Allah Wahid am Thalatha
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar al-Islam lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘
Allah Wahid am Thalatha (Is God One or Three?) is a comparative religion treatise by Munqidh al-Saqqar (b. 1388 AH / 1968 CE), examining Christian doctrines of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus from an Islamic theological and biblical-critical perspective .
Background and Publication
The work forms the third installment in al-Saqqar's research series titled Silsilat al-Huda wa-l-Nur (The Guidance and Light Series) . The author completed the introduction to the text in Mecca in Rabi' al-Awwal 1424 AH . It was published in a single volume by Dar al-Islam li-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi' in a first edition dated 1428 AH / 2007 CE .
Content and Method
The book investigates whether God is singular or Triune, and whether Jesus was a human prophet or divine . Al-Saqqar bases his inquiry on critical analysis of the Old and New Testaments, patristic writings, historical church councils, and Western critical studies .
The work opens by presenting the Islamic perspective on Jesus (Isa ibn Maryam), affirming his miraculous birth to Mary, his servanthood, his prophetic mission to the Children of Israel, the miracles granted to him by God, his deliverance from crucifixion, and his descent at the end of time . It contrasts this with Christian theological doctrines regarding the divine sonship, incarnation, and atonement .
In its polemical core, the book critically evaluates the textual arguments used by Christian theologians to substantiate the divinity of Christ and the Trinity . Al-Saqqar argues that neither the Old nor the New Testament contains an explicit statement by Jesus claiming divinity or demanding worship . He discusses specific church Christologies, such as the Miaphysite doctrine of the Oriental Orthodox tradition , and cites contemporary debates, referencing Muslim polemicists like Rahmatullah al-Kairanawi and Ahmed Deedat .
The book further traces passages within biblical scripture that affirm strict monotheism, arguing that the original teachings of Jesus and his disciples were monotheistic . It concludes by surveying the history of monotheistic currents across Christian history and attributing the theological shift toward Trinitarianism and pagan accretions to Paul the Apostle and subsequent imperial councils .
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