Qur'anic doctrine of the Trinity - Are there mistakes?

It is commonplace, today, for many Christian apologists to propose that the Qur'anic arguments against the Trinity are flawed, because they present a false picture of the Trinity itself.

Is this correct? Absolutely not!

Lets consider some of the most common arguments:

1) "The Qur'an says that Mary is part of the Trinity. This is not correct!"
Certianly, the Christian would be 99.9% correct in the second statement above (there was a small Christian sect that did believe this, but that is beside the point) Lets assume for the sake of argument that the second part is fully correct.

So Mary isn't in the Trinity, but does the Qur'an ever suggest she is?

The word 'Trinity', thalathatun and thalathatin, is mentioned twice in the Qur'an. In both verses where it is said, Mary is not mentioned. Instead we have:

Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, "Trinity" Desist from this assertion for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God.

(TMQ: 4:171)

Indeed, the truth deny they who say, "Behold, God is the third of a Trinity" - seeing that there is no deity whatever save the One God. And unless they desist from this their assertion, grievous suffering is bound to befall such of them as are bent on denying the truth.

(TMQ: 5:73)

Don't see any mention of Mary there. What could they be confusing this with?

AND LO! God said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, `Worship me and my mother as deities beside God'?" Jesus answered: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! It would not have been possible for me to say what I had no right to! Had I said this, Thou wouldst indeed have known it! Thou knowest all that is within myself, whereas I know not what is in Thy Self. Verily, it is Thou alone who fully knowest all the things that are beyond the reach of a created being's perception.
(TMQ:5:116)

Worship me and my mother as deities (ilahayni) besides God (Allah).
Ilahayni is the double plural form of the root ilah which means a deity. From the sense of the Semitic root, ELH, means something with power (i.e. a potential to control affairs, something to seek the help of).

In that sense, this verse is arguing with the belief of somewhere in the order of about 1.5bn of the world's 2bn Christians.

"Oh!", but they say, "Catholics didn't worship Mary until recent history!".'

Is this true?

Lets consider the Sub Tuum Praesidium (Beneath Your Compassion), a prayer still used in Catholic and Orthodox liturgy that has existed since 250CE, at least.

Beneath your compassion,

We take refuge, O Mother of God:

do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:

but rescue us from dangers,

only pure, only blessed one.

Now what does that say about what Orthodox Christians thought (and still do think) about Theotokos (Mother of God)?

Seems to me, if the Qur'an were written by a man without access to a range of Christians and their texts and was just producing poetry based on hearsay, it would be likely to include Mary as part of the Trinity, especially if they happened to hear that prayer in passing.

Instead, the Qur'an differentiates between the claims of the Trinity and the lofty status given to Mary correctly and insightfully.

2)"In a verse in the Qur'an, God says He is a third of a third. Thats not the Trinity!"

Does God say this? Again the verse in question is 5:73, and the phrase in Arabic is:

qaloo inna Allaha thalithu thalathatin

"They say: Certainly, God is a third in a Trinity"

thalithu meaning: third and
thalatatin meaning: Three/Trinity

Both words come from the Arabic root THALTH, meaning 'three'.

So, definitely not "third of a third" and, at worst, it says "One Third of Three" (Which is the literal rendition).

Again, seems like the actual doctrine to any non biased reader.