Now, pay heed to the arguments for the Trinity and their refutation.
The first argument—The first sentence of the Holy Torah: Bara Elohim. Bara is a verb; its meaning is he created—Elohim [God] is its subject. The people belonging to the Christian faith ‘prove’ the Trinity from this sentence because bara is a singular verb whereas Elohim, its subject, is plural, and an indication of the Trinity is found in it.
Rebuttal of this argument—Elohim is derived from eloah, and eloah is used for both the true God and false deities. Elohim is the plural of eloah. Thus, its meaning will be false gods or true gods. The plural of eloah, elohim, has been used for judges, rulers, angels, and kings as well. The plural meaning of it is not obligatory and essential. Eloah is used in the sense of the true God in Nehemiah 9:17, and eloah is used in the meaning of a false god in Daniel 11:37, 38; 2 Chronicles 32:15; Habakkuk 1:11; and Job 12:6.
Elohim, which is the plural of eloah, has also been used for a single real person. In Exodus 7:1 and Exodus 4:16, Moses has been called elohim. God says I have made you, O Moses, elohim for the Pharaoh, and elohim for Aaron.
Elohim is used in the context of plural false gods in Deuteronomy 13:7, 32:39; Judges 5:8, 10:14; 1 Kings 9:6; 2 Kings 19:18; 1 Chronicles 5:25; 2 Chronicles 13:9, 25:14; Psalms 97:7; Psalms 136:2; and Jeremiah 10:11, 11:12, 16:20.
Elohim used in the meaning of kings, rulers, and judges: Exodus 22:28; Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 82:1, 138:1; Genesis 6:2, 4; and Exodus 21:6, 22:8, 22:9.
Elohim used in the meaning of angels: 1 Samuel 4:8, 28:13; 2 Samuel 7:23; and Psalms 82:6, 8:5.
Elohim used in the meaning of the One True God: Genesis 1:1; 1 Kings 18:24, 39.
It appears frequently in the plural for false gods, kings, rulers, judges, and angels and sometimes in the meaning of one, and for the True God it is always used in the meaning of absolutely singular. Quite apart from all this—if the intent is [to prove the Divinity of Christ] only through allusions—then it would be better to first establish the Trinity through some other proofs and then strengthen it through allusions.
(Indications) Unequivocal and explicit mention of the doctrine of Trinity does not exist in the earlier holy scriptures. If believing in it on the basis of such conjectural indications can lead to salvation—as is the fanciful belief of the Christians—then let the Christians heed [what follows] justly and consider the Muslims to have attained salvation.
In many places in the Quran, the Blessed Being of the Exalted Maker has been referred to in the plural form. See:
—Part 14, Surah al-Hijr, Ruku‘\ 11
Verily, We Ourself have sent down this Quran, and most surely We will be its Guardian.
—Part 27, Surah al-Waqi‘ah, Ruku‘ 22
We have Ourself created you. Why, then, do you not accept the truth?
—Part 27, Surah al-Waqi‘ah, Ruku‘ 23
We have Ourself ordained death for all of you; and no one can prevail against us.
And the Muslims have faith in all the sentences of the Quran. Thus, if the Prophets Moses and Abraham etc., attained salvation by reciting the plural form Elohim in the phrase bara Elohim which is susceptible to interpretations, then why would the Muslims not attain salvation by reciting the plural forms of the Exalted Being of the Maker?
What remains are the full particulars of faith and this, first of all, the Christians do not even avail of, because they believe that human intellect is incapable of understanding the Trinity and the mystery of Divinity. So how could those who preceded the Messiah attain it?
Secondly, the details do not exist in the previous scriptures. So after producing all these facts, I submit to the Christians humbly: O Christians! What correlation exists between the essence of the Trinity and the use of plural forms?
1 Surah al-Hijr, 15:10 [Publisher]
2 Surah al-Waqi‘ah, 56:58 [Publisher]
3 Surah al-Waqi‘ah, 56:61 [Publisher]