Our love of the prophets (peace be upon them) varies commensurate with their virtue

Loving the prophets is obligatory, because loving them is part of faith and they are the most deserving of believers and righteous people to be loved for the sake of Allah.

Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is obligatory for us to love the prophets, because of their sincerity in conveying the message and their patience in putting up with hardship in order to convey it, because we love them for the sake of Allah, and they are foremost among those whom we love for the sake of Allah. Just as we must love a person for the sake of Allah, we must love the prophets more and more.

(End quote from Liqa’ al-Bab al-Maftuh, by Ibn `Uthaymin)

Our love for the prophets varies according to the variation in their status. Whoever is of greater virtue, we love him more, for we love them because Allah, may He be exalted, loves them. So whomever Allah loves more, we love him more too, and our love will be commensurate with their status in terms of virtue.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Whatever love and respect we have for a human being is only permissible when it is connected to Allah’s love for that person and his status before Him, such as our love and veneration for His Messenger, which is part of our love and veneration for the One Who sent him. Therefore his ummah loves him because Allah loves him, and they venerate and respect him because Allah honoured him. So this is love for the sake of Allah and is dictated by love of Allah. Similarly, love for people of knowledge and faith, and love and respect for the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), is connected to the love of Allah and His Messenger for them.

(End quote from Jala’ al-Afham, p. 187)

All the prophets are loved, respected and venerated, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.

This is like our love for the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them); we love them all, but our love for the best among them is greater than our love for others, because loving them is connected to who is of greater virtue.

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Shaykh al-Islam, the scholar of his era, was asked by Abu Zar`ah, the Iraqi governor (may Allah have mercy on him), about someone who believed in the four caliphs and the order of superiority that is well known, but he loved one of them more than the others; was he sinning?

He replied: Love may be for a religious reason or for a worldly reason. Love for a religious reason is connected to virtue, so whoever is or greater virtue, our love for him on the basis of religion will be greater. Therefore if we believe that one of them is of greater virtue, then we love someone else more on religious grounds, that is contradictory…

Whoever acknowledges that the best of this ummah after its Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is Abu Bakr, then `Umar, then  `Uthman, then `Ali, but he loves `Ali more than Abu Bakr, for example, if this love referred to is love on religious grounds, then it does not make sense, because love on religious grounds is based on virtue, as we have stated, and this person has not acknowledged the superiority of Abu Bakr except in words only; as for his heart, he prefers `Ali because he loves him on religious grounds more than he loves Abu Bakr, and this is not permissible.

End quote from as-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah, 1/187-188.

Based on that, the believer loves all the prophets, and he has greater love for those whose virtue was greater.

And Allah knows best.