of him, his very appearance—by virtue of his own prophethood—was itself a confirmation of it; he then announced a messenger who would come after him, and the appearance of that foretold messenger confirmed him, just as his appearance had confirmed the Torah. Such is Allah’s custom with His messengers: the earlier one heralds the later, and the later ratifies the earlier. Had Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh ﷺ not appeared and been sent, the prophethood of all the prophets before him would have been invalidated. (1)

A Covenant and a Pledge…

Part of Allah’s wisdom, exalted is He, is that He never sent a prophet without first binding him and his followers with a covenant that they would believe in, acknowledge, and support the prophet who came after him:

“When Allah took the covenant of the prophets: ‘Whatever I grant you of Scripture and wisdom, then should a messenger come to you confirming what you already possess, you must believe in him and support him.’ He said, ‘Do you affirm and accept My covenant on that?’ They said, ‘We affirm.’ He said, ‘Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses. Whoever thereafter turns away—those are the defiantly disobedient.’” (Q 3:81–82)

Allah Most High thus informs us that He took a pledge from His prophets that they would confirm one another. In turn, the prophets bound their nations and followers with a pledge identical to the one their Lord had taken from them: to affirm the prophets and messengers of Allah in whatever they brought. For the prophets, peace be upon them, were sent to their peoples with that very charge, and none of those who truly accepted the messengers has ever claimed that a prophet was sent to any community in order to deny one of Allah’s prophets or the proofs He has established among His servants. Rather, all of them—even though some communities rejected certain prophets out of stubborn denial—agree that once the authenticity of a prophet’s mission is established, it is obligatory to acknowledge him. That is a covenant acknowledged by them all. (2)

Therefore, whatever Scripture and wisdom Allah may have bestowed upon any one of them, and however lofty his rank, once a messenger comes after him he must believe in and support that messenger; the knowledge in which he already excels must not prevent him