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 (PBUH)' 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 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 (PBUH) 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 (PBUH)' approval of that agreement.
From the Qur'an
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ
qul huwa l-lahu aḥadun al-lahu l-ṣamadu lam yalid walam yūlad walam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥadun
Say: He is Allah, One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge; He neither begets nor is born; and there is none comparable to Him.
From the Bible
Greek
Akoue Israel, kyrios ho theos hemon kyrios heis estin — Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Read it in their BibleSources
The spoken script for this entry is inside the app.
Members get the word-for-word delivery guide — how to open, what to say, the likely replies and how to close warmly — plus notes, a dawah journal and the study assistant.
Open the app