Indeed, before the Messiah, Allah had already sent many messengers to every nation. How, then, can anyone claim that His—Exalted be He—statement, “We certainly sent Our messengers with clear proofs” ⦗al-Hadid: 25⦘, refers only to the ḥawāriyyūn (disciples) whom the Messiah dispatched, when those disciples stand in the same position as the messengers of Moses, of Abraham, and of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace?

Whoever is sent by the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—must be obeyed by the people with regard to whatever he conveys from the Messenger of Allah. As is recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever obeys my appointed commander has obeyed me; and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys my appointed commander has disobeyed me.”

He thereby clarified that obedience to his commander is required only in what is right—that which Allah and His Messenger have commanded—and not in everything the commander may order. For in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, from ʿAlī, that—