followers while overlooking the very teacher whom those followers themselves regarded as superior—one whom the rest of people simply do not know. Such individuals, therefore, lack sound knowledge; for that reason you will often find them giving precedence to the less excellent because they are unaware of the more excellent. The same phenomenon appears in every field, even with cities: a man will prefer a city he knows to another that is more perfect, merely because he has never seen the latter.

To judge whether two things are equal or whether one is superior requires knowing each of them and knowing the qualities by which similarity or superiority is established—just as one might wish to determine that al-Bukhari was more learned than Muslim and that his collection is more authentic, or that Sibawayh surpassed al-Akhfash, and the like.

Indeed, Allah has favored some of the prophets over others, as the Exalted has said:

“ We have certainly favored some of the prophets over others ” (Al-Isra 17:55).