Did Muhammad Deny the Trinity? Part 1
The following essay will first familiarize the reader with the religious context into which Muhammad was born. It will be demonstrated that this context undoubtedly influenced His conception of Allah and the Trinity.
Arabia Prior to Islam
Prior to the introduction of Islam, the people of the Arabian Peninsula were largely nomadic and principally polytheistic. In the midst of this polytheism, however, there existed a monotheistic people know as the Hanifs.[1] Extant for nearly a century prior to the birth of Muhammad, the Hanifs viewed themselves as a neo-Abrahamic movement entirely independent of Judaism.[2] Despite their presence in the Arabian Peninsula, there is little evidence that this group had a direct influence upon Muhammad or his family.
A great deal of difficulty exists in concretely describing the indigenous religions of the Arab people during Muhammad‘s time. While it is known that the Arabs indulged in a mixture of polytheism and animism, their exact level of adherence to these deities is uncertain.[3] According to Winfried Corduan, “The first thing that greeted a pilgrim entering Mecca was a statue of God‘s (Allah‘s) three sensuous-appearing daughters (al-Lat, al-Manat and al-Uzza).”[4] This statue conveyed the idea of a supreme god (Allah), who initiated in sexual activity with lower beings, thereby siring three goddess daughters.[5] Furthermore, the central shrine in Mecca, the Ka‟bah, was ruled by the supreme god, Allah; however, it also contained a number of idols dedicated to various other deities.[6] While some during this period recognized Allah as the supreme god, there was an overall tendency to view other deities as intercessory beings.[7] This fact is implied by the Qur‘an in Surah 29:61-65. The text states that, while many acknowledge Allah as supreme in times of need, they would ultimately return to their polytheism during times of peace.[8] Thus, in the face of paganism a supreme deity, Allah, was recognized.[9]
During this period, there were also various Jewish, Zoroastrian, and heretical Christian settlements within Arabia.[10] The Christian settlements of the period were mostly comprised of Nestorians and Monophysites.[11] The Nestorians taught that “…two persons as well as two natures in [dwelled within] Christ.”[12] This would mean that “…when Christ sacrificed His life on the cross, it was not the person who is also divine, the Son of God, who died for us.”[13] The Monophysites, on the other hand, denied that Christ possessed a fully human and a fully divine nature. This belief went against the orthodox teaching that the two natures existed alongside one another, undiminished and unmixed. According to some sources, these settlements held positions of influence, albeit to a small degree, over a large area of the Arabian Peninsula. As a result, their theological positions were known throughout the region.[14] The existence of such groups most likely had significant impact upon the development of Islamic theology, as well as Muhammad‘s understanding of Christianity.[15]
In addition to these Christian settlements, there were a number of Christian slaves living on the Arabian Peninsula.[16] According to those who opposed Muhammad‘s monotheism, the prophet received his information concerning Allah from these Christian slaves; however, this assertion cannot be confirmed or denied.[17] Regardless, The Islamic tradition does preserve accounts, not inherently improbable, concerning several Meccan Arabs who possessed knowledge of Jewish and Christian scriptures, and these figures are generally accepted by Muslim opinion as having had close relations with Muhammad and even affected his spiritual development.[18] Whether directly influenced by “Christian” heretics or by Muslims who received secondhand information pertaining to the biblical text, it is clear that Muhammad‘s conception was likely influenced by those acquainted with heretical Christian doctrines.
The Prophet a member of the Quraish tribe, Muhammad was born near Mecca in A.D. 570. After being orphaned as a child, Muhammad‘s merchant uncle, Abu Talib, became the young boy‘s guardian. By the time Muhammad began his career as a prophet in A.D. 610, he had spent nearly fifteen years in the caravan trade. It is quite probable that during his travels, Muhammad encountered various monotheistic movements, including the aforementioned heretical schools of Christianity. In his biography of Muhammad‘s life, Ibn Ishaq records an encounter between the prophet and a Monophysite monk in Syria.[19] In addition, Ibn Ishaq proposes that Muhammad was briefly under the influence of an Ethiopian Christian while living in Mecca.[20] According to Douglas Pratt, some within these heretical groups even espoused the notion that Christ was the physical offspring of God.[21] These various influences likely contributed to Muhammad‘s concept of what Christians called the Trinity.
Muhammad was very dissatisfied with the polytheistic beliefs of his day. Never partaking of the pagan activities of Mecca, it would seem as if the deeply religious Muhammad developed one guiding conviction: a single transcendent God must exist. As a result, the prophet believed that his calling was to restore mankind to the original monotheism of Scripture, a monotheism he understood to be transgressed by many, including Jews and Christians.[22] According to F.E. Peters: “…what distinguished Muhammad from his Meccan contemporaries was (1) his belief in the reality of the Resurrection and the Judgment in both flesh and spirit, and (2) his unswerving conviction that the ‘High God’ was not only unique but absolute; that the other gods, goddesses, jinn and demons were subject and subservient to Him…”[23] Through his reflection on the oneness of Allah, and through the reported recitations he received from the angel Gabriel, Muhammad formulated his theology about the divine being. This eventually led to the development of Islam‘s central doctrine, tawhid. The question now becomes did Muhammad attempt to correct the “pagan” notion of a trinity of the actual, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity? This will be addressed in a future post!
[1] William Watt. Islam: A Short History (Boston, MA: OneWorld Oxford Publishing, 1999), 9.
[2] Winfried Corduan believes this monotheism represents Arab vestiges of original monotheism. Winfried Corduan. Neighboring Faiths (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 79. Cf. Timothy Tennent. Christianity at the Religious Roundtable (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 143.
[3] Watt, 9. According to Samuel Zwemer, pre-Islamic poetry portrays Allah as a supreme god. Samuel Zwemer, Islam: A Challenge to Faith (New York: Laymen‘s Missionary Movement, 1907), 12.
[4] Corduan, 78. This conception is crucial in understanding the Muslim perception of the Trinity.
[5] Surah 6:100.
[6] Tennent, 142.
[7] Surah 10:19, 39:3.
[8] Watt, 50. Surah 29:61-65 “If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, “(Allah)”. How are they then deluded away (from the truth)? Allah enlarges the sustenance (which He gives) to whichever of His servants He pleases; and He (similarly) grants by (strict) measure, (as He pleases): for Allah has full knowledge of all things. And if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death, they will certainly reply, “(Allah)!” Say, “Praise be to Allah.” But most of them understand not. What is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew. Now, if they embark on a boat, they call on Allah, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to Him; but when He has delivered them safely to (dry) land, behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!” Cf. Surah 23:84-89.
[9] Ibid, 52.
[10] Tennent, 79. Such Christologies would be officially condemned as heresy by the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Norman Geisler & Abdul Saleeb. Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), 274.
[13] Ibid.
[14] William Watt, Muhammad at Mecca ( London: Oxford, 1965), 27.
[15] Norman Anderson, ed. The World‟s Religions (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), 54.
[16] Ghada Osman, “Foreign Slaves in Mecca and Medina in the Formative Islamic Period” Vol. 16 No. 4 (October 2005), 345. Cf. Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, 27.
[17] Ibid. 346
[18] Tarif Khalidi, The Muslim Jesus (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), 21.
[19] Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad: Translated by Alfred Guillaume (Oxford University Press, 1979), 79-81.
[20] Ibid, 180.
[21] Douglas Pratt, ―Islam: A Challenge to Christianity‖ Stimulus Vol. 15 No. 2 (May 2007), 3.
[22] Tennent, 147.
[23] .E. Peters, “The Quest for the Historical Muhammad” International Journal of Middle East Studies. Vol. 23 No. 3. (August 1991), 301.
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