The Prophet declared that he belonged to the group of Prophets and he had been commanded by the Lord to treat people according to their ranks and talk to them according to their intellectual capacity. (Abu Dawud, 2000, Hadith No. 4202)
Once, a person requested the Prophet to advise him. The Prophet stressed that he should have the fear of God for it was the treasure of all goodness. Further he advised him to fight for the cause of God for it was renunciation to the believers. He also instructed him to practice the habit of remembering God and read His Book for it would be a guiding light in this world and a matter of praise for him in the hereafter. He told him that by controlling his tongue he could conquer Satan.
On another occasion, when a person sought his advice, the Prophet told him not to be angry. As he repeated the request he repeated the same advice again and again. (Bukhari, 2000, Hadith No. 6116)
Sometimes he used to give general rules and guidelines only and allow his companions to comprehend the same as per their own ability and capacity to understand.
To find a solution to a problem the Prophet used to employ different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the people. Once he declared that if any one of them came across an evil, he should stop it with his hand. If it was not possible, he should stop it with his tongue. Even if that was not possible he should at least hate it in his heart. But the last one was the weakest part of his belief in God. (Muslim, The Alim CD Ver.6, 2000, Hadith No 16))
Thus the Prophet recognized the psychology of individual differences and accommodated the same in his teaching.
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