Friends ,
It is interesting that the concept of 'Three in one and One in three' came some approximately 50 years after the death of Jesus [pbuh].Expounded by Saul of Tarsus ,a half Hebrew half Roman, who initially was very much against the very teaching of Jesus . He had a name change after his conversion to paul, and now known Paul the Apostle
Paul 'hijacked' Jesus's teaching and introduced the concept of TRINITY ,[which to this day found the Christians in knots trying to defend] ,to court the Romans , the one and only Superpower of that era ,just like the Americans of present day era .
Some 100 years after Jesus'demise,James was leading the 'Church of Jerusalem'and was teaching very much of Jesus'message: The Unity of God,similar message revealed from Prophet Abraham, through to Isaac, Yaacub, Mosses, and penultimately Jesus. However , Paul was a man in a hurry and had other design. When the Church of Jerusalem became fragmented due to Byzantine pressure,Paul introduced the nebulous concept of 'TRINITY', which somehow find support 250 years alter from Emperor Constantin....the Greek mythology and belief were more familiar with many 'godheads' and three seemed an easy compromise!
Emperor Constantin the Great ,then headquartered in Constantinople ,just across the Bhosphorus near present day Istanbul, got excited and adopt the new teaching as the official religion of the Eastern Roman Empire .In the art of Nation building ,it is practical that one has a credo and the Roman emperor ,having already lost one half of his empire to the 'newly emerging nations in the west' adopted Christianity as the new rallying call to unify under one banner.
The Romans who inherit their 'religion' from the Greeks , used to have many godheads and "three" seemed quite a practical number at that time.Constantin himself , privately remained a pagan up to his last breath .Allah was cognizance of this historical perspective and in Ayat 171 of Surah An Nisa ,had this to say ,
"O People of the Scripture ! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah , Jesus son of Mary , was only a messenger of Allah , and His word which He conveyed unto Mary and a spirit from Him .So believe in Allah and His messengers , and say not " Three--Cease !{it is } better for you !--Allah is only one God. Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son..His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth . And Allah is sufficient as Defender ." [171]
That remains the fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity to this day and until Doomsday .
Of course there is this new movement amongst 'modernist' Islamic thinkers, liberal and so-called progressive Islamists, that at the highest level ' all religions are the same .These shameless, spineless apologists are doing to Islam what St Paul did to Christianity some 14 centuries ago ."Depa nak jual quran for a fistful of American dollars" !
Our universe contain a thousand billions of galaxies,a billion billion stars. The distance from one extreme edge of 'light' to the other extreme edge of 'light'[ie the 'diameter' of the universe] is a billion billion light years. One light year is 4 kilometres with 15 zeros behind.Times that with another 18 zeros and you get 4 kilometres with 35 zeros: That is the diameter of our universe. And this is an expanding universe at 300,000 kilometres per second. Tomorrow our universe would have expanded by another 240,000,000,000 kilometres!
But If one were to put this universe on Allah's Arash[The Tremendous Throne], it would be impossible to find the universe,..like searching for a pin in a haystack!
That is the immensity of the Lord of the universe, our Maker, that we pray and pin our hope to. How can we mere mortals on this tiny,tiny planet called earth, in a minute corner in space within this super vast universe ever ascribe partners to Him!
'Far is it removed from His transcendent Majesty that He should have a son' !
Subhanallah, Alhamdullillah, Allahuakbar!
Dr Nik Howk
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