your return, whereupon I shall judge between you in that over which you have differed." Qur'an 3:55, Usmani

Actually many of the English translations are not accurate. In the Arabic, it doesn't just say "raise you towards Myself" but first uses an Arabic word مُتَوَفِّيكَ (mutawaffi-ka) which, though metaphorical in nature, does not mean "take you" but "cause you to die".  You can find the word translated as "die" in several translations of the Qur'an (Muhammad Asad, Wahiduddin Khan, Safi Kaskas and Shabbir Ahmed).

This is devastating for anyone who believes that Jesus didn't die. 

Some more in-depth analysis of this issue is here.


One Who Eats Cannot Be God?

Some claim that Jesus was not God, because Jesus ate food. The objection is that Jesus had a human need, but God being omnipotent, had no needs that he cannot himself fulfill. If Jesus then needs foods, he could not be God. Is this solid logic?

According to the Qur'an, Allah too had needs. He needed to preserve his words into a tablet:

"The reality is that it is the glorious Qur’ān, (recorded) in the Preserved Tablet (LauH MaHfūZ)." Surah 85:21-22, Usmani

The preserved tablet was not given to Muhammad, so it must have been in Allah's possession.

Why does Allah even need to preserve his work in a tablet? Doesn't an omniscient Allah have a perfect memory? He doesn't NEED the tablet, although he was in possession of it. In the same way, Jesus didn't NEED food.

Allah also has other needs. He apparently needed worshipers. In Qur'an 55:56, Allah created jinn and man for them to worship him.  Allah also needs people to sin.  In Sahih Muslim, Allah is said to need people to commit sins and to ask for forgiveness:

"Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said:

By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them."  Sahih Muslim 2749

(Link to this and similar hadith here.)  If people were not to sin, Allah would destroy them and create another people.  This need is completely unnecessary for an all powerful God.

So Allah has needs. If needs prove one is not God, then Allah cannot possibly be God.


(The above argument is based on the Christian Prince video "What is the Islamic logic to reject the trinity".)

Is Jesus God in the Bible?

The biggest Muslim objection to Christianity is over whether Jesus is God.  Muslims may object with the challenge: 'where does Jesus says, "I am God, worship me"?'  How do we answer this?

Jesus is portrayed differently in the Bible to that in the Qur'an.  In John 17:1, Jesus calls God the Father, yet the Qur'an denies bother the sonship of Jesus and the fatherhood of God.  In the gospels, Jesus is sent by God:

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3 ESV

In the Qur'an, Jesus too is sent as a messenger.  Yet the Qur'an denies Jesus as the source of eternal life.

Say the Words "I am God"

If you are ever asked show where Jesus says "I am God, worship me", you are not being asked what you think.  The question is actually a trap, designed to show that you lack logical reasoning skills.  If you give an answer without quoting the exact words, a Muslim will say that you haven't answer the question. Throw the same question back to the Muslim.  Muslims believe that Jesus is a Messiah, that he is the virgin-born son of Mary, that he is a word from Allah and a spirit from Him.  This is taught in Qur'an 4:171.  But Jesus is never quoted as saying these things in the exact words.  Nowhere in the Qur'an is Jesus quoted as saying "I am the Messiah" nor "I am a Word from Allah directed to Mary" nor "I am a Spirit from Allah".  You can safely promise to the Muslim shows you in the Qur'an where Jesus says these things in exact words, that you will convert to Islam!  The facts are taught in the Qur'an, but nowhere is there an exact quote of Jesus saying them.
Why didn't Jesus simply say that he was God?  His words on this may not have been recorded, for Jesus said and did many things that are not written down (John 20:31-32, John 21:24-25).  More likely, Jesus did say it, but not in the way a Muslim would expect.  Since his main audience was Jews, he probably communicated in a manner that Jews would understand.

How Not to Prove His Divinity

There are many arguments for Christ's divinity that are not adequate.  One may be tempted to quote the Bible where Jesus says, "I and the Father are one", or "whoever sees me sees the Father", or "before Abraham was born, I am" (a reference to the Old Testament "I am").  There are many arguments that seem persuasive but can easily be shot down.  Several arguments not to use:

Jesus was worshipped, but this does not prove his divinity.   In John 9:35-38, a man worshipped Jesus after being healed from blindness, but not as God but 'Son of God'. This is not good enough, since King David was worshipped as a god in 1 Chronicles 29:20. 

Jesus performed many miracles, but this does not prove his divinity.  In the Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha performed miracles of raising the dead and multiplying food, just as Jesus did.  Many unitarians will bring up this point.

In the revelation of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1:8, the speaker claims to be the Alpha and Omega.  This does not mean it was Jesus who was speaking in this verse. It may have been God the Father.

Jesus is given a seat at God's right hand in Mark 14:62:

"And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." " Mark 14:62 ESV

This is an important passage, so it will be picked up again below.  Yet, on its own, this passage does not show that Jesus is God.  That Jesus 'was given' a seat in heaven may imply he was inferior in authority to God, and possibly a subordinate deity.  The true God should have the authority to choose his own seat in heaven.

A Seat at God's Right Hand

In Psalm 110 and Daniel 7 are prophecies about the Messiah being exalted to God's right hand.  In Daniel 7:13-14, the Son of Man is described as approaching the 'Ancient of Days' (a name for God). The Son of Man is given dominion, glory and a kingdom in which all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.  In Psalm 110:1, David's Lord is asked to sit at God's right hand of power, having been enthroned to rule.  This Lord is identified as Jesus:

"The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." " Psalms 110:1 ESV

These prophecies describe Jesus' exaltation after he was humbled on the cross.  In one of the most the famous prophecies about Jesus, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the servant is lifted up and exalted in status:

"Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted." Isaiah 52:13 ESV

 For what reason did Jesus have to be exalted?  He had humbled himself, taking the role of a servant.

Jesus Humbled as a Servant

Jesus voluntarily humbled himself to assume the status as a servant.  It says that Jesus lowered his status in the gospels.  

Matthew 12:17-21 says that Jesus is a servant to the Father.  In Luke, Jesus describes himself as one who lowers himself as a servant to men, through washing the feet of his disciples:

"For who is greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves." Luke 22:27 ESV

In Mark, Jesus, referring to himself as the Son of Man, identifies himself as a servant:

" "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." " Mark 10:45 ESV

So according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus is a servant to both the Father and mankind.  This picture of Jesus is corroborated in the gospel of John.  In John 13:3-17, Jesus assumed the lowly status of a household servant by washing dirty feet of his disciples, and he said:

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet ...Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him." John 13:14,16 ESV

If Jesus had the status of a servant, how could he be king?  For the gospels say he was a king. Jesus' Kingdom is God's Kingdom

Jesus tells us he is a king, but that his kingdom is not one of this world:

"Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." " John 18:36 ESV

Jesus' kingdom must be heaven.  Yet how could this be?  Yahweh is the only king of heaven. Jesus' Right to Rule with God

The only one way Jesus could be sitting with Yahweh, is if he is worthy for the position.  All the host of heaven stand to the right and to the left of Yahweh, and are not worthy to sit on his throne:

"And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; " 1 Kings 22:19 ESV

If Jesus was merely a creature, why would he be allowed to sit on the throne with God?  Yet in the book of Psalms, David's Lord, Jesus, sits with Yahweh on high at His right side (Psalm 110:1).

Now, there is no one like our God Yahweh.  Mistaking anyone for Him is out of the question, for His identity is undeniable as shown in the following rhetorical question:

"Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high," Psalms 113:5 ESV

Yahweh is sitting on his throne is in heaven, and he sees the actions of men:

"The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord 's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man." Psalms 11:4 ESV

"He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." Psalms 2:4 ESV

Summarizing, there is only one Lord, he is in heaven, and only he sits on the throne.  All the heavenly host are standing.  Further, the entire heavens belong to Yahweh:

"The heavens are the Lord 's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man." Psalms 115:16 ESV

"The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all." Psalms 103:19 ESV

How can a creature be allowed to share the throne with Yahweh in heaven, when the Bible is clear that the heavens belongs to Yahweh and there is no one like him who sits on heaven's throne?  How is it possible for him to do all this if he is not in fact God? Jesus, the Son of Man, is the Son of God

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John show that Jesus set aside His kingdom and kingdom prerogatives, privileges and honour.  The same Jesus testifies that he is the Son of God who is the heir of the Father and whose heavenly kingdom also belongs to Him. It is written that the Son of Man has a kingdom and angels and authority over them.  The kingdom is also the Father's kingdom, and will be shared with the righteous believers:

"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ... Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." Matthew 13:41‭,43 ESV 

But who is the Son of Man?  It says in the next passage that He comes in the glory of his Father.  That is to say, the Son of Man is the Son of God:

"For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.  Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." " Matthew 16:27‭-‬28 ESV

Jesus the Son of Man is coming back to judge.  He will reward each of us according to our works.  When Christ comes, God's kingdom will be established. Addressing Unitarians, Showing Islam is False

If Jesus is God, why did he need to be given kingly power and authority?  Why did Jesus need to receive kingly authority?  If he is God, didn't he already possess it?  The answer is that he became a servant on earth and set aside his kingly title, privilege and glory to accomplish God's will. To fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 42:1-4, Jesus became a servant of the Father:  

"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased..." Matthew 12:18 ESV

How can God entrust his sovereignty to a creature?  How can a creature oversee the entire creation?  Why would God share his authority over His creation with a creature?  The entire creation was made subject to him including Mohammad and all Muslims:

"And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." " Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 ESV

The answer from this passage is that Jesus is no creature but God.  Since Jesus is personally present with all of his believers, he is omnipresent.  Since he knows where they are and where they are going, he is omniscient.  Since he guarantees the inevitable success of the Great Commission, he is omnipotent.  Critically, Matthew 28:19 says the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit all possess the same name.  This is a big statement.  Biblically, a "name" refers not only to the name of a person and but also his character.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit then share the same character.  When baptized, we come equally under the headship of all three.  This verse is a powerful witness to the essential equality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A challenge the Muslim to prove the truth of their equality is to say "in the name of Allah, the messenger of Allah and the angel Gabriel".  No creature can claim to be united with God. Matthew 28:19 directly contradicts the Qur'an:

"the One to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and who did neither have a son, nor is there any partner to him in the Kingdom, and who has created everything and designed it in a perfect measure."  Qur'an 25:2, Mufti Taqi Usmani

This verse claims that Allah, who has the authority of heavens and earth, has no son.  The gospels instead show us that Jesus is the Son of God, and shares God's authority over heaven and earth.   Yet Jesus is Not the Father As said in the gospel of John, Jesus said many things that are not recorded in the gospels.  He may have said "I am God" and it simply was not recorded. Yet to a first century Jew, the term "God" would refer to the Father in Heaven.  To claim "I am God" then equates you to the Father.  If Jesus was precise in his communication this is something that he would not have wanted, for it is not accurate.   Unitarians should understand this concept.  To the Jehovah's Witness, to say "Jesus is God" equates Jesus with Jehovah.  To say "Jesus is Allah" is confusing to the Muslim, since Jesus was sent by Allah.  If Jesus is Allah, then Jesus sent himself.   Jesus is not the Father, he is the Son of God. (Credit for the above argument goes to Sam Shamoun.  It was taken from his video "The Question Christian Prince Cannot Answer".)