This was the reason that on the auspicious occasion of the Ascent (Ma 'eraj), he was
made the Imam (leader) of all the prophets at Bayt al-Muqaddas. Similarly, on the
Day of Judgement, too, it will be he who will act as an intercessor to implore Allah
Most High to give His judgements. This is the same Lauded Station (Maqam-e
Mahmud) which does not befit anyone but him. All the eminent prophets and holy
messengers, on that day, will not dare to act as the intercessor. Alas only he alone will
stand at that station. Allamah Shehab al-Din Ibn Hajar al-Haithami al-Makki says that
Allah Most High hath bestowed upon him all kinds of superiority over all other
prophets and messengers.
Of these, three are quite clear and apparent, ordinarily his special qualities would require volumes upon volumes for description, but here I try to describe the important peculiarities only:-
The First Special Notability
He was called for Ascent (Ma 'eraj) with the corporeal (lit. external) body and this honour has not been achieved by any one save our Holy Prophet the Chosen Muhammad and the glory of his singularity is also displayed by the honours and dignity with which he was called. In Bayt al-Muqaddas he was made the imam (for leading the prayer) of all the angels and the prophets. When the prayer was over, Hazrat Jibra'il introduced all the prophets to him and they all Congratulated him and paid tributes of praise. Then Prophet Abraham, praising the partnerless Lord, said: "Allah Alone deserves laudation Who made me His Khalil (intimate friend) and bestowed upon me a vast spiritual realm, and made me an obedient ummah (as though one obedient man is equal to thousands of obedient men); and exalted me with His messages and took me out from Nimrud's fire and made it cool and the cause of safety for me.
" Then Prophet Moses said: "All praise is for that Lord Who made me His Kalim (i.e., gave me the privilege of speaking with Himself) and exalted me; and revealed the Torah upon me and accomplished Pharoah's destruction and the Israelites' emancipation at my hands."
Then Prophet David said: "Allah Alone is worthy of praise Who invested me with Kingdom, revealed the Psalms (Zabur) upon me, made iron soft for me and made mountains subservient to me so that they and the birds used to glorify the Lord along with me; and bestowed upon me common sense and the capacity for deciding cases". Then Prophet Solomon said: "Allah Alone deserves praise Who subjugated the winds, the genii and the humans to me and made satans obedient to me so that they used to make whatever I wished them to make - like fortresses, statues, pond-like troughs and cauldrons that would remain fixed at a place and would not admit any shaking. And He taught me the language of the animals and flowed a stream of molten copper so that I did not have to melt it and got made large vessels at the hands of the genii, and He bestowed on me such a vast empire which does not befit anyone."
Prophet Jesus said: "Allah Alone is worthy of praise for He gave me knowledge of the Torah and the Bible and made me such that, by Allah's order, I could heal the stoneblind and the lepers and revive the dead to life, and He lifted me to the sky and kept me safe from the infidels' deceit and evil, and gave me and my mother shelter from the condemned Satan and never allowed Satan to have any power over us."
After all had spoken, Muhammad Mustafa began and said: "You all have lauded your Lord and so I too eulogise my Lord that Allah Alone is worthy of praise who sent me as mercy for the whole universe and as a harbinger of good and a warning for all the human beings, and He revealed the Quran unto me in which there is mention of every necessary thing, and He made my ummah better than all other ummahs that came to this world, and made my ummah the middle ummah, and made my ummah such that as regards honour it precedes all and as regards appearance it is the last of all. he caused my bosom to dilate and eased me of my burden and exalted my remembrance; and me alone. He (by the award of prophethood) made first and (as regards advent) the last'.' (Tafsir-e Ibn Kathir, vol. iii, p.18).
Then Prophet Abraham alaihis salaam addressed all the prophets and said: "It is on account of these merits that Allah Most High hath given superiority to Muhammad over you." This long hadith about the Holy Prophet's superiority over all other prophets has been mentioned by Allamah Ibn Kathir. Since in this Hadith the Holy Prophet has himself mentioned his notabilities, there remains nothing to write about. But the Arabic-knowing persons and religious scholars know full well how concise and succinct are the Holy Prophet's sentences, for while the other prophets mentioned their miracles instead of their specialities, the Holy Prophet described only the latter. Moreover, in accordance he has expressed in a few words so many meanings as if he has filled up the sea in a cup, and it is truly a fact that the words of kings are the kings of words. Even as he has had leadership over all the prophets, human beings and the jinni, his words command superiority over all other words.
Of these, three are quite clear and apparent, ordinarily his special qualities would require volumes upon volumes for description, but here I try to describe the important peculiarities only:-
The First Special Notability
He was called for Ascent (Ma 'eraj) with the corporeal (lit. external) body and this honour has not been achieved by any one save our Holy Prophet the Chosen Muhammad and the glory of his singularity is also displayed by the honours and dignity with which he was called. In Bayt al-Muqaddas he was made the imam (for leading the prayer) of all the angels and the prophets. When the prayer was over, Hazrat Jibra'il introduced all the prophets to him and they all Congratulated him and paid tributes of praise. Then Prophet Abraham, praising the partnerless Lord, said: "Allah Alone deserves laudation Who made me His Khalil (intimate friend) and bestowed upon me a vast spiritual realm, and made me an obedient ummah (as though one obedient man is equal to thousands of obedient men); and exalted me with His messages and took me out from Nimrud's fire and made it cool and the cause of safety for me.
" Then Prophet Moses said: "All praise is for that Lord Who made me His Kalim (i.e., gave me the privilege of speaking with Himself) and exalted me; and revealed the Torah upon me and accomplished Pharoah's destruction and the Israelites' emancipation at my hands."
Then Prophet David said: "Allah Alone is worthy of praise Who invested me with Kingdom, revealed the Psalms (Zabur) upon me, made iron soft for me and made mountains subservient to me so that they and the birds used to glorify the Lord along with me; and bestowed upon me common sense and the capacity for deciding cases". Then Prophet Solomon said: "Allah Alone deserves praise Who subjugated the winds, the genii and the humans to me and made satans obedient to me so that they used to make whatever I wished them to make - like fortresses, statues, pond-like troughs and cauldrons that would remain fixed at a place and would not admit any shaking. And He taught me the language of the animals and flowed a stream of molten copper so that I did not have to melt it and got made large vessels at the hands of the genii, and He bestowed on me such a vast empire which does not befit anyone."
Prophet Jesus said: "Allah Alone is worthy of praise for He gave me knowledge of the Torah and the Bible and made me such that, by Allah's order, I could heal the stoneblind and the lepers and revive the dead to life, and He lifted me to the sky and kept me safe from the infidels' deceit and evil, and gave me and my mother shelter from the condemned Satan and never allowed Satan to have any power over us."
After all had spoken, Muhammad Mustafa began and said: "You all have lauded your Lord and so I too eulogise my Lord that Allah Alone is worthy of praise who sent me as mercy for the whole universe and as a harbinger of good and a warning for all the human beings, and He revealed the Quran unto me in which there is mention of every necessary thing, and He made my ummah better than all other ummahs that came to this world, and made my ummah the middle ummah, and made my ummah such that as regards honour it precedes all and as regards appearance it is the last of all. he caused my bosom to dilate and eased me of my burden and exalted my remembrance; and me alone. He (by the award of prophethood) made first and (as regards advent) the last'.' (Tafsir-e Ibn Kathir, vol. iii, p.18).
Then Prophet Abraham alaihis salaam addressed all the prophets and said: "It is on account of these merits that Allah Most High hath given superiority to Muhammad over you." This long hadith about the Holy Prophet's superiority over all other prophets has been mentioned by Allamah Ibn Kathir. Since in this Hadith the Holy Prophet has himself mentioned his notabilities, there remains nothing to write about. But the Arabic-knowing persons and religious scholars know full well how concise and succinct are the Holy Prophet's sentences, for while the other prophets mentioned their miracles instead of their specialities, the Holy Prophet described only the latter. Moreover, in accordance he has expressed in a few words so many meanings as if he has filled up the sea in a cup, and it is truly a fact that the words of kings are the kings of words. Even as he has had leadership over all the prophets, human beings and the jinni, his words command superiority over all other words.
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