Addressing False Islamic Analogies Utilized by Christians to Defend the Incarnation

Christianity suffers significantly from the fact that some of its central doctrines, such as the incarnation, are theologically and rationally problematic.[1]

One of the ways Christians sought to respond to this charge is by trying to show that Muslims are in the same boat as them. They do so by giving analogies found in Islamic scripture and theology to highlight that Islamic beliefs would logically require that Muslims also be accepting of the coherence of the incarnation.

We will take a look at some of these claims in this article.

Allegation #1: The Qur’an states in Surah 20:10-13, 27:7-9, and 28:29-30 that Allah was in the bushfire when He called out to Moses. If Allah can be spatially located in a bushfire, then why can’t He also assume human flesh?

Response:

This is what the ayahs state:

When he saw a fire, he said to his family, “Wait here, ˹for˺ I have spotted a fire. Perhaps I can bring you a torch from it, or find some guidance at the fire.”1 But when he approached it, he was called, “O Moses! It is truly I. I am your Lord! So take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Ṭuwa. I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed: (Surah 20:10-13)

˹Remember˺ when Moses said to his family, “I have spotted a fire. I will either bring you some directions1 from there, or a burning torch so you may warm yourselves.” But when he came to it, he was called ˹by Allah˺, “Blessed is the one at the fire, and whoever is around it!1 Glory be to Allah, the Lord of all worlds. O  Moses! It is truly I. I am Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise. (Surah 27:7-9)

When Moses had completed the term and was travelling with his family, he spotted a fire on the side of Mount Ṭûr. He said to his family, “Stay here, ˹for˺ I have spotted a fire. Perhaps from there I can bring you some directions1 or a torch from the fire so you may warm yourselves.” But when he came to it, he was called from the bush in the sacred ground to the right side of the valley: “O Moses! It is truly I. I am Allah—the Lord of all worlds. (Surah 28: 29-30)

It is argued that since the sound came from the bush with the speaker being identified as Allah, this necessitates that Allah Himself, in His Essence, was spatially located in the bushfire.

However, this is an odd extrapolation that lacks imagination, considering that God is powerful enough to make sounds appear from any direction without having to be spatially located in that given direction. Seeing how this is possible for God, what grounds are there for contending with certitude that these passages are stating that Allah Himself, in His very Essence, is spatially located in the fire? There are none.

Moreover, it is alleged that Surah 27 states that Allah is the one who is blessed and who is in (fee) the fire. However, once again, the ayah does not explicitly state that. Some scholars contended that the blessed one fee the fire here refers to Prophet Musa (‘alayhi assalam), while the blessed ones around it are the angels.[2] Also, some opined that the “fire” was not actually fire but only appeared to be so to Prophet Musa. Rather, it was the light of Allah, which was His veil.[3] Others opined that the blessed “around” are those in the vicinity of the valley and neighboring lands.[4]

Others said it refers to the place close to the fire because Surah 28:30 says, “in the blessed place FROM THE TREE.” The Arabic word من most commonly meaning “who” could at times, just as Imam Al Baghawi in his commentary points out, act as an impersonal “what” or “that” ما just as one could see in Surah 24, Ayah 45. So the word من could be used to refer to something impersonal. So linguistically speaking it could be referring to the place close to the fire.

We read in the following hadith:

‘Ali ibn Muhammad said: Wakee’ said: al-Mas’udi said: from ‘amro ibn Murrah from Abi’ Ubaidah from Abi Musa that he said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Verily the Exalted and Mighty God does not sleep, and it does not befit Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and lifts it. His veil is the light. If he withdraws it (the veil), the splendour of His countenance would consume His creation so far as His sight reaches. Then Abu’ Ubaidah recited: {Blessed is He who is in the fire, and he who is about it. Exalted be Allah, the Lord of all Being} (Sunan Ibn Majah, n. 169, 1/71, Sheikh al-Albani said it is authentic. Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah, n. 162, p. 39.)

Imam al-Suyuti comments on the hadith of Ibn Majah:

Abu ‘Ubaidah's purpose of recitation of this verse is that Moses - despite his greatness - was prevented by fire from seeing Allah (swt) and he did not see Him (swt), that's why Allah exalted Himself saying (Exalted be Allah, the Lord of all Being), i.e., He is exalted above being seen in this world. (Al-Suyuti, Sharh Sunan Ibn Majah, 1/18.)

 In another hadith we read: 

Abu Musa reported: The Messenger ofallah (may peace be upon him) was standing amongst us and he told us five things. He said: Verily the Exalted and Mighty God does not sleep, and it does not befit Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and lifts it. The deeds in the night are taken up to Him before the deeds of the day. and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is the light. In the hadith narrated by Abu Bakr (instead of the word" light" ) it is fire. If he withdraws it (the veil), the splendour of His countenance would consume His creation so far as His sight reaches. (Saheeh Muslim, Book 001, Number 0343)

The Arabic word fee commonly translated as “in” could also mean “at”. Imam Ar-Razi said in his commentary that, according to the Arabic language, one could be said to be fee something if one is near to that thing.[5] Thus, we need not necessarily read the ayah as stating that Prophet Musa himself was literally in the fire/light.

Some said that the light of Allah was in the fire, and it was this light that was blessed. Others said that the fire was actually the light of Allah and that Prophet Musa was the one who was blessed because he was close to it. There is a difference of opinion on this matter; however, I have not come across anyone saying that Allah in His Essence became incarnate in the fire or light.

Given that these ayahs are not explicit about these critical details, Christian missionaries cannot appeal to them in their favor.

In conclusion, Prophet Musa saw great light/fire. This light/fire is actually Allah's veil through which he heard Allah's words and voice.

Allegation #2: Muslims believe that the Qur’an is uncreated, yet they still also believe that there is a created element to it (e.g., the pages, ink, etc.). They also believe that the uncreated Qur’an is present with us spatially. If the Qur’an can be both created and uncreated simultaneously, then why can’t God in the process of the incarnation as well?

Response:

Allah has several attributes (e.g., Knowledge, Sight, Speech, etc.) that subsist in His nature. They are not distinct from Him in the sense that God does not exist without these attributes; however, they are also distinct in the sense that the attributes vary from one another and are not Allah Himself. Logically speaking, if Allah is uncreated, then that also means that His attributes are uncreated as well.

The Qur'an is the speech of Allah, which is uncreated. The Qur’an is from Allah’s eternal Knowledge (Surah 2:120, 2:145, and 3:61). Thus, the Qur’an is eternal in the form of Allah’s Knowledge but became Speech at the time Allah spoke it.[6]

The actual words of the Qur’an themselves as information content are uncreated. When human beings transcribe that information content through created means such as paper and ink or recite it through their created voices, the actual content itself remains uncreated, despite the created means acting as vehicles to enable that content to be seen and heard by human beings. We can refer to a created book as “the Qur’an” by virtue of that book containing that information content, and not that the material book itself has suddenly become divine.

On the other hand, Christians believe that God's divine essence itself was in the man of Jesus Christ himself, but nowhere do Muslims believe that the divine attribute of speech subsisting in God is in a created book. The actual message and information content of the Qur’an is not some standalone entity comparable to Allah’s Essence. Anyone can write up the Qur'an on a piece of paper, but that does not mean that he can transform an ordinary piece of paper into a divine piece of paper in this manner.[7]

The Qur'an, in essence, is uncreated and communicated to us through created means. It did not become a creation. On the other hand, Christians do not merely say that God remained in His essence and simply communicated to us through the image of a man. Rather, they say that He actually became a man. Since Muslims do not say that Allah's divine attribute of Speech itself became paper, ink, etc.; rather, speech uttered by Allah is only communicated through those means to human beings. Thus, the analogy is fallacious.

Allegation #3: Several hadiths state that the Qur’an will become alive on the Day of Judgment and act as an intercessor for those who recited it. This shows that an uncreated entity like the Qur’an could become alive and conscious and assume created physical form.

Response:

Below are some of the relevant hadith in question:

Abu Umama said he heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) say: Recite the Qur'an, for on the Day of Resurrection it will come as an intercessor for those who recite It. Recite the two bright ones, al-Baqara and Surah Al 'Imran, for on the Day of Resurrection they will come as two clouds or two shades, or two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading for those who recite them. Recite Surah al-Baqara, for to take recourse to it is a blessing and to give it up is a cause of grief, and the magicians cannot confront it. (Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 302)

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: A surah of the Qur'an containing thirty verses will intercede its reader till he will be forgiven. That is: "Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the sovereignty" (Surah 67). (Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 6, Hadith 30)

It was narrated from Ibn Buraidah that his father told that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said:

"The Quran will come on the Day of Resurrection, like a pale man, and will say: 'I am the one that kept you awake at night and made you thirsty during the day." (Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 33, Hadith 125)

The Qur'an is a term that can refer to the uncreated Word of Allah, the created recitation of reciters, the created writing of the mushaf, etc.

The Qur’an that will intercede for its reciter is not the uncreated Word of Allah, but rather the created recitation of the reciter, which is the deed and reward of the reciter. We know this because the hadiths state that the Qur’an will intercede for its ashaab, which literally translates as “owners.” This indicates that the “Qur’an” that is ‘owned’ by the human reciters is indeed referring to the created recitation.

Similarly, we read in another hadith how both our fasting and the Qur’an would intercede for us:

Narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting and the Qur’aan will intercede for a person on the Day of Resurrection. Fasting will say, ‘O Lord, I deprived him of his food and his desires during the day, so let me intercede for him.’ And the Qur’aan will say: ‘I deprived him of his sleep at night so let me intercede for him.’ Then they will intercede.” (Narrated by Ahmad; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 3882.)

Thus, we see that Allah permits abstract objects to be represented in physical forms at times. Similar to how we see death itself being represented on the Day of Judgment:

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "On the Day of Resurrection Death will be brought forward in the shape of a black and white ram. Then a call maker will call, 'O people of Paradise!' Thereupon they will stretch their necks and look carefully. The caller will say, 'Do you know this?' They will say, 'Yes, this is Death.' By then all of them will have seen it. Then it will be announced again, 'O people of Hell !' They will stretch their necks and look carefully. The caller will say, 'Do you know this?' They will say, 'Yes, this is Death.' And by then all of them will have seen it. Then it (that ram) will be slaughtered and the caller will say, 'O people of Paradise! Eternity for you and no death O people of Hell! Eternity for you and no death."' Then the Prophet, recited:-- 'And warn them of the Day of distress when the case has been decided, while (now) they are in a state of carelessness (i.e. the people of the world) and they do not believe.' (19.39)

Thus, this analogy fails as well, as it does not involve Allah’s actual divine attribute becoming incarnate in any physical form.

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[1] See my article Can God Become Incarnate?

[2] See Tafsir al-Wahidi for the various opinions.

[3] We see the following report from Ibn Jurayj from al-Qurtubi’s commentary:

قال ابن جُريج: النار حجاب من الحجب وهي سبعة حجب؛ حجاب العزّة، وحجاب الملك، وحجاب السلطان، وحجاب النار، وحجاب النور، وحجاب الغمام، وحجاب الماء. وبالحقيقة فالمخلوق المحجوب والله لا يحجبه شيء؛ فكانت النار نوراً وإنما ذكره بلفظ النار؛ لأن موسى حسبه ناراً، والعرب تضع أحدهما موضع الآخر

[4] Imam al-Baidhawi states:

 من في النار ومن حولها " " من " في مكان " النار " وهو البقعة المباركة المذكورة في قوله تعالى : " نودي من شاطئ الواد الأيمن في البقعة المباركة " ومن حول مكانها والظاهر أنه عام في كل من تلك الأرض ، وفي ذلك الواد وحواليها من أرض الشام الموسومة بالبركات لكونها مبعث الأنبياء وكفاتهم أحياء وأمواتاً وخصوصاً تلك البقعة التي كلم الله فيها موسى .

[5] He states:

{من فى النار} هو موسى عليه السلام لقربه منها {من حولها} يعني الملائكة، وهذا أقرب لأن القريب من الشيء قد يقال إنه فيه

[6] It is important to clarify that the claim being made here is not simply that God had eternal knowledge of the contents of the Qur’an, thus making the Qur’an eternal in the form of Allah’s Knowledge. This is because Allah had eternal knowledge of all things. Rather, what Allah spoke is His knowledge, but was in a form of speech when He spoke it. As for creation, it is not His knowledge, but Allah Has knowledge of His creation of course, since He is the creator of everything.

To make this clearer, consider the following example. Someone says, "Bears eat honey." Before uttering that sentence, this information was in the person’s knowledge. Once he spoke that knowledge that he had, it became speech. But would anyone say that the bear or honey was inside the person because it was from his knowledge? No sane person would say such a thing.

The meanings of my speech came from my created knowledge that Allah gave me, it was not Allah's expression (speech) of His Knowledge; rather, it was my expression of my knowledge. Thus, one cannot say that the meanings of my speech are eternal, as those meanings of my speech came from me. Even though those meanings also exist in Allah's Knowledge, we are still speaking about my speech whose basis originated from the meanings in my created knowledge.

As for the Quran however, it is wholly uncreated in both dimensions, meanings and speech. The meanings of the Qur’an are directly from Allah’s Knowledge, and also uttered as speech by Allah whose essence is uncreated.

Bear in mind that we are talking about the meanings of one's speech, and not merely meanings without a referent.

Thus, the meanings of my speech are created, while the meanings of Allah's speech (i.e. the Quran) are eternal from Allah’s Knowledge.

[7] Sure, the paper could become holy in the sense that it contains the words of the divine, but not that it has actually become divine in and of itself.