Growing up and living in an Islamic country, I was taught that there is only one God. He is the only God of this universe. I was taught that Christianity is a religion that worships idols and that they worship three gods. They do not believe in one God.
The doctrine of one God was the core of my belief. I could not imagine believing in a religion that worships more than one God. When I was learning about Jesus, as a Muslim, there were many challenges in front of me to believe in Jesus as my Saviour.
One of my biggest fears was that the Bible might teach believing in three Gods. Then later on I learned that the Bible does not teach people to believe in more than one God. This is one of the biggest struggles for Muslims to open up to the Gospel.
When they hear the word Christianity they think that Christians believe in three gods and that the Bible has been changed.
In this article I am going to explain the concept of God being one from an Islamic point of view and how Christians can explain the oneness of God to Muslims. I hope this will be helpful for my brothers and sisters who want to share the truth with Muslims.
What do Muslims think of Christian Monotheism?
Looking at the history of Christianity, we can see that from the beginning Christians have been accused of many beliefs and practices that they do not practice or believe. Muslims has their own accusations towards the Bible and Christians.
Growing up as a Muslim, I never heard anything good about Christianity in my country. I only heard criticism about Christians and Christianity. Sometimes the judgments were more extreme than what the Quran teaches about Christians.
Christianity in my country is seen as a pagan religion that worships idols, Mary and believes in three Gods. To understand why Muslims believe this way about Christianity we need to understand what the Quran teaches about Christians.
The Quran has some interesting views about Christianity. Most Muslims are not educated about the respective view found in the Quran about Christians. Christians are called the people of the book (having divine revelation from God).
In one part of the Quran it talks about Christians this way: "Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians -- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve" (Quran Al- Baqarah: 62).
In this verse we see that both Christians and Muslims have an equal chance for getting a reward. There are so many other verses in the Quran that give a respectful view about Christians.
One of the issues in the Quran that is problematic is that the Quran contradicts itself. Many times the Quran has two different views about the same topic that contradict each other. With the respect that Quran has to Christians, at the same time there are verses in Quran that condemns Christians.
One of the misunderstandings of the Quran is that the Quran talks about Christians believing in more than one God. "Oh People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion, nor say of God anything but the truth. Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, was (no more than) a messenger of God, and His Word which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him.
So believe in God and His messengers. Say no, 'Trinity.' Desist! It will be better for you, for God is One God, 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 God as a Disposer of affairs" (Quran Al- Nisa: 171).
In this verse we see Christians being accused of believing in more than one God. The view Christians believing in three Gods rises up from this and similar verses of Quran.
How to engage with a Muslim
When engaging with a Muslim brother or sister, we should be aware that he or she might have an understanding that Christians believe in three gods or that they worship idols. One of the first steps is to clarify and help Muslims see that Christians do not believe in three gods.
As for me personally, one of the most powerful ways that helped me understand that Christians do not believe in three gods was that my Christian friends showed me verses in the Bible that taught the oneness of God.
When sharing with a Muslim about the oneness of God in Christianity, it is important to understand the concept of oneness of God in Islam and how to contextualize it so a Muslim can understand. In Islam, the concept of God being one is called Towhi (ید). The etymology of Towhid comes from the word Wahid (واØد) and ahad (اØد) which means one and unique and also means unification. (islam.about.com/od/godallah/a/Tawhid.htm)
This concept goes against the idea of the trinity, which is not the focus in this article.
It is important to mention that trinity does not mean believing in three individual Gods. Trinity teaches that God is still one. Trinity is made of Father, Holy Spirit and Son which are all one. "They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God" (carm.org/trinity) There is no more than one God. The topic of trinity is a bigger topic that cannot be discussed in this article.
This article focuses on rejecting the idea of believing in three individual gods. Towhid in Islam means God being one and unique. In Islamic theology this concept has been developed very well. Towhid or the oneness of God in Islam is a very wide topic but let's look at what Muslims believe and find relevant verses from the Bible on this topic. Generally, in Islam the idea of the oneness of God is divided in three parts.
1. Oneness of God in lordship: Muslims believes that God is the only lord. There is no one else that can compare to Him. He is the almighty, the creator and the Supreme Being in this world. There is no power above him.
"Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs." (Quran, Al Zumar.62)
A Bible verse: "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world."
1 Samuel 2:6-8
2. Oneness in worship: Muslims believe that God is one and since He is one and only God, nothing else can be worshipped instead of Him. He is the only one worthy of worship. Worshipping anyone or anything else will break the principle of believing in one God.
"And we had certainly sent Noah to his people, [saying], 'Indeed, I am to you a clear Warner. That you not worship except Allah. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a painful day." (Quran, Surat Hud 25-26).
Bible verse: "and he said to Him, All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Mathew 4:9-10
3. Oneness in nature and character of God: Muslims believes that no one else can have the same nature and characters of God. No one else can be almighty, omniscient, omnipotent, wise and knowledgeable … God is unique, and no one else can be compared to him.
"And He is, of all things, knowing." (Quran. Surat Al- Anam. 101)
"And ever is Allah, over all things, competent." (Quran, Al- Fath-21)
Bible verse:
""Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me." Isaiah 46:9
Prayers
With prayers to our Muslim brothers and sisters, I hope those who want to share the truth of the Gospel with Muslims find this article helpful. May you have a better understanding of what Muslims think about the oneness of God taught in Christianity.
I hope our dear Muslim brothers and sisters, who read this article, would understand that Christians do not worship three Gods. My encouragement, for those who want to share the Gospel with Muslims, is that using Biblical scriptures with your Muslim friends is a powerful way to share the Gospel with them.
Mumin Faizy is a young Christian from the Middle East (Islamic world) and his interest research areas are philosophy and religious studies.
Mumin Faizy's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mumin-faizy.html