contradiction in the Qur’an regarding the first Muslims and the first believers

 Content of the doubt:

Some skeptics imagine that there is a contradiction between the words of God Almighty to Abraham, peace be upon him: “Say: ‘Indeed, my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are for God, Lord of the worlds. (162) He has no partner. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims. (163)” (Al-An’am), and His words, the Almighty and Majestic, on the tongue of Moses, peace be upon him: “And I am the first of the believers. (143)” (Al-A’raf), and His words, the Almighty and Majestic, on the tongue of the magicians: “Indeed, we hope that our Lord will forgive us our sins if we were the first
of the believers. (51)” (Ash-Shu’ara). They ask: How does the Qur’an state in one place that Abraham, peace be upon him, was the first to convert to Islam, and in another place that Moses, peace be upon him, was the first to convert to Islam, then in a third place it states that the magicians were the first to convert to Islam? They use this, in their imagination, as evidence for the validity of their challenge to the integrity of the Qur’an and its infallibility from contradiction and conflict, to prove their claim that the Qur’an was made by humans.

The point of refuting the doubt:
The meaning of priority intended by the verses that these people used as evidence is not one, so we find that:
· The priority of Abraham’s Islam was that he - peace be upon him - was the first of his nation to convert to Islam, that prayer, rituals, life and death are for God, Lord of the Worlds.
· The priority of Moses’ faith was that he - peace be upon him - was the first to believe that God cannot be seen by any of His creation until the Day of Resurrection.
· The priority of the magicians’ faith was that they were the first to believe in the signs of Moses - peace be upon him - when they saw them.

Details:
The meaning of priority intended by the verses:
It is natural that every person who wants to call to an idea, or guide to a path, must first be a believer in this idea himself and convinced of it, which motivates him to call in order to spread it. And the prophet or messenger must, before calling to Islam, be a Muslim who is sincere in Islam, a true believer in God to whom he calls and works to spread his call. It was said: He who lacks something cannot give it, and it was also said: Every vessel leaks according to what is in it, so if the vessel is empty, then what does it leak?!

Whoever reads the verses in which the word “first” is mentioned, which these people have used as evidence, will find that:
1. Abraham was the first of his nation to submit to Islam, that prayer, rituals, life and death are for God.
It has been said that what is meant by His statement: “And I am the first of the Muslims (163)” (Al-An’am) is: I am the first of the Muslims among my people, because His statement has already been mentioned: “Say: My prayer, my rituals, my life and my death are for God, Lord of the worlds (162). He has no partner. This I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims (163)” (Al-An’am). It is known that he, peace be upon him, was the first of his nation to submit to this, considering that he is the prophet of this nation[1].
Ibn Ashour said: His statement: “And I am the first of the Muslims” means: accepting Islam, steadfastness in it and rejoicing in it, because whoever loves something hastens to it and is the first of the people to come to it. And from the use of “first” in such a case is the statement of God Almighty: “And do not be the first to disbelieve in it” (Al-Baqarah: 41), and its explicit meaning is not intended, because the report has little benefit from this, because every caller to something is inevitably the first of its companions[2].

2. Moses - peace be upon him - was the first to believe that none of God’s creation will see Him until the Day of Resurrection:
Ibn Abbas said in his interpretation of the words of Allah the Almighty: “And Moses fell unconscious” (Al-A’raf: 143): He fainted, except that his soul was in his body. “And when he regained consciousness, he said” because of the magnitude of what he saw: “Glory be to You,” purifying Him from seeing Him. “I repent to You” I have returned from the situation I was on, “and I am the first of the believers (143)” (Al-A’raf), meaning: those who believe - now - that no one sees you. It is known that there were believers before Moses - peace be upon him - but Moses was the first to believe that no one from His creation sees God until the Day of Resurrection; and that is because he witnessed that 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 became alive by Allah’s permission, and that was because they knew that what they were doing was nothing but an illusion. As He - the Most High - said: "It appeared to him from their magic that it was moving (66)" (Taha), and when they saw what Moses - peace be upon him - did, they knew that what he had done was not magic that a human being could do, but rather a divine miracle that God bestows upon whomever He wills of His servants, so they believed in him and his signs as soon as he cast it "So he cast it down, and behold, it was a serpent, darting about (20)" (Taha).

Conclusion:
There is no contradiction between the verses of the Qur'an regarding the first Muslims and the first believers; since the Islam of every prophet preceded the Islam of his nation, so the prophet must believe in his Lord and submit to Him in order to call to Him and guide to His path, so we find that:
· Abraham - peace be upon him - was the first of his nation to convert to Islam, and he knew that prayer, rituals, death and life belong to God, Lord of the worlds.
· There were believers before Moses, but he was the first of his nation to believe that God cannot be seen by any of His creation until the Day of Resurrection; because he had witnessed that 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 magic for the eyes of the people, so that they imagined that the staff was moving. As for what happened with Moses - peace be upon him - it was a divine miracle that God bestows upon whomever He wills of His servants, so they believed in him and were the first to believe in His signs.

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[1] The Purification of the Qur’an from Objections, Judge Abdul Jabbar, edited by: Dr. Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al-Sayeh, Counselor Tawfiq Ali Wahba, Al-Nafiza Library, Cairo, 1st ed., 2006 AD, p. 165.

[2] Al-Tahrir wal-Tanwir, Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur, Dar Sahnoon for Publishing and Distribution, Tunis, n.d., Vol. 3, Part 5, pp. 204, 205, with some modifications.