Making Comparisons between the Messengers

Question:

How can we reconcile the Words of Allah, the Most High:

Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others.

And His Words:
We make no distinction between any of them.?

Answer:

Allah's Words:
"Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others.

Are like His Words:
And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others.

There is no doubt that some of the Prophets and the Messengers are superior to others. The Messengers are superior to the Prophets, and 'Ulul-Azm are superior to the rest of the Messengers. 'Ulul-'Azm are the five Messengers whom Allah, the Most High has mentioned in two Verses of the Qur'an, one of them in Surah Al-Ahzab:
" And (remember) when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from you (Muhammad) and from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa and 'Isa, son of Maryam."

(So they are:) Muhammad, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa and 'Isa, the son of Maryam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them).

The other Verse is in Surah Ash-Shura:
He (Allah) has ordained for You the same religion (Islamic monotheism) which He ordained for Nuh, and that which We have revealed to you (Muhammad) and that which We ordained for Ibrahim, Musa and 'Isa.

They are five, and they are superior to the other Messengers.

As for Allah's Words regarding the believers:

فول دامن بالله ومليكه وتشهد لا تفرق بين العام من رسيد

Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers. (They say:) "We make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers.

the meaning is: We do not make a distinction in believing in any of them; rather we believe that all of them are true Messengers from Allah and that they do not lie, for they only speak the truth and they are believed. And this is the meaning of Allah's Words:

ولا تفرق بين أحلو فين وسيله

We make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers.

That is, in faith; we believe that all of them are true. Messengers from Allah. However, faith implies obedience on behalf of those who come after the Messengers, especially in the case of the Messenger of Allah, for it is he who must be obeyed, since his law abrogates all other laws. In this way, we understand that our faith will be in all of them. We believe in them, that they are true Messengers of Allah, but that after the Messenger of Allah was sent, all of the previous religions were abrogated by his law and it became incumbent upon all of mankind to support Muhammad alone. Allah has abrogated all previous religions in His Wisdom except the religion of the Messenger. This is why Allah says:

Say: "O mankind! I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). It is He Who gives life and causes death, so believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write [i.e. Muhammad() who believes in Allah and His Words (this Qur'an, the Tawrah and the Injil and also Allah's Word: "Be!" and he was i.e. Jesus, the son of Maryam (peace be upon them both)] and follow him so that you may be guided.

So all of the religions besides the religion of Allah's Messenger have been abrogated, but belief in the Messengers and that they are true is an obligation.