In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The illusion of contradiction in the Quran regarding the first Muslims and the first believers

Subject of the suspicion:
 

Some skeptics delude themselves into thinking there is a conflict between:-

The saying of Allah to Ibrahim (peace be upon him): " Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allāh, Lord of the worlds. * No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first [among you] of the Muslims [i.e., those who submit to the will of Allāh.] " (Al-An'am 163)

And His saying - Exalted be He - on the tongue of Moses - peace be upon him -: ("Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first [among my people] of the believers.") (Al-A'raf 143)

And His saying - Exalted be He - on the lips of the magicians: "Indeed, we aspire that our Lord will forgive us our sins because we were the first of the believers." (Ash-Shu'ara 51).

And they ask: How does the Quran state in one place that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was the first to submit, and in another place that Musa (peace be upon him) was the first to submit, and then in a third place that the magicians were the first to submit? They use this as evidence—under their delusion—to support their claim that the Quran is not free from contradictions and inconsistencies, in order to prove their assertion that the Quran is a product of human creation.

The way to refute the suspicion:

The meaning of primacy that the verses cited by these individuals refer to is not the same, as we find that:

• The initial Islam of Ibrahim was that he - peace be upon him - was the first to embrace Islam among his people, declaring that prayer, worship, life, and death belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

• The initial belief of Moses was that he - peace be upon him - was the first to affirm that no one among God's creation could see Him until the Day of Resurrection.

• The initial belief of the magicians was that they were the first to believe in the signs of Moses - peace be upon him - when they saw them.

Detail:

The meaning of the primacy that the verses refer to: It is natural that every person who wants to call to an idea or guide to a path must first be a believer in that idea and convinced of it, which drives them to call for its spread. The prophet or messenger must, before calling to Islam, be a true believer in Islam, genuinely believing in God whom they call to and working to spread their message. It is said that one who lacks something cannot give it, and it is also said that every vessel spills what it contains. So, if the vessel is empty, what will it spill?!

" Say, [O Muḥammad], "If the Most Merciful had a son, then I would be the first of [his] worshippers. "

How could he be the first of the worshippers when there are those who claimed that God had a son before? This means "the first of the worshippers" implies that he will precede them and compete with them in worship.

Regarding Al-Suddi: (" Say, [O Muḥammad], "If the Most Merciful had a son, then I would be the first of [his] worshippers. ") He said: If He had a son, I would be the first to worship him because He has a son, but He has no son.

And whoever reads the verses in which the word "first" appears, which these people have cited, will find that:

1. Ibrahim was the first to embrace Islam from his people because prayer, worship, life, and death are for Allah: It is said that the meaning of his saying: "and I am the first of the Muslims" (Al-An'am 163) is that he was the first of his people to embrace Islam; because it was previously stated: "Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allāh, Lord of the worlds. * No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims" (Al-An'am 163). It is known that he - peace be upon him - was the first to embrace Islam from his people in consideration of him being the prophet of this nation.

And his saying: "And I am the first of the Muslims": it means accepting Islam, steadfastness in it, and being pleased with it; because whoever loves something hastens towards it and becomes the first among its people. The use of "first" in this context is similar to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And do not be the first to disbelieve in it" (Al-Baqarah: 41). The literal meaning is not intended here due to the lack of benefit in the news, because every caller to something is inevitably the first among its companions.

2. Moses - peace be upon him - was the first to believe that no one among His creation will see God until the Day of Resurrection.

Ibn Abbas said in the interpretation of His saying - Glory be to Him -: "And Moses fell down unconscious" (Al-A'raf: 143): He fainted, but his soul was still in his body. When he regained consciousness, he said due to the greatness of what he saw: "Glory be to You," declaring that He cannot be seen, "I repent to You," meaning I have turned away from the matter I was in, "and I am the first of the believers" (Al-A'raf: 143), meaning the first to believe now that no one can see You. It is known that there were believers before Moses - peace be upon him - but Moses was the first to believe that no one among Your creation can see You until the Day of Resurrection, because he experienced it himself.

3. The magicians were the first to believe in the signs of Moses - peace be upon him - when they saw them.

The magicians were the first to believe in the signs of Moses - peace be upon him - especially his staff that turned into a serpent by God's permission, because they knew that what they were doing was merely illusion; as He, the Exalted, said: "And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving" (Ta-Ha 66). And when they saw what Moses - peace be upon him - did, they knew that what he had done was not magic that a human could perform, but rather a divine miracle granted by God to whomever He wills among His servants. They believed in him and his signs as soon as they were cast (So he threw it down, and thereupon it was a snake, moving swiftly.) (Ta-Ha 20).

Summary:

There is no contradiction between the verses of the Quran regarding the first Muslims and the first believers; for the Islam of each prophet precedes the Islam of his nation, so the prophet must be a believer in his Lord and a submitter to Him in order to call to Him and guide to His path. Thus, we find that:

• Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was the first to submit from his nation, and he knew that prayer, worship, life, and death belong to Allah, the Lord of all worlds.

• There were believers before Moses, but he was the first among his people to believe that no one among creation would see God until the Day of Resurrection; and this was because he had experienced it himself.

The magicians were the first to believe in the signs of Moses - peace be upon him - when they saw them; this is because they knew that what they were doing was merely an illusion for the eyes of the people, making it seem as if the staff was moving. However, what happened with Moses - peace be upon him - was a divine miracle granted by God to whomever He wills among His servants. They believed in it and were the first to believe in his signs.

And God knows best.