1. The Chronological Paradox:
The text commands Muhammad to declare himself "the first of the Muslims" (6:14, 6:163). This absolute language creates an internal timeline conflict with other verses, such as 7:143, where Moses claims to be "the first of the believers," and 2:131, which establishes that Abraham submitted centuries prior.
2. Anachronistic Appropriation:
The narrative retroactively applies the identity of "Muslim" to Hebrew patriarchs. Textually and historically, these biblical figures operated within distinct covenants (Mosaic, Abrahamic) and were never associated with the specific religious framework or theology of 7th-century Islam.
3. Language Vulnerability:
To avoid structural contradiction, traditional commentary must qualify "first" as relative to a specific generation. Polemically, this reliance on heavily qualified phrasing reveals a vulnerability in how the text synthesizes borrowed biblical history with its own claims.
The Quran Verses:
Surah 6:14:
Say, "Is it other than Allah I should take as a protector, Creator of the heavens and the earth, while it is He who feeds and is not fed?" Say, "Indeed, I have been commanded to be the first of those who submit to Allah and 'Do not ever be of the polytheists.'"Surah 6:163:
No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.
The Relevant Source Text (Internal Quranic Contradictions):
Surah 7:143: (Moses)
And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him... he said, "Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers."Surah 2:131-132: (Abraham)
When his Lord said to him, "Submit", he said "I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds."
The Quran presents a chronological paradox. Muhammad is commanded to declare that he is the "first of the Muslims/those who submit" (Surah 6:163).
Yet, other Surahs claim that Moses was the first of the believers, and that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob were already Muslims centuries earlier.
While Islamic apologists argue this means "first of his specific time and nation," the absolute language used throughout the text creates narrative friction, showing a text that struggles to maintain a consistent timeline of its own religious heritage.
This is further contradicted in that those in the Old and New Testamants are NEVER called "Muslims" or follow Islam as it is today. Islam appropriates these figures and stories but contradicts in major themes and also their stories it paraphrases.