The Christian doctrine of Trinity as opposed to the Islamic Tawheed - Is simplicity really a measure of truth as claimed by the proponents of the latter and what are its implications in the real world?

           The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is what is at the core of mainstream Christian doctrine. It is the core theological doctrine that helps us understand the other doctrines around it. While Jesus in the canonical Gospels presents the persons of the Trinity individually as in the case of the Holy Spirit as being a distinct person from the Father and Jesus Himself (The Son of God the Father) as well as in 1 verse which is Matthew 28:19 where Jesus gives His disciples the "Great Commission" which is to carry the message of the Gospel far and wide and make disciples of all men baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, Jesus also goes on to explain that unless He (Jesus) goes back to heaven, the Father would not send the Holy Spirit to the world who would lead Jesus' followers into all the truths of the Bible as they read them in John 14:16. The Trinity makes perfect sense when we take into account the events in the Bible including the ones in Jesus' life as to who was controlling the universe when Jesus' body was crucified and tasted death for the sake of humanity to give us salvation and eternal life.

         Muslims are the ones who often bring up the topic of the Trinity in any discussion or debate on matters of faith with Christians and one of the arguments brought up by them is the fact that they worship a monad which along with their man Muhammad who is touted as a prophet can be summed up into a statement of belief only a few words long which cannot be done in Christianity with the doctrine of the Trinity which is more complicated to understand and to fit inside a short sentence. Because of this, Muslims who debate or discuss matters of faith with Christians often claim that the Trinity is hard to understand or confusing even when we as Christians word our beliefs in the most accurate and concise way possible. Yet the question that lingers behind this claim that Muslims make is whether belief in a deity who is simpler to understand in his nature is really intriguing enough for the person believing in him to seek him and at a wholistic level good for the world. I will tackle this question as a Christian along many different angles and what it means for the Christian worldview and the Islamic one.

i) Trinity vs Tawheed :

               While the concept of God existing as 3 persons with their own unique, individual qualities while sharing one and the same essence or deity exists in both the Old Testament (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Proverbs 30:4, Isaiah 48:16 etc.) and New Testament (Matthew 28:19, Matthew 3:17, John 14:17 etc.). The term "Trinity" was however coined by a church father named "Tertullian" around AD 200. Similarly, The Muslim view of God is "Tawheed" which purports the Islamic god to be an absolute monad as opposed to the maintstream Trinitarian view of Christianity wherein God is a compound unity shared by 3 persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) while sharing the same essence or deity, it must be noted that the term "Tawheed" is not there in the Quran either just as the term "Trinity" is not there in the Bible. Moreover, the term "Trinity" from the Latin "Trinitas" is closer to Jesus in historical timelines (~170 years) than Tawheed is to Muhammad (~240 years) because Tawheed first appears as a term in Sahih Al-Bukhari which is the oldest and most authentic Hadiths (autobiographies) of the life of Muhammad. Any attempt by Muslims to place "Tawheed" closer to the life of Muhammad the founder of their faith is based on later redactions on chains of narrations (Isnads) which Muslims claim extend up to Muhammad himself while in fact, these are but later redactions on the origins of the term to an earlier date and hence are not true historically from a neutral point of view, regardless of whatever proof is provided by Muslims in support of the same. Then again, the Quran is claimed to have originated from a version called "Umm al-Kitab" or a couple of eternal stone tablets which are supposedly the Word of God in Islam that exists separately and independently of Allah alongside him making 2 persons in the Islamic worldview although only 1 is worshipped. Also, the islamic hadiths point out that allah has a left shin and 2 right hands as well as other body parts - physical characteristics which contradict the idea that allah cannot become human or have human characteristics.

ii) My thoughts on the idea of Tawheed :

                 While Muslims do claim that "Tawheed" as an idea is simpler to understand and even if we concede to that. We need to bear in mind that the term supposedly has its origins in the later Ummayad and Abbasid caliphate periods when Muslim theologians started debating Christian theologians and sought a term to summarise their beliefs in 1 word and the result was "Tawheed". While this is where the word supposedly originates even as the Hadiths including Bukhari claim that the term goes all the way back to Muhammad himself in order to bolster Muslims' confidence on those beliefs, we need to understand that Arabs were were simplistic people. Back in Muhammad's time, we can imagine that there were bedouins with their caravans traversing vast stretches of desert in order to trade with various groups in far-flung places while settling down in areas with oases to water their camels and horses. These were not people who lived in prosperous lands teeming with greenery, rice or wheat fields and a large number of cities with urban planning fed by rivers and dams as the Hijaz region of Arabia where Mecca and Medina are located, has no rivers. The first 3 centuries of Islam were violent and Muhammad himself said that these were the best Muslims (those who killed each other for simple disagreements on what Muhammad did or said or even theological differences).


        Far from Arabia being prosperous, Arabs were known to carry stories from their ancestors and other people they meet in their journeys which they narrated to groups. Muhammad being another man in the desert picked up those stories narrated by Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and Arab pagans and threw them in the Quran. Another important point to consider is that Muhammad sought to unify the Arab tribes under one banner, one god, one language with himself being the representative of that god, hence it makes perfect sense why he favoured the idea of his god being a monad with a crescent moon and star which incidentally happened to be the emblem of some Arab tribes in Arabia. Also, in his attempts to unify the Arab tribes under 1 god, he needed a statement of faith which is as simple as possible that the most unintelligent of Arabs could merely memorise it and spew it wherever he went in the course of their attempts to conquer the surrounding lands for islam, whence the idea of a god being an absolute 1 could fit in within a 1 liner and be memorised by Muhammad's jihadis as they went on their raids. In essence, the "Shahada" which is the Islamic statement of faith came from a multi-faceted, multi-tribal  7th century Arabia rife with violence and conflict - the proof of this lies in the etymological origins of the word "Shahada" itself which comes from the same Arabic root word as the word "Shaheed" meaning "Martyr" in the Islamic sense (dying in the cause of Allah while killing infidels while striving to islamise the world). Hence, the "Shahada" is the statement of faith of the "Jihadi" aka "Shaheed" which incidentally happens to be the statement of faith of every Muslim in Islam regardless of whether they choose the path of the Jihadi or otherwise. The outcome of this for Islamic societies being backward and underdeveloped compared to Western Christian ones holding on to the Trinitarian doctrine becomes clearer as we will see later.

iii) Simple = truth?  

                  Muslims often claim that a statement of faith as simple as theirs about god being an absolute 1 is proof of Islam being the truth and that others should seriously consider this as reason to convert to Islam. Such claims are as ludicrous as flat-earthers claiming that people should believe that the world is a flat circle instead of a sphere, since a 2D Earth is easier to comprehend than a 3D one. Hence, when we carefully examine claims or beliefs of people being simple and when they seek to prop up their beliefs on a pedestal to claim that they alone hold the truth owing to the simplicity of their beliefs, this is by no conceivable stretch of anyone's imagination, proof that they hold to the truth just because their beliefs are simpler to believe in and understand.

          In the previous section, we already saw the background of why Muhammad chose his "ikeda (doctrine of god)" to be so simple - it is because Arabs were simple people and he needed a credo or a motto which his jihadis could shout as they killed the infidels of their faith while advancing Islam. Furthermore, we saw that this statement on the oneness of the islamic deity originated in a pluralistic Arabia which Muhammad wanted to unite under 1 faith, 1 man (himself), 1 god (allah), 1 language (arabic) etc. Hence, simplicity of doctrine is by no means proof that a statement of belief is true, on the contrary, it shows lack of intelligence and is proof of a primitive society steeped in violence, conflicts shored up by backwardness on an individual level and at a societal level in the area of intellect.

iv) What about the Trinity:

             If we compare the first 3 centuries of Islam with the 1st 3 centuries of Christianity. Christianity began as a movement within Judaism and spread outwards to various countries and lands under Jesus' Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:19. While the term Trinity is not physically present in the verse or the Bible, Jesus Himself mentions "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" in that verse proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that the doctrine was first preached by Jesus as recorded in the 4 Canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Likewise, the plurality of persons within the oneness of God's divine essence was believed in by Jews before and during Jesus time and this is because the doctrine of the plurality of persons within the oneness of God's essence goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Only later did Jews who replaced Temple Judaism with Rabbinic Judaism drift further away from this doctrine to embrace the current idea in Orthodox Judaism that God is an absolute one which Muslims point to as proof that their belief matches those of present-day Orthodox Jews.

         However, we need to note that in Old Testament times, despite times of wars, there were also times of peace and the Jews lived peacefully without any wars like during the time of Solomon and the time of the prophets. The time of the prophets is particularly interesting because even when the Jews enemies threatened to destroy them, we see God intervening miraculously and saving them except during the time of Jeremiah when he allows their exile for their incessant unrepentant sinning before God. This is particularly important because the environment from which Tawheed emerged as a doctrine was entirely different from the environment during which the doctrine of the Trinity originated from God. The former originated from a warlord seeking to unify the tribesmen of his country under one motto or credo whence the need for a 1 simple liner like the shahada whereas the doctrine of the Trinity was revealed by God to his prophets in times of peace going all the way back to Genesis the first book of the Bible written by Moses. This is why Christian countries and even Jewish Israel are more peaceful than Islamic countries wherein most devout Muslims hate Jews with a religious hatred and seek the annihilation of the Jewish state when their own countries are riddled with human rights violations carried out by Jihadis against other religious groups

v) Community vs single :
     
       The Christian idea of God being a Trinity is a reflection of God always existing as a community of the 3 persons bound together by the shared essence or deity as a compound unity. This becomes clearer when we see that God always exists as Father - a term associated with fondness, love, provision and protection whence the Son proceeds eternally from eternity past to eternity future bound together by the Holy Spirit who in turn proceeds from both the Father and the Son. The fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God means that Jesus comes from the Father and continues to do so for all time while both have their own uniqueness as persons within the Godhead along with the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Love binding the Father and Son together eternally. So the Bible says in 1 John 4:8 "God is love" and we know that love as a verb requires an agent who is source of the love who is the Father and the one who receives that love is the Son with the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of Love binding the Father and Son together. The Father in turn who is the source of the Holy Spirit through Jesus' redemptive work on the cross and the believer's faith in it does a work of redemption in his heart through the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Son and ultimately from the Father. Therefore we see the bedrock of Christianity being one of a community where virtues like love, peace, joy flourish which in turn is reflected in societies of Christian lands in the West setting a healthy background for knowledge and development in scientific and technological as well as artistic domains to thrive and individual rights of people even outside the Christian worldview to be protected. The Christian literally becomes a part of a community having its origins in heaven and hence becomes an adopted heir of God's kingdom. 

    In stark contrast to the Christian idea of God always existing as a community as is seen in the case of the Trinity. The Islamic idea of allah being an absolute 1 implies that Allah is cold, distant and unknowable from an experiential standpoint unlike the Christian God, since Allah himself is an absolute 1 or a monad meaning he has always been claimed to exist as an absolute 1 and that he does not need anyone at all yet chose to create humans for his own whims and these humans bear no value in his eyes just as his other creations because humans were never made in Allah's image unlike the Judeo-Christian God who invested His image in humanity (giving rise to legal concepts like the "Sanctity of life" whereby no human can take away the life of another unlike in Islamic countries where humans are killed as if they are trash) requiring His intervention through his son to save humans from the eternal consequence of death and hellfire for their sins which they can never get rid of on their own. Muslims hold that the highest relationship that they can have with their Allah is that of a Master-Slave relationship meaning that since Allah is not a Father in Islam and cannot have a son, no Muslim can see Allah as his Father. This coupled with the fact that Allah is an absolute Monad means that no Muslim can have a personal, experiential knowledge of Allah through a relationship with him. Of course, the outcome of this is that the individual has no value in the Islamic society as much as the whole and individual rights do not exist, instead his/her rights stemming from his/her value as a unique person get drowned in the wholistic right of the community called the "Umma" or are not valued in the same way as in Christian countries - this is why apostasy in Islam is viewed as a crime worthy of death and the ones meting out this punishment are usually those of one's own family because men in Islam do not bear the image of God meaning they are expendable commodities in Islamic society and can be killed by the government and individuals in their own families who then go scot-free or are usually praised by their societies at large. Even something remotely resembling democracy like a government that imitates democracy only resembles  democracy at  a superficial level and yet secular laws in such societies are subject to Islamic laws that are included as a part of the superficial secular framework before the West as in the case of Pakistan or Bangladesh

vi) Loving Inheritance valuing personal individuality and promising a loving relationship with God in the hereafter vs Cold Slavery with no personal relationship with god in the present and in the hereafter:

      The fact that the Judeo-Christian God exists as a plurality of persons sharing the same essence and deity implies that He prefers company rather than being a single lonely entity. This further prompted the Creation of humans bearing his very image as mentioned in the Bible so that He could have fellowship with us. When Adam and Eve sinned, the image of God in them got marred by sin and their ultimate abode changed to hell which they could do nothing about, this is why God sent His only begotten Son, the 2nd person of the Trinity to restore the status of Sonship to the sons and daughters of Adam (ourselves) restoring us to our former status as sons and daughters of God albeit adopted heirs (with our acceptance of His work and our permission to save us by yielding our hearts and lives to Him). This inheritance implies that we are seen beyond mere slaves with limited rights and value and raises up to a standard wherein we can expect more from God than any mere slave or servant can expect especially a loving relationship with Him whereby we are ever transformed to resemble Him for the greatness of His glory for which He created us and that we can commune, love and live together as a family in this world and in the hereafter. The Judeo-Christian worldview promises every believer this loving relationship with its God and self value and dignity far surpassing anything that a master-slave relationship can offer including a relationship with God in now and in heaven with God seated on His everlasting throne worshipped and adored by the elders who stand before His throne as well as armies of angels that do His bidding with our own status being above the angels because when Jesus took on flesh, His status was above the angels although He being God, took on flesh for our sakes.

   On the other hand, the very fact that allah exists as a singular entity and has always existed as such as per Islamic doctrine implies that he is not someone who seeks relationship especially with human beings, they either have 2 options - submit to his will while obeying Muhammad or be cursed and cast into hellfire in the afterlife. Allah does not care for humans because unlike the Judeo-Christian God Yahweh, Allah never invested his image in humanity when he supposedly created Adam and Eve. Surprisingly, everyone who had a connection with allah and spoke to allah in one way or the other including the Biblical personalities like Adam and Eve are purported to be Muslims in Islam because Islam falsely claims that all Biblical prophets and personalities were prophets even without a prophetic calling on their lives. Here, we see Islam seeking to not only highjack the Judeo-Christian faith by calling all prophets and Biblical personalities "Muslims" and make the weird claim that they all preached Islam but suddenly all of it becomes about submission to allah and not a loving relationship with God. Hence, the islamic allah is a slavemaster who seeks slaves who submit to him through obedience of his dos and don'ts which is also why allah is a father to none which not only is an attack on the Christian Trinity but also on the very Judeo-Christian premise that anyone can even become an adopted heir of God's kingdom as perceived by the writers of the islamic scriptures. Not so surprisingly, slaves have fewer rights and can be sold and treated as people of lesser value unlike children and slaves need to do stuff to please their masters unlike children who have unconditional acceptance by their parents or in this case their Father. Hence, since Islam is all about submission to a distant, cold and unrelatable god named allah who is a slave master and his man Muhammad, the Islamic scriptures  unlike the Bible do not promise a heaven where Muslims will get reunited with allah for a loving relationship in the hereafter, rather promise the Muslim sexual fantasies and other sinful pleasures that are only sinful on Earth and not in the Islamic heaven including full-breasted half-angel, half-human beings called hoories that men get to deflower for eternity with 100 hp erect dicks for all eternity while allah is nowhere to be found, aside from rivers of wine, milk and honey. Hence, the Islamic Jannah or heaven is not about an eternal relationship with God, rather about forbidden pleasures which suddenly become lawful for the Muslim like eternal sex with women and houris aside from sofas, rivers of wine etc.

vii) Conclusion:

       For me as a Christian, the Christian God existing as a community and the fact that He invested His very image in humanity when He created us is what gave rise to the development and forward thinking ideals that are reminscent of the West including concepts like the "Sanctity of Life", "Human Rights", "Women's rights", "Children's rights", "Freedom" and so on which are the telltale marks of advanced and progressive societies. In stark contrast, Islamic allah being a monad who never invested his image in mankind when he created it is what led to the backward, regressive and primitive societies of Islamic countries which are known for their human rights abuses where human life is of little to no value, especially if those are lives of non-Muslims or ex-Muslims.

    Moreover, we also saw that simplicity in the definition of god is not a sign of truth because in a similar vein, anyone can claim that the sun, moon and stars revolve around the Earth based on personal inference instead of the widely accepted heliocentric view of our Solar system which is more complicated and yet true compared to claiming that the sun sets in the sea in the West or in a muddy pool (which is exactly what the Quran claims in Surah al Khaf (18:86) - an error which Quranic translators tried to patch up by conveniently and dishonestly lying about it by including the words "as if" within brackets when the original Arabic clearly admits that the sun sets in a muddy pool which is unscientific and wrong). Rather a simple claim which is too easy to understand about the nature of god makes him less interesting for pursuit by a believer and if anything, it is not proof that they are correct rather it is a clear sign that those who came up with that idea are just simple-minded simpletons.