The Quran is interpreted as having an inner meaning beyond the apparent. The apparent meaning is only suitable for those whose maturity is not yet complete. It is the elite who understand the inner meaning. Imam Ismail himself used to drink wine, and some of his companions objected, saying that the Quran prohibits wine. He then interpreted the verse about wine allegorically, and he did the same with other religious duties such as fasting and pilgrimage. In this way, they freed themselves from Islamic laws. The Ikhwan al-Safa also went to extremes with letters, claiming that letters have secrets that indicate meanings, and that these letters can be used to understand the timing of the Mahdi's appearance. They based this on the Almighty's saying: "And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none know them except Him." Although the verse indicates that no one knows the unseen, they said that God reveals His knowledge to whomever He wills of His servants. A treatise by the philosopher Al-Kindi is narrated, which includes the significance of letters and the secrets of numbers. In the Ikhwan al-Safa, it is mentioned that the appearance of the awaited Mahdi depends on the movements of the stars and their conjunctions, imitating the Jews in their saying that the timing of the Messiah's appearance follows the numerical value of the words "Hester Esther." It was common among the Batinis and others to associate the movements of the earth and the events of the universe with movements