Answered by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad
In light of the Quranic ayahs such as 2:285: The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course.
Who are we, to make distinctions between the prophets of Allah and say that Prophet Muhammad (s) was the greatest? I am not asking how do we know he is the greatest, I am asking why is it a part of basic aqidah to believe he is the greatest prophet when the quran states that we should not make any distinctions.
The Qur’an states we should not make any distinctions of believing in one of them and disbelieving in another. This is a reference to the Christians who make a difference between the Prophets on the one hand and the Prophet Muhammad on the other; and to the Jews who reject `Isa in addition.
Otherwise, the Qur’an itself states, {Of those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others, and of whom there are some unto whom Allah spoke, while some of them He exalted (above others) in degree…} (2:253). Allah also mentions “the Messengers of inflexible purpose” (ulil-`azm 46:35).
Furthermore, the Sunna is replete with explicit statements to the effect that our liege-lord Muhammad is the greatest of the Prophets and Messengers as well as the best of creation including the angels brought near and this is a matter of *explicit Consensus* which is more binding than the Qur’anic proof because it is not open to interpretation – not even false interpretation.