The Islamic Trinity
With the coming of Moses and the revelation of the Torah to the Children of Israel, the Islamic idea entered a new phase, known as the phase of the scriptural religions. These include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - the Torah for the Jews, the Gospel for the Christians, and the Qur'an for the Muslims. This new phase, into which the Islamic idea entered with the mission of Moses, was characterized by an unprecedented expansion in religious legislation. All these legislations are attributed to the Lord through angelic revelation to Moses. The divinely revealed religious legislation, from the One Lord, focused on regulating the life of society comprehensively, addressing both major and minor matters on a wide collective scale.
The doctrine of monotheism intertwined with the law of organization on this broad scale for the first time in history. Then Jesus came with the Gospel, and the Islamic Trinity was completed with the mission of the Seal of the Prophets. The Qur'an tells us about this, saying: "Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses to it. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers. And We decreed for them in it: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds [equal] retribution. But if anyone pardons it by way of charity, it will be an expiation for them. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the wrongdoers. And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah, as guidance and instruction for the righteous. And We have revealed to you, the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ." (5:44-48)
Moses was sent in the 13th century BCE, at a time when society was primitive and coarse, and individuals were harsh and ill-tempered. They were still closely tied to the law of the jungle. The Torah called them to fairness - to reciprocal justice: "a life for a life, an eye for an eye." This became their law. However, it gently encouraged them, from afar, toward forgiveness. It said, as the Qur'an recounts: "But if anyone pardons it by way of charity, it will be an expiation for him." (5:45). Whoever pardons retribution against the aggressor and does not seek retaliation, Allah will compensate them from His bounty for what they endured. Thus, the Qur'an says of the Torah: "In it was guidance and light." (5:44) Guidance refers to the law (shari‘ah), while light refers to ethics (akhlaq). Ethics represent the elevated aspect of the law. They transcend the compulsion of the law and move toward voluntary actions, undertaken by each individual on their own.
But rather, the Torah demanded retribution, and it almost limited itself to it, because it is closer to the nature of the primitive human self, which is inclined toward treachery and aggression, so little is to be expected from it in the matter of justice, let alone forgiveness. And indeed, the Children of Israel - whenever they were called to clarity - turned away from it. They were indeed in the vigor of their religion, with Moses among them, and God’s support for them against their enemy remains ever manifest, when they longed to the worship of the calf. And this Qur'an relates to us from their accounts. "So they came upon a people devoted to their idols. They said, 'O Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods.' He said, 'Indeed, you are a people behaving ignorantly. Indeed, those worshippers will be destroyed for that in which they are [engaged], and worthless is whatever they were doing.' He said, 'Is it other than Allah I should desire for you as a god while He has preferred you over the worlds?'" (7:138-140). They fell silent, neither convinced nor believing. But when Moses went to his appointed meeting with his Lord and left his brother Aaron in charge of his people, they took the calf [for worship] and said, "This is your god and the god of Moses."
Allah, Exalted is He, said about them: "Do they not see that it could not return to them any speech and that it does not possess for them [the power of] harm or benefit? And Aaron had already told them before, 'O my people, you are only being tested by it, and indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my order.' They said, 'We will never cease being devoted to it until Moses returns to us.'" (20:89-91)
The Qur'an contains numerous instances that speak of the stubbornness of the Jews, their rigidity, and how they clung to the earth whenever they were called to ascend. This behavior was natural during that early stage of human development. Yet, despite their state, they were the chosen elite of their time: "Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran over the worlds." (3:33). They are the family of Abraham and also the family of Imran: "Descendants, some of them from others. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing." (3:34).
Whatever the case, the laws of the Torah came at the initial stage of development. The Jews, in their application of these laws, could not rid themselves of the paganism they had been exposed to during their long stay in Egypt, which further entrenched their primitiveness.
Then came Christ with a legislation that drew people toward the farthest end, almost as if it were a reaction - and indeed, it is undoubtedly so. This is something understood by every devout worshipper who perfects his practice. At the beginning of your worship, your “self” is dense, as your spirit is clouded by its darkness. However, if you engage in the prophetic worship methods of Ahmadian Prophethood, fasting continuously for three days and two nights, or for seven days and six nights, along with regular prayer - especially the prayer in the last third of the night - you will begin to feel that your “self” is being drawn toward the other end. If you persist in maintaining this Ahmadian approach for a sufficient duration, your spirit, which was once folded under the wing of a dense, dark self, will begin to ascend, with grace and lightness, to the bank of the right-hand valley. You, meanwhile, will oscillate like the pendulum of a clock, swinging between the farthest left and the farthest right. Your ultimate aspiration will be to stabilize in the middle - but how distant that goal remains! For that is the station of: "The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress." (53:17)
What happens to an individual devout worshipper, as their trinity emerges, is the same phenomenon that occurred for striving humanity over this long period, with the emergence of its trinity of the three religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This is because the history of the individual human reflects the history of humanity as a whole. This is the secret behind Christ bringing an excessive spirituality to counterbalance the excessive materialism - one an excess of extremity and the other an excess of deficiency - found among the Jews. Christ said to his disciples: "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." This is what the Qur'an alludes to in the preceding verses: "And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah, as guidance and instruction for the righteous." (5:46). Thus, he confirmed what came before him in the Torah, and his Gospel confirmed what came before it in the Torah. He did not abolish but rather fulfilled, as he said. The meaning of fulfill is that he developed and extended the meanings that had been constrained by the limitations of their time, bringing them closer to their ultimate purposes - or almost so.
Listen to him as he teaches his disciples, saying: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist evildoers. Instead, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to them the other also." Christ was sent at a time when temporal authority over the Jews was held by the Romans, and Jewish law was, in some aspects, suspended as a result. Thus, Christ's call appeared, from a practical perspective, to focus less on organizing societal life and more on offering moral instructions. This appearance was further reinforced by the fact that Christ did not live long, his ministry lasted only three years. The truth is that the legislation of the Jews is also the legislation of the Christians, except in cases where Christ developed it. In such instances, the legislation of the Christians becomes a renewal of the legislation of the Jews, based on the explicit text from Christ. However, this matter is neither understood nor practiced by the Christians.
"And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light." (5:46). Here, guidance also means legislation, and light refers to ethics. The Gospel is more focused on ethics than the Torah, and for this reason, it made forgiveness its core principle, which was commanded by its messenger. When Christ said, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,'" he referred to the beginning, which reflects a deficiency in spirituality. When he said, "But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. Instead, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to them the other also," he referred to an end-point resembling excess in spirituality.
Then came Islam, during the time of Muhammad, positioned between the extremes of excess and deficiency. It can be likened, within the "Islamic Trinity," to the station of "The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress." (53:17) This aligns with the trinity of forces instilled within the human structure. Allah, Exalted is He, said regarding this: "And thus We have made you a just community, that you will be witnesses over the people, and the Messenger will be a witness over you." (2:143). A just community means one balanced between excess and deficiency. "That you will be witnesses over the people" means that within you are embodied all the qualities that connect human beings. This idea is further echoed in the verse: "Guide us to the straight path - the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray." (1:6-7)
The straight path is the middle way between two extremes: one characterized by Allah's anger, representing deficiency, and the other characterized by misguidance, representing excess in spirituality. The phrase "those upon whom You have bestowed favor" refers to the Muslims. This is alluded to in His saying: "This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as your religion." (5:3). Since the Islam brought by Muhammad lies between Judaism and Christianity, the Qur'an integrates the characteristics of both Judaism and Christianity. This is evident, for example, in the verse: "And the retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it, but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, their reward is [due] from Allah. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers." (42:40)
His saying, "retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it," corresponds to the saying of the Torah as recounted by Christ: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." However, it does not replicate it entirely. Instead, it develops it in a way that discourages retribution and paves the way for forgiveness by labeling the act of retribution against the aggressor as an "evil act.". His saying, "But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, their reward is [due] from Allah. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers," corresponds to the Gospel's statement, as recounted by Christ: "But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. Instead, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to them the other also." However, it does not entirely mirror it. The Qur'an's statement surpasses this phrase from the Gospel in terms of its emphasis on forgiveness. Yet, Christ has another saying that aligns more closely with "But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, their reward is [due] from Allah," where he says: "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you."
Islam, being a middle ground between two ends - one representing the beginning and the other the end - has made itself possess two aspects: one closer to the beginning and the other closer to the end. This is the nature of any middle ground between two ends; it is like a child who combines the characteristics of both the father and the mother, in varying proportions that may differ but never completely disappear. If this understanding is correct - and it is undoubtedly correct - then it has profound implications for the future of Islamic thought. It means that Islam, as conveyed in the Qur'an, is not a single message but two messages: a message at the beginning, closer to Judaism, and a message at the end, closer to Christianity.
The infallible (the Prophet), conveyed both messages through the Qur'an and his life example (sunnah). However, he detailed the first message through comprehensive legislation, while summarizing the second message broadly, except in cases of overlapping legislation between the first and second messages. Such overlapping legislation can also be considered detailed in the context of the second message, particularly with regard to the laws of worship - except for zakah with fixed proportions.
