Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
This argument is false. The variation in the Qur’an between the singular and plural forms does not in any way indicate that Jesus, peace be upon him, is the son of Allah or that he is divine. Rather, the plural form is used in Arabic speech, including the Qur’an, as an expression of majesty and exaltation. The Qur’an itself clearly affirms the Oneness of Allah and denies that He has a child.
The Qur’anic variation in referring to Allah using either the singular or plural form occurred thousands of years before the creation of Jesus, peace be upon him, and his mother Mary, as well as at the time of their creation and after their creation. This demonstrates that this variation has no connection whatsoever with the existence of Jesus.
Allah says:
﴿And We certainly created man from sounding clay extracted from black mud. And the jinn We created before from scorching fire﴾
And He says:
﴿And when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” so they prostrated, except Iblis. He was of the jinn and departed from the command of his Lord﴾
These verses contain the plural form when speaking about Allah’s actions, even though they refer to events that took place before the existence of Jesus, peace be upon him, and his mother.
Allah also says:
﴿Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light﴾
Then He later mentions the sending of Jesus, peace be upon him:
﴿And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, son of Mary, confirming the Torah that came before him, and We gave him the Gospel﴾
Allah also says:
﴿Indeed, We sent Noah to his people﴾
And regarding Abraham, peace be upon him, He says:
﴿So when he withdrew from them and what they worshipped besides Allah, We granted him Isaac and Jacob, and We made each of them a prophet. And We granted them from Our mercy and gave them an honorable mention﴾
And regarding Moses, peace be upon him, He says:
﴿And We brought him near, privately conversing with him. And We granted him out of Our mercy his brother Aaron as a prophet﴾
And He says:
﴿Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him﴾
Thus, this variation in style existed before the creation of Jesus, peace be upon him, and after his creation, and it is used when speaking about him and about others. This disproves any attempt to connect the plural form with the sonship or divinity of Jesus.
Anyone familiar with the Arabic language and its styles of expression knows that the first-person pronoun may occur in the singular form, such as “I”, or in the plural form, such as “We” and “Us.” A single speaker may sometimes use the plural form as an expression of majesty and exaltation.
What determines the intended meaning is the context and the surrounding indications.
Therefore, the use of the plural form in the Qur’an when Allah speaks about Himself does not mean that there are multiple speakers, nor does it indicate that He has partners in divinity.
Rather, the Qur’an itself combines these styles. Allah says:
﴿Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me﴾
And He says:
﴿Indeed, We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will preserve it﴾
The speaker in both passages is one and the same: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.
The Noble Qur’an is a book of precise and consistent revelation; its verses explain one another. It is not valid to take one text and disregard the other explicit texts dealing with the same issue.
Allah says:
﴿And they say, “The Most Merciful has taken a son.” You have certainly brought forth something terrible. The heavens are about to rupture from it, and the earth to split apart, and the mountains to collapse in devastation, because they have attributed a son to the Most Merciful. And it is not befitting for the Most Merciful to take a son. There is no one in the heavens and the earth except that he will come to the Most Merciful as a servant﴾
[Maryam: 88–93]
And He says:
﴿Say: He is Allah, One. Allah, the Self-Sufficient. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him﴾
[Al-Ikhlas: 1–4]
These verses explicitly deny that Allah has a child and affirm His Oneness and His transcendence above having any partner or equal.
Allah also says in response to those who regarded Jesus as divine:
﴿Indeed, the likeness of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created him from dust, then said to him, “Be,” and he was﴾
[Aal ‘Imran: 59]
The fact that Jesus, peace be upon him, was created by Allah’s command does not make him divine or the son of Allah. Adam, peace be upon him, was created without a father or mother, yet no one claimed that he was divine.
Anyone who wishes to use the Noble Qur’an as evidence must consider all of its texts and must not take a verse that may be interpreted in a certain way while disregarding the clear and decisive verses.
Allah says:
﴿Do you then believe in part of the Scripture and reject the rest?﴾
[Al-Baqarah: 85]
The Qur’an has made clear that Jesus, peace be upon him, was a servant and messenger of Allah and that he called the Children of Israel to worship Allah alone.
Allah says:
﴿They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,” while the Messiah said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates partners with Allah, Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and his refuge will be the Fire”﴾
And He says:
﴿They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three.”﴾
Thus, the very Qur’an cited in this argument is the same Qur’an that clearly establishes the Oneness of Allah and denies that He has any partner or child.
Using the expressions “We” and “Us” in the Qur’an to claim that Jesus, peace be upon him, or the Holy Spirit is a partner of Allah is an invalid argument. The plural form in the Qur’an does not indicate multiple gods. Rather, it is used in Arabic speech, including the Qur’an, as an expression of majesty and exaltation. Moreover, this style appears in the Qur’an before the existence of Jesus, peace be upon him.
The Qur’an is explicit that Allah is One and Unique, He neither begets nor is born, and Jesus, peace be upon him, is the servant and messenger of Allah. Attributing a child or partner to Allah is therefore false.
And Allah knows best.