—whether this man was in fact the prophet foretold or someone else. Accordingly, the proofs they needed to establish his truthfulness were far easier than those required by people who do not believe in the messengers or do not know that a prophet is to be sent. A person who already accepts the very idea of messengers yet is unsure whether any prophet will actually be raised must learn whether this particular claimant belongs to the ranks of the truthful prophets or to the ranks of the lying pretenders.

This distinction is recognized through the specific signs that attest to his veracity and by measuring what he has brought against what the earlier prophets brought, for in the fundamentals the prophets cannot differ. These fundamentals—reports concerning Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day—are matters that admit no abrogation. On such points the prophets cannot disagree, for everything a prophet reports is true, and truthful reports neither contradict one another nor are they subject to repeal. Still, some prophets may possess fuller knowledge of certain details than others, and in the speech of some prophets there may be information not found in the speech of others.

What Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—has conveyed is more complete and more extensive than what Moses and the Messiah Jesus—peace be upon them—conveyed.

Some confused people imagine that certain prophetic reports clash with one another, just as others mistakenly imagine that sound reason conflicts with what the prophets have reported. This is impossible. Either the alleged rational objection is flawed, being unsound reasoning, or the transmitted text is not firmly established from them, whether in its wording or in its implication. Likewise, with the reports themselves, one of the