102 No god but God
What the Quran does not accept, however, is the belief of those
Orthodox Trinitarians who argued that Jesus was himself God. These
Christians Muhammad did not even consider to be Peoples of the
Book: “It is the unbeliever who says, ‘God is the third of three,’ ” the
Quran declares. “There is only God the One!” (5:73). It was Muham-
mad’s belief that Orthodox Christians had corrupted the original mes-
sage of Jesus, who the Quran contends never claimed divinity and
never asked to be worshipped (5:116–18), but rather commanded his
disciples to “worship God, who is my Lord and your Lord” (5:72).
At the same time, Muhammad lashed out at those Jews in Arabia
who had “forsaken the community of Abraham” (2:130) and “who
were trusted with the laws of the Torah, but who fail to observe them”
(62:5). Again, this was not a condemnation of Judaism. The respect
and reverence that Muhammad had for the great Jewish patriarchs is
evidenced by the fact that almost every biblical prophet is mentioned
in the Quran (Moses nearly one hundred and forty times!). Rather,
Muhammad was addressing those Jews in the Arabian Peninsula—and
only in the Arabian Peninsula—who had in both belief and practice
“breached their covenant with God” (5:13). And, if the Jewish clans in
Medina were any indication, there were many of them.
Muhammad’s complaints in the Quran were not directed against
the religions of Judaism and Christianity, which he considered to be
nearly identical to Islam: “We believe in what has been revealed to us,
just as we believe in what has been revealed to you [ Jews and Chris-
tians],” the Quran says. “Our God and your God are the same; and it
is to Him we submit” (29:46). His complaint was against those Jews
and Christians he had encountered in Arabia who, in his opinion, had
forsaken their covenant with God and perverted the teachings of the
Torah and Gospels. These were not believers but apostates with
whom the Quran warns Muslims not to ally themselves: “O believers,
do not make friends with those who mock you and make fun of your
faith.... Instead say to them: ‘O People of the Book, why do you dis-
like us? Is it because we believe in God and in what has been sent
down to us [the Quran], and what was sent down before that [the
Torah and Gospels], while most of you are disobedient?’ ” (5:57–59).
The point is that when Muhammad reminded the Jews of Arabia
of the “favors [God] bestowed on you, making you the most exalted