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Islam FAQ (Part 9/15): Islam: Prophethood, Jesus & Trinity |
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Debate on the matter was no longer tolerated; to speak out against the
Trinity was now considered blasphemy, and such earned stiff sentences
that ranged from mutilation to death. Christians now turned on
Christians, maiming and slaughtering thousands because of a difference
of opinion.
15. Debate Continues ............................................... from III&E
Brutal punishments and even death did not stop the controversy over the
doctrine of the Trinity, however, and the said controversy continues
even today.
The majority of Christians, when asked to explain this fundamental
doctrine of their faith, can offer nothing more than "I believe it
because I was told to do so." It is explained away as "mystery" - yet
the Bible says in I Corinthians 14:33 that "... God is not the author of
confusion..."
The Unitarian denomination of Christianity has kept alive the teachings
of Arius in saying that God is one; they do not believe in the Trinity.
As a result, mainstream Christians abhor them, and the National Council
of Churches has refused their admittance. In Unitarianism, the hope is
kept alive that Christians will someday return to the preachings of
Jesus: "...Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve." (Luke 4:8)
16. Islam and the Matter of The Trinity ............................ from III&E
While Christianity may have a problem defining the essence of God, such
is not the case in Islam.
"They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for
there is no god except One God." (Qur'an 5:73) It is worth noting that
the Arabic language Bible uses the name "Allah" as the name of God.
Suzanne Haneef, in her book WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ISLAM AND
MUSLIMS (Library of Islam, 1985), puts the matter quite succinctly when
she says, "But God is not like a pie or an apple which can be divided
into three thirds which form one whole; if God is three persons or
possesses three parts, He is assuredly not the Single, Unique,
Indivisible Being which God is and which Christianity professes to
believe in." (pp. 183-184)
Looking at it from another angle, the Trinity designates God as being
three separate entities - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If
God is the Father and also the Son, He would then be the Father of
Himself because He is His own Son. This is not exactly logical.
Christianity claims to be a monotheistic religion. Monotheism, however,
has as its fundamental belief that God is One; the Christian doctrine of
the Trinity - God being Three-in-One - is seen by Islam as a form of
polytheism. Christians don't revere just One God, they revere three.
This is a charge not taken lightly by Christians, however. They, in
turn, accuse the Muslims of not even knowing what the Trinity is,
pointing out that the Qur'an sets it up as Allah the Father, Jesus the
Son, and Mary his mother. While veneration of Mary has been a figment of
the Catholic Church since 431 when she was given the title "Mother of
God" by the Council of Ephesus, a closer examination of the verse in the
Qur'an most often cited by Christians in support of their accusation,
shows that the designation of Mary by the Qur'an as a "member" of the
Trinity, is simply not true.
While the Qur'an does condemn both trinitarianism (the Qur'an 4:17) and
the worship of Jesus and his mother Mary (the Qur'an 5:116), nowhere
does it identify the actual three components of the Christian Trinity.
The position of the Qur'an is that WHO or WHAT comprises this doctrine
is not important; what is important is that the very notion of a Trinity
is an affront against the concept of One God.
In conclusion, we see that the doctrine of the Trinity is a concept
conceived entirely by man; there is no sanction whatsoever from God to
be found regarding the matter simply because the whole idea of a Trinity
of divine beings has no place in monotheism. In the Qur'an, God's Final
Revelations to mankind, we find His stand quite clearly stated in a
number of eloquent passages:
"...your God is One God: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work
righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as
partner." (Qur'an 18:110)
"...take not, with God, another object of worship, lest you should be
thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected." (Qur'an 17:39)
"...Because, as God tells us over and over again in a Message that is
echoed throughout All His Revealed Scriptures:
"...I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore, serve Me (and no other)..."
(Qur'an 21:92)
-- Aisha Brown
Announcements ................................................................
17. Archive Info ..............................................................
This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.
-- Anonymous FTP --
Login: anonymous
Password: Your e-mail address
Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/
Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/
Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/
-- E-MAIL --
Send E-mail to: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Text of E-mail Message:
send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part9
quit
-- GOPHER --
Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/
Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam
-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --
One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'
URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html
URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html
18. Credits ...................................................................
The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for
the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ.
-- SOURCES --
The basic introduction and literature presented in the FAQ is from
brochures on Islam distributed by Institute of Islamic Information &
Education (III&E). These brochures were typed in electronic form by
Ms.M.Ahmed.
The information on soc.religion.islam forum (in Part 2) has been
compiled from USENET archives and administrative logs of
Soc.Religion.Islam moderator panel.
What is III&E?
III&E is an acronym for the Institute of Islamic Information & Education
which was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1985. The III&E is
registered in the State of Illinois and recognized by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) as a not-for-profit religious organization.
More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O.
Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Tel: (312) 777-7443 Fax:
(312) 777-7199.
-- FORMAT --
The format of the FAQ series has been done by utilizing resources of
Islamic Information & News Network (IINN). A custom program, Nebula,
written by editors of IINN for generating newsletters has been used.
What is IINN?
Islamic Information & News Network is a forum dedicated to educate the
network community on issues relating to Islam and Muslims in an academic
& non-political environment. Weekly digest is available on internet by
subscribing to MUSLIMS@ASUACAD.BITnet (A Bitnet listserv list) and on
USENET: bit.listserv.muslims.
-- Permissions --
Permission to post this multi-part FAQ has been obtained by the
following:
o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E)
o Islamic Information & News Network (Muslims@PSUVM.bitnet)
o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)
# End of Islam FAQ Part 9 #
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