Then he recited: “Just as We began the first creation, We shall repeat it” (Qur’an 21:104).
Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim include this narration in their two Ṣaḥīḥs (1) through Sufyān al-Thawrī and Shuʿbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj (2), each of them transmitting it from Mughīrah ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Nakhaʿī al-Kūfī, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās.
This specific distinction does not imply superiority over the corresponding virtue that has been established for the possessor of the Praised Station—one for which the first and the last will vie with him.
As for the other ḥadīth cited by Imām Aḥmad: “Wakīʿ and Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Sufyān—that is, al-Thawrī—narrated to us, from Mukhtār ibn Fulful, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said: A man said to the Prophet ﷺ, ‘O best of creation!’ He replied, ‘That is Abraham.’” (3)
Muslim (4) transmits it through al-Thawrī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs, ʿAlī ibn Mushir, and Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl, all of them from Mukhtār ibn Fulful; and al-Tirmidhī (5) graded it sound and authentic.
This falls under the heading of self-effacement and humility toward his father, the Intimate Friend, just as he said:
“Do not give me preference over the prophets,” and he said, “Do not give me preference over Moses, for people will swoon on the Day of Resurrection and I shall be the first to regain consciousness; I will find Moses holding to one of the legs of the Throne, and I do not know whether he awoke before me or was exempted because of the swoon at Ṭūr.” (6)
None of this conflicts with the mass-transmitted reports affirming—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he will be the master of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection (7), nor with the ḥadīth of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:
“I postponed the third request for the Day when all creation—even Abraham—will turn to me.” (8)
And because Abraham is the finest of the messengers and of those possessed of firm resolve after Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them all—the worshipper has been instructed, during the tashahhud, to say what is authentically reported in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah and others. We said, “O Messenger of Allah, we know how to greet you with peace; but how are we to invoke blessings upon you?” He replied:
“Say: O Allah, send Your blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, just as You sent blessings upon Abraham and upon the family of Abraham, and send Your favor upon Muhammad and upon the family of…"