Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?

Muslims direct their worship to the one God of Abraham whom Christians also intend, while holding that the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus are mistaken beliefs about Him.

In the Quran's own words, yes in one sense: Muslims are told to say to Jews and Christians, "Our God and your God is One." Both intend the one Creator, the God of Abraham. But Islam holds that Christian doctrine describes Him wrongly, rejecting the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus.

The verse in full: "Do not debate the People of the Book except in the best way... Say, 'We believe in what was sent down to us and sent down to you. Our God and your God is One, and we submit to Him'" (Quran 29:46). Arabic-speaking Christians have always called God "Allah", the same word Muslims use.

Where Islam disagrees

The same Quran is direct about what it rejects:

• The Trinity. "Do not say, 'Three.' Stop; that is better for you. Allah is only one God" (Quran 4:171); see also Quran 5:73.
• The divinity of Jesus. The same verse calls him "the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary... only Allah's Messenger, His word which He conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from Him."
• God having a son. "He has never had a child, and He was not born. And no one is equal to Him" (Quran 112:1-4).

So the honest answer has two parts. Muslims and Christians are both addressing the God who spoke to Abraham, Moses and Jesus; Muslims believe Christians hold mistaken beliefs about who that God is. That is why the Quran invites them to "a word that is fair between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, associate nothing with Him" (Quran 3:64).