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The first question anyone, especially Muslims would ask concerning the concept of the Trinity being in the Qur'an would be a bewildered, “How can the Trinity be in the Qur'an when it is a Christian doctrine?” That’s a logical question. We need to understand that the definitions that are used to describe the Trinity and the actual doctrine as it is revealed exclusively in the scriptures are two different things.
The wording of the definition that is used today to describe the Trinity lends itself to polytheism in the minds of the Muslims. When they hear Christians say, “God eternally exists as three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,” to their thinking we are saying that God the Father is three or more than one. To the Muslim, that is a great blasphemy, and to the Christian as well. As any competent theologian, or Bible scholar will tell you, there is no plurality in God the Father.
The New Testament scriptures make the distinction between God and Jesus. When the word “God” is used, for the most part, the writers are referring to just God the Father. When they use the word, “Lord,” they are referring only to Jesus. When we are trying to communicate with a Muslim on the subject of the Trinity, we must also maintain the same distinction.
God the Father is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who is the God Muslims profess to worship. So we can agree with Muslims that “God is One” and establish the foundation for constructive dialogue. The Apostle Paul affirms in Galatians 3:20, “God is one.” We can quote Paul in this area with confidence we are not going to be violating the Trinity, because again, there is no plurality in the Father.
Jesus said, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). Jesus is speaking in the singular. God the Father is One Spirit. The instant we see God the Father as more than one spirit, we have jumped the fence into polytheism. God the Father is one Spirit.
Now let’s take a look at the Ayah (verse) in the Qur'an that illustrates the Three of scripture. This Ayah also has a counterpart in the book of Isaiah in the Bible. -
“And most certainly we gave Musa (Moses) the Book (Torah) and we sent apostles after him one after another; and we gave Isa, (Jesus) the son of Mariam, (Mary) clear arguments and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit" (2:87).
Isaiah’s version in found in 42:1, which is a prophecy of the Messiah. -
"Behold My servant, whom I uphold; My elect, in whom My soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."
In both of these references we can see the Three; God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus, who is the Messiah. So we can conclude that the Quran also recognizes the Three of scripture.
What makes the “Three” a trinity is their unity. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word, “trinitas,” which means “a union of three.” How does the Quran show us that unity?
In the Ayah we saw that Isa is strengthened by the Holy Spirit, which is given to Him by God. Jesus is receiving the Spirit from God Himself, which is also confirmed in Isaiah 42:1. We see that God has given His Spirit to the Messiah. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of the Father” (Matthew 20:10). Because, as Jesus said, God the Father is one Spirit and the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, God is never disconnected from His own Spirit. Therefore in these two references that confirm each other, one from the Quran and one from the Bible, we see God unifying Himself with Isa/Jesus, by His Holy Spirit. That unification is what makes them a ‘trinity,’ a union of three. Because the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit is eternal, omnipresent, and is “God.”
The Qu'ran calls Jesus, “Ruh Allah,” which means “a spirit from God.” Ruh is a derivative of the Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, which is Ruach. The Arabic word for God is Allah. So technically, the name for Jesus in the Quran, “Ruh Allah,” is saying that the spirit of or from God that is Jesus, is the Holy Spirit.
The Qu'ran tells us that Jesus was also given life as a man by God’s Holy Spirit. –
“And Mary the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of our Spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His books, and was one of the devout (servants)” (66:12).
Therefore, Jesus’ spirit, His life source, has to be God’s Holy Spirit, which makes Him Divine and also one with God. Jesus said, “As the Father has life in Himself: so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). To have life in oneself is a quality that only God can have.
Jesus is called the Son of God because His life as a man originated from God, which as we have just seen is confirmed by the Qur'an. A father originates life, thus God is Jesus’ Father.
Adam is also called the Son of God in the scriptures (Luke 3:38) because His life also originated directly from God. Adam was “begotten” from the earth, but he was not given life by the Holy Spirit as was Jesus and he was not divine. Adam was given life by the “breath of life,” (Genesis 2:7) “neshamah” in Hebrew, not the Ruach the Hebrew word for God’s Spirit. Therefore the difference between the first Son of God, Adam, and the last Adam, Jesus, is their life source. Adam was given life by the breath. Jesus was given life by the Ruach, the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, the “life in Himself.”
Therefore it is very important for the Muslim to understand that it cannot be idolatry to worship God through the messiah because they are the same Spirit, which again is verified by the Qur'an itself.
Jesus came to remove our sins according to the scriptures (Isaiah 53) and give us the same relationship that God had with Abraham. God wants everyone to have this relationship. This relationship is not contingent upon belonging to any one religion, only belonging to God through the Messiah Jesus, who is the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption that He instigated from the beginning of creation.
To understand God’s plan of redemption you are invited to read our free eBook, “Why Jesus has to be the Messiah.”
Copyright 2022 by H.D. Shively
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