Appearance
“God Is the Messiah” or “the Third of Three”?
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ ۖ وَقَالَ ٱلْمَسِيحُ يَـٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّى وَرَبَّكُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ مَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَىٰهُ ٱلنَّارُ ۖ وَمَا لِلظَّـٰلِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ
“Those who say that God is the Messiah, son of Mary, have disbelieved. But the Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates partners with God - God has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are no helpers for the wrongdoers.’” (5:72)
لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَـٰثَةٍ ۘ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَـٰهٍ إِلَّآ إِلَـٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ ۚ وَإِن لَّمْ يَنتَهُوا۟ عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
أَفَلَا يَتُوبُونَ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَهُۥ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Those who say that God is the third of three have certainly disbelieved. And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, those who have disbelieved among them will surely be touched by a painful punishment. So will they not repent to God and seek His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving and Merciful.” (5:73–74)
مَّا ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُ وَأُمُّهُۥ صِدِّيقَةٌ ۖ كَانَا يَأْكُلَانِ ٱلطَّعَامَ ۗ ٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ نُبَيِّنُ لَهُمُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ ثُمَّ ٱنظُرْ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used to eat food. Look how We make clear to them the signs; then look how they are deluded” (5:75)
The question
How does the Qur’an answer those who say that God is the Messiah, son of Mary, or that God is “the third of three”?
Views answered: the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus and the Trinity · al-Wāḥidī, as quoted by Fakhr al-Rāzī
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
For Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī the three verses answer the divinity of Jesus with proofs for the learned and for everyone. “Son of Mary” shows he was created, and a created being cannot be a god; his own words, worship God, my Lord and your Lord, confess his servanthood; and one who joins a partner to God is barred from Paradise. That God is “the third of three”, whether by incarnation or by transformation, contradicts reason, scripture and mystical witnessing: God is with every three as their fourth, without being counted, so He is “the fourth of three”, never “the third of three”. He therefore rejects al-Wāḥidī’s view, endorsed by Fakhr al-Rāzī, that the phrase is not disbelief if it means three beings rather than three gods. For ordinary people the Qur’an adds simple proofs: the Messiah was a messenger like those before him, Adam had neither father nor mother, and Jesus and his mother ate food.
Views compared
The beliefs are given as al-Tasnim reports them. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
“God is the Messiah, son of Mary” Read →
Christian belief
Jesus is God.Jawādī Āmulī
The child of a created being is created, and divinity goes with lordship and lordship with creating; Jesus himself said worship God, my Lord and your Lord.“The third of three” Read →
Christian belief
By incarnation or transformation, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one reality while being three.Jawādī Āmulī
Refuted by reason, scripture and mystical witnessing: they cannot be one and many at once. God is with every three as their fourth (58:7) without being counted, so He is “the fourth of three”, not “the third of three”.Which three? Read →
Christian belief
Some say the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; 5:116 points to God, the Messiah and Mary.Jawādī Āmulī
Both forms of trinitarianism are impossible and false.If the three are not meant as gods Read →
al-Wāḥidī, quoted by Fakhr al-Rāzī
Saying “God is the third of three” is not disbelief if one means three beings, not three gods, as in 58:7.Jawādī Āmulī
Still false: nothing stands beside God to make Him one of a count. His oneness is not numerical, so He is “the third of two” and “the fourth of three”, a point hidden from both al-Wāḥidī and al-Rāzī.Simple proofs for everyone Read →
Christian belief
Jesus was born without a father, so he is more than a man.Jawādī Āmulī
Then Adam, with neither father nor mother, would be more deserving (3:59). The Messiah was only a messenger like those before him, and he and his mother ate food, as needy beings do.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.