Is Islam a Monotheism (tawhid)?
No, it is not!
At least not according to the creed of the vast majority of Muslims who follow
the Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
(+ 855) and the perhaps most influential theologian Abu l-Ḥasan al-Aš‘arī (+ 935).
According to
this creed the Koran is not only eternal, but most of all "uncreated"
(Arabic: ġayr mahlūq). What exactly is to be thought as
"uncreated" under the name "Koran", perhaps this
"Tablet Preserved" of the Koran in heaven (Arabic: lauḥ
maḥfūẓ, surah 85,22) or – as Ibn
Ḥanbal insisted – even the Arabic pronunciation of his terrestrial
recitation – that is irrelevant. In any case this creed teaches an
uncreated (in philosophical terms: non contingent) being that is not identical
with Allah and so another god.
This reproach,
indeed, had duly been brought forward in the 9th century by the theological and
philosophical school of the Mu`tazilites against their adversaries. The latter,
however, under the leadership of Al-Aš‘arī,
after having been persecuted a short time by the inquisition (Arabic: miḥna)
of Caliph Al-Ma’mūn (+ 833),
won a total victory over the Mu`tazilites, who now were condemned as heretics. Al-Aš‘arī and his followers argued
that the Koran is not created (Arabic: mahlūq), because it
is the word of Allah and therefore like any other attribute of Allah together
with him uncreated and eternal.
Now for various
reasons the Koran cannot be thought of as an attribute of God as for instance
his justice. One only may try to imitate a sentence like "God is
just" with an attribute "Koran" or "Koranic"!
Most of all,
this kind of theological argument in favour of the uncreatedness of the Koran
necessarily leads to a third god: Jesus
according to the Koran is "Allah
To sum up: The
Hanbalite-Ash‘arite creed, which the by far greatest majority of Muslims
adheres to, doesn
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| Islamic Matters | Textual Criticism of the Koran