The hadiths, in this concern, tend to signal the approach of the nation of Brothers, distinguishing it from the nation of Companions. This approach is an announcement of the forthcoming nation of Moslems, which the Prophet called “my Brothers,” while to his fellows who believed in him, helped him, supported him, and propagated the Call with him, he says: “You are my Companions.” This goes in the direction of what we have discussed, that the Prophet was the only Moslem in the nation of believers. For even though Abubakr was the superior in the nation of believers, the difference between the Prophet and Abubakr is beyond measure. The Prophet was the only Moslem, from the perspective of the final Islam, while his Companions were believers. We say that the nation of believers was known as the “Moslem” nation, which is a common phrase among us at this present time. That is, however, from the perspective of the initial Islam, not the final Islam. There was no Moslem, from the perspective of the final Islam except the Prophet.

The nation of believers is based on the First Message of Islam, or on the exoteric code. The nation of Moslems will be based on the Second Message of Islam, known as the Prophet Path. This keeps up with the promise of the good news: “Islam began as something strange and will revert to being strange as it began; so good tidings for the strangers. It was asked: Who are those strangers, O Messenger of God? He replied: Those who revive my esoteric code.” This is the fact of the matter—our Prophet had his own obligation, an exclusive obligation to observe. The Prophet’s obligation was not enjoined upon the nation, rather was only recommended to it. The nation was not obliged to observe the Prophet’s obligation—was not obliged to observe the esoteric code; rather it was obliged to observe the exoteric code.

The exoteric code is a descent from the esoteric code, as narrated in the hadith: “We Prophets are ordered to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence.” Our Prophet spoke to his people according to the extent of their intelligence by descending to them the Quran of Medina from the Quran of Mecca. The subsidiary Quran, then, is a descent from the original Quran. Furthermore, the hadiths descended to them at the level of what they could tolerate. That is to say, for example, the Quran that descended to them is a prescriptive Quran, yet it is exoteric code. We gave examples of the Quran descending as exoteric code, when first revealed stating: “O believers! Be pious to God with true piety and do not die except as Moslems [in submission to God]” (3:102). It was exclaimed: “Who among us can be pious to God with true piety!” So, the Quran descended to their level: “So be pious to God as best you can, listen, obey, and spend; it is better for yourselves, as whoever is saved from his own avarice, such are they who are successful” (64:16). Such a descending widened the difference between the esoteric code and the exoteric code.

We must understand that our Prophet is both Ahmedie and Muhammadie—his name is Ahmed and Muhammad. The fact of the matter is that his prophethood is Ahmedie while his messengership is Muhammadie—as if he has one face looking toward God and another face looking to the people. In other words, it as if he is between God and the people. With the side that faces God, the Prophet’s action is based on the esoteric code, and that is the Ahmedie Prophethood, while with the side that faces the people, his action is based on the messengership—on the exoteric code—and that is the Muhammadie; the prophethood is Ahmedie while the messengership is Muhammadie. The Muhammadie messengership represents a long descent from the Ahmedie prophethood so as to fulfill people’s needs in the seventh century.

When we say that Islam will return by reviving the esoteric code, we mean that the society of mankind will ultimately rise to the heights of being closer to comprehending the prophethood of the Prophet. Thus, society will be capable of codification at a level very close to the esoteric code of the Prophet, by which its problems will be solved. The prophethood of the Prophet shall become a collective code after it was, in the seventh century, just an individual code exclusively for the Prophet. The Prophet’s esoteric code was not enjoined upon the society, rather was only recommended to it. Perhaps this is the origin of the theologians’ illusion that, “this is a Prophet’s specialty and it is not enjoined upon us.” But when we come to revive religion, we will be obliged to follow the Prophet’s esoteric code. The nation of the forefathers, the nation of the believers, was, however, only recommended to and not obliged to follow the Prophet’s esoteric code.

We have mentioned in our talk that we are targeting both the Meccan Quran and the Madanie Quran by superseding one with the other—by dealing with both Qurans. During the time of the first arising, the Meccan Quran was abrogated while the Madanie Quran was being observed. The Madanie Quran was the dominant Quran of the time, particularly in the three areas of politics, treasury, and social life. Our call is to abrogate the Quran that has been dominant, and to make dominant the Quran that has been abrogated; we do this because its time has come—because the problem of the present global society can only be solved on the basis of the original verses of the Quran.

One has a right to ask this question: in view of the fact that the Prophet has joined with the Exalted Companion and left behind both the abrogated Quran and the dominant Quran unaltered, with what authority and by whose authority do we abrogate what was dominant and make dominant what was abrogated? Is this prophethood? Is this inspiration? To be fair, one has a right to ask such a question. The matter, however, is otherwise. There is no prophethood after Prophet Muhammad. The prophethood has been sealed with an explicit text.

Yes, the prophethood has been sealed with an explicit text, which is unequivocal and unambiguous: “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets” (33:40). The prophethood was not sealed in order to target those on Earth with evil intent; rather, it was done for a good purpose. That is to say, it is time for humanity to learn from God through their minds. And that possibility is a truly great honor, whereas revelation through Gabriel was nothing more than a sign or a preparatory step towards that day. This is what is asserted in the verse: “It is not to any human being that God should speak, except by revelation or from behind a veil or that He sends a Messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. He is Most High and Wise” (42:51).

It is not to any human being that God should speak, except by revelation (this means the angelic revelation that contacts the Prophets and Messengers to reveal to them God’s commands and instructs them to convey what is in the scope of communication), or from behind a veil (that veil is the mind) or that He sends a Messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills (that Messenger is the human Messenger that God sends to the people to convey to them God’s revelation; the Messenger teaches them the commandments of God—teaches them the exoteric code of God).

It is not to any human being that God should speak, except by revelation or from behind a veil or that He sends a Messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. He is Most High and Wise. The principle is that whatever is on the horizon exists in the human self. This is what is proclaimed in the verse: “We shall show them Our signs on the horizons (of the physical world) and within themselves until it becomes manifest to them that He is the Truth. Is your Lord not sufficient witness over all things?” (41:53) Whatever is on the horizons exists within each of us. The universe, despite its greatness, is but a cosmos in the small, while man is the cosmos writ large. Of course, the greatness here is not of size, rather a greatness of value. God created the universes for man, and man God created for Himself (glorified and exalted be He).

Everything in the universe is our means to make progress and to perceive. So came God’s words: “We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and within themselves” (41:53). The stage of perceiving and pondering the horizons is the stage of uncovering the realities and intricacies of the self. You see, the angelic revelation is always delivered to all of the Messengers by Gabriel. In each one of us is the person’s gabriel or say, the person’s mind. When Gabriel contacted Muhammad with the revelation, it was indeed a step to prepare Muhammad—or to strengthen the gabriel of Muhammad in Muhammad—to strengthen the mind of Muhammad in order to be in no need of Gabriel, that which lies on the horizons. We shall show them Our signs on the horizons (that is Gabriel) and within themselves (the Prophet’s mind).

From the time of preparation by way of the angelic revelation until the time of the journey to the seven heavens, the Prophet’s guide was Gabriel, the outer mind, who is the sign on the horizons for Muhammad. The hadiths of the midnight journey and ascension refer to this expressly. Gabriel was Muhammad’s guide to the endpoint Sidr. At the endpoint Sidr, Muhammad was left to his own gabriel—to his own mind. He went through the stages of the Divine Self manifestation and then his mind’s veil was lifted so the witnessing with the eye of heart took place.

At that moment of witnessing, the Prophet was not divided, as is the case of minds, rather he was undivided, as is the case when the hearts are strengthened and fully developed at the moment of unveiling. The Quran, explicitly, indicates the moment in which the Prophet saw his Lord: “When that which shrouds did enshroud the Sidr, the eyesight did not turn back, nor did it transgress” (53:16-17). Also, this was alluded to in the hadith, when the Prophet said: “On the night of my ascent to the heavens, the sight of my eye and the sight of my heart coalesced into one, and so I saw God.” The phrase, “the sight of my eye and the sight of my heart coalesced into one” means the Prophet was no longer divided with the sight of his eye and the sight of his heart, but rather he became unified. This unity has been alluded to in the Quranic phrase: “the eyesight did not turn back nor did it transgress.” The eyesight did not turn back (the Prophet was not preoccupied with the past) nor did it transgress (nor was he preoccupied with the future). The Prophet was not torn by time between past and future. He was in temporal, spatial, and personal unity. Therefore, he witnessed the Divine Self, which is uncontainable by time or place.

Here, the earlier phrase “or from behind a veil” is immediately understood as from behind the mind. This is the manner by which the Prophet perceived when he ascended while Gabriel halted at the endpoint Sidr, signaling that intellectual reasoning had come to a standstill within Muhammad. That is because all intellectualization is dualistic. Intellectualization is the swinging of the mind from side to side—between two extremes. The mind does not recall but through duality. God refers to this expressly: “All things We have created in pairs, that you may recall” (51:49). That is because the mind does not recall but through duality—the mind does not recall but through comparison. If not for white we would not know black. If not for bitter we would not know sweet. If not for hot we would not know cold. If not for light we would not know dark. So, the mind recalls through oppositeness, just as in the saying: “Things are more manifest by their opposites.” Recalling is a state of duality. Thus, while an excellent servant ascending towards absolute unity, towards the Divine Self, there is a moment in which recalling comes to a standstill—when servant comes to be engrossed in that moment. This moment is what came to be known as the cessation of recalling, or the momentary lifting of the veil of intellectualization.

When the Prophet moved on alone beyond the endpoint Sidr, the cessation of Gabriel was an indication of the imminent cessation of gabriel within Muhammad. That is the cessation of his mind from being in front of his heart lest it veil him from witnessing the Unified. When intellectualization in Muhammad came to a standstill, the unity took place. He said of this moment: “On the night of my ascent to the heavens, the sight of my eye and the sight of my heart coalesced into one, so I saw God.” The Quran refers to this unity, whereas this hadith is derived from the Quran: “When that which shrouds did enshroud the Sidr, the eyesight did not turn back nor did it transgress” (53:16-17). This Sidr is Muhammad himself. When the Divine Self manifestation that shrouds did enshroud him and held him completely engrossed, he became unified. He became temporally, spatially, and personally unified, so he saw God. This shows the meaning of “or from behind a veil.” The sealing of the prophethood is an indication of the imminence of this heavenly station to settle on Earth. The Prophet possessed this station at the loftiest height—at the moment of his presence with God on the night of ascension. This is, in fact, the sainthood station of the Prophet.

The Prophet has three stations. He is Prophet, Messenger, and Saint. The prophethood is midway between messengership and sainthood. Above the prophethood is the sainthood and below the prophethood is the messengership. That is to say, the Prophet was prepared at the prophethood school to develop fully and be able to cope with the burden of the mission in order to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence—to be able to live with people who did not measure up to him. Just as our earlier example, of the teacher who we highly prepare to teach high school freshmen—after being prepared at the university level.