In the English speaking world, where the trinity doctrine is prevalent, some people are intrigued by God’s usage of the plural tense in the Quran. The overwhelming message of the Quran, where there is absolutely no compromise is that “GOD IS ONE” (2:133,163; 4:171; 5:73; 6:19; 9:31; 12:39; 13:16; 14:48, 52; , 51; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).
Whenever the first person plural form is used by the Almighty, it invariably indicates participation of other entities, such as the angels. For example, the revelation of this Quran involved participation of the angel Gabriel and the prophet Muhammad. Hence the use of the plural form in 15:9: “ We revealed this scripture, and we will preserve it.” The plural form here simply reflects the fact that the angel Gabriel and the prophet Muhammad participated in the process of delivering the Quran.
Another example has to do with blowing the breath of life into Adam and Jesus. The creation of Adam took place in heaven and God directly blew into him the breath of life. Thus, the first person singular form is consistently used: “I blew into Adam from My spirit” (15:29, 38:72). The creation of Jesus, on the other hand, took place on earth, and Gabriel carried God’s “word” to Mary. The plural form is consistently used when referring to the creation of Jesus (21:91, 66:12).
When God spoke to Moses directly, without the mediation of angels, we see that God is speaking exclusively in the singular tense: “ I am God. There is no other god besides Me. You shall worship Me alone, and observe the regular contact prayers ( Salat) to commemorate Me.” (20:12-14).
Whenever the worship of God is mentioned, the singular tense is used (51:56).
Below are the different examples of the verses with the plural tense and explanations of how God can facilitate this through His agents of angels and servants.
We were in everything knowers
Some people interpret the following verse to mean that all entities involved in the “we” were knowers of everything. However, this is a false extrapolation. The phrase simply means that collectively, they had knowledge of everything. This is not surprising because God, who is All-Knowing, is part of this collective. Therefore, the group, as a whole, has knowledge of everything. To illustrate, if I am part of a group that includes doctors, lawyers, engineers, and a polymath with knowledge of all three. It would be erroneous to assume that everyone in the group has knowledge of all these fields individually. Yet, it would be accurate if I say that we know medicine, the law, and engineering.
21:81 For Solomon, we committed the wind gusting and blowing at his disposal. He could direct it as he wished, to whatever land he chose, and we blessed such land for him. We are fully aware of all things.
The expression in the above verse, “to us, they were worshipers,” can be understood in two ways. Either the individuals were worshiping “us,” or, according to us, the individuals were worshipers. Let’s look at one of the verses that uses this expression, and for background, this is regarding Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
21:73 We made them imams who guided in accordance with our commandments, and we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat). To us, they were devoted worshipers.
As we can see, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not devoted worshipers of “us,” but the proper understanding is that according to “us,” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were devoted worshipers. The first interpretation would imply shirk (associating partners with God), while the latter interpretation aligns with the rest of the Quran, as Abraham was never an idol worshiper (2:135). We also see a similar expression utilized in 21:90 regarding John and his wife, which we will discuss below.
Additionally, we see a similar structure in the following verse.
21:106 This is a proclamation for people who are worshipers.
From the above verse, it would be inaccurate to say these were “people worshipers” instead of “people who were worshipers.”
Also, since this expression in 21:73 comes immediately after the concept of Salat, it is worth mentioning that Salat’s purpose is to worship God alone and to remember God alone. So, to try to extract that the verse is showing a plurality in worship would be completely contradictory to many other verses in the Quran.
6:162 Say, “ My Contact Prayers (Salat), my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted absolutely to GOD alone, the Lord of the universe.
When a person has their sins forgiven, this process requires the angel to update their record accordingly. Additionally, when we commit sin, we bring disaster upon ourselves. So, forgiving sin, in addition to wiping it from the record, can also require removing the hardship and adversity that the sin has caused the individual. A case in point is the Children of Israel, who suffered many hardships because of their transgressions, yet if they were to abide by God’s command, God would forgive their sins, which would require the angels to remove their hardships and increase their reward.
2:58 Recall that we said, “Enter this town, where you will find as many provisions as you like. Just enter the gate humbly, and treat the people nicely. We will then forgive your sins, and increase the reward for the pious.”
7:161 Recall that they were told, “Go into this town to live, and eat therefrom as you please, treat the people amicably, and enter the gate humbly. We will then forgive your transgressions. We will multiply the reward for the righteous.”
An interesting side to this point can be found in the Bible: When Jesus heals the paralytic, he tells him that his sins have been forgiven. This signifies that his sins caused him hardship, and his healing signified the forgiveness of his sins.
Matthew 9:2-8 “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—’Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
We blessed, We Granted, We Provided
When God blesses, grants, or provides, He utilizes the angels or other entities to fulfill this request. A clear example is the immaculate conception of Jesus, where God sent the angels to carry out the commandments. Similarly, when God grants anyone a child, a similar process must be undertaken, where the angels carry out God’s doing of what is destined.
Additionally, angels have some discretion in the context of offspring and mercy. This is evident in Sura 18 of the Quran and in Moses’ teacher’s example. When Moses’ teacher explained why he did the three things, he showed that the first event was because of his own discretion, the second was due to our discretion, and the final was God’s discretion. This indicates that God permits His servants discretion in the decisions they make.
18:79 “As for the ship, it belonged to poor fishermen, and I wanted to render it defective. There was a king coming after them, who was confiscating every ship, forcibly.
18:80 “As for the boy, his parents were good believers, and we saw that he was going to burden them with his transgression and disbelief.
18:81 “ We willed that your Lord substitute in his place another son; one who is better in righteousness and kindness.
18:82 “As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city. Under it, there was a treasure that belonged to them. Because their father was a righteous man, your Lord wanted them to grow up and attain full strength, then extract their treasure. Such is mercy from your Lord. I did none of that of my own volition. This is the explanation of the things you could not stand.”
The above examples show that the angels have discretion in their decision making and are allowed to make decisions impacting the people of this world in accordance with God’s will. Additionally, we see that the angels even pray for God’s forgiveness and mercy for the believers.
40:7 Those who serve the throne and all those around it glorify and praise their Lord, and believe in Him. And they ask forgiveness for those who believe: “Our Lord, Your mercy and Your knowledge encompass all things. Forgive those who repent and follow Your path, and spare them the retribution of Hell.
6:84 And we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and we guided both of them. Similarly, we guided Noah before that, and from his descendants (we guided) David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron. We thus reward the righteous.
29:27 We granted him Isaac and Jacob, we assigned to his descendants prophethood and the scriptures, we endowed him with his due recompense in this life, and in the Hereafter he will surely be with the righteous.
6:94 “You have come back to us as individuals, just as we created you the first time, and you have left behind what we provided for you. We do not see with you the intercessors that you idolized and claimed that they will help you. All ties among you have been severed; the idols you set up have abandoned you.”
When the Quran states that “we forget” in the following verses, it signifies that God and His constituency disregard the person.
7:51 Those who do not take their religion seriously, and are totally preoccupied with this worldly life, we forget them on that day, because they forgot that day, and because they spurned our revelations.
45:34 It will be proclaimed: “Today we forget you, just as you forgot the meeting of this day. Your abode is the hellfire, and you will have no helpers.
The following three examples state, “implored us,” and in response, “we” relieved, bestowed, or fixed the situation. This shows that when a person implores God, God dispatches His angels and invisible forces to fulfill the people’s prayers. So even though the supplication is to God, the command is given to God’s agents to carry out the act accordingly. This process can be seen in the following example from the prophet.
8:9 Thus, when you implored your Lord to come to the rescue, He responded to you: “I am supporting you with one thousand angels in succession.”
8:12 Recall that your Lord inspired the angels: “I am with you; so support those who believed. I will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved. You may strike them above the necks, and you may strike even every finger.”
3:125 Indeed, if you steadfastly persevere and maintain righteousness, then they attack you suddenly, your Lord will support you with five thousand* angels, well trained.
10:12 When adversity touches the human being, he implores us while lying down, or sitting, or standing up. But as soon as we relieve his adversity, he goes on as if he never implored us to relieve any hardship! The works of the transgressors are thus adorned in their eyes.
39:49 If the human is touched by adversity, he implores us, but as soon as we bestow a blessing upon him, he says, “I attained this because of my cleverness!” Indeed, this is only a test, but most of them do not know.
Specifically, in the case of John, it is worth noting that John had direct communication with the angels who were carrying God’s message between him and God. Additionally, the verse uses the same form as discussed previously, where it says, “To us they were reverent.” The expression can be understood in two ways. Either John and his wife were reverencing “us,” or, according to us, John and his wife were reverent. The first interpretation would imply shirk (associating partners with God), while the latter interpretation aligns with the rest of the Quran.
21:90 We responded to him and granted him John; we fixed his wife for him. That is because they used to hasten to work righteousness, and implored us in situations of joy, as well as fear. To us, they were reverent.
In the Quran, the use of the term “our servant” often signifies a hierarchical structure of servitude that ultimately points to God as the supreme authority. This phrase underscores that each person in the chain of command serves the one above them, but all are ultimately serving God. Consider that when God commanded the angels to fall prostrate, this command was given by God through other agents to all the angels. So, while the ultimate command was from God there was a clear chain of command that was being utilized in this process.
2:34 When we said to the angels, “Fall prostrate before Adam,” they fell prostrate, except Satan; he refused, was too arrogant, and a disbeliever.