Answering Objections to Islam · Positive Evidences

Tawhid: The Coherence of Islamic Monotheism

In short

• 1.Q 112 is four lines, requires no technical vocabulary, and states the doctrine completely.
• 2.No hypostases, no substance/person distinction, no Greek philosophical apparatus.
• 3.Jesus' own recorded confession in Mark 12:29 is the Shema — a pure unitarian statement.

The claim being examined

Beyond defending against objections, Islam makes a positive claim: that its conception of God is the simplest and most coherent monotheism available.

The Islamic position

Surah al-Ikhlas states God's oneness without qualification — not begetting, not begotten, with nothing comparable to Him. There is no paradox requiring a fourth-century council to formulate, and no doctrine a believer must hold while being told it cannot be understood.

Analysis

The Trinity required Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451) to formulate, and even then homoousios is a term absent from the New Testament. The Islamic claim is that a doctrine central to salvation should be statable in the words of the revelation itself. Mark 12:29 is the strongest point of contact: asked for the greatest commandment, Jesus recites the Shema — "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" — in unqualified unitarian terms, with the scribe's agreement and Jesus' approval of that agreement.

From the Qur'an

From the Bible

Sources

Ali Ataie · Al-Ghazali · Bart D. Ehrman

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