Allah favoured some of those messengers mentioned to you over others with respect to their revelation, followers and ranks. Some of them Allah spoke to, such as Moses, and others He granted a high rank, such as Muhammad (peace be upon him) – who was sent to the entire humankind as the last of the prophets and whose nation was preferred over all other communities. Allah gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear miracles confirming his prophethood, such as bringing the dead to life and curing the leper and the blind; and supported him with the angel Gabriel to give him strength in fulfilling Allah’s instruction. If Allah had willed, those that came after the messengers would not have fought amongst themselves after having received clear signs; but they disagreed and were divided. Some of them had faith in Allah, whilst others did not. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought with each other; but Allah does as He wills: He guides whomever He wills to faith through His mercy and grace, and He does not guide whomever He wishes by His justice and wisdom.
Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honor); and to 'Isa, the son of Maryam, We gave clear proofs and evidences, and supported him with Ruh-il-Qudus [Jibril]. If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Verses of Allah had come to them, but they differed ـ some of them believed and others disbelieved. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought against one another, but Allah does what He wills (253)
Allah Honored Some Prophets Above Others
Allah states that He has honored some Prophets to others. For instance, Allah said,
وَلَقَدْ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَ النَّبِيِّينَ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا
(And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others, and to Dawud We gave the Zabur (Psalms))[17:55]
In the Ayah above, Allah said,
تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۘ مِّنْهُم مَّن كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ
(Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly)) meaning, Musa and Muhammad ﷺ, and also Adam according to a Hadith recorded in Sahih Ibn Hibban from Abu Dharr.
وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٍ
(Others He raised to degrees (of honor)) as is evident in the Hadith about the Isra' journey, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw the Prophets in the various heavens according to their rank with Allah.
If somebody asks about the collective meaning of this Ayah and the Hadith that the Two Sahihs collected from Abu Hurayrah which states, "Once, a Muslim man and a Jew had an argument and the Jew said, 'No, by Him Who gave Musa superiority over all human beings!' Hearing him, the Muslim man raised his hand and slapped the Jew on his face and said, 'Over Muhammad too, O evil one?!' The Jew went to the Prophet ﷺ and complained to him and the Prophet ﷺ said,
لَا تُفَضِّلُونِي عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ يَصْعَقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَأَكُونُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ يُفِيقُ، فَأَجِدُ مُوسَى بَاطِشًا بِقَائِمَةِ الْعَرْشِ، فَلَا أَدْرِي أَفَاقَ قَبْلِي أَمْ جُوزِيَ بِصَعْقَةِ الطُّورِ؟ فَلَا تُفَضِّلُونِي عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاءِ
(Don't give me superiority above the Prophets, for the people will become unconscious on the Day of Resurrection, and I will be the first to be resurrected to see Musa holding on to the pillar of Allah's Throne. I will not know whether the unconsciousness Musa suffered on the Day of the Trumpet sufficed for him, or if he got up before me. So, do not give me superiority above the Prophets.) In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, (Do not give superiority to some Prophets above others.)
The answer to this question is that this Hadith prohibits preferring some Prophets above others in cases of dispute and argument, such as the incident mentioned in the Hadith. The Hadith indicates that it is not up to creation to decide which Prophet is better, for this is Allah's decision. The creation is only required to submit to, obey and believe in Allah's decision.
Allah's statement,
وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ
(And We gave 'Isa, the son of Maryam, clear signs) refers to the proofs and unequivocal evidences that testify to the truth that 'Isa delivered to the Children of Israel, thus testifying that he was Allah's servant and His Messenger to them.
وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ
(And supported him with Ruh-il-Qudus) meaning Allah aided 'Isa with Jibil, peace be upon him. Allah then said,
وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلَ الَّذِينَ مِن بَعْدِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَلَٰكِنِ اخْتَلَفُوا فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ آمَنَ وَمِنْهُم مَّن كَفَرَ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلُوا
(If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Verses of Allah had come to them, but they differed ـ some of them believed and others disbelieved. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought against one another.) meaning all this happened by Allah's decree, and this is why He said next,
وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يُرِيدُ
(But Allah does what He wills.)
Commentary
1. In Verse 253, beginning with تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ ('those are the Messenger’), the purpose is to give solace and comfort to the noble Prophet ﷺ since the deniers refused to recognize his prophethood, inspite of the fact that it was conclusively proved, as has been stated in the verse 252: وَإِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِي (And certainly you are among the Messengers.) as well. This situation caused him pain. Therefore, Allah Almighty made him aware of the coming of other prophets too, in varying degrees of station, but universal belief was not witnessed in any of their communities -- some supported while some others opposed. However, this too has its wise considerations which may not necessarily be visible to everyone, but this much is important that one should generally believe that there is definitely a certain wisdom behind this.
2. Since the words تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ (Those are the Messengers some of whom We have given excellence over others) in this verse clearly indicate that some prophets are given higher status than others, we have a difficulty on our hands when we compare this with a hadith, where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said:
لا تفضلوا بین انبیاء اللہ
Do not seek preference among prophets.
لا تخیرونی علی موسٰی
Do not give me precedence over Musa.
لا اقول ان احدا افضل من یونس بن متی
I cannot say if anyone is better than Yunus ibn Matta.
These ahadith so obviously forbid the giving of preference to some prophets over some other prophets.
The reply is: These ahadith mean to tell us not to give preference to some prophets over some others, without any proof, out of our own opinion. This is because a prophet's having higher status means that he has a high station in the sight of Allah. Obviously, this knowledge cannot be acquired through conjectures and surmises but should such a proof come from the Qur'an and Sunnah, establishing the precedence of some prophets over some others, then it will be necessary to believe in it.
Now, as to his saying: لا اقول ان احدا افضل من یونس بن متی (I cannot say if
anyone is better than Yunus ibn Matta) and لا تخیرونی علی موسٰی (Do not give me precedence over Musa), this is related to the time when he was not given the knowledge that he has precedence over all other prophets. This was disclosed to him later on through revelation and he did tell the noble Companions about it. (Mazhari)
3. As regards the statement' مِّنْهُم مَّن كَلَّمَ اللَّـهُ (Among them there is he whom Allah spoke to), it may be noted that the conversation with Musa (علیہ السلام) may be without an angel as intermediary, but it certainly was not without hijab (obstruction of view). So, there remains no conflict of meaning with what has been stated in the verse: وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّـهُ (It belongs not to any mortal that God should speak to him) (42:51), in which conversation without hijab has been negated. However, post-death conversation without hijab is possible, so this verse from Sarah al-Shura relates to the life in this world.
When God sends one of his messenger to bring the truth to mankind, his call is marked by signs so unmistakable that his congregation has no difficulty in recognizing his message to be from God. Yet, in spite of this, people give no credence to his words. The first to deny God’s messenger are those who are followers of past prophets. Each prophet received certain special favours from God in order to facilitate the communication of his message according to the varying exigencies of the different historical periods in which he lived. But the followers, attaching too much importance to the miracle bestowed by God on a particular prophet, came to believe that their particular prophet was superior to all others. They felt that none could surpass the prophet they believed in. They consequently saw no reason to listen to the contemporary prophet whose name had yet to be hallowed by tradition. For instance, believers in Moses rejected Jesus. Followers of the latter disbelieved in the Prophet Muhammad. In the case of Moses, his followers held him to be greater than all other prophets, because he had had the distinction of being addressed directly by God. Believers in Jesus considered him peerless, because he had been born to a virgin mother. Those who have come to reform and revitalize the Muslim community since the passing of the Final Prophet have fared no better. They have been treated with total irreverence, as creatures of no account whatsoever, for the simple reason that their contemporaries believed themselves to be successors of earlier saints and thus were in no need of further religious counselling, particularly by someone who appeared to be inferior to their own predecessors. When communities begin to go into a decline, they become preoccupied with wordly interests, yet they do not wish to forfeit their ‘right’ to salvation, and as a form of psychological defence, attach themselves mentally to hallowed religious personalities. They fondly imagine that the lofty status of their saintly patrons will ensure their redemption in the next world, no matter how unethical their conduct might have been in this world. It is this false sense of security which gives such people the audacity to oppose those who call them to God. It is imaginable that God might have arranged human destiny in such a way that man, having no freedom to demur, was obliged invariably to bow to His will. But this was not part of God’s scheme for mankind. God gave man freedom of action in order to put him to the divine test: He wished to see if man could find his way to his Maker, while He Himself remained invisible. For this reason, man is required to be able to recognize the word of God, albeit uttered by the human tongue, and to penetrate the veil of outward forms in order to reach the hidden, inner truth.