the path by which the prophethood of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is established through proofs equal to, and even greater than, those that substantiate any other messenger. Rather, we show that affirming his prophethood is more warranted than affirming the prophethood of anyone else, and that every argument adduced to verify a prophet applies to Muhammad with greater force than to any other. Likewise, whatever objection is raised against a prophet’s mission, the reply on Muhammad’s behalf—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—deserves priority over the reply offered for someone else.

Accordingly, he is pre-eminent both in the evidences that confirm prophethood and in the rejoinders that remove objections; in this respect his case is the most complete. It therefore contradicts both knowledge and fairness to credit another with prophethood while denying it to him—just as it would be unacceptable, for anyone informed and just, to acknowledge mastery in a given art for the less accomplished while withholding it from the more accomplished.

Our qualification, “with knowledge and fairness,” is intentional: the wrong-doer may knowingly prefer the inferior, and the ignorant may recognize the lesser while remaining unaware of the superior.

Many people, in fact, know the virtue of the figure they follow—whether in learning or in worship—yet are unaware of the reports concerning others; thus entire groups end up venerating certain