Does God really exist? Do Christians and Muslim really believe in One God? What is the concept of the trinity in Christianity? Do Muslims believe in Jesus like Christians do? Is it fair for a righteous person to die for other people’s sins?
Aisha scans through the list of questions that the audience came up with to ask the guest speaker at the university’s Muslim Student Association event. As she hands the paper over to the speaker, she looks at the audience. An auditorium full of people who are curious to know about Islam and what makes it the fastest growing religion in America, even after September 11, 2001. Former Christian preacher Yusuf Estes looks at the audience and smiles. Two of the world’s largest religions and ways of life, Christianity and Islam, are known to many as monotheistic religions, but the former religion contains a contradiction to the Oneness of God that was introduced not by Jesus, but by a man name Paul.
Since the primary aspect of any religion is connected to God, the belief of God’s existence is crucial.
Two fundamental aspects that any rational minded person would agree on is 1. the fact that the universe and world and everything in it is real ex. humans, air, sun, etc. and the way we understand our world and ourselves is through observation and using our mind to think and reason and 2. using common sense, we can all agree that part of something is less than the whole of the thing and we don’t find something coming from nothing (“Reasoning the Existence of God.” Peace TV).
According to Abdur Raheem Green, when you look at the universe and the world in which you live in and at yourself, you will find things working according to laws, systems, and patterns that are amazing in their intricacy and details. For example, imagine the earth rotating very slowly where a day would be equal to years instead of rotating on its axis every twenty-four hours. One part of the earth’s surface would be in constant sunlight and the other side would be in darkness resulting in one half being super hot and the other being extremely cold. Life would be impossible!
Another example that Green gives is, “If there was not an ozone layer protecting us from the harmful radiations of the sun, life on earth would not exist! This perfect combination of gases and movement cannot be a product of some random event, of chance and coincidence. There is nothing in human experience that tells us that you can get precise order from a random event. When something is working according to orders, laws, or patterns, we know someone or something is behind it and is making it work.”
With regards to the idea of something coming from nothing, an occurrence of a random event, a product of chance and coincidence, Green uses the example of a cell phone. Cell phones are made of silicon (sand) and plastic (oil). Imagine a cell phone was “said” to be found in the dessert of Saudi Arabia where there is a lot of sand and oil. How about the human mind and all the organs? They are more complex than cell phones and computers. Would any rational minded person believe that these were a product of complete chance and coincidence, a random event? No! It’s ridiculous!
Reasoning the facts that the universe didn’t come from nothing, we didn’t come from nothing, the universe didn’t create itself, and we didn’t create the universe or ourselves, all proves that there is something different outside and separate from this universe that created, organized, and sustains this universe in which we live (“Reasoning the Existence of God.” Peace TV). The only one who is capable of such a great task is God, the Creator of all!
The Creator must be different and separate from His creation. After all, creation, such as humans, are temporary, in need of a sustainer, prone to making mistakes, do not have the knowledge or answers to everything, etc. If both Creator and creation were of the same nature, than “the Creator would need a creator who would need a creator and so on. Creators would be creating creators forever! If this was to have occurred infinitely, then nothing would have been created. But creation does exist, thus there has to be one creator who is different from creation. The Creator therefore is Eternal, Infinite, Self-sufficient, Powerful, Wise, etc.” (“Reasoning the Existence of God.” Peace TV).
The original principle of God in Christianity and Islam was to acknowledge His existence, Him being the One True God with no partners, remembering Him alone through acts of worship, and obeying His commands in what is permissible and what is forbidden.
In the red letter edition of the Bible, where the actual words of Jesus are printed in red ink, Jesus was asked by a scribe what the first commandment was. Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is One Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (12:29-31: Bible (New)). Likewise, Jesus was acknowledged as “Good Master” and was asked what good thing shall one do to have an eternal life.
And he [Jesus] said unto him, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, which? Jesus said, “Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother: and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (19:17-19: Bible (New)).
While Jesus clearly pointed out that there is One God (which can be seen in the above verses and many more in the red letter Bible) he never explicitly said, “I am God, worship me,” or “I am part of God.” Yet Christians are told to believe in the trinity, that God is three different and separate divine beings. According to the doctrine of trinity, Jesus is one of the three persons of the Trinitarian God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). The only verse in the Bible that is used as evidence for this claim is, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7: Bible (New)). “Biblical scholars of today however, have admitted that the [above] verse is definitely a “later addition” to the Biblical text, and it is not found in any of today’s versions of the Bible” (Brown).
Furthermore, the trinity doctrine was never taught by Jesus (or his disciples), as mentioned in the previous verses from the red letter Bible where Jesus himself spoke of One God. Instead, Paul of Tarsus was the individual who deviated from Jesus’ pure monotheistic teachings, to worship One and only God. “Paul was the first person to make up the trinity doctrine and say to believe in it. Paul never saw Jesus or talked with Jesus. Paul claimed that he had a vision on the way to Damascus where he was actually going to persecute Christians. Paul was the first person to come up with the title of Christian, trinity, and the Godship of Jesus” (Top 10 Reasons). Paul could be considered as the true founder of Christianity, as he did come up with many of Christianity’s doctrines (such as original sin and atonement). Paul led the way for the trinity with his idea of Jesus being a “divine son” and it was the church people who later put the idea together (Brown).
When controversy over the matter of the trinity blew up in 318 between two church men from Alexandria, Emperor Constantine stepped into the fray… after the first gathering at Nicea in 325, the doctrine of the trinity was hammered out. The God of the Christians was now seen as having three natures in the form of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It wasn’t until 451 at the council of Chalcedon that with the approval of the Pope, the Nicene/Constantinople creed was set as authoritative. Debate on the matter was no longer tolerated; to speak out against the trinity was blasphemy… (Brown).
As explained earlier, God is naturly Self-sufficient; He does not need to eat, sleep, or pray. But, Jesus would pray when he had an issue. It is written in the Bible that Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder” (Matthew 26:36: Bible (New)). Reading further on is a verse about Jesus prostrating in prayer with his face on the ground (just as Muslims do in prayer) and saying, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39: Bible (New)). The act of prayer done by anyone shows that one is in need of something greater than oneself. Jesus praying shows that he needs someone greater than himself. If Jesus was God, he wouldn’t need to pray. Instead, he would have told people to pray to him (Top 10 Reasons).
Furthermore, Jesus was asked about the hour (Day of Judgment), and he replied that God’s knowledge was greater than his own. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36: Bible (New)). If Jesus was God, or part of God as in the trinity, he would have known this information, since God is Wise and knows all. If God knows the hour, Jesus and the holy spirit should know the hour too if they are the same person (Top 10 Reasons).
While it may be hard for some people to believe, the trinity does not follow the principle of believing and worshipping One God as Jesus taught. After all, “there is nothing on earth that can be described like the concept of three things in one that are physically separate things. Moreover, the word trinity is not even in the Bible” (Does the Trinity). According to Suzanne Haneef, "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 possess three parts, He is assuredly not the Single, Unique, Indivisible Being which God is and which Christianity professes to believe in" (Brown). If Jesus was really the son of God and should be worshipped, he would have made it clear, not hint at it, especially if the belief in the trinity is linked to salvation in Christianity (Does the Trinity).
In Islam, God is referred to with the unique Arabic name “Allah.” Unlike the word “God” which can be changed to Gods (plural) or Goddess (female God), Allah is singular and has no gender. There is no such thing as a male or female Allah (Naik 29). Unlike English, the Arabic language has words that are classified as being masculine or feminine. The Arabic word "huwa" is masculine and can be translated to "it" and "he" while "hiya" is feminine and can be translated to "it" and "she". In the Quran, the pronoun "huwa" is used to refer to Allah, so when translated to English, "He" is used instead of "It" out of respect to Allah (Estes).
Additionally, (the Arabic word) Tawheed, is the basic foundation of Islam. It is usually translated as monotheism but it is literally known as asserting Oneness to Allah (in His Lordship, His Names and Attributes, and in His Worship/Obedience). Asserting Oneness to His Lordship means to affirm that Allah is One without any partners (ex. wife, son, helper, etc.). "This category is based on the fundamental concept that Allah alone caused all things to exist when there was nothing. Allah alone is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe and everything in it, without any need from it or for it" (Naik 38).
Furthermore, maintaining Allah's 99 names and attributes, such as the: Creator, Protector, Provider, Transcendent, Eternal, All-Knower; the most: Powerful, Forgiving, Just, Wise, Loving, etc., involves describing Allah as He and His Prophet described Himself. In addition, Allah is only to be referred to without giving Him any new names or attributes including those of His creation. For instance, in the Bible (Exodus 32:14: Bible (Old)), Allah is mentioned as one who repented for His bad thoughts; similar to what humans do when they realize their errors. This is completely against the principle of Tawheed. Allah does not repent nor does He make mistakes (Naik 39). Allah's creation should also not be given His attributes. The name Rahman is permissible for a person while Ar-Rahman (the Most Compassionate and Merciful) is not, since Allah is the only one who is the Most Compassionate and Merciful.
Finally, upholding the unity of servitude, worship, and obedience should only be done to Allah. Worship involves performing good deeds and abstaining from committing sins (Naik 40), the worst being associating partners to Allah such as the claim of Allah having a son (an attribute of His creation) or worshipping idols. Other examples of worship include the five "pillars" of Islam; the declaration of faith (Shahadah), five daily prayers during its proper time (Salat), fasting during the month of Ramadan (Saum), pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia (Hajj), and distributing about 2.5% of one's extra wealth (ex. money, gold, business profits, etc.) to people such as the poor and orphans (Zakat).
In the English translation of the Quran, Allah says, “Say (O, Muhammad): "He is Allâh, the One. Allâh, the Self-Sufficient Master, whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks). He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him” (114:1-4: Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Quran (in the English Language)). Here, Allah describes Himself as independent unlike His creation, He does not need to eat or drink to survive, He does not give birth nor was He given birth to, and He is completely different and incomparable.
Moreover, the Muslim declaration of faith (testimony or Shahadah in Arabic), which is the first of five “pillars” of Islam, is to testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah (He is One, Alone, He has no partners) and Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) is Allah’s servant and final Messenger. The belief in Allah and Prophet Muhammad are also two of the six “pillars of belief” (belief in Allah, His angels, His books/scriptures, His messengers (Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad being the most important ones), the last day, (Day of Judgment), and in divine predestination).
As we can see, the Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah is part of both Islam and the original teachings of Jesus, but as time passed, people started to change and attribute false claims to Jesus and his teachings. While Muslims don’t believe that Jesus was God or part of God in any way, Muslims do believe in Jesus as one of the mightiest prophet and messenger of God’s who was sent to the children of Israel and one cannot be a Muslim without belief in Jesus. In fact, Islam is the only other religion where it is a tenant of faith to believe in Jesus and everything he did. With God’s permission, Jesus was able to perform miracles such as healing the sick and blind and giving life to the dead (Top 10 Reasons). Moreover, while Jesus followed and preached the Ten Commandments, so did the other prophets of God, such as Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). They were all sent with the same message of worshipping One God without partners, but Muhammad, God’s final messenger, was sent as a mercy to all of mankind, instead of just to a particular group of people like Jesus (Does the Trinity).
Therefore, God’s existence can be proven by reflecting on His creation of the earth (which humans have destroyed from its natural form) and even oneself, and Christianity and Islam both believe in His existence. But, the two ways of life differ on who God is exactly and whether Jesus had anything to do with being God or part of Him. While Christianity claims conviction in One God, in Islam, the idea that God is physically manifested into His creation, such as in the trinity, is an invalid belief. To really come to a sound conclusion, one must investigate Christianity and Islam based on their religious scriptures, the Bible and the Quran, and authentic information.
Work Cited
Brown, Aisha. Who Invented The Trinity? Chicago: Institute of Islamic Information and Education. Print.
Does the Trinity Make Any Sense? Perf. Kamal El-Mekki. The Deen Show. 18 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJvhVDTAIbk
