Assalamualikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhAre humans the best of creations?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

There is no doubt that Allah honored man in the origin of his creation and favored him over many of His Creation by the intellect.

Allah Says (what means): {And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference...} [Quran 17:70]

Al-Qurtubi said: “The correct view in this regard is that Allah has favored and honored mankind by conferring the blessing of 'intellect' which is what makes them competent for religious obligations and by means of which one can know his Lord, understand His speech, recognize His blessings, and believe in His Messengers…..” [End of quote]

Therefore, if the person uses this intellect properly, it will guide him to the right path and he will ascend to perfection. Some scholars are of the view that the righteous people among the humans are better than angels.

Ibn Taymiyyah said about Prophet Aadam :

“Aadam, as well as the righteous people among his progeny, are better than angels even though the humans are created from clay and the angels are created from light.” [End of quote]

In any case, this issue is an issue of difference of opinion among the scholars.

It should be noted that the excellence of our Prophet Muhammad over the rest of the creation, including the angels, is not included in this difference of opinion, as the Prophet Muhammad is absolutely the best of all the creation.

Now let us clarify that when a person stops using his intellect and follows his desires and worships other than his Lord, then he hits the rock bottom and his situation becomes worse than the beasts, and animals become better than him, in this case. Allah Says (what means): {And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.} [Quran 7:179]

When interpreting this verse Ibn Katheer, said:

“{Rather, they are more astray} means, worse than cattle, because cattle still respond to the call of their shepherd, even though they do not understand what he is saying. As for the people described here, they are unlike cattle, which fulfill the purpose and service of what they were created for. The disbeliever was created to worship Allah alone with Tawheed [i.e. to believe in Allah Alone and worship Him Alone and not associate with him partners], but he disbelieved in Allah and associated others in worshipping Him. Therefore, those people who obey Allah are more honorable than some angels, while cattle are better than those who disbelieve in Him…..” [End of quote]

Therefore, it becomes clear that there are some details about the matter.

In conclusion, we draw the attention of the questioners that it is better for them to ask about matters that necessitate action.

Allah knows best.