Appearance
Subtleties and Allusions
1) Learning Recitation, Teaching, and Purification from God
The four roles of the Noble Prophet, namely recitation, teaching the Book, teaching wisdom, and purification, are preceded by learning them from God Almighty. For how can a guide lead others if he himself is not a wayfarer? The recitation of the Noble Prophet is preceded by divine recitation, as God said: “Read in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the most Generous”(174). And his teaching is preceded by: “Indeed, you receive the Qur’an from one Wise and Knowing”(175), “And He taught you that which you did not know”(176), “Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word”(177), and so on.
The core elements of what constitutes the Book and wisdom that form the basis of the Noble Prophet’s teaching and instruction are precisely the definitive verse (āya muḥkama), the just obligation (farīḍa ʿādila), and the established tradition (sunna qāʾima): “Knowledge is only of three types: a definitive verse, or a just obligation, or an established tradition. Anything beyond these is superfluous”(178). These correspond to beliefs, jurisprudence and rights, and ethics. Of course, these three branches of knowledge have numerous subdivisions that encompass all individual, collective, political, cultural, economic, military obligations, and local, regional, and international relations.
The purification of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is preceded by “God only desires to remove impurity from you, O People of the Household, and to purify you with a thorough purification”(179) and by “And indeed, you are of a great moral character”(180). For one who purifies the souls of others must himself be purified by divine purification and possess a great moral character. Such a teacher and educator, in all that he recites, teaches, and purifies, is entirely a divine sign, for all of these are indicators of truth, marks of reality, and signs of the actual. The attribute of being a sign of God is not limited to the realm of words, but rather meanings, concrete examples, and so on are all signs of God. That is to say, “He recites… Your signs… teaches them Your signs… purifies them with Your signs…”
2) Characteristics of Divine Teaching
Teaching sometimes means the bestowal of knowledge, and at other times it means instruction and providing the means for transferring knowledge to the audience through speaking, writing, imagery, imitation, and so on.
Teaching in the first sense is inseparable from learning, and the learner inevitably acquires knowledge. In the second sense, it can be separated from learning; that is, it is possible for the teacher to convey something, but the learner may fail to grasp it.
If teaching is attributed to God, it is of the first kind, which is referred to as the granting of wisdom: “He grants wisdom to whom He wills…”(181). If it is attributed to other than God, it encompasses both types mentioned. Therefore, it is possible for someone to be in the presence of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.) and receive his words with attentiveness and listening, but not comprehend their meanings. What has been discussed about the difference between looking and seeing: “And you see them looking at you, but they do not see”(182) can also apply to hearing and understanding.