inasmuch as they thereby made the Messiah a god and his mother a god alongside Allah, just as He, exalted is He, says:

“And when Allah will say, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you tell the people, “Take me and my mother as two gods apart from Allah”?’ He will answer, ‘Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to say’… up to His words: ‘I said to them only what You commanded me: “Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.”’ (1) …to the end of the verse.

This is further supported by His statement:

‘They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three,” whereas there is no god except the One God. If they do not desist from what they say, a painful punishment will surely befall those of them who disbelieve. (73) Will they not then repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? For Allah is All-Forgiving, Ever-Merciful. (74) The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers passed away before him, and his mother was a truthful woman; they both used to eat food.’ (2)

Thus the Almighty’s words, ‘The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers passed away before him, and his mother was a truthful woman,’ coming (3) directly after His words, ‘They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three,”’ (4) show that the trinity mentioned by Allah refers to their taking the Messiah, son of Mary, [and his mother] (5) as two deities. This is clear (6) according to the view (7) reported from certain Christians that they believe in indwelling within Mary and in union with the Messiah—a description that comes closest to the reality of their doctrine. Accordingly (8) each statement that Allah cites from them embraces all their sects and includes both their belief in the trinitarian hypostases and their doctrines of union and indwelling; it therefore covers their various factions and the varieties of their unbelief, with no single verse being restricted