The Prophet’s obligation is at a level that he should not hoard up the livelihood of any one day for future use, while not being obligated to pay alms tax on it even if it had been hoarded up. That is because he is superior to the ordinary practitioners according to his knowledge of God, trust in God, reliance on God, and belief in the Oneness of God. There is a hadith that illuminates a case in point, it was said that the Prophet stood once to lead his Companions in prayer, and when he was about to start and raised his hands for the Opening Proclamation, he lowered his hands and rushed into his room and then returned. Something of a surprise appeared on the faces of the Companions. When he returned and saw them in that state, he said, “you may be frightened by what I did?!” They said, “Yes, O Messenger of God!” He said, “I remembered that in the House of Muhammad there is a dirham coin, so I was afraid to face God while I am hoarding up!” This hadith describes the level of his obligation.

The obligation of the ordinary practitioners, as seen in the alms tax, is in keeping with their diminished capacity and perceptions, this is the wisdom of the exoteric code upon which the Quran rests, as stated in the verse, “God takes not a soul beyond its capacity” (2:286). We see more in the hadith, “We Prophets are ordered to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence.”

In the Quran we find a verse on almsgiving that says, “Take from their wealth” (9:103), and we also find in the Quran, “give them of the wealth of God which He has given you” (24:33). At first, it seems as if there is a contradiction. In fact, for many of the Chapters of the Quran and verses of the Quran, one who does not understand them may think that they include many contradictions. But they are, in fact, descending from grand meanings to basic meanings. The grand meaning, at the level of truth, is that all wealth is the wealth of God, which is why we hear: “give them of the wealth of God which He has given you” (24:33). God also says, “Spend of that of which He has made you trustees” (57:7). That refers to His wealth and we are entrusted with it, and He will see how we do with this trusteeship. But this meaning of wealth is far above an ordinary understanding. Because, according to habit— that which has been the practice and that to which people are accustomed—the wealth that you earn is yours. So, to keep up with this perceived illusion until removing it from people, He said, “Take from their wealth the alms, for you would cleanse them and purify them thereby, and pray for them; your prayer is a relief to them” (9:103).

There is a simple definition we learned when we were at the beginning of our education—when we were in primary school—a definition of prophethood and a definition of messengership. The definition says: The Prophet is a human who has a code revealed to him and is not commanded to deliver it, while the Messenger is a human who has a code revealed to him and is commanded to deliver it. The two definitions are simple and pleasant. Yet, it seems to me that a misunderstanding of these two definitions may take place in the minds of people. That is what we have encountered.

The misunderstanding is the belief that when the Prophet was commanded to deliver the Call—when he became Messenger—he was commanded to deliver the entire prophethood code. That is to say, as a Messenger he is commanded to deliver all of what has been revealed to him since he became Prophet. That is why some people, when we tell them that the Prophet delivered a portion of what was revealed to him, which is in line with his messengership, they say, if this happened it would be concealment. However, the truth is otherwise. The truth is that the Prophet was not commanded to deliver all of what he knew. Rather, he was commanded to address people according to their level of intellect. That was stated in the hadith, “We Prophets are ordered to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence.”

Further, in one of the ascension hadith s, the Prophet said: “On the night of my ascent to heavens, I saw my Lord in the form of a hairless youth. My Lord said: O Muhammad, what do the highest angles contend about? I said: You are my Lord the most aware of it! He then placed His palm between my shoulders and I felt its coldness in my chest and I came to know the knowledge of the ancients and the moderns. I received three kinds of knowledge: one kind I was commanded to impart, another I was left free to communicate or not, and the last I was forbidden to divulge, because He knows that no one else is capable to comprehend it.” As for the knowledge that he was commanded to impart, it is the messengership knowledge, which includes the explanation and clarification of the exoteric code according to the capabilities and the needs of ordinary practitioners. The messengership knowledge includes imparting the entire legible Quran, but its clarification does not include more than what people’s minds can tolerate. The knowledge, which he was left free to communicate or not, is the prophethood knowledge. It is the esoteric code that we discussed earlier. So, he may reveal a portion of the prophethood knowledge to some of his Companions, Abu Bakr for example, but not reveal it to Omar. The revealing is according to what he knows of the difference in capability and qualifications between these two men.

The literal meaning of the Quran, also, may lead in the direction of the illusion that the Prophet is commanded to deliver all of what he knew. But, in fact, a simple study would give a different view of that. To give an example of the literal meaning of the Quran: “O Messenger! Deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message. God will protect you from mankind. God does not guide the disbelieving people” (5:67). As apparent in the text, one might understand from such a verse that the Prophet has been commanded to deliver all of what has been revealed to him. However, according to the interpretation of Baydawi (a revered Islamic scholar), “The surface of the verse implies the delivery of all of what was revealed, but perhaps what is intended is of him is to deliver whatever relates to the interests of people. The intention behind the revealing is for them to know it.” Then he went on to say, “Some of the Divine secrets are forbidden to disclose.” So, to Baydawi, the literal meaning of the text implies complete delivery. Yet, his knowledge showed him that this is not so because, according to the words of Baydawi, some of the Divine secrets are forbidden to disclose. Yet, he said that the surface of the verse implies that the delivery was of all that was revealed.

In fact, this exoteric meaning has its place in the esoteric as well, because all that was revealed of the legible Quran is part of the messengership and must be delivered. The failure to deliver any part of it is considered concealment, where as the Messenger is infallible. The Messenger is incapable of concealment. Yet, we do not know what the limits of concealment are. The point that must be made clear is that the existing legible Quran, between the covers of the Holy Book, is what was revealed to the Prophet. This he was commanded to deliver, and he concealed none of it. However, the interpretation and clarification of the Quran do not fall within the subject of the messengership. What does falls, then, within the subject of the messengership is whatever is tolerable to people’s minds.

That goes to show us clearly that the knowledge of the Prophet is very great and does not falter within the medium of delivering the Message. However, only a very small portion of his great knowledge is included in the delivery of the Message. Moreover, despite the greatness and capaciousness of the Prophet’s knowledge, it is absolutely nothing in comparison to the knowledge of the Quran. That is because the Quran is God’s infinite knowledge. The Quran is the eternal God Self. No one knows God Self but God—therefore, no one knows the Quran but God. The Prophet mastered a lot of it compared to the knowledge of mankind, but his knowledge is nothing with regard to the knowledge of God. In fact, there is a hadith which refers to this expressly: “Had you relied on God with due reliance, He would have provided you with sustenance, as He provides it to birds, and you would have learned the knowledge which eliminates ignorance. Still no one has learned that! They asked: Neither you? He said: Neither I. They said: We did not think that Prophets fall short of anything! He said: Certainly, what God has, is of greater significance than to be comprehended by anyone.” That is the truth of the matter! It is as if the interpretation of the Quran is beyond the capability of the Prophet and the ordinary practitioners cannot even tolerate what the Prophet knows. The difference between the Prophet and the ordinary practitioners, between the capabilities of the Prophet and the capabilities of the ordinary practitioners regarding comprehension and obligation, is the difference between esoteric code and exoteric code.

The third type of knowledge that was mentioned in the Ascension hadith is the sainthood knowledge. This is the knowledge, about which he said, he was forbidden to divulge, because God knows that no one else is capable to comprehend it. In a hadith on the sainthood knowledge and the sainthood station, the Prophet said, “I have a time with God such that no Angle close to God and no missionary Prophet can come between us.” This is, of course, clear (during ascension) “when Gabriel stopped at the endpoint Sidr (the endpoint of intellection), and the Holy Prophet said to him: Go ahead! Is this a station where a friend leaves his friend? Gabriel said: This is my station. If I were to go one step further, I would be incinerated!” Then the Prophet entered into the light of the Divine Self until the Divine Self manifestation took place, while Gabriel was absent from it because he could not endure. This has been alluded to in the Quran: “When that which shrouds did enshroud the Sidr, the eyesight did not turn back nor did it transgress” (53:16-17). Also this has been alluded to by our Prophet in the hadith of, “On the night of my ascent to the heavens, I saw my Lord.”

The hadith of his ascent was referred to earlier, along with the hadith of the three kinds of knowledge. The third kind of knowledge is the sainthood knowledge. Our Prophet has three stations. He is Prophet, Messenger, and Saint. His sainthood is greater than his prophethood. After his prophethood was fully developed and strengthened, he was sent with the capability he gained from the prophethood to become a Messenger who could speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence.

In fact, that shouldn’t be a problem, because it is practiced and noticeable in our daily life. This can be clearly explained by an illustration. We prepare a teacher in the college of education at the University of Khartoum. After high school the teacher enters the university and spends four years studying. After graduating with an education degree, the teacher becomes a high school teacher, teaching freshmen their assigned courses. We do not expect from a teacher, who we have prepared after high school for four years at the university level in the college of education, to tell the high school freshmen all the information that he or she knows. Of course, if a teacher does that he would be a failing teacher. We can see similarities between the preparation of prophethood for the job of messengership and our preparation of a teacher for the job of high school freshmen teacher. It is supposed that with higher training, a teacher will be able to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge by young students. The Prophets were prepared in the schools of prophethood to be become Messengers to simplify to people revealed truth and to address them according to their level of intellect. So, this example can explain to people that there is a very big difference between the obligation of the Prophet, the Prophet Path, and the exoteric code of the Messenger. His exoteric code descends from his prophethood. “We Prophets are ordered to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence.” In another words, we codify for them according to their capability.

The theologians, who are now called the clergy, define the Prophet Path as his acts, sayings, and things which he approved. This definition is wrong, and now it is time to correct it. In fact, the basis of our Call is to correct these concepts that have remained, for a long time, misunderstood. This is one of the definitions of the Prophet Path that needs to be corrected—it needs more accuracy.

Saying that the Prophet Path is comprised of his acts, sayings, and approvals, is wrong. In fact, the Prophet Path is only comprised of the acts of which the Prophet took exclusive possession. The state of the Prophet’s heart, and his acquaintance with his Lord, are reflected in his action, conduct, and morals. That is what the Honorable Aisha referred to when she said, “The Quran was his conduct.” This is reflected in some of his sayings, though not all of his sayings. Some of his sayings, which reflect the state of his heart being well acquainted with God, fall under the esoteric code, such as, “God is veiled from insights just as He is veiled from sight; the highest angels seek Him just as you yourselves seek Him” This is a prophethood hadith—an esoteric hadith. It is a hadith that reflects the state of the Prophet’s heart of being acquainted with God. There is another hadith that is clearly not at this level and could be classified under the messengership. That is the famous hadith of the graves, “I had forbidden you from visiting the graves. You may now visit them.” Or as in another hadith, “I had forbidden you from the sacrificial meat. You may now store it.” Meaning that, I had forbidden you from storing away the sacrificial meat rather than spend it right away. When the need that necessitated the immediate spending of the sacrificial meat ended, he said, “You may now store it.” These two hadiths, of the graves and the sacrificial meat, can be examples of the hadiths that are not of the esoteric code, rather of the exoteric code.

Some of the Prophet’s sayings are exoteric code, and some are esoteric code. The esoteric code, inherently, is the state of the Prophet’s heart in relation to God—its state of acquaintance—it is his actual state. The esoteric code is also the Prophet’s personal state. Some of his sayings, which reflect his state, fall under the prophethood course, while some of his sayings, which suggest that he is teaching the ordinary practitioners by codifying for them at their level, are exoteric code. As far as his approvals go, all of them are exoteric code. An example of something he approved is when he sees one of his companions do something and he does not prevent him. This is considered exoteric code and can not to be esoteric code. I dwelt at length in this issue to be clear to everyone that the esoteric code is something other than the exoteric code. The esoteric code is higher than the exoteric code. The esoteric code is an upgraded exoteric code. The esoteric code is the obligation of the Prophet, while exoteric code is the obligation of the ordinary practitioners. The difference between the esoteric code and the exoteric code is the difference between the Prophet and the ordinary practitioner of his nation.