Real vs fake humility

One thing about the Judeo-Christian scriptures is that over time they tainted the image of their messengers and so there was this feeling that the Prophet ﷺ is greater than the other prophets and it was mentioned to him one day.

So the Prophet ﷺ says: "Don't think that I am better than my brother Yunus. And don't say that these prophets are better than those prophets. And don't say that I was greater than Musa. And maybe if I had stayed in prison as long as Yusuf, maybe I would have given up — but Yusuf was better than me."

Why Did He Say This?

We know he is the greatest of all prophets — but part of humility is downplaying your status. Because people will always praise, people will always say things about you, but to downplay your status — "No, no, no, no, that's not me."

Of course, there is something called fake humility — when you insert yourself in front of people so they can praise you, and they do it excessively:

"SubhanAllah, I am just a poor miskeen, who am I to teach you?"

"No, Sheikh, you are the most knowledgeable man on the planet!"

"No, no, please, please, please don't say this."

"No, please don't pick up my bags and my shoes — no, no, I don't need, I don't need more gifts from you."

So this fake humility — this is not required. Allah knows what is in the heart.

The Genuine Humility of the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet ﷺ's humility is genuine. He really believes he is not the greatest of prophets. He really believes that other prophets are better than him.

One person comes to him one day and says:

"O the best of creation!"

And he ﷺ replies: "That is Ibrahim — that's Ibrahim, not me. That is Ibrahim, peace be upon him."