The Qur’an, Muhammad and polemical Evangelical apologetics.

As I pointed out in my Friday, February 15, 2008 post, “James White, during the last few months, has spent a considerable amount of time attacking Islam, and in particular, the Qur’an”. Subsequent to this post I noticed a thread at Beggar’s All which related the following to its readers:

"The Third Secret of Our Lady of Fatima states Mary’s divinity. Mary is God, Mary is the Soul of the Holy Spirit....Mary is God, is the Final Dogma of the Holy Catholic Church…"

In the combox, I pointed out that the worship of Mary by Christians is nothing new, and linked to the above mentioned AF post. This precipitated a ‘firestorm’, a barrage of anti-Islam/Muhammad comments, spilling over into two subsequent threads on BA (HERE, and HERE), and a third at this BLOG (run by the BA poster known as “Turretinfan”).

The basic premise of our Evangelical polemicists (amateur and professional) is that the Qur’an/Muhammad taught that the “orthodox” doctrine of the Trinity consisted of the Father, the Son/Christ and Mary (the Mother), with Mary replacing the Holy Spirit as the third PERSON of the Trinity; and as such, was critiquing what was believed to be the “orthodox” position, not a heretical position. With this presupposition in mind, the next step involves the negative statement that NO Christian (“orthodox” and/or heretical) EVER believed this.

There are some problems with the above polemic (including the variations and nuances stemming from it), the rest of this post will delineate those problems.

Problem #1 – Most Christian Islamic scholars do not believe that the Qur’an is addressing the “orthodox” doctrine of the Trinity (in any of its numerous post-Nicene variations, e.g. Western/Catholic, Eastern/Orthodox, social, relational, et al.), but rather heretical conceptions, which may include one or more of the following: Origenism, Tritheism, Monarchianism (modalistic and/or adoptionistic), Collyridianism, and any notion of the one God comprising a combination of the Father, the Son/Christ and Mary (the Mother)—whether as a Trinity, or in a Tritheistic sense.

Problem #2 – All of the above heresies existed prior to the compilation of the Qur’an, including the last one; and there is NO historical data suggesting that any of them ceased to exist prior to the beginning of the 7th century.

Problem #3 – The failure to grasp the full context surrounding the selective ayat they invoke. For instance, when Surah 5.116 is interpreted by our polemicists, they neglect/ignore one of the most basic themes of the Surah: the condemnation of false practices and teachings. If one keeps this in mind, the efforts by the polemicists to portray Muhammad as being ignorant of what the varying sects of Christians “really” believed in his day becomes quite dubious.


To illustrate this point, I would like to now examine a few selections from Surah 5 (I will be using Marmaduke’s Pickthall's, The Meaning of the Glorius Koran – Dorset Press edition.)


15 O People of the Scripture! Now hath Our messenger come unto you, expounding unto you much of that which ye used to hide in the Scripture, and forgiving much. now hath come unto you light from Allah and plain Scripture,

16 Whereby Allah guideth him who seeketh His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He bringeth them out of darkness unto light by His decree, and guideth them unto a straight path.

17 They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say: Who then can do aught against Allah, if He had willed to destroy the Messiah son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth ? Allah's is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He createth what He will. And Allah is Able to do all things. (Page 98.)

This passage is addressing either modalism or Monophysitism; both are considered heretical.

72 They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. (Page 103.)

Once again, the Qur’an is addressing either modalism or Monophysitism.

73 They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no God save the One God. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. (Page 103.)

This ayah is clearly addressing Tritheism, and not any form of Trinitarianism. Allah is not a “third” of “three” [gods]. (That the term “third” (thalith/thalithu) is referring one of three separate gods, is made clear in Surah 53.19, 20.)

116 And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah ? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden ?

117 I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things. (Page 107.)

This passage, once again, is addressing Tritheism, and not any form of Trinitarianism. The Arabic is clearly distinguishing two [gods] beside/apart from Allah (min dooni Allahi). No amount of sophistry will morph this passage into a form of Trinitarianism.

Conclusion: All of the above passages are addressing heretical Christian doctrines, and not the “orthodox” Christian position.

Postscript: The purpose of this post is a simple one—an attempt to address certain erroneous methods employed by Evangelical polemicists in their dealings with Islam, Muslims, the Qur’an, and Muhammad. It is my sincere and prayerful hope that this attempt has been a God honoring and fruitful one.


Grace and peace,

David