Question
03: You Muslims claim that you worship One
God, while in actual fact you resemble the Christians who say “In the name of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” for you say “In the name of God, the
Mercifu; the Compaasionate.” How would
you account for this resemblence?
Answer 03: In the Christian creed, God is the
Creator. The Son is Jesus the
Deliverer. And the Holy Spirit is His
life or one of His creations chosen by Him as a messenger and/or prophet
imparting God’s inspiration or cosmic order to whoever He wishes. Whatever the mission carried out by the Holy
Spirit, the Christians believe in the above powers as three entities, three
aspects, three qualities. They say:
“Oneness in Trinity and Trinity in Oneness.”
They are all phenomena of one God, etc.
Therefore, the One God, they claim, consists of three separate
categories, which they call the Trinity.
As a matter of fact, God, as they take Him, is not one but three. In the Qur’an God says: “Surely, disbelievers
are those who said: ‘God is the third of the three (in aTrinity)’.” (Holy
Qur’an: 5: 73). The verse means that God
the Creator is the third in relation to the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As for the Muslim dictum “In the name of God, the Mercifu, the
Compaasionate,” it means three names of God which exceed ninety nine, all
denoting one Entity. A name is not
separate from the named. The Being named
and described is not to be conceived except by His names and qualities, unlike
the case of the Christian Entities, for they are three dimentional, but
separate, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Question
04: How can you claim that your God is
Mercifu and Compasionate, while He created evil in the world, expressed in
illnesses, volcanoes, toxics, earthquakes, hatred, etc.?
Answer 04: The answer to this question is threefold:
1. God
almighty is a universal God, the God of all creation. This is obvious in the following verse: “And
your God is One (God), there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful…” (Holy Qur’an: 2: 163).
2. Undoubtedly, God’s mercy is comprehensive. It encompasses all creatures under its
canopy. The evidence is clear: “…And My
Mercy embraces all things...” (Holy Qur’an: 7: 156). Such a spacious clemency expresses itself in
bestowing upon His creation so much bliss: material sustenance, the gifts of
sight and hearing. Indeed, such
blesisngs are countless.
3. Whatever adversities may befall man in this world, like pain,
illness, poison, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc., are not exclusively evils. They are mixed blessings. For some who are harassed by such evils they
are a punishment for their disobedience or heresy, while for some others they
are a reminder, a nudge, to awaken them from their slumber. They also indicate the absolute power of God,
His ability to deal with His creation, the sphere of His dominion, in the ways
He deems just and wise. All that God
decrees emanates from His compassion, wisdom and justice.