Degrees of the Prophets

While all the prophets are equal in terms of people's faith in them, there are differences between the prophets regarding their virtues and the abilities granted them. In this respect, it is said in the Holy Qur'an, "Those messengers - some of them We caused to exceed others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree..." (Baqarah, 2/253)  All of the rasul and nabis are equal as prophets. "To exceed" mentioned in the verse is not in the meaning that we need to differentiate between the prophets, it means a superiority in the presence of Allah regarding their personalities. 

The prophets are different in terms of the way they were objected to the revelation, duration of their prophethood, their regional or universal duties. Similarly, some of the prophets were more prominent with their moral values, some prophets were given book, while some received suhuf, some directly spoke to Allah, some spoke to Him through Jibril (Gabriel) and other revelation methods, some of them were sent upon a certain tribe, while some others were sent upon the whole humanity(Yavuz, Yusuf Şevki, “Peygamber”, DİA, 261). 

The most virtuous of the prophets are those who are called "'Ulu al-'Azm", which means "those of the perseverance and strong will". It is said in the Holy Qur'an,  "So be patient, [O Muhammad], as were the 'Ulu al-'Azm among the messengers and do not be impatient for them." (Ahqaf, 46/35) These prophets are Nuh(as), Musa(as), Isa(as) and Muhammad (saw). "'Ulu al-'Azm" prophets are the ones who were given a separate religious law and had more difficulties compared to the other prophets while conveying their religious laws, and they were given the attribute for carrying out their duties with determination and tenacity. 

Prophet Muhammad (saw), who took all former prophets as sample, was sent upon all people, was the last prophet, and whose prophethood will continue until the end of the world, is the most superior of the prophets. Prophet Muhammad (saw) is the most superior of the prophets due to the features such as the original presence of Qur'an sent to him, the universal nature of the religion he conveyed and its continuity until the end of time, its being the last religion, and presence of believers among all nations. He is the most superior and best of the creatures, before and after, and the most beloved servant of Allah. In a verse, it is said,  "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind..." (Ali 'Imran, 3/110) For a nation to be the best, the prophet of that nation must also be the most superior creature.(Kılavuz, Ahmet Saim, Anahatlarıyla İslam Akâidi ve Kelâm’a Giriş, p. 252)

Prophet Muhammad (saw), in some hadiths, stated that his was made superior to the other prophets (Bukhari, Salat, 56), and he stated that all the prophets will gather under his flag on the last day, and said it is not something to be proud of. (Ibn Hanbal, I, 281)  Our Beloved Prophet (saw) also prohibited people from the discussion of superiority among the prophets. After learning that a man from Ansar argued with a Jew about which of the prophets was superior, the Prophet (saw) got angry at this situation, such that it was reflected on his face, then he said: "Do not give superiority to any prophet amongst Allah's Prophets..." (Buhârî, Enbiyâ, 35)  In other hadiths, He also asked not to be claimed that He was better than Yunus (as) and not to be regarded as superior to Musa (as). With these hadiths, Prophet Muhammad (saw) has put forward an approach to prevent people that believe in different prophets from separating and harming the prophets' position to lead people.