the worship of the sun, the moon, the stars, in fact everything which might appear to control the destinies of man. This is expressly forbidden: “And of His signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Adore not the sun nor the moon, but adore Allāh Who created them” (41:37).5 The argument advanced against the worship of the sun and the moon not only applies to all heavenly bodies6 but also, and equally well, to all the forces of nature, which are in fact again and again mentioned as being made subservient to man.
The Trinity is also denounced as a form of shirk: “So believe in Allāh and his messengers and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allāh is only One God” (4:171). It is sometimes alleged that the Quranic conception of the Trinity is a mistaken one, because it speaks of Jesus and Mary as having been taken for two gods: “O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say to men, Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allāh?” (5:116). The reference here is to Mariolatry. That Mary was worshipped is a fact, and the Holy Qur’ān’s reference to it is significant,7 but it should be noted that neither the Holy Qur’ān nor the Holy Prophet has anywhere said that Mary was the third person of the Trinity. Where the Holy Qur’ān denounces the Trinity, it speaks of the doctrine of sonship but does not speak of the worship of Mary at all; and where it speaks of the worship of Mary, it does not refer to the Trinity.
Another form of shirk, refuted in the Holy Qur’ān, is the doctrine that God has sons or daughters. The pagan Arabs ascribed daughters to God while the Christians hold that God has a son. Though the doctrine of ascribing daughters to god is mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān several times,8 yet it is against the Christian doctrine that the Holy Book speaks with gravest emphasis: “And they say: The Beneficent God has taken to Himself a son. Certainly you have made an abominable assertion! The heavens may almost be rent thereat, and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in pieces, that they ascribe a son to the Beneficent God!” (19:88-91). The
5 The argument is also clearly put forth in Abraham’s controversy with his people that these things are themselves under the control of a Higher Power: “And thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and that he might be of those who are sure. So when night overshadowed him, he saw a star. Said he, Is this my Lord? And when it set, he said, I love not the setting ones. Then when he saw the moon rising he said, Is this my Lord? When it set, he said, If my Lord had not guided me, I should be of the erring people. Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, Is this my Lord? Is this the greatest? And when it set, he said O my people! I am clear of what you set up with Allāh. Surely I have turned myself, being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth and I am not of the polytheists” (6:75-79).
6 The worship of Sirius is alluded to in 53:49 where God is called the Lord of Sirius.
7 The doctrine and practice of Mariolatry, as it is called by the Protestant controversialists, is too well-known. In the catechism of the Roman Church the following doctrines are to be found: “That she is truly the mother of God …; That she is the mother of Pity and very specially our advocate; that her images are of the utmost utility.” It is also stated that her intercessions are directly appealed to in the Litany. And further that there were women in Thrace, Scythia and Arabia who were in the habit of worshipping the Virgin as a goddess, the offer of a cake being one of the features of their worship. “From the time of the Council of Ephesus, to exhibit figures of the Virgin and Child became the approved expression of orthodoxy … Of the growth of the Marian cultus, alike in the East and the West, after the decision at Ephesus, it would be impossible to trace the history … Justinian in one of his laws bespeaks her advocacy for the empire … Narses looks to her for directions on the field of battle. The emperor Heraclius bears her image on his banner. John of Damascus speaks of her as the sovereign lady to whom the whole creation has been made subject by her son. Peter Damian recognizes her as the most exalted of all creatures, and apostrophizes her as deified and endowed with all power in heaven and in earth” (En. Br., 11th ed. XVII, p. 813).