The Qur’an makes specific, time-bound promises regarding the social and political standing of Jesus’ followers. However, when these promises are weighed against history and other Islamic doctrines, they create an inescapable pincer move against the claim of divine authorship.
P1. The Qur’an says Allah made and will make “those who follow” Jesus uppermost over disbelievers until the Day of Resurrection:
P2. In ordinary language and history, “those who follow Jesus” are Christians, who explicitly reject Muhammad and the Qur’anic version of Jesus.
P3. Islam also claims that Islam is the final, superior religion destined to prevail over all others:
C. Therefore, either the Qur’an’s promise of dominance to the followers of Jesus refers to Christians (which contradicts Islam’s claim that the final victorious community is the Muslims), or it refers to Muslims (which contradicts both the natural meaning of “those who follow Jesus” and the historical fact that Muslims have not been continuously dominant over disbelievers until now). In both cases, the Qur’an’s claims about who is “uppermost” are incoherent.
Take 3:55 and 61:14 in their natural sense: followers of Jesus = Christians.
Then Allah promised enduring superiority of a community that rejects Muhammad and denies core Islamic claims.
That clashes with verses saying Islam is the final, superior religion meant to prevail (9:33, 61:9, 48:28).
Result: Either Islam is not the final victorious faith, or the Qur’an is affirming long-term dominance of those who reject Islam—both are fatal to Islamic claims.
To save Islamic supremacy, redefine “those who follow Jesus” as Muslims (the “true followers”).
Then 3:55 and 61:14 become a claim that Muslims will remain uppermost over disbelievers until the Day of Resurrection.
History shows long periods where Muslims were decisively defeated, colonized, ruled, or marginalized by non-Muslim powers, and today they are not clearly “uppermost” over all disbelievers.
Result: The Qur’an’s prediction is empirically false; the supposed continuous dominance of the “followers of Jesus” as Muslims has not happened.
So either the Qur’an grants enduring dominance to Christians over against Islam, or it makes a false prediction about Muslim supremacy. Either way, its claim to infallible, accurate revelation is broken.