CHAPTER 5: THE CLAIM OF THE CHRISTIANS
They claim that among that which was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) (i. e., Qur’an), there is evidence in their favour supporting their belief in the hypostases. They refer to the verse, which says, “And, verily, Our Word has gone forth of old for Our slaves, the righteous.”
The Muslims say that the Book (the Qur’an) is the Word of Allah. There can be no words except from a living and speaking being. These are essential attributes, which serve as names. Each of these attributes is different from the other, for He is One God, One Creator, and One Lord Who can not be separated or divided.
They said, “As regards the personification of the creating Word of God and its immanent in a created man and their merging; that is the Word and the human entity, the Creator did not speak to any of the prophets unless by Inspiration or from behind a veil. It is mentioned in this book as follows,
which means, “It is not given to any human being that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by Inspiration, or from behind a veil, or (that) He sends a Messenger to reveal what He wills by His Leave.” (Ash-Shura’, 42: 51)
Since abstract matters do not appear except in concrete forms like the Holy Spirit and other such things, then, does the Word of God, which has created the concrete as well as the abstract, appear without a cover? The answer is no.
That is why He appeared in ‘Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him) bin Maryam (Mary), for man is the most exalted among the creations of God. That is why he spoke with people and they saw what they saw.”
They said, “When we say that God is one god in three hypostases, this is because He ordained it for Himself. He clarified it in the Torah and in the books of the prophets, like that mentioned in the first book of Torah, which says that when God willed to create Adam, He said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ (Gen: 1:26) Who is similar to Him and identical to Him other than His Word and His Spirit?
When Adam violated and disobeyed his Lord God, the Exalted, said, This is Adam! He has become like one of Us.’ it is clear that God said this to His Son and His Holy Spirit.”
They said, “Dawud (David, peace be upon him) said in the Psalms, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.'” (Psalms, 110:1)
They said, “He said in the second psalm, ‘I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.'” (Psalms, 2:7)
They said, “In the second book of Torah, when God spoke to Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) from the bush saying, ‘I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,’ (Exod, 3:6) and He did not say, ‘! am the god of Ishaq.’ He repeated the word ‘god’ three times saying, ‘I am the god and the god and the god’ to establish the issue of the three hypostases regarding His Divine entity.”
They said, “Because of this clear statement, which God made in the Torah and in the books of prophets we make three hypostases into one essence, one god, one lord, and one Creator.
He is the One we call: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
They said, “We knew that when saying so, we do not have to worship three gods but only one god. When we also say, ‘Man, sperm, and soul’, we do not mean three persons but one person. When we say, ‘The flame of the fire, the light of the fire, and the heat of the fire,” we do not mean three fires, neither when we say, ‘ The disk of the sun, the light of the sun, and the sun rays,’ for they are not three suns. If this is our belief regarding God, glorified be His Names and exalted be His Graces, then we are not to blame. We did not neglect that which we have received, reject that which we have been charged with, or follow otherwise than we have been ordered.”
They said, “There is the incarnation of the creating Word of God with which He created everything and its personification in a created human being. He is the One taken from the chosen virgin Maryam (Mary) who was preferred over the women of the world. The Word was unified with him in a way free from mixing, changing, and transforming. He spoke to people just like God spoke to Musa from the bush. He presented the miracle with His Divine entity and showed the deficiency of His Human entity while the two actions were performed by one Christ.
By: Sheikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah
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