Assalamu Alaikum, In sura 4 ayah 171 and other similar ayat, Allah Almighty says "Do not say three. Desist. It is better for you. Allah is but one God." Christians say about that: "the Qur'an does not reflect a true understanding of Christianity. By saying "Allah is but one God", this ayah and the other similar ayat imply that we worship more than one God, i.e. that Christians are polytheists while we consider the Father , Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as three Persons NOT Three gods. We worship the only one God of Muslims and Jews. So, the Qur'an does not in fact condemn our Christian belief because we do not belief in more than one God. It reflects a wrong understanding." Is there any orthodox comment on this? JAK

Alhamdu Lillah

Firstly, current Christians do not have a holy book or scripture to refer to. What they have is a man-made book that is, unfairly, attributed to Allah SWT. That is why they have more than 15 different Bibles; some of them even have first and second versions! Meanwhile, Allah SWT revealed only one Bible. So, which one of these different Bibles is the one they rely on to differentiate between 3 persons vs. 3 Gods?!

The Bible was not reveled in English or in Arabic. It was reveled in Aramaic language. How can we be sure that the translation is accurate?

Also, the Bible was not documented (written down) until at least 70 years after the elevation of Jesus PBUH. How can we be sure that the Bible was completely memorized by the hearts and that the documentation was accurate?

Secondly, Allah SWT is the one who told us that the Christians and Jews intentionally corrupt and change their scriptures. He SWT described them both by saying, what means in English, (They misrepresent the words).

And thirdly, their differentiation between three persons and three Gods is meaningless. Whoever takes Jesus or the Holy Spirit as a part of one God is a misguided one. Allah SWT has a divine nature, separated from His creatures, and is not integrated with another entity.

Also, Allah SWT is the creator and the sustainer of the universe, and involving Prophet Jesus PBUH and the Holy Spirit in Allah’s entity necessitate that both Jesus & the Holy Spirit are creators and sustainers as well. Do they believe so? If yes, then they are polytheists, and if not, then they contradict themselves!!