The Qur’an’s Cultic Trinity: Marian Piety in Late Antiquity and the Qur’an

Abstract: Two texts in the Qur’an’s fifth surah suggest that some Christians considered Mary divine. This paper argues that these texts do not criticize a non- orthodox Trinity or a perceived corollary of divinizing Christ. Rather, the qur’anic charge likely targets lived devotion instead of abstract doctrine. By the time of Islam’s emergence, many Christians celebrated feasts in honor of the Virgin, viewed her as the chief mediator with Christ, invoked her intercession, and supported her cult with offerings. This flourishing devotion may explain why the Qur’an’s proclaimer accused some Christians of divinizing Mary. By contrast, the Holy Spirit was not a major recipient of cultic veneration, which may explain the Qur’an’s silence about its inclusion in the Trinity. Since parts of the fifth surah suggest that some Jews and Christians criticized the Believers’ adherence to the Meccan cult, so the surah’s censure of aspects of Marian devotion can be understood as part of a two-way polemic over proper worship. Alongside its broader argument about ritual as a major site of contestation in the qur’anic milieu, the paper’s appendix critiques the view that surah 19’s Nativity account reflects the liturgy of the Kathisma church.