Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 2. God in Islam
Tawheed: the Islamic conception of God
In short
- 1.**Rububiyyah** — God alone creates, sustains and governs.
- 2.**Uluhiyyah** — God alone is worshipped; nothing and no one else may be.
- 3.**Asma wa sifat** — God is known by the names and attributes He revealed, without likening Him to creation.
- 4.Nothing whatsoever resembles Him [42:11], so no image, incarnation or analogy can capture Him.
- 5.Every human being has direct access to God without an intermediary [2:186].
The claim being examined
Interfaith conversation often assumes both faiths mean roughly the same thing by 'God' and differ only about Jesus.
The Islamic position
Islam's doctrine of God is deliberately simple, unqualified and unmediated: one Lord, worshipped directly, with no partner, no incarnation and no priesthood.
Analysis
Tawhid is not merely numerical monotheism; it is a claim about worship and access. A God who becomes flesh in order to be reached is, on this view, a God whose accessibility has been made conditional. The Qur'anic God hears the individual directly and forgives directly. This is why the Islamic objection to the Trinity is not a quibble about arithmetic but a concern for the purity of worship itself.
From the Qur'an
Qur'an 2:186
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ
When My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me.
Qur'an 112:1-4
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
Say: He is God, the One…
From the Bible
Deuteronomy 6:4
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
Hear O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Read it in their BibleFrom the Sunnah
Sahih Muslim 2675 · Sahih
God says: I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me.
Sources
Abu Zakariya, Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · Qur'an 112 and 42:11 · Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah — ch. 2, pp. 47-50
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