The Prophet’s (s.a.w.) Highest Level of Intelligence

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect (s.a.w.)”, fathanah implies that prophets possess the highest level of intelligence, reason and insight among mankind.  They have been gifted with strength of memory, a piercing cognition and solid power for judgment and persuasion. 

Fathanah is not a tedious exercise of reason and logic; it much rather represents a level of comprehension beyond genius, the expression of reason, prudence and insight that abides with the heart.  To impeccably complete their duties, prophets need to be in possession of peerless intelligence.  They would otherwise be unable to put forward to the people the case that they have been sent for and convince them of its truth.  Prophets solve even the most obscure and intricate problems with ease.  Wrapping even the most complex issues in the shroud of ease enables their words to be put across with clarity to people of various levels of understanding. 

A quality that has transpired in various styles in each prophet, it could be said the life of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is a quintessence of fathanah or prudence.  As aforementioned, by virtue of a matchless display of prudence and insight, the Prophet (s.a.w.), who happened to be walking through the gate of the Ka’bah at the time, was able to settle the great dispute that arose pertaining to the replacement of the Black Stone, and prevent what otherwise would have certainly ended up as massive bloodshed between rival clans. 

Similarly, his competence when battling in the way of Islam, his prudence in peace, and in particular, during the Armistice of Hudaybiyyah, the wisdom in his capture of Makkah, and its eventual guidance without the shedding of a drop of blood, his extraordinary discretion and justice in Tha’if, are exemplary displays of fathanah lying beyond the reach of any single mortal.  A Muslim should likewise seize a share of the fathanah of prophets, and put to use the gift of reason in the most efficient way possible.  Knowing how to say what is to be said, where and when to say it, and no less the behaviour to adopt in saying it, is essential. 

The delicate approach adopted by Sayyidina Ja’far ibn ‘Abu Thalib ath-Thayyar (r.a.), for instance, in informing the Abyssinian Negus, Sayyidina Aswhamah ibn Abjar an-Najashi (r.a.) of Islam, is worth enormous significance in terms of exhibiting the ideal prudence of a believer.  When the Negus (r.a.), then a Christian, insisted that Sayyidina Ja’far (r.a.) recite a few verses of the Quran, instead of reciting, for example, Surah al-Kafirun, that defies the disbelievers in full force, Sayyidina Ja’far (r.a.) chose to recite Surah Maryam, which speaks highly of both Isa (a.s.) and his mother.  Enthralled by the ayah read aloud by Sayyidina Ja’far (r.a.), the Negus (r.a.), reduced to tears, exclaimed: “There is no doubt that what I have just heard and springs forth from the same source of light as that which was brought by Jesus”, and he entered the fold of Islam not long after.  This was recorded by Shaykh Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham al-Baswri (r.a.), in his Sirah an-Nabawiyyah.