Title: Further Exchange on 'Is the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the Most Exalted Prophet?' Question/Comments: In Response to my question regarding the status of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) you replied that from the Quran we cannot access if he (PBUH) is the greatest Prophet or not? In that case, in the light of the Holy Quran, how can we access that his Sunnah and his teachings are exalted above those of other Prophets (PBUT). It is written in the Quran (2:53) 'These messengers have WE exalted some of them above others; among them there are those to whom Allah spoke and some of them HE exalted in degrees of rank....' Therefore Allah has exalted some Prophets over others. Consequently so as to say that he (PBUH) is not the final/greatest authority over all makes his (PBUH) Sunnah and teachings redundant (Nouz-u-Billah) as other Prophets and their teachings were just as great? Ather Bajwa United States of America Answer: The Qur'an tells us that the path shown to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was, in fact, the path of Abraham (pbuh). It is also clear from the Qur'an that the teachings of all of the prophets of God, having emanated from the same God, were the same, with minor differences of practices only. The cited verse of the Qur'an ( Al-Baqarah 2: 253) clearly refers to the point that no one among the prophets of God was given absolute superiority or exaltation over others. The Arabic phrase "فضلنا بعضهم على بعض" (lit: 'We have exalted one over the other') refers to relative rather than absolute exaltation and, therefore, it should more accurately be translated as 'We have exalted one over the other from various aspects'. Thus, the cited verse actually implies that God if one prophet was exalted over the others from one aspect, another was exalted over others from another aspect. This point is further elaborated in the succeeding part of the verse, which reads as: Among them was him, to whom God spoke directly and He exalted some in ranks. And to Jesus, son of Mary, We granted clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. In this part of the verse, God has referred to the distinct qualities of a few prophets, with reference to which they were exalted over other prophets of God. You write: Consequently so as to say that he (PBUH) is not the final/greatest authority over all makes his (PBUH) Sunnah and teachings redundant God made Muhammad (pbuh) the final authority with respect to His guidance to the humankind and, therefore, it is the teachings given through Muhammad (pbuh) that shall remain the final path recommended by the Almighty for all humans to follow. This point, however, should not be construed to imply that the teachings of the earlier prophets of God were, in any way, less suitable than the teachings of Muhammad (pbuh). The teachings of each of the prophets were the teachings of God and, therefore, equal in rank and stature with the teachings of all of the other prophets. Each of God's revelations entailed the most suitable teachings for those particular times in which those teachings were revealed. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 25, 2002