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RETCON THEOLOGY: WHEN THE CLAIM EATS ITSELF
Were All the Biblical Prophets Really Muslims?
A Historical, Biblical, and Logical Examination of an Islamic Claim
By Dr. Maxwell Shimba
Shimba Theological Institute
Introduction
One of the most frequently repeated assertions in Islamic apologetics is that every prophet from Adam to Jesus was a Muslim. According to this claim, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, John the Baptist, and even Jesus all belonged to Islam long before Muhammad appeared in the seventh century.
The claim is often presented with great confidence, but confidence is not evidence. When examined historically, linguistically, and theologically, the argument raises significant questions. It appears to project a later religious identity backward onto figures who lived centuries before Islam emerged as a distinct religious community.
This is a form of retcon theology—retroactive continuity—where later beliefs are read back into earlier history despite the evidence of the earlier sources.
The Historical Problem
Islam began in the seventh century AD.
Moses lived approximately 1,400 years before Christ.
Abraham lived approximately 2,000 years before Christ.
David ruled around 1,000 BC.
Isaiah prophesied around 700 BC.
These prophets lived many centuries before Muhammad.
The obvious question is:
How can people belong to a religion that historically did not yet exist?
Islam answers by redefining the word "Muslim" to mean "one who submits to God."
But this creates another problem.
If "Muslim" simply means anyone who submits to God, then the word no longer identifies the historical religion founded through Muhammad. It becomes a generic description rather than the name of a distinct religious community.
This shifts the meaning of the word rather than proving the claim.
Judaism Was Already a Defined Covenant Community
The Bible never describes Moses as a Muslim.
It never describes David as a Muslim.
It never describes Isaiah as a Muslim.
Instead, Scripture consistently identifies them within God's covenant with Israel.
God said:
"I am the LORD thy God..."
—Exodus 20:2 (KJV)
The Hebrew word translated "LORD" is the covenant name YHWH (Yahweh).
Israel was not simply a collection of generic monotheists.
Israel was a covenant nation established through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The prophets belonged to Israel.
They served the God who revealed Himself as Yahweh.
They taught the Law given through Moses.
They worshiped at the Temple in Jerusalem.
They celebrated Passover.
They practiced circumcision under the Abrahamic covenant.
Their religious identity was rooted in the covenant God made with Israel.
Nothing in the Hebrew Scriptures identifies them as followers of Islam.
Judaism Is More Than a Religion
Jewish identity is both religious and ethnocultural.
The Jewish people share:
ancestry
covenant history
language
traditions
national identity
worship centered on the God of Israel
A person may convert into Judaism and become fully Jewish through conversion, but that does not erase the historical reality that Judaism is the covenant community established in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Therefore, saying
"The Jews were really Muslims"
confuses two entirely different historical identities.
It is comparable to saying:
"George Washington was really Canadian."
The statement ignores historical context and redefines terms after the fact.
Jesus Was Jewish
Jesus was born into a Jewish family.
He was circumcised.
He attended synagogue.
He celebrated Passover.
He quoted the Torah.
He celebrated Jewish festivals.
He affirmed:
"Salvation is of the Jews."
—John 4:22
He declared:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law."
—Matthew 5:17
The New Testament repeatedly identifies Him as the Jewish Messiah promised by the Hebrew prophets.
Nowhere do the Gospels call Him a Muslim.
Isa Is Not the Same Portrait as Jesus
Islam refers to Jesus as Isa.
The New Testament presents Jesus very differently from the Qur'an's account.
The Bible teaches:
Jesus is the eternal Word (John 1:1).
Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16).
Jesus was crucified.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus forgives sins.
Jesus receives worship.
The Qur'an rejects or reinterprets many of these claims.
Thus, simply asserting that Isa and Jesus are identical does not resolve the theological differences. The shared name does not erase the divergent portraits presented in the respective scriptures.
The Name of God
The Old Testament repeatedly identifies God by His covenant name:
YHWH (Yahweh).
This name appears thousands of times in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Qur'an instead consistently uses Allah.
If the claim is that Allah is identical with the God revealed in the Bible, then another question follows:
Why does the Qur'an not preserve the covenant name by which God revealed Himself to Moses and the prophets?
The issue is not merely vocabulary but continuity with the biblical revelation.
The Islamic Dilemma
Islam states that the Torah and Gospel were given by God.
Yet the Qur'an also disagrees with central teachings found in those scriptures.
This creates a dilemma:
If the Bible is trustworthy:
Jesus was crucified.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus is the Son of God.
The prophets taught what the Bible records.
If these are true, then Islamic denials face a substantial challenge.
If the Bible is corrupt:
Then how can it reliably identify Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus as prophets?
Appealing to biblical figures while dismissing the biblical record about them raises questions about consistency.
Debate Questions
1.
If Moses was a Muslim, why does the Torah never call him one?
2.
Why did none of the biblical prophets identify themselves as members of Islam?
3.
If Judaism already existed as God's covenant people, why redefine them with a later religious label?
4.
If Jesus was Muslim, why did He never say,
"I am a Muslim"?
5.
Why did Jesus identify Himself as the Jewish Messiah rather than as a prophet of Islam?
6.
If all prophets taught Islam, where are the Five Pillars in the Torah?
7.
Where did Abraham perform the Islamic prayers prescribed in later Islamic law?
8.
Where did Moses teach the Shahada in its later Islamic formulation?
9.
Why did David compose Psalms rather than recite the Qur'an?
10.
Why did Isaiah prophesy about the suffering Messiah instead of announcing Muhammad by name?
11.
If Allah is the same as Yahweh, why does the Qur'an omit the covenant name revealed to Moses?
12.
If the Bible is corrupted, how can the Qur'an confidently rely on biblical prophets and narratives?
13.
If the Bible is reliable, on what basis are its teachings about Christ rejected?
14.
Why did none of the prophets observe the later Islamic practices established after Muhammad?
15.
Can a religion historically founded in the seventh century accurately be applied as the religious identity of people who lived over a millennium earlier?
Conclusion
Historical continuity should not be established by redefining earlier figures according to later beliefs. Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jesus lived within the covenant history of Israel as presented in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
If the word "Muslim" is redefined simply to mean "someone who submits to God," then it functions as a broad description rather than evidence that these prophets belonged to the historical religion that emerged in the seventh century.
Meaningful dialogue benefits from allowing historical figures to speak through the earliest sources that describe them, rather than assigning them identities those sources do not record. Careful historical and theological examination remains essential when evaluating claims about the identity and message of the biblical prophets.
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