Firstly:
Allah, may He be Exalted, favoured some of the prophets over others as He, may He be Exalted, says:
{Those Messengers: We favoured some above others. There are some to whom Allah spoke directly; others He raised in rank} [Al-Baqarah 2:253]
{Indeed, We have exalted some of the Prophets above others} [Al-Isra’ 17:55].
The best of the prophets is our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
Ibn Taymiyah said in Jami` ar-Rasa’il (2/129): Muhammad is the leader of the sons of Adam, the best of the first and the last, the final Prophet and the one who led the prophets in prayer when they gathered, and their spokesman when they stand before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. He is the one who was taken up (during the Mi`raj) to a place above where the other prophets are, Ibrahim, Musa and others. End quote.
And he said in Al-Furqan bayna Awliya’ ar-Rahman wa Awliya’ ash-Shaytan(11): The best of the Messengers of strong will (ul al-`azm) is Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), the last of the prophets and the leader of the pious, the leader of the sons of Adam, the one who led the prophets in prayer when they gathered, and their spokesman when they stand before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, the one who will attain the station of praise and glory (al-maqam al-mahmoud) for which the first and the last will envy him, the one who will carry the banner of praise, the owner of the cistern to which all will come, the one who will intercede for all people on the Day of Resurrection, the one to whom will be granted the privilege and also the eminence (al-wasilah wal-fadilah), the one whom Allah sent with the best of His Books, prescribed for him the best divine system of law and made his ummah the best nation that was brought forth for humankind, and combined for him and his ummah the virtues and good characteristics that were scattered among the nations who came before them; they are the last of the nations to emerge and will be the first of the nations to be resurrected. End quote.
As-Subki said in As-Sayf al-Maslul (500): It is established based on the evidence of the Qur’an, authentic reports and the consensus of the ummah that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the noblest of humanity and the best of the prophets. End quote.
Al-Alusi said in Ghayat al-Amani fir-Radd `ala an-Nabhani (1/505): The superiority of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) over all the other prophets is proven in the religious texts which confirm that, such as the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “I am the leader of the sons of Adam and no boast.”
And he said: I shall come to the gate of Paradise and ask for it to be opened. The gatekeeper will say: Who are you? And I will say: Muhammad. He will say: I was commanded not to open it for anyone before you.”
On the night of the Mi`raj, Allah raised him in status above all the prophets, so he is the most deserving of them to be mentioned in the verse in which Allah, may He be Exalted, says:
{Those Messengers: We favoured some above others. There are some to whom Allah spoke directly; others He raised in rank} [Al-Baqarah 2:253].
And there is other evidence. End quote.
Please see also the answer to question no. 83417.
Secondly:
Musa (peace be upon him) is one of the Messengers of strong will; Allah, may He be Exalted, favoured him above many of the prophets and chose him, but the status of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is higher and more perfect.
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Dar’ at-Ta`arud: Allah favoured Musa by speaking to him directly, and this is something that is well-established in the religion of the Muslims, the Jews and Christians.
Allah, may He be Exalted, says:
{We have sent revelation to you [O Muhammad], as We sent it to Nuh and the Prophets after him; We sent revelation to Ibrahim, Isma`il, Is-haq, Ya`qub and his sons, to `Isa, Ayyub, Yunus, Harun, and Sulayman, and to Dawud We gave the Zabur [Psalms].
And [We sent revelation to] Messengers of whom We have told you, and other Messengers of whom We have not told you – and Allah spoke directly to Musa} [An-Nisa’ 4:163-164]
{Those Messengers: We favoured some above others. There are some to whom Allah spoke directly; others He raised in rank} [Al-Baqarah 2:253]
{When Musa came at the time appointed by Us, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: O my Lord, show Yourself to me, so that I may look upon You. Allah said: You cannot see Me. But look at the mountain; if it remains firm in its place, then you will see Me. But when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He caused it to crumble, and Musa fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said: Glory be to You! I repent to You and I am the first to believe.
Allah said: O Musa, I have chosen you above others, by giving you My messages and speaking to you. Hold fast to what I have given you, and be among those who are grateful} [Al-A`raf 7:143-144]. End quote.
And he said: Musa is one of the greatest of the Messengers of strong will and one of the greatest Muslims… It is well known that Musa ibn `Imran (peace be upon him) was one of the greatest of those who believed and did righteous deeds. Moreover, Allah, may He be Exalted, singled Musa out for a blessing greater than His pleasure when He said:
{I bestowed on you love from Me [and endeared you to people], so that you might be raised under My watchful eye} [Ta-Ha 20:39].
End quote from Al-Fatawa al-Kubra, 2/397.
Thirdly:
Regarding the words mentioned in the question, there is no basis for them in the reliable books of the Sunnah and reports, and we could find no mention of it except in a later book called Nuzhat al-Majalis wa Muntakhab an-Nafa’is, by `Abd ar-Rahman Lasfuri (d. 894 AH), in which (2/68) it says: Musa (peace be upon him) said: O Lord, I am the one to whom You spoke directly, but Muhammad is your beloved. What is the difference between the one to whom You spoke directly and the beloved? He said: The one who is spoken to directly will act to please his master, whilst the master will act to please the beloved. The one who is spoken to directly loves Allah, but the beloved is loved by Allah. The one who is spoken to directly comes to Mount Sinai then converses with his Lord, whilst the beloved sleeps in his bed and Jibril takes him to where I am within the blink of an eye, a place which no other created being ever reached. End quote.
This book is not reliable to be quoted from, as it is not a book that narrates with isnads, and is not a book that makes sure to only quote proven reports and sound views. In it you see what you would see in books of literature and later reports of many weird and false things.
You can see a warning about this book – Nuzhat al-Majalis – and some of the scholars who forbade reading this book in: Kutub Hadhara minha al-`Ulama’ by Shaykh Mashhur Hasan Salman (19-20).
What this report contains of exaggeration and going to extremes in finding ways to prove the superiority of Allah’s Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and Allah’s Prophet to whom He spoke directly, Musa (peace be upon him), is not hidden. There is no need for that and no evidence to prove it.
This report is so bad and baseless that it is attributed to the Lord of the Worlds with no authentic or sound – or even weak – chain of narration; in fact there is no chain of narration at all!
This is sufficient to prove that it is false, and that it is prohibited to narrate it and attribute it to the Lord of the Worlds.
It is sufficient for us to limit ourselves to what Allah and His Messenger have told us, and not go beyond that to other reports that exaggerate and speak in rhymed prose like soothsayers, and other silly nonsense.
And Allah knows best.
