Turth / Love

Thus in himself Muhammad developed a refined integrated understanding, an intuitive capacity to connect to what has been referred to throughout our religious history as God/Truth/Knowledge/Love. As a result of this, far from what we think of as a vocation or choice, Muhammad understood the duty and function of his life. Jesus, Muhammad and other prophets – many of whom are referred to in the Qur'an – along with Islamic Sufi teachers who would come after Muhammad, are examples of human beings who reached a permanent stage where they were able to maintain existence in two worlds. In the words of Mohammad, they were "in the world but not of the world."

"Speak to everyone in accordance with his degree of understanding" is a dictum of Muhammad. Traditionally it is understood that there are seven levels of understanding possible in the passages of the Qu'ran. Its major goal then was to provide contemporary guidance to those who wished to live an exemplary life, not only on a societal level but, more importantly, on an interior level. Everything – thought, action, and word – needed to be in harmony if one were to follow in Muhammad's footsteps. As Fred Donner writes in his book Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing, The Qur'an omits any talk of politics then or in the future: "The Qur'an certainly offers no clear guidance on who should exercise political power among the Believers after Muhammad – or even if anyone should; this simply does not seem to be of interest or concern to the Qur'an. Nor does it provide any indication of how power should be exercised; the only exceptions are moral injunctions so general and vague that they apply to all Believers alike, and so do not address the particular problems of political leadership and its rights or responsibilities in relation to its subjects in any meaningful way." It does, however, provide detailed rules of conduct for the individual in a multitude of quotidian activities.