by Memory Man » Wed Jan 27, 2016 5:22 pm
Quran 2:253
تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ
"Of those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others"
Quran 17:55
وَلَقَدْ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَ النَّبِيِّينَ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ
"And We have made some of the prophets exceed others [in various ways]"
These two verses clearly show us that there's some kind of hierarchy between the prophets. In another verse of the Quran, there's a mention to "Ulu Al 'Azm" (فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ Quran 46:35), which refers (for most views) to the five greatest messengers: Muhammad, Ibrahim, Musa, Issa and Nuh عليهم الصلاة والسلام.
These two verses are informative, there's no command here. Allah is informing us that He has given to some prophets a special rank or superiority (and indeed, we consider Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم to be at the highest rank).
But Allah also commands us to not discriminate between them:
Quran 2:136
قُولُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّـهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ
"Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."
Quran 2:285
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ
"The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers."
Even though there's no doubt about the position of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, we muslims don't like to engage in this kind of popularity contest between messengers. He himself didn't like it:
Once while a Jew was selling something, he was offered a price that he was not pleased with. So, he said:
"No, by Him Who gave Moses superiority over all human beings!"
Hearing him, an Ansari man got up and slapped him on the face and said:
"You say: By Him Who Gave Moses superiority over all human beings although the Prophet (Muhammad) is present amongst us!"
The Jew went to the Prophet and said:
"O Abu al Qasim! I am under the assurance and contract of security, so what right does so-and-so have to slap me?"
The Prophet asked the other:
"Why have you slapped?".
He told him the whole story. The Prophet became angry, till anger appeared on his face, and said:
"Don't give superiority to any prophet amongst Allah's Prophets, for when the trumpet will be blown, everyone on the earth and in the heavens will become unconscious except those whom Allah will exempt. The trumpet will be blown for the second time and I will be the first to be resurrected to see Moses holding Allah's Throne. I will not know whether the unconsciousness which Moses received on the Day of Tur has been sufficient for him, or has he got up before me. And I do not say that there is anybody who is better than Yunus bin Matta." (Sahih Bukhari)