Yes, many among the People of the Book have not been acquainted with the reports about him that would make this plain to them—just as many among the Rāfiḍites are unaware of the reports concerning the first three caliphs that would reveal to them their superiority to ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him. Such people remain in ignorance, and the pursuit of knowledge is incumbent upon them, above all in matters relating to prophethood.

Indeed, examining the case of the one who declared, “I am the messenger of Allah to you” (Al-Aʿrāf 7:158) takes precedence over every other inquiry, for affirming that claim leads to the height of felicity, whereas denying it leads to the depth of misery. Through the Messenger the line is drawn between the happy and the wretched, between truth and falsehood, guidance and misguidance, and between the allies of Allah and His enemies.

Anyone who adopts this rational path of comparison and reflection may set the condition of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—his Book, his law, and his community alongside the condition of any other prophet, his book, and his law. He then asks whether the two are equal, unequal, and—if unequal—which is superior. Once it becomes evident that the state of Muhammad is the better, believing in him is all the more obligatory, and it is impossible that the other be truthful while he is a liar.

Indeed, even if the two were exactly alike, he would still have to be judged truthful; and even if they were close in merit yet the other were slightly superior, the lying pretender can never resemble the truthful prophet. Between the two lies a gulf so obvious that only the blind fail to perceive it.

We follow the same method when judging the prophets as a whole—upon them be peace