Explanation to questions raised by Christian to Brother Yaseen from Ballito
Preliminary points
1. I must commend the brother for searching for the truth and doing some research on his own. However, it is quite surprising that when Christians claim to undertake an “objective” study of the Bible, they all somehow come to the same incorrect conclusions using assumptions that have been debunked 100s of times on the internet. A true objective reading of the Quran using the resources at hand would definitely not lead to these conclusions.
2. When it comes to interpreting the Quran, one of the rules which is mentioned by the Quran itself in 3:7 is that the Quran consists of two types of verses. The first are those that are explicit and unambiguously clear. The meaning cannot be contested. These verses are called Muhkam and form the foundation of beliefs. Then they are verses that are not so easy to understand and require study and thought. These verses are understood in light of the Muhkam/clear verses. The wrong methodology, as outlined by the Quran, is to take only the second group of verses and give one interpretation and ignore the clear Muhkam verses. This is exactly what happens when Christians try to prove the divinity of Christ from the Quran.
3. This idea that you can use the Quran to prove Christianity generally stems from the missionary understanding that instead of criticizing their book, you should rather use it to guide them. The only problem is, to do so you have to distort many verses and ignore others.
Specific points
Below are the main points the brother raised with the proper explanation
Point 1:
Many of the messages centred around the idea that Jesus is called the word of God in the Quran, and God creates with the word, therefore Jesus is part of the act of creation.
Response:
In order to understand these verses, we must first look at the muhkam clear verses, see what they say and interpret it in this light. The Quran is crystal clear that there is only one God who is eternal, and Jesus is not that God.
See the following verses:
Quran 5:75: This verse is absolutely clear that Jesus cannot be God, but he is a messenger just like all the messengers who passed before. He would require food, an argument that he cannot be God. This one verse alone should be sufficient to tell anyone that Jesus is not God according to the Quran.
The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger. ˹Many˺ messengers had ˹come and˺ gone before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They both ate food. See how We make the signs clear to them, yet see how they are deluded ˹from the truth˺!
Quran 5 17 and 5:72: These verses explicitly state that it is disbelief to say Jesus is God. The arguments brought forth in the same verses show without doubt that Jesus was not God, nor did he ask to be worshipped as per the Quran.
Indeed those who said: ‘Christ, the son of Mary, he is indeed God’, disbelieved. Say (O Muhammad!): ‘Who could have overruled Allah had He so willed to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, and his mother, and all those who are on earth?’
And surely they disbelieved when they said: ‘Christ, the son of Mary, is indeed God’; whereas Christ had said: ‘Children of Israel! Serve Allah, Who is your Lord and my Lord. ‘ Allah has forbidden Paradise to those who associate anything with Him in His divinity and their refuge shall be the Fire.
There are many more verses like this. But these are sufficient. Clear explicitly verses that show that Jesus is not God nor is he to worshipped and it is a great blasphemy to say this. This is the Quranic position, and you can see more examples of this in 4:171 where God clearly differentiates between Himself and messengers and puts Jesus in the messengers category. You can also see 3:47 which indicates that Jesus is a created being. In addition to this, in 5:116 to 117, we see that Jesus will actually be questioned by God and he will explicitly deny that he ever said that anyone must worship him. The Quran even denies that Jesus should be called the son of God due to the incorrect connotations associated with it 9:30.
These are clear unambiguous verses which leave no room for interpretation. Now that that is set in stone, let us look at the verses in question and put them into perspective.
Now let’s look at the claim at hand. The first premise is that God creates with the word. We should note from the onset that this idea of logos/wisdom of God is not found in the Quran. Thus, when the Quran talks about the words or word of Allah, it’s simply referring to something He said or one of his decrees and commandments. In the case of creating, the Quran states that God simply says be and whatever He wants to create is created. Many understood this to simply be a metaphor for the ease with which God creates. However, even when taken literally, it doesn’t mean that there is an entity called the word of God which He uses to create. It only means that he says the word be and then creation occurs. Jesus is never said to be the word be (kun), because there is no association between the two.
It is a false analogy to say God says the word kun(be) when He creates. Jesus Is called word. Therefore, God and Jesus create. That argument does not follow. The word of God is used for multiple different meanings in different places.
The pronouncement of hell for disbelievers is called the word of God (40:6). Does that mean He creates with it? The statement of tawḥīd (monotheism) is called the word (43:28). This doesn’t mean God creates with it. The word Kalima (word) is used over twenty times and in none of those instances can it be said that God creates with that kalima. God creates by saying the word kun. That doesn’t mean that every word of God is now part of the act of creation. Nor does it have anything to do with Jesus. This line of reasoning is false.
Let’s examine more reasons why this does not show the divinity of Jesus. In verse 4:171, Jesus is called word of God. However, note the following.
In the very same verse, he is stated not to be God but a messenger. In 3:45 it doesn’t say he is THE word of God. It says he is A word from God. If you take Christian logic, there must be many other beings who are divine and create as well as Jesus is simply said to be one of the words of God.
So, what does it mean to say Jesus is a word from God? It simply means that Jesus was created using the word and with no worldly causation of mother and father. Thus, he is called the word in the sense that he was created with the word alone and not via natural causes. In reality we are all created with the word but we also had natural causation involved unlike Jesus, so he was specifically called this. This is similar to Moses who is called “the one who spoke to God” or Abraham who is called “the friend of God” whereas other prophets also spoke to God and were close to God but because these prophets had done so in a standout way, they were called this.
The Quran is trying to show Christians that they can still hold onto some of their views, but they must align it with the proper belief of pure monotheism.
As for John 1:1. These words were not stated by Jesus. None of the other gospels call him this in this manner. But most importantly, this idea, which we have no idea who said (because the Gospel of John like all the other gospels is anonymous), is basically an acceptance an interpretation of Greek Philosophy based on the concept of the Logos as explained by Philo of Alexandria, a hellenized Jew. These Greek teachings are foreign to the pure message of Jesus. Philo conceived of the logos or word/wisdom of God as a something that is the creative force of God. The Quran is trying to remove this distorted meaning and assert a purer, monotheistic meaning.
Point 2
The idea that Jesus is the spirit of God shows divinity.
Response
This is much like the previous point. Once we know the Quran is clear that there is only one God and this does not include Jesus, then it is much easier to interpret these. When it comes to spirit, then we see this term is not only used for Jesus in the Quran. It is also used for Adam when God says that he blew His soul/spirit into Adam. This is no way implied divinity. Everything that belongs to God is called God’s. So, when the Quran says His soul, it means a soul that belongs to Him which He placed into Adam. Similarly, Jesus was given a soul (ruh) in a miraculous way, and he is thus called the ruh from God. The ruh of God is also how Gabriel, a created being, is described in the Quran. So again, there are really no divine implications here, but simply terms that encapsulate the miraculous birth of Jesus.
Point 3:
The Quran uses plural for God, therefore is he one but many.
Response:
This is simply a misunderstanding of the Arabic language. In Arabic, in order to show honour, a plural pronoun is used for one person. This continues to today in Arab newspapers where the king will be called they or he will refer to himself as we. It is only to show honour and has no implications of multiplicity. This is well known to anyone who has studied Arabic.
As for the Old Testament, the same could be said for the Hebrew language (see Ben ezra on Genesis 1:26), however, here’s the issue. If God used the plural pronoun for himself, why did Jews and Rabbis through the ages deny that God included a multiplicity? They interpreted this to mean that God was communicating with his council of angels or something of the like. You can see the most famous commentator of the Bible, Rashi, explaining that it refers to the angels who were also created in Gods image. This is supported by the Talmud.
The only way this could ever refer to multiple persons is if someone already had this preconceived idea and then searched for some backing for it in the scriptures. No one would ever come away from scriptures thinking this and that is why no Jews nor any Muslims ever believed that God was one being with three persons.
Point 4:
The Qurans negation of three gods in 5:73 does not apply to Christians because they believe in One god.
Response:
Here is the verse:
Those who say, “Allah is one in a Trinity,” have certainly fallen into disbelief. There is only One God. If they do not stop saying this, those who disbelieve among them will be afflicted with a painful punishment.
The literal meaning of the bolded part is: “Allah is the third of three”.
Note that nowhere does it say three Gods or three separate beings. This is because the Christians never claimed that. Now if we assume the Quran was saying that Christians must stop saying three Gods, which Christians were saying that? It would make no sense. That’s why the Quran here just says do not say God is part of a trinity and in 4:171, “Do not say three”, leaving it general. Because whether you say three beings or three persons, this is against monotheism and the Quran. Christians say they believe in one God but then say
The father is fully God
The son is fully God
The holy spirit is fully God
All of the above three are distinct from each other.
This can only mean there are three Gods. This is what the Quran is refuting because it is indeed a great travesty for anyone to associate a partner with God even if they claim it is monotheism.
Point 5:
Jesus is mentioned far more than Muḥammad in the Quran and is more than just a messenger because he performed miracles and will return.
Response:
This is a common misconception, that the Quran refers more to Jesus than Muḥammad. This is true only if we only consider third person references. However, the Prophet Muḥammad is the addressee of the Quran. He is referred to hundreds of times. Sometimes by O Prophet, sometimes by O messenger and many times by the second person pronoun. The Quran focuses in many places on his life and importance, although without taking his name because it is understood. So, of what relevance is it to say his name is mentioned less than Jesus’ when he is referred to hundreds of times and a major part of the Quran centres around accepting him??
Secondly, according to the Quran, the prophet did perform miracles, the primary one being the Quran (see 2:23 and 24). Quran 38:13 makes it clear that when the people of Makkah received a sign, they mocked it or didn’t take it seriously, meaning they were given miracles. Also, according to 17:1 he was taken in one night from Makkah to Jerusalem. What Christians use to say the prophet didn’t do miracles are verses like this:
But they say, Why are not signs sent down to him from his Lord? Say, The signs are only with Allāh, and I am only a clear warner. Qur’an 29:50
They reason that the Quraysh were using the fact that he did no miracles as a proof against him. However, this fails to take into account the backdrop of this statement. The prophet had produced the Quran which was miraculous and had done other miracles. However, they kept making demands, like turn this mountain to gold etc etc. They were doing this out of spite and as a joke, so of course the Prophet did not acquiesce. Then they said why can’t he do the miracles. To understand this backdrop read the following verses 17:90 to 93.
In any case, the ḥadīth literature, which is where the details are found, report multiple miracles of the Prophet ﷺ such as mass feeding from a small dish, causing stones to praise God in Arabic, causing a tree trunk to come to life, having clouds follow him to shade him, making his pursuer sink into the ground etc. These are all only by the permission of God. Just like Moses in the Quran. The Quran details many of Moses’ miracles. Does this mean he divine as well? Of course not. This inconsistent reasoning can produce any outcome it is expected to.
The Quran is clear that Jesus is a messenger. It primarily describes him as a messenger and the messiah (The messiah in Jewish thought was never meant to be part of a trinity!). It uses the same wording for him and the Prophet Muḥammad.
The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger. ˹Many˺ messengers had ˹come and˺ gone before him. (5:75)
Muḥammad is no more than a messenger; other messengers have gone before him. (3:144)
But the issue is this. Why would God hide his true triune nature away from man and make it so confusing and unclear in scripture, in the Old Testament, New Testament and the Quran? But on top of that, why would He punish you for not believing in the trinity when it is never explained clearly, when the opposite is mentioned in scripture and when Abraham and Moses never believed in it?
Point 6:
A reference to Deuteronomy 6:4 and Quran chapter 112.
Response:
These verses prove the point exactly. God describes Himself as One, never three in one. In addition to these verses, God says in the Old Testament
God is not a human that he should lie. Numbers 23:19
For I am God, not a man. Hosea 11:9
Why would God teach us clearly that He isn’t a human and then ask us to believe Jesus is God?
Point 7:
Jesus confirms that he can only do what the Father tells him therefore the fact that Quran says he needs Gods permission doesn’t go against the Bible.
Response:
This is correct! The Quran and the Gospels do not teach that Jesus is equal to God. Jesus constantly emphasises his need for God and his inability to do anything without God. See John 14:18, “The Father is greater than I” or John 5:30 ‘I can of my ownself do nothing”. Christians will say that this refers to Jesus’ human nature only. However, where in the Gospel did he explain this concept of two natures in one that Christians believe in? Nowhere. People who heard Jesus saying these words would only believe one thing, he was a messenger and servant of God. This is proven by the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus comes in disguise to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he asks them what has happened, they say, “(we are discussing) about Jesus of Nazareth, he was a Prophet”. Even at this late stage, after his alleged death, his own disciples knew him as a messenger and not God. Acts 2:22 says, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”. Even after being taken up to heaven his disciples were still preaching that he was a man, not God.
Jesus clearly says he is not God in John 17:3.
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
As is obvious from this, the only true God excludes Jesus.
In Mark 12:28 and 29:
“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one”
Think about it, a Jewish man is asking which is the most important commandment. Jews did not understand God as being composed of multiple persons. Jesus reiterates the Shema. This would mean to the onlookers that he was confirming Jewish belief which was not the trinity. Why would Jesus confuse his people and lead them astray. If the trinity was true, he should have said it.
Point 8:
• According to the Quran you can read the Bible
• The Quran tells the Prophet to read the Bible
• The Quran says that Muslims must believe in the revelation to all the Prophets.
Response:
The third point is 100 percent true. Muslims must believe in all the revelations to the Prophets. However, this does not mean we believe in the entire Bible. We believe in the original revelation Moses and Jesus, some of which is recorded in the Bible. See below the Islamic position:
• Islam affirms the original revelation to Moses (called the Tawrāh which means laws) and the original revelation to Jesus (called the Injīl which means good news) and Muslims believe in these.
• Islam affirms that the actual original revealed scripture of the Jews was eventually partially corrupted.
• Islam affirms that the actual revelation to Jesus was added to and even possibly changed.
• Islam affirms that you can still find remnants of the original Tawrāh embedded in the Old Testament (OT).
• Islam affirms that you can still find at least part of the original revelation to Jesus within the four gospels.
As for the second point, the verse is not asking the Prophet to read the Bible. Look carefully, it is saying he should ask those who read the scriptures, referring to the Jews who had accepted Islam. Beyond that, another important point to note is that the verse is not telling any Muslim, certainly not the Prophet ﷺ to actually go and ask the people of the Book (who have accepted Islam). Rather it is phrased as a conditional, “IF you are in doubt then go ask”. We already know that the Prophet ﷺ and the believers were not in doubt as is clearly stated in many verses and traditions. (2:285; 49:15; 7:158;42:15). So why make a conditional sentence predicated on something we already know is not true? Simple for anyone who is familiar with the Qurʾān. It is a rhetorical device, similar to if you were to tell someone, “I am the number one ranked player, you can ask anyone”. This doesn’t mean that you are asking them to go around asking people. It’s simply to emphasise that you are number one. Similarly, here the Qurʾān is certainly not literally asking anyone to do this. The Qurʾān is a proof in and of itself as stated in multiple places in the Qurʾān and doesn’t rely on anything else (2:2;2:24). This is explained by early commentators of the Qurʾān like al-Ṭabarī.
With respect to the first point, I would say as Muslims it is okay to read the Bible. But we are not told to do so anywhere in the Quran. We do not require it as we have the Quran which is a watcher over all the previous scriptures as per 5:48.