Table of Contents
The idea of Trinitarianism comes from the monotheistic
Christian doctrine that views God as a Trinity of Persons – ‘God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit’. On the opposite spectrum, the idea of
Tawhid (that is, making one or claiming oneness) follows from
the monotheistic Islamic doctrine that defines God as ‘one’ and ‘undivided
unity’ emphasizing that ‘there is no god but God’. Therefore, in this writing,
we will try to examine the two religious doctrinal patterns about God. Our aim
here is not to review all monotheistic religions. Here, we aim to concentrate
on the two doctrines mentioned above and to review some of the arguments as
well as critique some of the assumptions.
Trinitarianism – A Monotheistic Pattern
Christian doctrines and theologies focus on and develop from
and around the Trinitarian ‘model’ or ‘structure’. Following some Ecumenical
Conciliar debates (Nicaea 325; Constantinople 381; Ephesus 431; Chalcedon 451)
about the mystery of God’s incarnation in his Begotten Son, and the
‘sameness’ of God, the Father with his Son, Jesus Christ, and the two
natures of Jesus Christ, divine and human, Christianity defined its
orthodox position about the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. The
Trinity is the avowed mark of Christian God.
We will attempt to define Trinitarianism as the Christian
paradigm that explains the religious experiences and theologies, philosophies
and phenomenology, doctrines and faith, morals, and law from the Christian
identification of God as a Trinity. It is the Christian paradigm of the Godhead
that highlights the signification of undivided unity in the three
Persons and emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The idea
of Trinitarianism correlates with the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Word of
God (John 1: 1-14) who was crucified and later ascended to God his Father. It
acknowledges that Mary is the Mother of God and not only the mother of Jesus
because Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Christians would argue as above,
but the Muslims would come up with different arguments as we shall see below.
Tawhid – A Monotheistic Pattern
The idea of Tawhid expressly asserts that nothing can be
added to God. God is one and cannot be divided. With the Islamic Shahadah,
this is made clear: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah’. This is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Qur’an
overwhelmingly asserts that Tawhid was the reason why it was revealed to
Prophet Muhammad (Al-Fatihah 1; Al-‘Imran 3:64; Al-Nisa’ 4:153-176; Al-Ikhlas 112)
and in several Surahs reprimanded the Christians and the
People of the Book to turn to the Islamic concept of monotheism (Al-A‘raf 7:59; An-Nahl 16:36; Al-Anbiya 21:25).
They argued that the Christian monotheism is adulterated. Tawhid is inimitably
the mark of the Islamic doctrine of God.
We will attempt to define Tawhid, a monotheistic pattern as
the Islamic paradigm which articulates the intrinsic nature of its faith and
practice, doctrines and theologies, revelation and prophecy, ethics and law,
language, and culture from the Tawhidic perspective. The motif of the Qur’an is
Tawhid, and this underlies the following observations, for example: that God is
one and indivisible God; that Jesus (‘Isa) is the son of Mary,
spirit, and Messenger of God; that the Qur’an is the word of God; that Jesus
was not crucified or killed but translated to heaven, and finally that Mary is
the mother of Jesus.
Now that we have examined the two monotheistic patterns and
their different claims to the ideas and doctrines of God, below we will look at
some basic assumptions and try to make some meanings from them.
Trinitarianism and Tawhid in Contest
From the above, we can infer that both monotheistic patterns
are intrinsically opposed to each other. Ideologically, they suggest the
contentions between Christianity and Islam were a result of their
interpretations of the concept of God. Despite their different understanding of
monotheism, Christians and Muslims were enchanted with the belief in one God as
against dualism or polytheism.
Necessity and Contingency Arguments
The monotheistic patterns could be said to have ideologically
put a divide between Christians and Muslims as the doctrines of Trinity and
Tawhid are viewed as either a belief of necessity or a belief
of contingency. Here necessity means that the
formula (used here as, that is, a belief that expresses a relationship
or brings people together), for example: ‘Three persons in one God’ or
‘There is no god but God’ is true in every interpretation. Contingency means
that the formula: ‘Three persons in one God’ or ‘There is no god but God’ is
true under certain rules and false when other rules are applied. Therefore, we
can claim that the monotheistic patterns of Trinitarianism and Tawhid underlie
this necessity or contingency modal
logic.
Trinitarianism, for example, is the seeming contingency that three
can be one, while for Tawhid, it is the necessity that one
cannot be three depending on who is arguing (a Christian or a Muslim).
For Trinitarianism, it is the necessity that three can
be one, while for Tawhid, it is the seeming contingency that one
cannot be three. Therefore, each pattern argues for the necessity or
possibility of their belief formulas.
We can consider the different claims of both as
the marks and reasons for their existence, for it is Islamic or Christian, for
example. If there are no three Persons in One God and Jesus Christ is not the
Son of God, there would be nothing like Christianity (I mean here the
Trinitarian Christianity); and if there is no god but God and Muhammad is
not the Prophet of God, there will be nothing like Islam. Malory Nye
highlighted the importance of these differences in what he calls the “world
religions’ paradigm.” According to him:
Differences are primarily framed
in terms of each distinct religion having certain characteristics, which can be
clustered in particular areas: major texts (sacred books); foundational ideas,
‘beliefs’, and worldviews; particular histories and leaders; and very often a
sense of having a distinct identity.
Should these differences become
‘tensions’ or conflictive, such as in the monotheistic patterns of
Trinitarianism and Tawhid, and rise to supremacy fights, it will be a rejection
of the indelible motifs drawn from years of many cultural experiences, several
racial encounters, transnational lingual and religious practices. It could be
viewed as a rejection of the multicultural world, a rejection of unity in
diversity which religion has made possible.
Conclusion
The interpretations of whether God is one but in three
persons or one and undivided could be a matter of interpretation. In both
monotheistic patterns, we see quite some conflicts while interpreting the
revealed word of God, such as whether Jesus is the Son of God or the son of
Mary, whether Mary is the mother of Jesus or the mother of God. Such
perceptions, present some obstacles to smooth authentic communication in
Christian-Muslim relations. Are Muslims to accept the Christian Trinity? If
they do, does this not render the Qur’an false? On the other hand, are
Christians to accept the Qur’an as the word of God? If they do, does this not
render the Christian Trinity false? The monotheistic patterns are frames and
bases of understanding either a Christian or a Muslim.
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