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Preface
This book traces the historical backgroundof the Trinitarian doctrine. Thehistorical facts presented here show howcontroversial this fundamental doctrine of Christianity has been. This booklikewise digs into the influences of Athanasius,Constantine and Paul on today'sChristianity. Furthermore, it presents the concept of OneGod in Islam as theultimate, perpetual solution to the Trinitarian controversy.This work should serve as an eye-opener for Christians who seek guidance andTruth,hoping that it will help them revert to the original teachings of Jesus(peace be upon him)- particularly the belief in One God, which is fundamentallyIslamic. The mysteriousnature of the Trinitarian doctrine has led manyChristians into confusion. Many of themwho really seek Truth discovered thatthis doctrine was an explicit innovation contrary tothe teachings of Jesus(peace be upon him). Those of them who have had the opportunityto study theconcept of God in Islam have already become Muslims. As many more non-Muslims(especially Christians) are reverting to the path of Allah (the One and OnlyTrueGod), Islam will certainly sustain its current position as the world'sfastest growing and Number One religion - although it is 600 years younger thanChristianity. This will be so, because the Unity of God in Islam is absolutelyunquestionable - a divine concept that was professed by all the prophets,including Adam, Noah. Abraham, Moses, David. Jesus, andMuhammad (peace be uponthem all).As for the rest of Christians who still blindlyadhere to the Trinitarian doctrine, the time isripe for them to open theirminds to the fundamental Truth that verily there is no godworthy to beworshipped, except the One and Only True God, Allah.
Acknowledgments
I am very pleased to thank Dr. Maneh Al-Johani, Secretary General of theWorld
Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), for his positive remarkson my proposed WisdomEnrichment Forum. Under the aegis of Wisdom EnrichmentFoundation, the forum aims,among others, at encouraging young Muslimintellectuals to participate in Islamicresearch and propagation. Along thisline, Dr. Al-Johani has, indeed, inspired me to startwriting on Islam and otherrelated issues.Another WAMY official, brother HusainZulqarnain, has also encouraged me (during our meeting in Dhahran) to pursue myplans related to Dawa. His challenging words "if notnow, when shall we everimplement our noble plans" are still fresh in my mind. I sincerelythank him andI pray that he and the rest of WAMY Staff will always remain instrumentalin thepropagation of the true message of Islam and the development of Muslimyouthworldwide.I am very pleased to thank my brother in Islamfrom New York, Ahmad Nuroddin(Lecturer of English Language at the Institute ofPublic Administration and one of the prime movers of the Nasiriah IslamicPropagation Committee, both in Dammam, SaudiArabia), for proof-reading andmaking constructive comments on this work. I would liketo thank also the othermembers of Nasiriah Islamic Propagation Committee, especiallyHussain Ali andKhalid AI-Dossary, for encouraging me to put into writing my lecturedeliveredat Nasiriah Mosque on the 24th of December 1987 on the same subject. This bookis, in fact, an expansion of that lecture, hoping that it will be of interest toothers.Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Salim Awath BinSilim, Sub-Branch Manager of A.S Bughsan&Bros. Co. (Komatsu Division) inDammam, SaudiArabia, for encouraging me to undertake further research into thesubject.Special acknowledgment goes to my wife, Dr. NorlainD. Mababaya, for her veryvaluable comments and suggestions as well asunyielding patience while I was writingthis work. I pray that our children,Maryam and Ahmad, will in the future carry on the plans and projects of our ownWisdom Enrichment Foundation, which are all gearedtowards active service toAllah.Above all, I thank Allah the Almighty for making thisbook a reality. Indeed, this book would not have been realized without His Graceand Guidance.I pray to Allah the Almighty that He willbless this work and become a source of enlightenment to those who seekknowledge, truth and guidance. Ameen.
M. P. Mababaya
May 1988(Ramadan 1408).Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Introduction
Are you aware of the historical controversybetween the Trinitarian and theUnitarian doctrines? Are you also aware thatIslam offers the ultimate solution to suchcontroversy?TheTrinitarian controversy is one of the most crucial events in the annals ofChristendom.World renown Christian historian Edward Gibbon points out that theTrinitariancontroversy, which raged particularly during the fourth century, hassuccessively penetrated every part of the Christian world[1].On onehand, the Pauline Church (currently known as the Roman Catholic Church) hasforcenturies fought for the global acceptance of the Trinitarian doctrine. Theconcept of Trinity is the nucleus of the Athanasian Creed which states that:"There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the HolyGhost. But the Godhead of theFather, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is allone; the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal... The Father is God, the Son isGod, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they arenot three Gods, but one God ...For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity toacknowledge every personby himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by theCatholic religion tosay there be three Gods, or three Lords"[2].The nature of this creed has forcenturies been so controversial and mysterious that evenits own author,Athanasius of Alexandria, one of the principal leaders of the Paulinechurch,failed to comprehend it. This champion of Trinity himself confessedthat,"Whenever he forced his understanding to meditate on the divinity of the Logos,histoilsome and unveiling efforts recoiled on themselves; that the more hethought, the lesshe comprehended; and the more he wrote, the less capable washe of expressing histhoughts"[3].The nature of the Trinity is somysterious that, as Edward Gibbon remarks, "as often aswe deduce any positiveconclusions from a negative idea, we are involved in darkness, perplexity, andinevitable contradiction"[4].On the other hand, the Apostolic Church has over the yearsadvocated the belief in theUnity of God, and as such ruled out the deity ofJesus (peace be upon him). Among thosewho originally opposed the Trinitariandoctrine were the so-called Ebionites of Nazarenes.They considered Jesus as thegreatest of the prophets, endowed with supernatural virtuesand power [5].Themysteries of the Christian faith were dangerously exposed to public debatewhenArius, the champion of Apostolic Church, popularly confronted BishopAlexander,the champion of the Pauline Church. These two were in hot theologicaldisputefor a period of six years - from 318 A.D. through 325 A.D. Arius, the discipleof Lucian of Antioch, the greatest critic of the Trinitarian doctrine, stronglyadvocated theview that God is absolutely One and alone Eternal[6].Such Unitarian view,
whichconformed to the original teachings of Jesus and all other prophets (peace beupon
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