A Tradition, as usual, supports his position. "I am the chief of the sons of men." "Adam and all beside him will be ranged under my flag in the judgment day."[[140]] It is said that the law given by Moses was harsh and severe; that by Christ was mild and gracious; but that the law given by Muhammad is perfect, for it combines both the quality of strictness and that of graciousness; according to the Tradition: "I always laugh and by laughing kill."[[141]] Each prophet is said to have been sent to his own tribe, but Muhammad was sent for all men. A Tradition is adduced to support this statement: "I was raised up for all men whether white or black, other prophets were not except for their own tribe." The Qurán also states: "We have sent thee (Muhammad) for all men."
There is some difference of opinion as to whether the prophets are superior to the angels. The Hanífites hold that the prophets amongst men are superior to the prophets amongst angels, who in their turn are superior to the ordinary run of men, to whom again the angels, other than prophets, are inferior. The Mutazilites say that the angels are superior to the prophets. The Shía'hs assert that the twelve Imáms are superior to prophets.
The way in which Muhammad received inspiration has been shown in a previous chapter; but Ibn Khaldoun gives such an interesting account of prophetic inspiration that I give the substance of his remarks here. He speaks somewhat as follows.[[142]] If we contemplate the world and the creatures it contains we shall recognize a perfect order, a regular
system, a sequence of cause and effect, a connexion between different categories of existence, and a transformation of beings from one category of existence to another. Then the phenomena of the visible world indicate to us the existence of an agent whose nature is different from that of the body, who is in fact a spiritual existence. This agent, which is the soul, must on the one hand be in contact with the existences of this world and, on the other, with the existences in the next category of superiority, and one whose essential qualities are pure perception and clear intelligence. Such are the angels. It follows, then, that the human soul has a tendency towards the angelic world. All this is quite in accordance with the idea that, according to a regular order, all the categories of existences in the universe are in mutual contact by means of their faculties and on account of their nature.
The souls of men may be divided into three classes. The first kind of soul is too feeble by nature to attain to a perception of the spiritual: it has to content itself with moving in the region of sense and imagination. Thus it can understand concepts and affirmations. It can raise itself high in its own category but cannot pass its limit.
The souls of the second class are carried by a reflective movement and a natural disposition towards a spiritual intelligence. They can enter into a state of contemplation which results in ecstasy. This is the intuition of the Saints (Auliya)[[143]] to whom God has given this divine knowledge.
The souls of the third class are created with the power of disengaging themselves altogether from their human bodies in order that they may rise to the angelic state where they become like angels. In a moment of time such
a soul perceives the sublime company (of angels) in the sphere which contains them. It, there and then, hears the speech of the soul and the divine voice. Such are the souls of the prophets. God has given to these souls the power of leaving the human body. Whilst thus separate from it God gives to them His revelation. The prophets are endowed by God with such a purity of disposition, such an instinct of uprightness, that they are naturally inclined to the spiritual world. They are animated by an ardour quite peculiar to their order. When they return from the angelic state they deliver to men the revelations they have received. Sometimes the revelation comes to the prophet as the humming of confused discourse. He grasps the ideas and, as soon as the humming ceases, he comprehends the message; sometimes an angel in human form communicates the revelation, and what he says the prophet learns by heart. The journey to, the return from the angelic state, and the comprehension of the revelation received there occupy less time than the twinkling of an eye. So rapidly do the souls of prophets move. So instantaneously do they receive and understand God's revelations. This is why inspiration is called Wahí, a word which, according to Ibn Khaldoun, means to make haste.
The first way of delivering a message is adopted when he who receives it is only a Nabí (prophet), and not a Rasúl (apostle or messenger.) The second mode is employed towards a Rasúl who, on the principle that the greater contains the less, is also a Nabí. A Hadís records that Muhammad said: "Revelation came to me sometimes like the ticking of a clock and fatigued me much. When it stopped I learnt the meaning of what had been delivered to me. Sometimes an angel in human form spoke to me and, whilst he was speaking, I learnt what was said." That a prophet should feel oppressed on such occasions is hinted at in "With measured tone intone the Qurán, for we shall devolve on thee mighty words." (Súra lxxiii. 5.)