How are we to understand the hadiths that mention the humility of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), such as his saying, "That is Abraham, upon him be peace," and his response to whoever said, "I am better than Jonah son of Mata," and do these hadiths contradict his status as the best of the prophets and messengers?

Believers affirm all prophets and messengers without differentiation, while also believing that some are superior to others, and that the best among them are the 'Ulul-'Azm (Prophets of Strong Will), with our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, being the best of all prophets.

As for the Hadiths that might suggest he, peace and blessings be upon him, is not to be preferred over other prophets, scholars have explained them in several ways, including: - That they were uttered out of his humility, peace and blessings be upon him. - Or to prohibit differentiation that could lead to fanaticism or belittling any prophet. - Or that the prohibition of differentiation was before he knew that he was the master of the Children of Adam. - And that the prohibited differentiation is regarding the rank of prophethood, in which all prophets are equal, whereas the preference is in the increase of states and characteristics. - And that the prohibition of preferring him over Yunus, peace be upon them both, was out of fear that weak-minded individuals might perceive a deficiency in Yunus due to what Allah mentioned about him in the Qur'an.

In summary: The superiority among prophets is established, and the superiority of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, over all other prophets is affirmed by consensus.