Whenever Muslims have a dialogue with Christians regarding theology, and the topic of trinity comes up Christians normally find it very uneasy to discuss this very issues of trinity. Just for the records most Christians have no understanding of the trinity and generally dismiss it as a mystery!.
Now coming back to the topic of Trinity. When Muslims ask Christians where in the bible is the word trinity mentioned?. Rather then responding to the question they normally divert and counter by asking where in the Quran dose it say Tawheed. Interestingly Christians have acknowledged the word trinity which is supposed to be a core fundamental doctrine attributing to their God is not found any where in the bible? How absurd. In fact the closed to trinity which is doing in 1 John 5:7 is actually a later addition and wasn't originally mentioned. This further supports the claim that there is not absolute mention of trinity nor the concept of trinity is found anywhere in the bible so the question is why use the word TRINITY where is was unknown to Jesus and his disciples!. Now what does trinity mean where did it derive form? The etymology behind it would mean three which again fails to support what Jesus and his disciples believed in and that is ECHAD One True God.
The earliest record of trinity is mentioned by 2nd century theologian Tertullian, R.E. Roberts writes :
"Tertullian was the first Christian writer to face a serious attack concerning the nature of God. In response, he outlined a formula summarising the Biblical teaching on this, and was the first to use the word trinitas in a technical way to describe the relation of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The work is question is Adv. Praxean, but he also uses the term in De Pudicitia 2, and 21, and 25. He also was the first to use the word persona for the persons of the Trinity. However Tertullian's pioneering work in this area does not always avoid tending to make the Son subordinate to the Father, no doubt because the issue was not in his mind at the time. In Adv. Hermogenes 4 he makes a statement that there was a time when the Son did not exist, but the context again suggests that the statement is an inadvertence drawn forth by his argument about the appropriate titulature of the persons of the Trinity, rather than a doctrinal statement."
So from the above quotation we read that concept of trinity derived during the 2nd century by Tertullian, thus we can agree Jesus nor his disciples were aware of this triune god theory. An innovation introduced centuries later which is still being understood by Christian.
-----------------------
Now let's bust this weak argument made by Christians regarding the word Tawheed. As mentioned above Christians who can't answer regarding the trinity and why it's not mentioned in the bible, tend to divert the question and ask Muslims here is Tawheed found in the Quran. Just for the records since we've proven that not only is the word trinity not in the entire bible even the concept of trinity is not found nor was this trinity even known or used by Jesus or his disciples. This goes to show that no such doctrine was even known or used
till the 2nd century.
Coming to the word Tawheed one has to first establish where the word Tawheed derived from :
Tawheed in Arabic means attributing Oneness to Allaah and describing Him as being One and Unique, with no partner or peer in His Essence and Attributes.
The Arabs say waahid, ahad and waheed, all meaning one. Allaah is Waahid, meaning that He has no rivals or peers in any way. So Tawheed means knowing Allaah is One, with none like unto Him. Whoever does not acknowledge Allaah in these terms and does not describe Him as being One with no partner or associate does not believe in Tawheed.
Tawheed means Monotheism that is believing in One True God who has no associates or partners. It's root word is Waahid, Ahad and Waheed
This word (Tawheed) and its derivatives are used with this meaning in the Qur’aan and Sunnah. For example:
“Say (O Muhammad): He is Allaah, (the) One [Ahad].Allaah‑us‑Samad [Allaah — the Self‑Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks)].He begets not, nor was He begotten.And there is none co‑equal or comparable unto Him” (al-Ikhlaas 112:1-3)
“And your Ilaah (God) is One Ilaah [ilaahun waahidun] (God — Allaah), Laa Ilaaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” (al-Baqarah 2:163)
“Surely, disbelievers are those who said: ‘Allaah is the third of the three (in a Trinity).’ But there is no Ilaah (god) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but One Ilaah [ilaahun waahidun] (God —Allaah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall on the disbelievers among them” (al-Maa'idah 5:73)
The above verses from the Quran we can read that the concept of Oneness is found in the Quran. And the word Tawheed has derived from It's root word Waahid, Ahad and Waheed.
Did Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and His Companions know about the word Tawheed and the Answer is Yes!. We have Sahih Hadiths where the word Taweed is Explicity Mentioned, which tells us The Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and his Companions were well aware of the Word Taweed and this Word was used during the beginning of Islam. Let's cite a few hadiths to show Tawheed was a well known Word.
It was narrated from ‘Aishah and Abu Hurairah that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wanted to offer a sacrifice, he brought two large, fat, horned, black-and-white, castrated rams. He slaughtered one on behalf of his nation, for whoever testified to Allah with monotheism (بِالتَّوْحِيدِ )and that he had conveyed (the Message), and he slaughtered the other on behalf of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (ﷺ). ( Sunan Ibn Majah Vol 4 Book 26 Hadith 3122)
The Word Tawheed is used in Arabic بِالتَّوْحِيدِ
“The Messenger of Allah came with two sheep both with big horns, then he reclined to one side and said: Bismillah wa Allahu Akbar, O Allah! Be with Muhammad and his family, then reclined to the other and said: Bismillah wa Allahu Akbar, O Allah! Be with Muhammad and his Ummah who testify/bear witness to you of/with TAWHEED and testify/bear witness to this statement/declaration. (Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah, collected by Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, Matalib al-Aliya volume 3, page 32 (Hassan))
The Word Tawheed is used in Arabic ، بالتوحيد
“Amr bin Shu`aib narrated from his father, who narrated from his grandfather that al-Aas bin Wa’il took an oath during the pre-Islamic times (Jahiliyyah) that he would slaughter one hundred goats and that Hisham bin al-`Aas slaughtered his share of 50 goats. Then `Amr bin al-`Aas asked the Prophet (P) about that, and he said, “As for your father, if he affirmed TAWHIDand you fast and give charity on his behalf, it would benefit him.”
أما أبوك فلو كان أقر بالتوحيد، فصمت وتصدقت عنه نفعه ذلك “. (Imam Ahmad narrated this, See silsilah saheeha (484))
(Just for the records Nabeel quraishi a Christian apologist said during his debate with Dr shabir Ally that nowhere in the Hadiths is the word Tawheed found?. Wonder if he would apologise to Dr Shabir Allay and his congregation for lying!
--------------------------
And there's many more Hadiths which Explicitly uses the word Tawheed for this paper these are sufficient. So let's us summarise this whole study:
The Word Trinity nor the Concept of Trinity is nowhere to be found in the Entire bible. The root word of Trinity is Three, even that's nowhere to be found in the Entire bible. Had the word Trinity have any sort of link to its root word which was often used then this could of have been used as evidence, but even that is lost. In short forget Trinity its root word Three is not even found which holds the Concept of a Triune God. The Earliest record of the usage of Trinity is by the 2nd century theologian Tertullian. There is no absolute evidence form them New Testament where Jesus or his disciples ever spoke about trinity let alone use the word. The word Trinity was coined up much later. So we can conclude Trinity nor the Concept of Trinity is found anywhere in the entire bible not even during the time of Jesus and his followers.
On the other hand the Word Tawheed which is derived from the root word Waahid, Ahad and Waheed is found in the Quran. The Original Word Ahad meaning One is found in the Quran in many places, which completely destroys the argument made by Christians. Put it this way if you were to ask Christians what does Tawheed mean they'll hesitate to answer as they know Tawheed means Monotheism, Oneness. If the Original Word is found in the Quran why are Christians chasing a word which comes from the Original?. Even if the word Tawheed is not found in the Quran it does not mean that the word Taweed was unknown to Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and His Companions. The Hadiths explicitly use the Arabic word Tawheed. This tells us the word Tawheed was known and used by Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and His Companions. So the original word is found in the Quran and the derived word Tawheed is found in Hadiths.
Once again Trinity nor its concept is found anywhere in the bible. Whereas Tawheed and its root Original Word is found in the Quran and Hadiths.
So next time Christians use this baseless Argument show us where Tawheed is found in the Quran correct them!
ANSWER:
Unification, Union, Combination,
Fusion; Standadization, Regularization, Consolidation, Almagamation, Merger,
Belief in the Unity of God.
Thats the meaning of Tawheed
[Source: A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, by Han Wehr,
edited by J.M Cowman, page 1055]
------------
Damaging? I think korede has to try harder than
that. Im very sure Korede is aware of what he posted. "[Source: A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, by
Han Wehr, edited by J.M Cowman, page 1055]"
----------------------------
Notice what korede posted, "Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic" here's
what wiki says
Although the
monotheistic definition has persisted into modern Arabic, it is now more
generally used to connote "unification, union, combination, fusion;
standardization, regularization; consolidation, amalgamation, merger"
Note into modern
Arabic not classical.
The
classical definition of tawhid was limited to declaring or preferring belief in one God and the
unity of God
According
to Edward Lane's Lexicon on classical Arabic, tawhid is an infinite noun that means "He
asserted, or declared, God to be one; he asserted, declared, or preferred
belief in the unity of God" and is derived from the Arabic verb wahhada, which means "He made it one; or called it
one"
(Lane,
Edward (1863). Al-Qamus: An Arabic Lexicon. London: Williams and Norgate. pp. 2926–2928 (Vol.8.).
is the
indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. (Oxfordislamicstudies.com.)
Whats more we have
Sahih Hadith which specifically tell us what Tawheed means. There is a very
long Hadith which supports the meaning of Tawheed from during the time of
Prophet Muhammed Pbuh, which tells us the Tawheed was not an unknown word to
them. The Prophet Pbuh and his Companions, knew and understood what Tawheed
meant as we shall see from the Hadith. I'll only post a few lines from the
Hadith as it’s a very long Hadith. Those who want to read the entire Hadith can
check through the reference.
I
saw the same to his right and left, and behind him, and the Messenger of Allah
(ﷺ)
was among us and Qur’an was being revealed to him, and he understood its
meaning. Whatever he did, we did too. Then he began the Talbiyah of monotheism:
“Labbaika Allahumma labbaik, labbaika la sharika laka labbaik. Innal-hamda
wan-ni’mata laka wal-mulk, la sharika laka (Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here
I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise and blessings are
Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no partner).” And the people repeated his
words. And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) approved of that. And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) continued
to recite the Talbiyah.’ Jabir said: ‘We did not intend (to do) anything but
Hajj. ( Sunan Ibn Majah Chapters on Hajj Rituals Vol. 4, Book 25, Hadith 3074)
The Arabic reading
of this Hadith, specially uses the word Tawheed.
and
the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was among us and Qur’an was being revealed to
him, and he understood its meaning. Whatever he did, we did too. Then he began
the Talbiyah of monotheism: “Labbaika Allahumma labbaik, labbaika la sharika
laka labbaik. Innal-hamda wan-ni’mata laka wal-mulk, la sharika laka (Here I
am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all
praise and blessings are Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no partner).”
ذَلِكَ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ بَيْنَ أَظْهُرِنَا
وَعَلَيْهِ يَنْزِلُ الْقُرْآنُ وَهُوَ يَعْرِفُ تَأْوِيلَهُ مَا عَمِلَ مِنْ
شَىْءٍ عَمِلْنَا بِهِ فَأَهَلَّ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ " لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ لَبَّيْكَ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَكَ "
. وَأَهَلَّ النَّاسُ بِهَذَا الَّذِي
يُهِلُّونَ بِهِ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ
عَلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا مِنْهُ وَلَزِمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ
تَلْبِيَتَهُ . قَالَ جَابِرٌ لَسْنَا نَنْوِي إِلاَّ
الْحَجَّ
Notice
the word is Tawheed (بِالتَّوْحِيدِ) used, which was connected with the Talbiya. And what is the Talbiya?
“Labbaika Allahumma labbaik, labbaika la
sharika laka labbaik. Innal-hamda wan-ni’mata laka wal-mulk, la sharika laka
(Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am.
Verily all praise and blessings are Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no
partner).”
"You
have no partner" (Tawheed بِالتَّوْحِيدِ) confirmed by Hadith. Korede forgets that there is no Muslim on the
planet who denies the concept of Tawheed as meaning Oneness of God, associating
no partners to God. What korede did was, use a modern Arabic meaning of the word Tawheed dismissing what
is the true meaning of Tawheed from the time of Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and till
end of time and how it was understood by them.
Whats more, the
Quran is clear God is One. One wonders
why Korede wants the word Tawheed found in the Quran when Tawheed means
attributing Oneness to Allaah and describing Him as being One and Unique, with
no partner or peer in His Essence and Attributes.
Yet the Quran uses
words which hold no ambiguous meaning, direct to the point.
“Say (O
Muhammad): He is Allaah, (the) One [Ahad].2. Allaah‑us‑Samad [Allaah —
the Self‑Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats
nor drinks)].3. He begets not, nor was He begotten.4. And there is
none co‑equal or comparable unto Him” (al-Ikhlaas 112:1-3)
“And your Ilaah (God) is One Ilaah
[ilaahun waahidun] (God — Allaah), Laa Ilaaha illa Huwa (there is none who has
the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”
(al-Baqarah 2:163)
“Surely, disbelievers are those who
said: ‘Allaah is the third of the three (in a Trinity).’ But there is no Ilaah
(god) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but One Ilaah [ilaahun
waahidun] (God —Allaah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a
painful torment will befall on the disbelievers among them” (al-Maa'idah 5:73)
The oneness of Allah Swt is everywhere in the Quran.
(Ahad, Waahidun, Wahid) the Quran is clear Allah Swt is One. Surah Iklas itself
counters each and every Christian who say why is Taweed not found in the Quran.
When Tawheed means Oneness, Allah Swt in the Quran is telling us he is One
period.
The same cannot be said about Trinity, the concept of
a triune God in the bible is so unclear and dubious, Christian centuries later
had to coin up the word Trinity, whereas the Sahih Hadith are crystal clear
Tawheed was used by Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and his Companions
For
example, David Thomas states that verse 5:116 need not be seen as describing
actually professed beliefs but rather as giving examples of shirk (claiming
divinity for beings other than God) and a "warning against excessive
devotion to Jesus and extravagant veneration of Mary, a reminder linked to the
central theme of the Qur'an that there is only one God and He alone is to be
worshipped." (David
Thomas, Trinity, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an pp. 369-370)
Professor David Thomas comments on 5:116 as not to be taken as the literal understating Trinity, but rather as giving examples of shirk and a "warning against excessive devotion to Jesus & veneration of Mary,
(David Thomas, Trinity, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an pp. 369-370)
Tawheed is from Wahadah, the root word Wahad: and it means uniqueness or oness
1. Masdar – مصدر (Root).
2. Mushtaq – مشتق (Derived).
3. Jaamid – جامد (Still or Frozen). Non derivative
Surah 9:31
Trinity of Father, Mother, and Son. Church of Urshalling, Bavaria, Germany. 14th c.
Holy Spirit Mother and Intersex Jesus: Turning Point Nicene Creed [Ally Kateusz] pp. 83
Wait! Jesus is the son of God & God. Mary is the daughter of God. The daughter of God gave birth to the son of God, making her the mother of God. Both share the same father making them brother & sister. Mary was conceived by the Holy Ghost who is a part of God?
