Tafsîr Of The Verse 5:73
They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve.
Muhammad Ghoniem
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Last Modified: 1st September 1999
Tafsîr Ibn Kathîr
5:73 They disbelieved who say: Allah is one of three (in a Trinity): for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous chastisement will befall the disbelievers among them. [Qur'ân: 5:73]
Concerning "They disbelieved who say: Allah is one of three", Ibn Abî Hâtim said that cAlî Ibn al-Hasan al-Hisinjâni told us that Sacîd Ibn al-Hakam Ibn Abî Maryam told us that al-Fadl told us that Abû Sakhr told me about God's words "They disbelieved who say: Allah is one of three": it refers to the opinion of the Jews "cUzayr is the son of God" and the opinion of the Christians "The Messiah is the son of God"; thus making God one among three [i.e., a trinity]. For a commentary on this verse, this report is odd because it refers to both the Jews and the Christians. The truth is that it was revealed concerning the Christians specifically. This is the opinion of Mujâhid and many others but they differed on its interpretation. They said this verse targetted the disbelievers among them [i.e., among the Christians] for upholding three hypostasis (al-Aqânim ath-thalâthah) who are: the hypostasis of the Father, the hypostasis of the Son and the hypostasis of the Word emanating from the Father to the Son - May God be glorified above their speech. Ibn Jarîr [al-Tabarî] and others mentioned that the three sects, the Melkites, the Jacobites and the Nestorians, the three of them uphold those hypostasis and are in great disagreement between each others but we will not expand on their disagreement here. Each sect declared that the others are disbelievers and the truth is that the three of them are disbelievers. As-Suddî and others said: [the verse] was revealed concerning the divinization of the Christ and his mother besides God, thus making God one among three [i.e., one person among a Trinity]. As-Suddî said: This is like the verse at the end of the Surah [verse 5:116] "And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah.?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! [...]" and this [last] opinion is the most likely and God knows best. God Almighty said "for there is no god except One God" i.e., God is not multiple, he is one without partners and he gathered all the creatures and warned them "If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy)" i.e., this lie "verily a grievous chastisement will befall the disbelievers among them" i.e., the chains and torture in the hereafter.
Tafsîr al-Qurtubî
"They disbelieved who say: Allah is one of three"
means one among [a group of] three. Does not take nunation according to al-Zajjâj and others. The Arabs have another variant, they say the fourth of three and in this case it accepts jarr and nasb because it means the one who made the three [become] four by being among them. The same goes when you say the third of a pair, nunation is possible. And this statement caused a disagreement between the Christians, i.e., the Melkites, the Nestorians and the Jacobites, as they say: a Father, a Son and a Holy spirit are one god and they do not say three gods while this is the very meaning [implied by] their position. They only resent the statement [of three gods] while it is unavoidable since they say that the Son is a god, and the Father is a god and the Holy spirit is a god. We have already detailed this point in [sûrat] an-Nisâ' and God attested of their disbelief.
.... for there is no god except One God
meaning that God is not multiple while they cannot avoid saying three gods as seen previously even if they would not admit that wording. And we have already explained the meaning of one [wâhid] in [sûrat] al-Baqarah and the preposition min is supernumerary. And it is possible in other places than the Qur'ân to say ilâhan wâhidan as in case of istithnâ' and al-Kisâ'i accepted jarr as in case of badal.
If they desist not from their word, verily a grievous chastisement will befall the disbelievers among them.
i.e., if they desist not from their [doctrine of] Trinity a grievous chastisement will befall them in this life and in the hereafter.
Comments
Islam does not denounce the rank of God in the Trinity but rather the Trinity itself (see verse 4:171 "[..] Say not "Three ""). Indeed if Islam denounced the rank [there is no rank implied but let us suppose for the sake of argument] of God in the Christian Trinity, it would not denounce the pagan Arabs since Allah/God was the biggest of their deities. But the truth is that Islam denounced without ambiguity any form of polytheism and lip-service to monotheism such as God is composed to three distinct entities yet He is one.
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