INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC THEOLOGY.pdf - CUEA

13The intention and zeal of Muhammad were to proclaim the pure unity of God. In sûra 109, hedefinitely broke with polytheism: "Say: o ye that reject faith! I worship not that which ye worship; norwill ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that ye have been wont to worship, norwill ye worship that which I worship. To you be your way, And to me mine."Islamic monotheism contrasted with Christian ideas of divine Fatherhood and SonshipOriginally tawhîd (the unity of God) was asserted against the Arabs, but later on Muhammadextended it to Christians who worship Jesus as Son of God. Sûra 6:101 says: "To him is due theprimal origin of the heavens and the earth: How can He have a son when he hath no consort? Hecreated all things, and he hath full knowledge of all things". So Islamic monotheism does notpermit any equal or partner with Allâh. The gods of ancient Arabia certainly had wives andchildren. Even in pre-Islamic Arabian thought, Allâh, the supreme God among others, had his ownchildren. We remember that all over the Arabian land, Manât, al-`Ozza and al-Lât were conceivedas daughters of Allâh and were worshipped. Hence, Islamic monotheism does not accept anyfatherhood or sonship because Allâh has no consort or partner. "He is Lord of the East and theWest: there is no god but He: take Him therefore for (thy) Disposer of affairs" (sûra 73:9). In thesame vein, Muhammad Zafrulla Khan wrote:The Qur'ân not only excludes all idea of any equal or partner with Allâh, it specifically excludes all idea of hishaving a son except in the purely metaphorical sense in which all mankind are his children, and in which thepeacemakers are spoken of in the Bible, as the children of God (Matt 5:9). God is ever-living, All-knowing,All-hearing, the Creator of all, whose authority extends over everything. To attribute a son, in any but thepurely metaphorical sense, to God, would amount to a denial of his unity and in effect to a denial of hisGodhead. 41Thus Muslims reject the Christian teaching that Jesus is Son of God, or even a person in God'sunity.Jacques Jomier mentions:For the Muslim, monotheism does not signify only the unity of God, because there can be several persons inthe unity. Monotheism in Islam is the absolute oneness of God which formally does away with the notion ofpersons participating in the divinity... All forms or philosophies of an incarnate God are excluded by themonotheism of Islam, as are blind obedience to dictators, to clergy or to one's own whims and desires. 42Thus the oneness of God came to mean both an external and internal unity of God. It is externalfor it does not accept the existence of another god; it is internal because it does not admit anyperson within God. Islamic monotheism rejects the theology of the Trinity because, say Muslims, itsins against the oneness of God. The God of Muhammad is one and not three in one.Thus, in his combat not only with the Mekkans, but also with Christians, Muhammad gave in sûra112 the last formula of monotheism which will never change. He said: "Say: He is Allâh, the oneand only; Allâh, the Eternal, the Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none41 Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Islam. Its meaning for modernman (New York: Harper, vol. 7, 1962), p. 93.42 Jacques Jomier, How to understand Islam (London: SCMPress Ltd, 1989), p. 40.