The Oneness of God in the Qur'an

From: http://www.quranicstudies.com/louay-fatoohi/historical-jesus/the-oneness-of-god-allah-in-the-quran.html

Louay Fatoohi, PhD

This article is extracted and adapted from chapter "The Qur’an’s Rejection of the 'Sonship of God'" from the book Jesus The Muslim Prophet: History Speaks of a Human Messiah Not a Divine Christ
Unlike the God of the New Testament, the image of God in Islam is very clear, and it can be described in a number of simple statements:
(1) There is only one god: "There is no god save Allah" (47.19).
(2) He is the "creator of everything" (6.102).
(3) Before starting the creation, God was alone; eternity is strictly God’s: "He is the first and the last" (57.3).
(4) He is the supreme ruler of the universe: "Allah is able to do all things" (5.17); "Allah does what He wishes" (2.253).
(5) God is unique and dissimilar to anything: "There is nothing like Him" (42.11).
(6) He is subtle and out of the reach of anyone’s senses: "Vision cannot grasp Him, but He grasps all vision; and He is the Subtle One, the Aware One" (6.103).
(7) Everything and everyone is in submission to Him, whether by choice or by force: "To Him submits whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly" (3.83).
Almost all these statements are found in one form or another in the Bible. But the New Testament has other affirmations that blur the meanings of those fundamental statements, or even contradict them. One distinguishing feature of the Qur’an is the absence of such contradictory statements. For instance, while emphasizing that only God is eternal, the Qur’an does not go on elsewhere to qualify this statement by describing someone else as eternal. Similarly, there is a clear-cut ontological separation between God and His creation. No earthly or heavenly being is a god, part of God, or related to God in any form. There is one God, and everyone and everything else is created by Him.



The Qur’an considers any alleged god other than God to be false. It condemns polytheism, i.e. associating gods with Allah, in the strongest terms. It states more than once that assigning partners to God is the gravest sin and the one sin that may not be forgiven (also 4.116):
Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him, but He forgives anything other than this to whomsoever He pleases; and whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin. (4.48) One important difference between the presentations of God in the Qur’an and the New Testament, at least according to the most popular understanding of the latter, is that the God of the Qur’an is one whereas the God of the New Testament is a unity. Allah is not a number of persons in one, one person in multiple manifestations, one being in different aspects, one in more than one mode, or any such designations that Christianity developed. All that can be said about Him is that He is one. His oneness cannot be broken down into any smaller units or different aspects or forms.
In his effort to show that the Qur’an does not contravene Christian theology, the Methodist minister and professor of comparative religion Geoffrey Parrinder (Jesus in the Qur’an, Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 1995, p. 137) claims that the Qur’an affirms the unity of God. This suggestion is completely untrue. Under pressure to reconcile contradictory statements in the New Testament, Christian theologians work hard to stress that the concepts of divine oneness and unity are one and the same. The Qur’an rejects this equation, as logic does. The God of the Qur’an is one, not united.



According to the Qur’an, God’s divinity cannot be shared or divided. Everything and everyone other than God are merely His creation and servants. Spiritual development brings the servant closer to God, but it can never bring him close to divinity. It rather confirms his servanthood. Being nearer to God means getting closer to becoming the perfect Muslim, and the latter is one who has attained complete surrender and submission to God. This is the state in which the individual is no more a servant by compulsion only, but by will also. This means, for instance, that as Jesus was developing spiritually, he was getting closer and closer to attaining the state of perfect servanthood, not divinity.
The Qur’an ascribes to God what it calls al-Asma’ al-Husna (the Beautiful Names) (7.180, 17.110, 59.24): "Allah, there is no god but Him; His are the Beautiful Names" (20.8). These are different attributes that reflect God’s different modes of action, including names such as "The Merciful One," "The Majestic One," and "The Creator." Verses 59.22-24 list about 15 of these divine names, with many more found in other parts of the Qur’an. Many verses, such as verse 6.103 above, end with a pair of Beautiful Names. Most scholars count 99 Beautiful Names. In some polytheistic religions, the different actions associated with these names may be assigned to or shared by different gods.

Blogger comment:
For many Christians they raised with the faith that Jesus (PBUH) is the son of God and they established this relation with him as God/son of God. It makes a lot of sense there is only one God. However, there is no way to know the truth except through revelation, meaning that someone truly is contacted by God. Thus for Muslims the great argument is if God sent Muhammad (PBUH) the Quran as the revelation from him we have to believe in what God tell us about Jesus. The second important arguments is the old testament and the Hebrew prophets would talk to us about one and only one God. If Jesus (PBUH) is son of God it will be clear from the old testament that it is the case and the Jews will know it. The Jews were waiting for the messiah but they expected him to be human and only human. Thus for Muslims it is not about who is right but about what God want us to believe in. God in the Quran tell us that his creation would be angry that he will be having a son, that does not agree with his majesty to assign to him what other beings would have. His love to Jesus as his great prophet does not contradict his anger that people would assign to him a son.
وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَلَدًا ﴿19:88﴾
(19:88) They say that the Merciful has adopted a son.
لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا ﴿19:89﴾
(19:89) What an absurd thing that you have invented!
تَكَادُ السَّمَوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا ﴿19:90﴾
(19:90) It is well nigh that the heavens might crack and the earth split asunder and the mountains crumble down at this hideous thing
أَنْ دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدًا ﴿19:91﴾
(19:91) that they should ascribe a son to the Merciful!
وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدًا ﴿19:92﴾
(19:92) It does not behove the Merciful to adopt a son.
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا آَتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًا ﴿19:93﴾
(19:93) All those who are in the heavens and the earth, are going to be presented before Him as servants,
لَقَدْ أَحْصَاهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدًّا ﴿19:94﴾
(19:94) for He has encircled them and kept a strict account of them;

In other verses of the Quran God tell us more about Jesus as one of his greatest prophets:

(20) O people of the Scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allah aught but the truth. The Messiah 'Îsa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah and His Word, ("Be!" - and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Ruh ) created by Him; so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not: "Three (trinity)!" Cease! (it is) better for you. For Allah is (the only) One Ilah (God), glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is All-Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs. ( سورة النساء , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #171)

The Messiah ['Îsa (jesus)], son of Maryam (Mary), was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him. His mother [Maryam (Mary)] was a Siddiqah [i.e. she believed in the Words of Allah and His Books (see Verse 66:12)]. They both used to eat food (as any other human being, while Allah does not eat). Look how We make the Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) clear to them; yet look how they are deluded away (from the truth). ( سورة المائدة , Al-Maeda, Chapter #5, Verse #75)

It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son [this refers to the slander of Christians against Allah, by saying that 'Îsa (jesus) is the son of Allah]. Glorified (and Exalted) be He (above all that they associate with Him). When He decrees a thing, He only says to it: "Be!" - and it is. ( سورة مريم , Maryam, Chapter #19, Verse #35)


And (remember) when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and from Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), and 'Îsa (jesus) son of Maryam (Mary). We took from them a strong covenant. ( سورة الأحزاب , Al-Ahzab, Chapter #33, Verse #7)

He ['Îsa (jesus)] was not more than a slave. We granted Our Favour to him, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (i.e. his creation without a father). ( سورة الزخرف , Az-Zukhruf, Chapter #43, Verse #59)

And he ['Îsa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)] shall be a known sign for (the coming of) the Hour (Day of Resurrection) [i.e. 'Isa's (jesus) descent on the earth]. Therefore have no doubt concerning it (i.e. the Day of Resurrection). And follow Me (Allah) (i.e. be obedient to Allah and do what He orders you to do, O mankind)! This is the Straight Path (of Islamic Monotheism, leading to Allah and to His Paradise). ( سورة الزخرف , Az-Zukhruf, Chapter #43, Verse #61)

And (remember) when 'Îsa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you, confirming the Taurat [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he (Ahmad i.e. Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) came to them with clear proofs, they said: "This is plain magic." ( سورة الصف , As-Saff, Chapter #61, Verse #6)

And they say: "The Most Gracious (Allah) has begotten a son (or children)." Glory to Him! They [whom they call children of Allah i.e. the angels, 'Îsa (jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra)], are but honoured slaves. ( سورة الأنبياء , Al-Anbiya, Chapter #21, Verse #26)

And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O 'Îsa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)! Did you say unto men: 'Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?' " He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours; truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden (and unseen). ( سورة المائدة , Al-Maeda, Chapter #5, Verse #116)