The response to those who deny the illiteracy of our Master, the Messenger of God
Illiteracy in language and terminology :
The Christians said:
Of course, the Christian did not verify the honesty in the transmission.
He tries to prove from the words of the dictionaries that the illiterate person is only a person who does not know how to write.
Even if this is true,
it is half the truth .
In the dictionaries of the language, the illiterate person means a person who does not read or write, and this is what we will see in a moment.
Al-Maqdisi referred us to three sources
- Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur
- Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani
- Al-Qamus Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi
to see the transmission from these eminent scholars and others and to see whether the Christians verified the honesty in the transmission or not.
Then we draw the conclusion after reading what they wrote...
Ibn Manzur said in Lisan al-Arab:
. And the illiterate is the one who does not write . Al-Zajjaj said: The illiterate is the one who has the creation of the nation and has not learned the book, so he is on his nature. And in the Noble Qur’an: And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking; Abu Ishaq said: The meaning of the illiterate is that he is attributed to what his mother created him with, i.e. he does not write, so he is illiterate in that he does not write, because writing is acquired, so it is as if he is attributed to what he is born with, i.e. what his mother gave birth to him with. The scribes among the Arabs were from the people of Taif who learned it from a man from the people of Al-Hirah, and the people of Al-Hirah took it from the people of Anbar.
In the hadith: We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate; he meant that they are based on the origin of their mother’s birth and did not learn writing and arithmetic , so they are based on their original nature.
In the hadith: I was sent to an illiterate nation; The Arabs were called illiterate because writing was rare or non-existent among them. Hence his saying: He sent among the illiterate a messenger from among themselves.
An illiterate person is someone who is rude, coarse, harsh, and speaks little. He said: I will not return after that to be an old man, to practice the old age and the boy, and the single, exiled, illiterate man. He was called illiterate because his mother gave birth to him with little speech and a foreign tongue. And our master Muhammad, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was called illiterate because the Arab nation did not write or read what was written , and God sent him as a messenger while he did not write or read from a book. And this trait was one of his miraculous signs because he, may God bless him and grant him peace, recited to them the Book of God in verse, time after time, in the verse that was revealed to him, and he did not change it or alter its words. And the orator was from the Arabs. If he improvised a sermon and then repeated it, adding to it or subtracting from it, then Allah the Almighty preserved it for His Prophet as He revealed it, and distinguished him from all those to whom He sent him with this verse by which He distinguished between him and them. In that regard, Allah the Almighty revealed: “And you did not recite before it any book, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand.” Then the falsifiers who disbelieved would have had doubts and said: He found these stories written and memorized them from the books.
Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi : Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit: Al-Ummi: related to mother or nation. -: the one who does not read or write .
Mu’jam Al-Ghani:
Ummi, ummah - plural: Ummiyyun, Ummiyyat. [A.M.M.]. “He was illiterate”: meaning he did not know how to write or read .
Also
Illiteracy - [A M M]. 1. "Illiteracy was widespread among the people": the lack of writing and reading , i.e. ignorance of them.
Muheet Al-Muheet: Muheet Al-Muheet: And the illiterate is the one who does not write . Al-Zajjaj said: The illiterate is the one who has the creation of the nation and has not learned the book, so he is on his nature.... And our master Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was called the illiterate because the Arab nation did not write or read what was written , and God sent him as a messenger and he did not write or read from a book.
- The vocabulary of the words of the Qur’an by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani:
The illiterate: is the one who does not write or read from a book , and this is what is meant by: {It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves} [Al-Jumu’ah/2]. Qatrib said: Illiteracy: heedlessness and ignorance, so the illiterate is from it, and that is the lack of knowledge, and from it is the saying of the Most High: {And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking} [Al-Baqarah/78] meaning: except that it is recited to them
. Al-Farra’ said: They are the Arabs who did not have a book, and {The unlettered prophet whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel} [Al-A’raf/157]. It was said: It is attributed to the nation who did not write, because it was according to their custom, like you say: unlettered, because it was according to the custom of the common people, and it was said: It was named thus because he did not write or read from a book, and this is a virtue for him because he was self-sufficient with his memorization, and his reliance on Allah’s guarantee from Him in His saying: {We will make you recite, and you will not forget} [Al-A’la/6].
And it was said that it was named thus after the mother of villages. We
conclude from this that the illiterate:
1- does not read
2- does not write.
There are many opinions about the reason for calling him that. It has been said that it is because:
- It is attributed to what his mother created him with, i.e. he does not write
- It is attributed to the nation that did not write
- It is attributed to the mother of villages .
What is useful to us in this
is proving that the illiterate linguistically is the person who does not know how to read or write.
The illiterate who does not write. Al-Zajjaj said: The illiterate is the one who is created by the nation and has not learned to write, so he is as he is innately. Abu Ishaq said: The meaning of the illiterate is the one who is attributed to what his mother created him upon, i.e. he does not write, so he is illiterate in that he does not write, because writing is acquired, so it is as if he is attributed to what he is born upon, i.e. what his mother gave birth to him upon. Refer to: Lisan al-Arab.
Al-Fayruzabadi said: The illiterate is the one who does not write, or the one who is created by the nation and has not learned to write, and he remains as he is innately. Refer to Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi, and Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur, root: Umm.
Abu Ishaq said: The illiterate is the one who is attributed to what his mother created him upon, i.e. he does not write.
And in the hadith: We are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor do we calculate. That is, they are based on their mother’s birth and have not learned writing or arithmetic, so they are based on their original nature. See Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani, root: Umm.
The Arabs were called illiterate because writing was rare or non-existent among them. See Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi, and Lisan Al-Arab by Ibn Manzur, root: Umm.
It was said that illiteracy means negligence and ignorance, so the illiterate is from it, and that is the lack of knowledge.
See Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani, root: Umm.
Al-Fayruzabadi said: The illiterate is the one who does not write, or the one who is created by the nation and has not learned to write, and he remains as he is innately. Refer to Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi, and Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur, root: Umm.
Abu Ishaq said: The illiterate is the one who is attributed to what his mother created him upon, i.e. he does not write.
And in the hadith: We are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor do we calculate. That is, they are based on their mother’s birth and have not learned writing or arithmetic, so they are based on their original nature. See Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani, root: Umm.
The Arabs were called illiterate because writing was rare or non-existent among them. See Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi, and Lisan Al-Arab by Ibn Manzur, root: Umm.
It was said that illiteracy means negligence and ignorance, so the illiterate is from it, and that is the lack of knowledge.
See Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani, root: Umm.
He tries to prove from the words of the dictionaries that the illiterate person is only a person who does not know how to write.
Even if this is true,
it is half the truth .
In the dictionaries of the language, the illiterate person means a person who does not read or write, and this is what we will see in a moment.
Al-Maqdisi referred us to three sources
- Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur
- Mufradat Alfaz Al-Quran by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani
- Al-Qamus Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi
to see the transmission from these eminent scholars and others and to see whether the Christians verified the honesty in the transmission or not.
Then we draw the conclusion after reading what they wrote...
Ibn Manzur said in Lisan al-Arab:
. And the illiterate is the one who does not write . Al-Zajjaj said: The illiterate is the one who has the creation of the nation and has not learned the book, so he is on his nature. And in the Noble Qur’an: And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking; Abu Ishaq said: The meaning of the illiterate is that he is attributed to what his mother created him with, i.e. he does not write, so he is illiterate in that he does not write, because writing is acquired, so it is as if he is attributed to what he is born with, i.e. what his mother gave birth to him with. The scribes among the Arabs were from the people of Taif who learned it from a man from the people of Al-Hirah, and the people of Al-Hirah took it from the people of Anbar.
In the hadith: We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate; he meant that they are based on the origin of their mother’s birth and did not learn writing and arithmetic , so they are based on their original nature.
In the hadith: I was sent to an illiterate nation; The Arabs were called illiterate because writing was rare or non-existent among them. Hence his saying: He sent among the illiterate a messenger from among themselves.
An illiterate person is someone who is rude, coarse, harsh, and speaks little. He said: I will not return after that to be an old man, to practice the old age and the boy, and the single, exiled, illiterate man. He was called illiterate because his mother gave birth to him with little speech and a foreign tongue. And our master Muhammad, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was called illiterate because the Arab nation did not write or read what was written , and God sent him as a messenger while he did not write or read from a book. And this trait was one of his miraculous signs because he, may God bless him and grant him peace, recited to them the Book of God in verse, time after time, in the verse that was revealed to him, and he did not change it or alter its words. And the orator was from the Arabs. If he improvised a sermon and then repeated it, adding to it or subtracting from it, then Allah the Almighty preserved it for His Prophet as He revealed it, and distinguished him from all those to whom He sent him with this verse by which He distinguished between him and them. In that regard, Allah the Almighty revealed: “And you did not recite before it any book, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand.” Then the falsifiers who disbelieved would have had doubts and said: He found these stories written and memorized them from the books.
Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit by Al-Fayruzabadi : Al-Qamoos Al-Muhit: Al-Ummi: related to mother or nation. -: the one who does not read or write .
Mu’jam Al-Ghani:
Ummi, ummah - plural: Ummiyyun, Ummiyyat. [A.M.M.]. “He was illiterate”: meaning he did not know how to write or read .
Also
Illiteracy - [A M M]. 1. "Illiteracy was widespread among the people": the lack of writing and reading , i.e. ignorance of them.
Muheet Al-Muheet: Muheet Al-Muheet: And the illiterate is the one who does not write . Al-Zajjaj said: The illiterate is the one who has the creation of the nation and has not learned the book, so he is on his nature.... And our master Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was called the illiterate because the Arab nation did not write or read what was written , and God sent him as a messenger and he did not write or read from a book.
- The vocabulary of the words of the Qur’an by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani:
The illiterate: is the one who does not write or read from a book , and this is what is meant by: {It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves} [Al-Jumu’ah/2]. Qatrib said: Illiteracy: heedlessness and ignorance, so the illiterate is from it, and that is the lack of knowledge, and from it is the saying of the Most High: {And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking} [Al-Baqarah/78] meaning: except that it is recited to them
. Al-Farra’ said: They are the Arabs who did not have a book, and {The unlettered prophet whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel} [Al-A’raf/157]. It was said: It is attributed to the nation who did not write, because it was according to their custom, like you say: unlettered, because it was according to the custom of the common people, and it was said: It was named thus because he did not write or read from a book, and this is a virtue for him because he was self-sufficient with his memorization, and his reliance on Allah’s guarantee from Him in His saying: {We will make you recite, and you will not forget} [Al-A’la/6].
And it was said that it was named thus after the mother of villages. We
conclude from this that the illiterate:
1- does not read
2- does not write.
There are many opinions about the reason for calling him that. It has been said that it is because:
- It is attributed to what his mother created him with, i.e. he does not write
- It is attributed to the nation that did not write
- It is attributed to the mother of villages .
What is useful to us in this
is proving that the illiterate linguistically is the person who does not know how to read or write.
The idiomatic meaning of the word
"ummie"
Before discussing the technical meaning, we must address a science that Christians are ignorant of: “faces and counterparts.”
It is a branch of the science of interpretation and its meaning is that the same word is mentioned in several places in the Qur’an with one pronunciation and one vowel, but in each place it is intended to have a different meaning. So the pronunciation of each word mentioned in one place is equivalent to the pronunciation of the word mentioned in the other place. [1]
If we look at the interpretation of the word “ummiyyun,” we will find it in three aspects:
One aspect of it is the illiterate, meaning the Arabs. “The Almighty says in Surat Al-Jumu’ah:
‘It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they were before in clear error.’” [2]
The second aspect is the Jews, as the Almighty says in Surat Al-Baqarah:
‘And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, and they do nothing but conjecture.’” [3]
The third aspect is those who neither write nor read anything,
those who They follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad things and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him - those are the [righteous] ones. They are the successful ones [4] - [5]
Al-Maqdisi’s speech in that discussion revolved around one of the interpretations of the word “ummi,” which means Arabs.
But if they argue with you, say, "I have submitted myself to Allah, and so have those who follow me." And say to those who were given the Scripture and the unlearned, "Have you submitted?" And if they submit, then they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, then upon you is only the notification. And Allah is Seeing of His servants. [6]
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount, he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, he will not return it to you. Except as long as you are standing over it. That is because they said, “There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones.” And they speak a lie about Allah while they know [7].
There is no disagreement that the meaning of “illiteracy” here in those places refers to the Arabs.
But let us discuss the other aspects,
for it came, as previously indicated, to a group of Jews who do not know how to read or write in the Almighty’s saying: “
And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, and they do nothing but conjecture.” And let us
review, as the Christians did, the sayings of the commentators,
and this is a group of them, by way of example, not exhaustive:
Ibn Atiyah said [8]:
The unlettered in the language is the one who does not write or read.In a book attributed to the mother either because his mother did not write, not because of his father, since women are not busy with writing, as At-Tabari said, or because his mother gave birth to him in a state in which he did not move from her. It was said that he was attributed to the nation, which is the stature and creation, as if he had nothing from humans except that. It was said that he was attributed to the nation due to her naivety before she learned knowledge, since she neither reads nor writes. Therefore, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said about the Arabs, “We are an illiterate nation, we do not calculate nor write the hadith and the thousand.”
Abu Hayyan Al-Andalusi [9] said:
The illiterate is the one who does not write or read in a book .
Al-Qurtubi [10]:
That is, the one who does not write or read, and the singular is illiterate , attributed to the illiterate nation, which is based on the birth of their mothers, they did not learn to write or read, and from this is his saying, peace be upon him: “We are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor calculate,” the hadith.
Al-Samarqandi [11]:
He means from the People of the Book, and they are the lowly, illiterate who do not read the book, he says they do not know how to read the book or write it.
Al-Tabari [12]:
We think Abu Ja`far said: He means by “the illiterate” those who neither write nor read .
And from this is the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “We are an illiterate nation, we neither write nor read.”
Ibn `Abbas, “Tanwir al-Miqbas” attributed to Ibn `Abbas
[13]:
They do not know how to read or write the book.
Al- Fakhr al-Razi [14]:
And others said: Those who do not know how to write and read. This second is more correct because the verse is about the Jews, and they acknowledged the book and the Messenger, and because he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “We are an illiterate nation, we neither write nor calculate.” This indicates this saying, and because his saying: {They do not know the book} is only appropriate for that.
Al-Khazin [15]:
That is, they do not know how to write or read. The plural of “ummi ” is attributed to his mother, as if he remained as he was separated from his mother, not having learned to write or read .
Ibn `Adil al-Hanbali [16]: “Ummiyun” is the plural of “ummi,” and he is the one who does not write or read . There is a difference of opinion about its attribution. Some say: to “the mother,” and there are two meanings to this: One: that he is in the same state as his mother who gave birth to him in not knowing how to write, and he is not like his father; because women are not busy with writing. The second: that he is in the same state as his mother gave birth to him, he did not change from her, and he did not move. It is also said: it is attributed to “the nation,” which is stature and creation, meaning that he has nothing from people except that. It is also said: it is attributed to “the nation” due to her naivety before he knew things, like their saying: “common,” meaning: according to the custom of the common people. Al-Baghawi [17]: meaning that among the Jews are illiterate people who do not know how to read and write , the plural of “ummi” attributed to the mother as if he remained as he was separated from his mother, he did not learn to write or read. It was narrated on the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said, “We are an illiterate nation, meaning we do not write or calculate.” It was said that it is attributed to the mother of villages, which is Mecca. Abu al-Su`ud [18]: And among them are illiterate people. It was read with a lightened ya’, the plural of ummi , which is someone who is unable to write or read.
There is a difference of opinion about its attribution. It has been said that it is from the mother, meaning that he is similar to her in his ignorance of writing and reading, as these are not women’s affairs, but rather from men, or in the sense that he is in the state in which his mother gave birth to him, devoid of knowledge and writing. It has been said that it is from the nation, meaning that he remains in her naivety, devoid of knowledge of things, as they say “unlettered,” meaning according to the custom of the common people.
Al-Mawardi [19]:
One of them: That the illiterate is the one who does not write or read , and this is the statement of Mujahid and the most apparent interpretation of it. There are
two opinions about calling the one who does not write an illiterate:
One of them: That it is taken from the nation, meaning according to the origin of what the nation is, because he remains as he was created, that he does not write, and from this is the statement of Al-A’sha:
And indeed Muawiyah is the most
honorable, the most handsome of faces, the tallest of nations
. The second: That it is taken from the mother, and there are two interpretations about taking it from the mother:
One of them: That it is taken from her, because he is as his mother gave birth to him, that he does not write.
The second: That it was attributed to his mother, because writing is for men and not for women, so the man who does not write was attributed to his mother, because of her ignorance of writing, while his father was not.
Al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam [20]:
A people who did not believe in a messenger or books, and they wrote a book with their own hands and said to their ignorant ones, this is from Allah. The most apparent is that the illiterate is the one who does not read or write , attributed to the origin of what the nation is upon, that it does not write in the first place, or that it is according to what his mother bore him, or attributed to his mother, because women usually do not write.
Ibn al-Jawzi [21]:
The Almighty’s statement: And among them are illiterate people, meaning the Jews, and the illiterate is the one who does not write or read, said Mujahid. And there are two opinions about calling him the illiterate: One of them is because it is according to the creation of the nation that did not learn writing, so it is according to its nature, said al-Zajjaj. The second is that it is attributed to his mother because writing was among men and not among women, and it was said because it is according to what his mother bore him.
And the Almighty also said in Surat Al-A’raf:
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, and support him - And they followed the light which was sent down with him. Those are the successful ones.
Al-Baydawi [22]:
The one who neither writes nor reads described him with this as a warning that the perfection of his knowledge with his state is one of his miracles.
Abu Hayyan [23]:
And the illiterate who is like the Arab nation, we are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor calculate, so most of the Arabs do not write nor read, said Al-Zajjaj , and his being illiterate is part of the miracle.
Al-Qurtubi [24]:
The third: The Almighty’s statement: {the illiterate} is attributed to the illiterate nation, which is according to its original birth, it did not learn to write or read ; Ibn Aziz said. Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with him, said: Your Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was illiterate, he did not write, read, or calculate.
Al-Samarqandi [25]:
He means Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, who does not write or read books .
Al-Khazin [26]:
Ibn Abbas said: He is your Prophet (peace be upon him), he was illiterate, he did not write, read or calculate. Al-Zajjaj said about the meaning of the illiterate: He is the one who has the characteristics of the Arab nation because the majority of Arabs do not write, read or calculate, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) was like that, so Allah described him as being illiterate. It is authentic in the hadith that he (peace be upon him) said: (We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate).
Abu Al-Su`ud [27]:
That is, the one who did not practice reading and writing, and he combined with that the knowledge of the first and the last.
Al-Baghawi [28]:
He is Muhammad (peace be upon him). Ibn Abbas said :He is your Prophet, he was illiterate, he did not write, read or calculate. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate.” It is attributed to the mother, meaning he is as his mother bore him. It was said that it is attributed to his nation, its origin is my nation, so the taa was dropped in the attribution as it was dropped in the Meccan and Medinan. It was said that it is attributed to the mother of villages, which is Mecca.
____
1- Al-Wujuh and Al-Naza’ir by Al-Damghani, p. 22.
2- Surah Al-Jumu’ah 2.
3- Surah Al-Baqarah 78.
4- Surah Al-A’raf 157.
5- Al-Wujuh and Al-Naza’ir pp. 63, 46.
6- Surah Al-Imran 20.
7- Surah Al-Imran 75.
8- Al-Muharrir Al-Wajeez fi Tafsir Al-Kitab Al-Aziz, Vol. 1, p. 169.
9- Al-Bahr Al-Muhit, Vol. 1, p. 442.
10- Al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Quran, Vol. 2, p. 4 11-
Bahr al-Ulum, Vol. 1, p. 92
12- Jami’ al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil Ayat al-Quran, Vol. 2, p. 256
13- Tanwir al-Miqbas, Vol. 1, p. 11
14- Mafatih al-Ghaib, Vol. 2, p. 127
15- Lubab al-Ta’wil fi Ma’ani al-Tanzil, Vol. 1, p. 76
16- Lubab fi Ulum al-Kitab, Vol. 2, p. 203
17- Ma’alim al-Tanzil, Vol. 1, p. 114
18- Irshad al-Aql al-Salim, Vol. 1, p. 118
19- Ankat wa al-Uyoun, Vol. 1, pp. 149, 150
20- Tafsir al-Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam, Vol. 1, pp. 138, 139
21- Zad al-Masir fi ‘Ilm al-Tafsir, Vol. 1, p. 104
22- Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil, Vol. 3, p. 64
23- Al-Bahr al-Muhit, Vol. 4, p. 402
24-The Compendium of the Rulings of the Qur’an, Vol. 7, p. 227
25-The Sea of Knowledge, Vol. 1, p. 569
26-The Core of Interpretation in the Meanings of Revelation, Vol. 2, p. 297
27-Guidance of the Sound Mind, Vol. 3, p. 278
28-Signs of Revelation, Vol. 3, p. 287
"ummie"
"The Qur'an did not take the word 'ummiyyun' in its linguistic meaning, but rather took it in its technical meaning. This is what the Qur'anic reality indicates, as in His statement in Surat Al Imran: (And say to those who were given the Scripture and to the unlettered ones, 'Have you submitted?' And if they submit, then they are rightly guided.) Al Imran 20.
The imam of the commentators, Al Tabari, said in his interpretation of the verse: And say, O Muhammad, to those who were given the Scripture from among the Jews and Christians, and to the unlettered ones who have no book from among the polytheists of the Arabs (Have you submitted?) .
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr: {And say to those who were given the Scripture and to the unlettered ones} those who have no book.
And the unlettered ones are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs. See the commentaries of al-Tabari.
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn Az-Zubayr: {And say to those who have been given the Scripture and to the unlettered} who have no book. And the unlettered are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs. See Tafsir al-Tabari.
Ibn Kathir said in his interpretation of His statement: And say to those who have been given the Scripture and to the unlettered. That is, the People of the Book from the people of the religion and the unlettered from the polytheists. Tafsir Ibn Kathir.
Al-Suyuti said in Al-Jalalain: And the unlettered are the polytheists of the Arabs.
Al-Qurtubi said in his interpretation: And the unlettered are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs.
In His statement in Surat Al Imran, verse 75: (That is because they said, "There is no blame upon
us for the unlettered ones.") On the authority of Qatada regarding His statement: {There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones}, he said, There is no blame upon us for the polytheists, meaning: those who are not from the People of the Book.
On the authority of Al-Suddi: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones."} He said: It is said to him: Why do you not fulfill your trust? He says: There is no blame upon us for the wealth of the Arabs, Allah has made it lawful for us.
On the authority of Ibn Abbas: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones."} That is because the People of the Book used to say: There is no blame upon us for what we took from these people, because they were unlettered (i.e. polytheists), so that is His statement: {There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones.} Refer to the interpretation of Al-Tabari, Al-Jalalain, and Safwat Al-Tafasir in their explanation of verse 75 of Surah Al-Imran
. Al-Qurtubi said in his interpretation of the verse: They said, “We have no responsibility for the unlettered.” The Jews had borrowed money from the Bedouins, but when those who had rights converted to Islam, the Jews said, “We have no responsibility for you, because you have abandoned your religion, so your debt is no longer with us.” Refer to the interpretation of Al-Qurtubi.
5746 - Muhammad ibn Sa`d narrated to me, he said: My father narrated to me, he said: My uncle narrated to me, he said: My father narrated to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn `Abbas: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones."} That is because the People of the Book used to say: There is no blame upon us concerning what we have taken from these people, because they were unlettered. So that is what His statement means: {There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones.} ..to the end of the verse.
And others said about that: 5747 - Al-Qasim narrated to us, he said: Al-Husayn narrated to us, he said: Hajjaj narrated to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: {That is because they said, “We have no responsibility for the unlettered ones.”} He said: The Jews made a pledge to some Muslim men during the pre-Islamic period, and when they converted to Islam, they demanded the price of their sales from them, and they said: You have no responsibility for us, and you have no judgment with us. Because you have abandoned your religion which you were following. See the interpretation of Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, and Safwat Al-Tafasir.
The imam of the commentators, Al Tabari, said in his interpretation of the verse: And say, O Muhammad, to those who were given the Scripture from among the Jews and Christians, and to the unlettered ones who have no book from among the polytheists of the Arabs (Have you submitted?) .
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr: {And say to those who were given the Scripture and to the unlettered ones} those who have no book.
And the unlettered ones are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs. See the commentaries of al-Tabari.
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn Az-Zubayr: {And say to those who have been given the Scripture and to the unlettered} who have no book. And the unlettered are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs. See Tafsir al-Tabari.
Ibn Kathir said in his interpretation of His statement: And say to those who have been given the Scripture and to the unlettered. That is, the People of the Book from the people of the religion and the unlettered from the polytheists. Tafsir Ibn Kathir.
Al-Suyuti said in Al-Jalalain: And the unlettered are the polytheists of the Arabs.
Al-Qurtubi said in his interpretation: And the unlettered are those who have no book and they are the polytheists of the Arabs.
In His statement in Surat Al Imran, verse 75: (That is because they said, "There is no blame upon
us for the unlettered ones.") On the authority of Qatada regarding His statement: {There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones}, he said, There is no blame upon us for the polytheists, meaning: those who are not from the People of the Book.
On the authority of Al-Suddi: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones."} He said: It is said to him: Why do you not fulfill your trust? He says: There is no blame upon us for the wealth of the Arabs, Allah has made it lawful for us.
On the authority of Ibn Abbas: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones."} That is because the People of the Book used to say: There is no blame upon us for what we took from these people, because they were unlettered (i.e. polytheists), so that is His statement: {There is no blame upon us for the unlettered ones.} Refer to the interpretation of Al-Tabari, Al-Jalalain, and Safwat Al-Tafasir in their explanation of verse 75 of Surah Al-Imran
. Al-Qurtubi said in his interpretation of the verse: They said, “We have no responsibility for the unlettered.” The Jews had borrowed money from the Bedouins, but when those who had rights converted to Islam, the Jews said, “We have no responsibility for you, because you have abandoned your religion, so your debt is no longer with us.” Refer to the interpretation of Al-Qurtubi.
5746 - Muhammad ibn Sa`d narrated to me, he said: My father narrated to me, he said: My uncle narrated to me, he said: My father narrated to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn `Abbas: {That is because they said, "There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones."} That is because the People of the Book used to say: There is no blame upon us concerning what we have taken from these people, because they were unlettered. So that is what His statement means: {There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones.} ..to the end of the verse.
And others said about that: 5747 - Al-Qasim narrated to us, he said: Al-Husayn narrated to us, he said: Hajjaj narrated to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: {That is because they said, “We have no responsibility for the unlettered ones.”} He said: The Jews made a pledge to some Muslim men during the pre-Islamic period, and when they converted to Islam, they demanded the price of their sales from them, and they said: You have no responsibility for us, and you have no judgment with us. Because you have abandoned your religion which you were following. See the interpretation of Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, and Safwat Al-Tafasir.
It is a branch of the science of interpretation and its meaning is that the same word is mentioned in several places in the Qur’an with one pronunciation and one vowel, but in each place it is intended to have a different meaning. So the pronunciation of each word mentioned in one place is equivalent to the pronunciation of the word mentioned in the other place. [1]
If we look at the interpretation of the word “ummiyyun,” we will find it in three aspects:
One aspect of it is the illiterate, meaning the Arabs. “The Almighty says in Surat Al-Jumu’ah:
‘It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they were before in clear error.’” [2]
The second aspect is the Jews, as the Almighty says in Surat Al-Baqarah:
‘And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, and they do nothing but conjecture.’” [3]
The third aspect is those who neither write nor read anything,
those who They follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad things and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him - those are the [righteous] ones. They are the successful ones [4] - [5]
Al-Maqdisi’s speech in that discussion revolved around one of the interpretations of the word “ummi,” which means Arabs.
But if they argue with you, say, "I have submitted myself to Allah, and so have those who follow me." And say to those who were given the Scripture and the unlearned, "Have you submitted?" And if they submit, then they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, then upon you is only the notification. And Allah is Seeing of His servants. [6]
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount, he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, he will not return it to you. Except as long as you are standing over it. That is because they said, “There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones.” And they speak a lie about Allah while they know [7].
There is no disagreement that the meaning of “illiteracy” here in those places refers to the Arabs.
But let us discuss the other aspects,
for it came, as previously indicated, to a group of Jews who do not know how to read or write in the Almighty’s saying: “
And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, and they do nothing but conjecture.” And let us
review, as the Christians did, the sayings of the commentators,
and this is a group of them, by way of example, not exhaustive:
Ibn Atiyah said [8]:
The unlettered in the language is the one who does not write or read.In a book attributed to the mother either because his mother did not write, not because of his father, since women are not busy with writing, as At-Tabari said, or because his mother gave birth to him in a state in which he did not move from her. It was said that he was attributed to the nation, which is the stature and creation, as if he had nothing from humans except that. It was said that he was attributed to the nation due to her naivety before she learned knowledge, since she neither reads nor writes. Therefore, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said about the Arabs, “We are an illiterate nation, we do not calculate nor write the hadith and the thousand.”
Abu Hayyan Al-Andalusi [9] said:
The illiterate is the one who does not write or read in a book .
Al-Qurtubi [10]:
That is, the one who does not write or read, and the singular is illiterate , attributed to the illiterate nation, which is based on the birth of their mothers, they did not learn to write or read, and from this is his saying, peace be upon him: “We are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor calculate,” the hadith.
Al-Samarqandi [11]:
He means from the People of the Book, and they are the lowly, illiterate who do not read the book, he says they do not know how to read the book or write it.
Al-Tabari [12]:
We think Abu Ja`far said: He means by “the illiterate” those who neither write nor read .
And from this is the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “We are an illiterate nation, we neither write nor read.”
Ibn `Abbas, “Tanwir al-Miqbas” attributed to Ibn `Abbas
[13]:They do not know how to read or write the book.
Al- Fakhr al-Razi [14]:
And others said: Those who do not know how to write and read. This second is more correct because the verse is about the Jews, and they acknowledged the book and the Messenger, and because he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “We are an illiterate nation, we neither write nor calculate.” This indicates this saying, and because his saying: {They do not know the book} is only appropriate for that.
Al-Khazin [15]:
That is, they do not know how to write or read. The plural of “ummi ” is attributed to his mother, as if he remained as he was separated from his mother, not having learned to write or read .
Ibn `Adil al-Hanbali [16]: “Ummiyun” is the plural of “ummi,” and he is the one who does not write or read . There is a difference of opinion about its attribution. Some say: to “the mother,” and there are two meanings to this: One: that he is in the same state as his mother who gave birth to him in not knowing how to write, and he is not like his father; because women are not busy with writing. The second: that he is in the same state as his mother gave birth to him, he did not change from her, and he did not move. It is also said: it is attributed to “the nation,” which is stature and creation, meaning that he has nothing from people except that. It is also said: it is attributed to “the nation” due to her naivety before he knew things, like their saying: “common,” meaning: according to the custom of the common people. Al-Baghawi [17]: meaning that among the Jews are illiterate people who do not know how to read and write , the plural of “ummi” attributed to the mother as if he remained as he was separated from his mother, he did not learn to write or read. It was narrated on the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said, “We are an illiterate nation, meaning we do not write or calculate.” It was said that it is attributed to the mother of villages, which is Mecca. Abu al-Su`ud [18]: And among them are illiterate people. It was read with a lightened ya’, the plural of ummi , which is someone who is unable to write or read.
There is a difference of opinion about its attribution. It has been said that it is from the mother, meaning that he is similar to her in his ignorance of writing and reading, as these are not women’s affairs, but rather from men, or in the sense that he is in the state in which his mother gave birth to him, devoid of knowledge and writing. It has been said that it is from the nation, meaning that he remains in her naivety, devoid of knowledge of things, as they say “unlettered,” meaning according to the custom of the common people.
Al-Mawardi [19]:
One of them: That the illiterate is the one who does not write or read , and this is the statement of Mujahid and the most apparent interpretation of it. There are
two opinions about calling the one who does not write an illiterate:
One of them: That it is taken from the nation, meaning according to the origin of what the nation is, because he remains as he was created, that he does not write, and from this is the statement of Al-A’sha:
And indeed Muawiyah is the most
honorable, the most handsome of faces, the tallest of nations
. The second: That it is taken from the mother, and there are two interpretations about taking it from the mother:
One of them: That it is taken from her, because he is as his mother gave birth to him, that he does not write.
The second: That it was attributed to his mother, because writing is for men and not for women, so the man who does not write was attributed to his mother, because of her ignorance of writing, while his father was not.
Al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam [20]:
A people who did not believe in a messenger or books, and they wrote a book with their own hands and said to their ignorant ones, this is from Allah. The most apparent is that the illiterate is the one who does not read or write , attributed to the origin of what the nation is upon, that it does not write in the first place, or that it is according to what his mother bore him, or attributed to his mother, because women usually do not write.
Ibn al-Jawzi [21]:
The Almighty’s statement: And among them are illiterate people, meaning the Jews, and the illiterate is the one who does not write or read, said Mujahid. And there are two opinions about calling him the illiterate: One of them is because it is according to the creation of the nation that did not learn writing, so it is according to its nature, said al-Zajjaj. The second is that it is attributed to his mother because writing was among men and not among women, and it was said because it is according to what his mother bore him.
And the Almighty also said in Surat Al-A’raf:
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, and support him - And they followed the light which was sent down with him. Those are the successful ones.
Al-Baydawi [22]:
The one who neither writes nor reads described him with this as a warning that the perfection of his knowledge with his state is one of his miracles.
Abu Hayyan [23]:
And the illiterate who is like the Arab nation, we are an illiterate nation, we do not write nor calculate, so most of the Arabs do not write nor read, said Al-Zajjaj , and his being illiterate is part of the miracle.
Al-Qurtubi [24]:
The third: The Almighty’s statement: {the illiterate} is attributed to the illiterate nation, which is according to its original birth, it did not learn to write or read ; Ibn Aziz said. Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with him, said: Your Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was illiterate, he did not write, read, or calculate.
Al-Samarqandi [25]:
He means Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, who does not write or read books .
Al-Khazin [26]:
Ibn Abbas said: He is your Prophet (peace be upon him), he was illiterate, he did not write, read or calculate. Al-Zajjaj said about the meaning of the illiterate: He is the one who has the characteristics of the Arab nation because the majority of Arabs do not write, read or calculate, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) was like that, so Allah described him as being illiterate. It is authentic in the hadith that he (peace be upon him) said: (We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate).
Abu Al-Su`ud [27]:
That is, the one who did not practice reading and writing, and he combined with that the knowledge of the first and the last.
Al-Baghawi [28]:
He is Muhammad (peace be upon him). Ibn Abbas said :
He is your Prophet, he was illiterate, he did not write, read or calculate. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation, we do not write or calculate.” It is attributed to the mother, meaning he is as his mother bore him. It was said that it is attributed to his nation, its origin is my nation, so the taa was dropped in the attribution as it was dropped in the Meccan and Medinan. It was said that it is attributed to the mother of villages, which is Mecca.____
1- Al-Wujuh and Al-Naza’ir by Al-Damghani, p. 22.
2- Surah Al-Jumu’ah 2.
3- Surah Al-Baqarah 78.
4- Surah Al-A’raf 157.
5- Al-Wujuh and Al-Naza’ir pp. 63, 46.
6- Surah Al-Imran 20.
7- Surah Al-Imran 75.
8- Al-Muharrir Al-Wajeez fi Tafsir Al-Kitab Al-Aziz, Vol. 1, p. 169.
9- Al-Bahr Al-Muhit, Vol. 1, p. 442.
10- Al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Quran, Vol. 2, p. 4 11-
Bahr al-Ulum, Vol. 1, p. 92
12- Jami’ al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil Ayat al-Quran, Vol. 2, p. 256
13- Tanwir al-Miqbas, Vol. 1, p. 11
14- Mafatih al-Ghaib, Vol. 2, p. 127
15- Lubab al-Ta’wil fi Ma’ani al-Tanzil, Vol. 1, p. 76
16- Lubab fi Ulum al-Kitab, Vol. 2, p. 203
17- Ma’alim al-Tanzil, Vol. 1, p. 114
18- Irshad al-Aql al-Salim, Vol. 1, p. 118
19- Ankat wa al-Uyoun, Vol. 1, pp. 149, 150
20- Tafsir al-Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam, Vol. 1, pp. 138, 139
21- Zad al-Masir fi ‘Ilm al-Tafsir, Vol. 1, p. 104
22- Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil, Vol. 3, p. 64
23- Al-Bahr al-Muhit, Vol. 4, p. 402
24-The Compendium of the Rulings of the Qur’an, Vol. 7, p. 227
25-The Sea of Knowledge, Vol. 1, p. 569
26-The Core of Interpretation in the Meanings of Revelation, Vol. 2, p. 297
27-Guidance of the Sound Mind, Vol. 3, p. 278
28-Signs of Revelation, Vol. 3, p. 287
The suspicion of insertion : The
Christians objected to the existence of the noble verse:
“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, and support him - And they followed the light which was sent down with him. Those are the successful ones
within the context of these verses:
And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointed time. But when the earthquake seized them, he said, "My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them and me before. Will You destroy us for what the fools among us have done? It is only Your trial; You mislead thereby whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our protector, so forgive us." And have mercy upon us, for You are the best of forgivers. And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter. Indeed, we have turned [back] toward You. He said, “My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. So I will prescribe it for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written with them.” In the Torah and the Gospel, He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad things and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him - it is they who will be the successful. [1]
So they said:
We say to these objectors:
Allah ordered Moses, peace be upon him, to come to Him with some people from the Children of Israel who would apologize to Him for worshipping the calf, and He promised them an appointment. Moses chose seventy men from his people before Him, then he went with them to apologize. When they reached that place, they said: We will not believe you, O Moses, until we see Allah clearly. You have spoken to Him, so show Him. Then the thunderbolt struck them and they died.
Then Moses called upon his Lord and asked Him for a ladle and goodness in this world and the hereafter.
Was Allah’s response to him after that an intrusion into the context of the verses?
Then God Almighty said to him:
“Then I will prescribe it for those who fear God and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel.”
This verse includes two conditions for whomever God Almighty includes in His mercy.
1- Following the orders and prohibitions of Allah the Almighty that He commanded (fearing Allah the Almighty and giving zakat)
2- Believing in the glad tidings of their Book regarding the final prophet that are found in their books
. Al-Razi says in his interpretation [2]:
So it is as if Allah the Almighty made clear in this verse that this mercy is not attained by the Children of Israel except by those who feared Allah, gave zakat, and believed in the evidence in the time of Moses, and those who were like this in the days of the Messenger if they were also following the
unlettered Prophet in his laws. So
there is no suspicion of intrusion in the matter.
Rather, they are commanded to implement what is in their Book by believing in the glad tidings found in it.
As for the issue of following him, it is for those of the Children of Israel who joined the days of the Messenger, so Allah the Almighty made clear that the mercy of the Hereafter is not written for these later ones unless they follow the unlettered Prophet, the Messenger. [3]
So where is the intrusion, by Allah?
_________________
1 - From Surat Al-A'raf, verses 155, 156, 157
2, 3 Mafatih Al-Ghaib, Vol. 8, p. 20
Christians objected to the existence of the noble verse:
“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, and support him - And they followed the light which was sent down with him. Those are the successful ones
within the context of these verses:
And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointed time. But when the earthquake seized them, he said, "My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them and me before. Will You destroy us for what the fools among us have done? It is only Your trial; You mislead thereby whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our protector, so forgive us." And have mercy upon us, for You are the best of forgivers. And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter. Indeed, we have turned [back] toward You. He said, “My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. So I will prescribe it for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written with them.” In the Torah and the Gospel, He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the bad things and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him - it is they who will be the successful. [1]
So they said:
The speech of the illiterate prophet is interrupted twice in a row in Al-A'raf (157-158)
and it does not agree with the speech of Moses to his Lord, neither in the order nor in the subject. Moses and his people ask God to record their blood money as a good deed for them.
God first answered that the good deed is for the people of piety, charity and faith.
Then He answered that the good deed is only in believing in the illiterate prophet written in the Torah and the Gospel (156); so all they have to do is wait for Moses and his people for two thousand years until they have a good deed in believing in Muhammad!
Is it reasonable that God would answer the prayer of Moses and his people to their Lord that guidance is not through Moses, but in following Muhammad, the distant (illiterate prophet)? .....
and it does not agree with the speech of Moses to his Lord, neither in the order nor in the subject. Moses and his people ask God to record their blood money as a good deed for them.
God first answered that the good deed is for the people of piety, charity and faith.
Then He answered that the good deed is only in believing in the illiterate prophet written in the Torah and the Gospel (156); so all they have to do is wait for Moses and his people for two thousand years until they have a good deed in believing in Muhammad!
Is it reasonable that God would answer the prayer of Moses and his people to their Lord that guidance is not through Moses, but in following Muhammad, the distant (illiterate prophet)? .....
Allah ordered Moses, peace be upon him, to come to Him with some people from the Children of Israel who would apologize to Him for worshipping the calf, and He promised them an appointment. Moses chose seventy men from his people before Him, then he went with them to apologize. When they reached that place, they said: We will not believe you, O Moses, until we see Allah clearly. You have spoken to Him, so show Him. Then the thunderbolt struck them and they died.
Then Moses called upon his Lord and asked Him for a ladle and goodness in this world and the hereafter.
Was Allah’s response to him after that an intrusion into the context of the verses?
Then God Almighty said to him:
“Then I will prescribe it for those who fear God and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel.”
This verse includes two conditions for whomever God Almighty includes in His mercy.
1- Following the orders and prohibitions of Allah the Almighty that He commanded (fearing Allah the Almighty and giving zakat)
2- Believing in the glad tidings of their Book regarding the final prophet that are found in their books
. Al-Razi says in his interpretation [2]:
So it is as if Allah the Almighty made clear in this verse that this mercy is not attained by the Children of Israel except by those who feared Allah, gave zakat, and believed in the evidence in the time of Moses, and those who were like this in the days of the Messenger if they were also following the
unlettered Prophet in his laws. So
there is no suspicion of intrusion in the matter.
Rather, they are commanded to implement what is in their Book by believing in the glad tidings found in it.
As for the issue of following him, it is for those of the Children of Israel who joined the days of the Messenger, so Allah the Almighty made clear that the mercy of the Hereafter is not written for these later ones unless they follow the unlettered Prophet, the Messenger. [3]
So where is the intrusion, by Allah?
_________________
1 - From Surat Al-A'raf, verses 155, 156, 157
2, 3 Mafatih Al-Ghaib, Vol. 8, p. 20
Read, I am not a reader,
the Christians say:
Glory be to Allah for the minds!!!
Does the descent of Gabriel from the sky with a book require the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to read from it?
This is one of
the second matters:
The news of the book stopped in the narration and ended at the point of reporting it
. The narration says: Gabriel came to me, while I was sleeping, with a piece of brocade in which there was a book, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read?
And we did not see in the narration after that that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, received this book and read from it, nor even a mention of this book.
Let us assume that Gabriel was sent to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to read the Qur’an from this book,
and let us assume again that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, knew how to read
, so what was the reason for the beloved, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to say to him:
What should I read?
Did he have knowledge of reading and not know that??
And does the narration say that the Prophet took the book from Gabriel and read from it??
In general:
This narration is mursal:
Ubaid bin Umair, the narrator of the news, was one of the great followers and was the storyteller of the people of Mecca, so his hadith is mursal.
The narration in Sahih Al-Bukhari is clear and explicit:
On the authority of the Mother of the Believers, Lady Aisha, may God be pleased with her: The angel came to the Prophet and said: Read. He said: “I am not a reader…” [1]
The ambiguity in the word “read” will be clarified in another place, God willing.
__________________
1 - Narrated by Al-Bukhari: 1 Book: The Beginning of Revelation - Hadith 3, Vol. 1, p. 6.
the Christians say:
It was mentioned in the biography of the Prophet by Ibn Hisham: The Messenger of God went out to Hira, as he used to go out to his neighborhood, with his family, until the night came in which God honored him with his message and had mercy on the servants with it, Gabriel - peace be upon him - came to him with the command of God Almighty. The
Messenger of God said: Gabriel came to me while I was sleeping, with a piece of brocade on which was a book, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? I only say this to ransom myself from him doing to me the same thing he did to me. He said: {Read in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not.} He said: So I read it, and then it ended. Seerah by Ibn Hisham, vol. 1/25.
Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to Muhammad with a piece of brocade on which was a book, and said to him: Read! Did Gabriel not know that he was sent to an illiterate prophet who did not know how to read, so that he would say to him in the form of a command (Read in the name of your Lord)?! Read requires reading from a book. However, (the Qur’an) has a special terminology, which is that it is read without a book. Meaning: You cannot say read without a book, except for the Quran.
Question: Can you say: I read the story, or I read the newspaper.. or I read anything else, if you did not actually read it from a book?
Why did Muhammad not object to Gabriel’s command to read, but asked him (what should I read) O Gabriel? (Read in the name of your Lord who . . . who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not} so the Prophet read it. Question: Let us assume for the sake of argument that Muhammad was illiterate, meaning he did not know how to read or write.
Didn’t the Quran teach that if God commanded (wanted) something, He would say to it, “Be,” and it would be? If the issue was lack of knowledge, He would have carried out the command by reading. Didn’t God address His Messenger by saying to him: (Read) in the form of a command… so God’s command was carried out!...
.
Messenger of God said: Gabriel came to me while I was sleeping, with a piece of brocade on which was a book, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? He said: He tempted me with it until I thought it was death, then he released me, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read? I only say this to ransom myself from him doing to me the same thing he did to me. He said: {Read in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not.} He said: So I read it, and then it ended. Seerah by Ibn Hisham, vol. 1/25.
Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to Muhammad with a piece of brocade on which was a book, and said to him: Read! Did Gabriel not know that he was sent to an illiterate prophet who did not know how to read, so that he would say to him in the form of a command (Read in the name of your Lord)?! Read requires reading from a book. However, (the Qur’an) has a special terminology, which is that it is read without a book. Meaning: You cannot say read without a book, except for the Quran.
Question: Can you say: I read the story, or I read the newspaper.. or I read anything else, if you did not actually read it from a book?
Why did Muhammad not object to Gabriel’s command to read, but asked him (what should I read) O Gabriel? (Read in the name of your Lord who . . . who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not} so the Prophet read it. Question: Let us assume for the sake of argument that Muhammad was illiterate, meaning he did not know how to read or write.
Didn’t the Quran teach that if God commanded (wanted) something, He would say to it, “Be,” and it would be? If the issue was lack of knowledge, He would have carried out the command by reading. Didn’t God address His Messenger by saying to him: (Read) in the form of a command… so God’s command was carried out!...
.
Does the descent of Gabriel from the sky with a book require the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to read from it?
This is one of
the second matters:
The news of the book stopped in the narration and ended at the point of reporting it
. The narration says: Gabriel came to me, while I was sleeping, with a piece of brocade in which there was a book, and he said: Read. I said: What should I read?
And we did not see in the narration after that that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, received this book and read from it, nor even a mention of this book.
Let us assume that Gabriel was sent to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to read the Qur’an from this book,
and let us assume again that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, knew how to read
, so what was the reason for the beloved, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to say to him:
What should I read?
Did he have knowledge of reading and not know that??
And does the narration say that the Prophet took the book from Gabriel and read from it??
In general:
This narration is mursal:
Ubaid bin Umair, the narrator of the news, was one of the great followers and was the storyteller of the people of Mecca, so his hadith is mursal.
The narration in Sahih Al-Bukhari is clear and explicit:
On the authority of the Mother of the Believers, Lady Aisha, may God be pleased with her: The angel came to the Prophet and said: Read. He said: “I am not a reader…” [1]
The ambiguity in the word “read” will be clarified in another place, God willing.
__________________
1 - Narrated by Al-Bukhari: 1 Book: The Beginning of Revelation - Hadith 3, Vol. 1, p. 6.
[size="5"] Quranic hints that deny illiteracy.
The Christians said:
Al-Maqdisi tries to twist the verses in order to refute this conclusive evidence of the illiteracy of the Messenger, may God bless
him and grant him peace. We will not waste our time in quarrels about the meaning of the verse, whether it denies the knowledge of reading and writing from him, may God bless him and grant him peace, or not.
The matter is clear and does not need interpretation. In fact, anyone with even half a mind who looked at the verse would know what it means and what it aims at.
A very strange sentence said by Al-Maqdisi:
" The verse of Surat Al-Ankaboot does not deny that Muhammad did not know how to read and write . Rather, it denies direct recitation, and denies direct writing from the Prophet ."
What is this nonsense
? It does not deny the lack of knowledge of writing and at the same time denies writing!!!
It does not deny the lack of knowledge of reading and at the same time denies recitation - reading!!!
No comment.
The verse is clear and conclusive in proving the illiteracy of the Messenger,
may God bless him and grant him peace. God Almighty denies with "ma" reading from him, peace be upon him, and follows it with "la" negating the genus to deny writing from him.
Words that Abu Jahl did not say in his time, and that the Christians boast about.
Abu Hayyan [1] says:
That is, do not read or write.
Al-Baydawi [2]:
The appearance of this book, which includes all types of noble sciences , by an illiterate person who was not known for reading or learning, is extraordinary. The mention of the oath is an additional illustration of what is negated and a denial of the exaggeration in the chain of transmission.
Al-Qurtubi [3]:
That is, you, O Muhammad, did not read before it, nor did you go to the People of the Book. Rather, We revealed it to you in the utmost miraculousness and inclusion of the unseen and other things. If you were among those who read a book and wrote letters, the falsifiers (i.e., among the People of the Book) would have doubted, and they would have had a reason for their doubt and said, “What we find in our books is that he is illiterate, does not write or read, and it is not in this.” Mujahid said: The People of the Book found in their books that Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) did not write or read, so this verse was revealed. An-Nahhas said: As evidence of his prophethood to the Quraysh, because he did not read or write, nor did he mix with the People of the Book, and there were no People of the Book in Mecca. So he came to them with news of the prophets and nations, and doubt and suspicion were removed.
Imad ad-Din ibn Kathir [4]:
That is, you have remained among your people - O Muhammad - and before you brought this Qur’an for a lifetime, neither reading a book nor being good at writing . Rather, everyone from your people and others knows that you are an illiterate man, neither reading nor writing.
Al-Zamakhshari [5]:
And you are illiterate, no one has ever known you to recite a book nor Line.
Al-Nasafi [6]:
That is, you would not have read a book from the books nor were you a writer. {Then} that is, if there was any of that, that is, from recitation and writing.
Al-Tabari [7]:
The Most High says: (And you were not) O Muhammad (reciting) meaning: reading (before it) meaning: before this book that I revealed to you (of a book nor did you inscribe it with your right hand) He says: And you were not writing with your right hand, but you were illiterate (Then the falsifiers would have had doubts)
And a question for the Christian Jerusalemite:
Look at the Most High’s saying:
And you were not on the western side when We decreed to Moses the command, nor were you among the witnesses [8].
Does this prove that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Peace be upon him, he witnessed God’s speech to our master Moses, peace be upon him?
And
this is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad]. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. Nor were you with them when they disputed. [9]
So what is Al-Maqdisi’s opinion???
This is first.
Second, his statement that the verse refers to one specific heavenly book and not any book at all based on what he deduced from its specific interpretation.
His foolishness and stupidity led him to say:
((I believe that the second meaning is more correct, and the point is that the Messenger was not a priest and had no prior knowledge of the heavenly religions.))
He believes that!!!
There is no power or strength except with God.
Perhaps the occurrence of the word “book” without a definite article is sufficient to respond to those allegations that His Excellency believes.
I don't know which group of people this idiot is addressing.
What is the evidence in the verse he cited from Surat Al-Ankabut that proves that the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, learned from people other than himself?
First, this Christian made a mistake in the number and text of the verse.
The verse he is referring to is number 49, not 48, which says:
“Rather, they are clear signs in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge. And none reject Our signs except the wrongdoers.”
Does this Jerusalemite know the meaning of the verse?
This is the characteristic that distinguishes the Holy Quran from all other books.
It is the secret that has baffled the Christian priests, monks and deacons.
It is the continuous chain of transmission of the Qur’an transmitted from one generation to the next through the hearts of its memorizers.
Al-Zamakhshari [10] says:
Rather, the Qur’an is clear proofs in the hearts of those who are knowledgeable about it and have memorized it. These are two of the characteristics of the Qur’an: its verses being clear proofs of its miraculous nature, and it being memorized in the hearts and recited by most of the nation outwardly, unlike all other books, which were not miracles and were only read from the Qur’ans. End quote. So
praise and thanks be to God Almighty.
The polytheists used to raise doubts about the call of our Master the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace
. Once they slandered him, may God bless him and grant him peace, and accused him of madness, “And they said
, ‘O you to whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad.’” [11]
Another time they said that he was a magician,
“And they were amazed that a warner had come to them from among themselves.” And the disbelievers said, “This is a magician and a liar.” [12]
A third time they said that what he had brought were nothing but legends of the ancients dictated to him morning and evening,
“And they said, ‘Legends of the ancients, he has written them down, so they are dictated to him morning and evening.’” [13]
In that noble verse there is a new doubt for them.
After they announced that they did not want to… Guidance and they do not desire knowledge, nor do they strive to reach the truth, so they tried to find an explanation for this level at which Muhammad - who is one of them - addresses them, and they will invent what they know did not happen.
They said that he learned this Qur’an at the hands of the People of the Book.
Although they know that it is the truth. And that this book has no equal.
Here are the Quraysh gathered to agree on a common word among them to criticize the Qur’an in order to divert the delegations of the Arabs from it.
They consulted Al-Walid bin Al-Mughira.
They said: So you, Abu Abd Shams, speak and establish for us an opinion that we can say. He said: Rather, you speak and listen. They said: We say a soothsayer. He said: No, by God, he is not a soothsayer. We have seen soothsayers, but he is not like the soothsayer’s muttering or rhyming. They said: Should we say: Madman? He said: He is not mad. We have seen madness and known it, but it is not like its choking, its movements, or its whisperings. They said: Should we say: A poet? He said: He is not a poet. We know all poetry, its rajaz and hazaj, its verse, its maqbouda and mabsut, but it is not poetry. They said: Should we say: A magician? He said: He is not a magician. We have seen magicians and their magic, but it is not like their spitting or their knots. They said: So what should we say, Abu Abd Shams? He said:
By God, his speech is sweet, and his root is like a cluster of dates, and his branch is like a twig.
They were the people who had the most knowledge of the truth, and despite that, they fabricated this lie against the Qur’an and against the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.
The command of the Most High is issued to the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - to follow what was revealed to him, and to turn away from the polytheists, so he does not care about them or what they say of foolish words, nor does he occupy his mind with their denial, stubbornness and obstinacy. His way is to follow what was revealed to him from his Lord; so he shapes his entire life on its basis; and shapes the souls of his followers in the same way. And he does not care about the polytheists; he only follows the revelation of God, there is no god but Him, so what does he care about from the servants?!
Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no god but Him - and turn away from the polytheists [14].
So what is your proof for that, O Muqaddasi?!!
Did the Holy Quran thereby deny illiteracy from our Master the Messenger of God??!!!
The Christians said:
And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand. Then the falsifiers would have had doubts. (Al-Ankabut 48)
This verse is considered one of the verses indicating Muhammad’s illiteracy.
However, we see the opposite in it. The verse in Surat Al-Ankabut does not deny that Muhammad did not know how to read and write. Rather, it denies direct recitation and
direct writing from the Prophet.
What is meant by the book in the verse? Is it any book in general? Or is it a book from the heavenly books? I believe that the second meaning is more correct, and the purpose is that the Messenger was not a priest and did not have prior knowledge of the heavenly religions.
But does that mean that he never read? I do not think so, as the verse specifies, and does not generalize to all books. If I told you that so-and-so did not write that book or inscribe it with his right hand, does that mean that he does not know how to write at all?
But it does not negate writing, nor does it negate listening to recitation. The old method of study was mostly by listening.
This verse is considered one of the verses indicating Muhammad’s illiteracy.
However, we see the opposite in it. The verse in Surat Al-Ankabut does not deny that Muhammad did not know how to read and write. Rather, it denies direct recitation and
direct writing from the Prophet.
What is meant by the book in the verse? Is it any book in general? Or is it a book from the heavenly books? I believe that the second meaning is more correct, and the purpose is that the Messenger was not a priest and did not have prior knowledge of the heavenly religions.
But does that mean that he never read? I do not think so, as the verse specifies, and does not generalize to all books. If I told you that so-and-so did not write that book or inscribe it with his right hand, does that mean that he does not know how to write at all?
But it does not negate writing, nor does it negate listening to recitation. The old method of study was mostly by listening.
him and grant him peace. We will not waste our time in quarrels about the meaning of the verse, whether it denies the knowledge of reading and writing from him, may God bless him and grant him peace, or not.
The matter is clear and does not need interpretation. In fact, anyone with even half a mind who looked at the verse would know what it means and what it aims at.
A very strange sentence said by Al-Maqdisi:
" The verse of Surat Al-Ankaboot does not deny that Muhammad did not know how to read and write . Rather, it denies direct recitation, and denies direct writing from the Prophet ."
What is this nonsense
? It does not deny the lack of knowledge of writing and at the same time denies writing!!!
It does not deny the lack of knowledge of reading and at the same time denies recitation - reading!!!
No comment.
The verse is clear and conclusive in proving the illiteracy of the Messenger,
may God bless him and grant him peace. God Almighty denies with "ma" reading from him, peace be upon him, and follows it with "la" negating the genus to deny writing from him.
Words that Abu Jahl did not say in his time, and that the Christians boast about.
Abu Hayyan [1] says:
That is, do not read or write.
Al-Baydawi [2]:
The appearance of this book, which includes all types of noble sciences , by an illiterate person who was not known for reading or learning, is extraordinary. The mention of the oath is an additional illustration of what is negated and a denial of the exaggeration in the chain of transmission.
Al-Qurtubi [3]:
That is, you, O Muhammad, did not read before it, nor did you go to the People of the Book. Rather, We revealed it to you in the utmost miraculousness and inclusion of the unseen and other things. If you were among those who read a book and wrote letters, the falsifiers (i.e., among the People of the Book) would have doubted, and they would have had a reason for their doubt and said, “What we find in our books is that he is illiterate, does not write or read, and it is not in this.” Mujahid said: The People of the Book found in their books that Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) did not write or read, so this verse was revealed. An-Nahhas said: As evidence of his prophethood to the Quraysh, because he did not read or write, nor did he mix with the People of the Book, and there were no People of the Book in Mecca. So he came to them with news of the prophets and nations, and doubt and suspicion were removed.
Imad ad-Din ibn Kathir [4]:
That is, you have remained among your people - O Muhammad - and before you brought this Qur’an for a lifetime, neither reading a book nor being good at writing . Rather, everyone from your people and others knows that you are an illiterate man, neither reading nor writing.
Al-Zamakhshari [5]:
And you are illiterate, no one has ever known you to recite a book nor Line.
Al-Nasafi [6]:
That is, you would not have read a book from the books nor were you a writer. {Then} that is, if there was any of that, that is, from recitation and writing.
Al-Tabari [7]:
The Most High says: (And you were not) O Muhammad (reciting) meaning: reading (before it) meaning: before this book that I revealed to you (of a book nor did you inscribe it with your right hand) He says: And you were not writing with your right hand, but you were illiterate (Then the falsifiers would have had doubts)
And a question for the Christian Jerusalemite:
Look at the Most High’s saying:
And you were not on the western side when We decreed to Moses the command, nor were you among the witnesses [8].
Does this prove that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Peace be upon him, he witnessed God’s speech to our master Moses, peace be upon him?
And
this is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad]. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. Nor were you with them when they disputed. [9]
So what is Al-Maqdisi’s opinion???
This is first.
Second, his statement that the verse refers to one specific heavenly book and not any book at all based on what he deduced from its specific interpretation.
His foolishness and stupidity led him to say:
((I believe that the second meaning is more correct, and the point is that the Messenger was not a priest and had no prior knowledge of the heavenly religions.))
He believes that!!!
There is no power or strength except with God.
Perhaps the occurrence of the word “book” without a definite article is sufficient to respond to those allegations that His Excellency believes.
Muslims’ use of this verse as evidence of Muhammad’s illiteracy is inconsistent with verses 105 and 156 of Surat Al-An’am, which confirm that Muhammad studied the Book at the hands of those in whose hearts the Qur’an was “clear verses,” meaning the people of knowledge and the Book (Al-Ankabut 48).
What is the evidence in the verse he cited from Surat Al-Ankabut that proves that the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, learned from people other than himself?
First, this Christian made a mistake in the number and text of the verse.
The verse he is referring to is number 49, not 48, which says:
“Rather, they are clear signs in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge. And none reject Our signs except the wrongdoers.”
Does this Jerusalemite know the meaning of the verse?
This is the characteristic that distinguishes the Holy Quran from all other books.
It is the secret that has baffled the Christian priests, monks and deacons.
It is the continuous chain of transmission of the Qur’an transmitted from one generation to the next through the hearts of its memorizers.
Al-Zamakhshari [10] says:
Rather, the Qur’an is clear proofs in the hearts of those who are knowledgeable about it and have memorized it. These are two of the characteristics of the Qur’an: its verses being clear proofs of its miraculous nature, and it being memorized in the hearts and recited by most of the nation outwardly, unlike all other books, which were not miracles and were only read from the Qur’ans. End quote. So
praise and thanks be to God Almighty.
: He studied the Book to make it clear to the Arabs: (And thus do We explain the verses in detail that they may say, “You have studied!” And that We may make it clear to a people who know.) Al-An’am 105.
. Once they slandered him, may God bless him and grant him peace, and accused him of madness, “And they said
, ‘O you to whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad.’” [11]
Another time they said that he was a magician,
“And they were amazed that a warner had come to them from among themselves.” And the disbelievers said, “This is a magician and a liar.” [12]
A third time they said that what he had brought were nothing but legends of the ancients dictated to him morning and evening,
“And they said, ‘Legends of the ancients, he has written them down, so they are dictated to him morning and evening.’” [13]
In that noble verse there is a new doubt for them.
After they announced that they did not want to… Guidance and they do not desire knowledge, nor do they strive to reach the truth, so they tried to find an explanation for this level at which Muhammad - who is one of them - addresses them, and they will invent what they know did not happen.
They said that he learned this Qur’an at the hands of the People of the Book.
Although they know that it is the truth. And that this book has no equal.
Here are the Quraysh gathered to agree on a common word among them to criticize the Qur’an in order to divert the delegations of the Arabs from it.
They consulted Al-Walid bin Al-Mughira.
They said: So you, Abu Abd Shams, speak and establish for us an opinion that we can say. He said: Rather, you speak and listen. They said: We say a soothsayer. He said: No, by God, he is not a soothsayer. We have seen soothsayers, but he is not like the soothsayer’s muttering or rhyming. They said: Should we say: Madman? He said: He is not mad. We have seen madness and known it, but it is not like its choking, its movements, or its whisperings. They said: Should we say: A poet? He said: He is not a poet. We know all poetry, its rajaz and hazaj, its verse, its maqbouda and mabsut, but it is not poetry. They said: Should we say: A magician? He said: He is not a magician. We have seen magicians and their magic, but it is not like their spitting or their knots. They said: So what should we say, Abu Abd Shams? He said:
By God, his speech is sweet, and his root is like a cluster of dates, and his branch is like a twig.
They were the people who had the most knowledge of the truth, and despite that, they fabricated this lie against the Qur’an and against the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.
The command of the Most High is issued to the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - to follow what was revealed to him, and to turn away from the polytheists, so he does not care about them or what they say of foolish words, nor does he occupy his mind with their denial, stubbornness and obstinacy. His way is to follow what was revealed to him from his Lord; so he shapes his entire life on its basis; and shapes the souls of his followers in the same way. And he does not care about the polytheists; he only follows the revelation of God, there is no god but Him, so what does he care about from the servants?!
Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no god but Him - and turn away from the polytheists [14].
So what is your proof for that, O Muqaddasi?!!
Did the Holy Quran thereby deny illiteracy from our Master the Messenger of God??!!!
The second verse :
“Read in the name of your Lord who created. 1 He created man from a clot. 2 Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. 3 He who taught by the pen. 4 He taught man that which he knew not.” 5
This verse is questionable:
1) It is absurd for God to address His Messenger by saying to him, “Read,” in the imperative form. This is due to three practical reasons: the first is the nature of faith, that if God wills something, He commands it to say to it, “Be,” and it is. If the issue were not knowing, He would have carried out the command by reading.
2) What is assumed in the Qur’an is the eloquence of the wording and the miraculousness of the will, so it would have been more appropriate and fitting if the Messenger did not know how to read for God to address him by saying, “Recite,” “Say,” or “Repeat.”
3) The verse (Read in the name of your Lord) and the Prophet’s answer to Gabriel (I am not a reader)
is nothing but a direct and explicit denial of God Almighty’s knowledge. Considering that God is the Knower of the unseen, it is unacceptable to reason or logic that He would address someone who does not know how to read and write with the command to read!!!?
“Read in the name of your Lord who created. 1 He created man from a clot. 2 Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. 3 He who taught by the pen. 4 He taught man that which he knew not.” 5
This verse is questionable:
1) It is absurd for God to address His Messenger by saying to him, “Read,” in the imperative form. This is due to three practical reasons: the first is the nature of faith, that if God wills something, He commands it to say to it, “Be,” and it is. If the issue were not knowing, He would have carried out the command by reading.
2) What is assumed in the Qur’an is the eloquence of the wording and the miraculousness of the will, so it would have been more appropriate and fitting if the Messenger did not know how to read for God to address him by saying, “Recite,” “Say,” or “Repeat.”
3) The verse (Read in the name of your Lord) and the Prophet’s answer to Gabriel (I am not a reader)
is nothing but a direct and explicit denial of God Almighty’s knowledge. Considering that God is the Knower of the unseen, it is unacceptable to reason or logic that He would address someone who does not know how to read and write with the command to read!!!?
the command to read
is not a matter of obligation, but rather of prompting and receiving what he says, just as when a boy comes before his teacher with his book, and his teacher says to him: Read, not intending by that to command him to read, but rather prompting him to read as I am reading to you now. [15]
The meaning of read in the name of your Lord is read what has been revealed to you of the Qur’an, beginning with the name of your Lord, which is to mention the name at the beginning of every surah [16].
The third verse
clearly indicates from the verses of the Qur’an that the Prophet used to read and write, including the verse from Surat Al Imran: “Allah has conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error.” (Al Imran 164)
Based on what the Qur’an clearly states, the first duty of the Prophet is to teach the Qur’an to his followers. It is accepted that the minimum requirement for someone who is to teach a book or the contents of a book to others is - as the Qur’an itself states - that he be able to use a pen or read what is written with a pen - at least.”
clearly indicates from the verses of the Qur’an that the Prophet used to read and write, including the verse from Surat Al Imran: “Allah has conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error.” (Al Imran 164)
Based on what the Qur’an clearly states, the first duty of the Prophet is to teach the Qur’an to his followers. It is accepted that the minimum requirement for someone who is to teach a book or the contents of a book to others is - as the Qur’an itself states - that he be able to use a pen or read what is written with a pen - at least.”
Does the meaning of the Almighty’s saying, “He recites to them His verses and purifies them and teaches them the Book and wisdom” indicate from near or far that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, knew how to read and write?
God Almighty says in Surat Ash-Shu’ara’
: “And indeed, it is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. * The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down * Upon your heart that you may be among the warners * In a clear Arabic tongue.” [17]
So Gabriel would bring the revelation to the Messenger. And the Beloved, may God bless him and grant him peace, would convey it to the people in accordance with the words of God
Almighty: “O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And God will protect you from the people. Indeed, God does not guide the disbelieving people.” [18]
And teaching the Book – the Qur’an – and wisdom – the Sunnah and understanding in religion – is the implementation of God’s command as stated in the verse:
“And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear God. Indeed, God is severe in penalty.” [19]
O you who believe! Believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final outcome. [20]
So how did this Christian benefit from that verse explicitly stating that the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was not literate?
Were the Muslims taught the matters of their religion by the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who did not speak from his own desires and spoke only the truth? Does that necessitate that he knew how to read and write?
Verse 4:
It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in manifest error. Friday 2:
Looking at this verse and thinking about the word “unlettered” mentioned in it, and assuming for the sake of argument that it means ignorance of reading and writing, this would necessarily mean that the Messenger was sent only to those who do not know how to read and write, and not others, which would negate the universality of religion and the Qur’an....
It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in manifest error. Friday 2:
Looking at this verse and thinking about the word “unlettered” mentioned in it, and assuming for the sake of argument that it means ignorance of reading and writing, this would necessarily mean that the Messenger was sent only to those who do not know how to read and write, and not others, which would negate the universality of religion and the Qur’an....
among whom the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was sent, and there is no disagreement among us on that.
This is one aspect of the meaning of the word “illiterate,”
and it does not negate the fact that the meaning of illiteracy is the lack of knowledge of reading and writing, as mentioned in more than one place in the Holy Qur’an
and the sayings of linguists.
This has been explained previously.
Verse 5
: And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount, will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, will not return
it to you unless you remain standing over it. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones." And they speak a lie about Allah while they know. (Al Imran 75) In this verse, Allah is speaking to the Prophet and informing him that some of the People of the Scripture are trustworthy and will return their debt without writing down anything to prove the debt. And some of them are not trustworthy and will not return their debt unless you write down the debt (as long as you remain standing over it). Now, is it reasonable that God would speak to the prophet who does not know how to read and say to him (except as long as you are standing on it)??? Or does this prophet know how to read and write?
: And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount, will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, will not return
it to you unless you remain standing over it. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones." And they speak a lie about Allah while they know. (Al Imran 75) In this verse, Allah is speaking to the Prophet and informing him that some of the People of the Scripture are trustworthy and will return their debt without writing down anything to prove the debt. And some of them are not trustworthy and will not return their debt unless you write down the debt (as long as you remain standing over it). Now, is it reasonable that God would speak to the prophet who does not know how to read and say to him (except as long as you are standing on it)??? Or does this prophet know how to read and write?
where this ignorant person got his saying:
“Without writing on it what proves the debt. And some of them are not trustworthy and will not return their debt unless you write on it the debt (as long as you are standing on it).”
Was this statement found in the interpretation of one of our respected imams and he transmitted it to us?
Al-Damghani [21] said:
The interpretation of standing is elevenfold:
safe – standing – standing: prayer – straight – standing in the matter – standing – standing in the call – the universe – fixed in the building and people – speaking justice – perseverance....
The eleventh aspect: standing: perseverance , the Almighty’s saying: And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount, he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, he will not return it to you except as long as you remain standing over him. That is because they say, “There is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered ones.” And they speak a lie about Allah, while they are liars. They know,
that is, they are persistent.
Imam Ibn Kathir [22] said:
“And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, will not give it to you unless you are standing over him.” That is, by demanding, persisting, and insisting on extracting your right . And if this is what he does with a dinar or anything above it, it is more appropriate that he will not give it back.
There is no power or strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.
____
1- Al-Bahr Al-Muhit, Vol. 7, p. 150
2- Anwar Al-Tanzil and Asrar Al-Ta’wil, Vol. 4, p. 319
3- Al-Jama’a li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 13, p. 350
4- Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azeem, Vol. 6, p. 284
5- Al-Kashaf, Vol. 3, p. 492
6- Madarik Al-Tanzil and Haqa’iq Al-Ta’wil, Vol. 3, p. 375
7- Jami’ Al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil Ayat Al-Quran, Vol. 20, p. 49
8- Surat Al-Qasas, 44
9- Surat Al-Imran, 44
10- Al-Kashaf, Vol. 3, p. 463
11- Surat Al-Hijr, 6
12- Surat Sad, 4
13- Surat Al-Furqan, 5
14- Surat Al-An’am, 106
15- Umdat Al-Qari, Sharh Sahih Al-Bukhari - Al-Kashmiri, Vol. 1, p. 22
16- Jami’ li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 20, p. 118
17- Verses from Surat Ash-Shu’ara 192:195
18- Surah Al-Ma’idah 67
19- Surah Al-Hashr 7
20- Surah An-Nisa’ 59
21- Faces and counterparts pp. 379, 380
22- Interpretation of the Great Qur’an, Vol. 2, p. 95
[ size="5"] Narrations that contradict illiteracy.
The Christian said in a series of weak and fabricated hadiths:
Weak [1]
Topic [2]
Weak, baseless [3]
Very weak [4]
Did the Prophet write with his own hand?
The Christians claim that the Prophet wrote with his own hand in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
and they rely on this narration:
Ubaydullah bin Musa told me, on the authority of Israel, on the authority of Abu Ishaq, on the authority of Al-Bara’, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed the ‘Umrah in Dhul-Qa’dah, the people of Mecca refused to let him enter Mecca until he had decided that he would stay there for three days. When they wrote the document, they wrote: This is what he decided.” Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. They said, “We do not acknowledge this for you. If we knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have prevented you from anything. But you are Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” He said, “I am the Messenger of Allah and I am Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” Then he said to Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, “Erase the Messenger of Allah.” Ali said, “No, by Allah, I will never erase you.” So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took hold of the He handed over the letter, but he could not write well. So he wrote: This is what Muhammad ibn Abdullah has decreed: No weapon shall be brought into Mecca except the sword in a sheath, and that no one of its people shall leave if he wishes to follow him, and that no one of his companions shall be prevented if he wishes to reside in it. So when he entered it and the time had passed, they came to Ali and said: Tell your companion to leave us. The time has passed, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out and Hamza’s daughter followed him, calling out, “O uncle, O uncle!” Ali took her and took her by the hand and said to Fatima (peace be upon her): “Here you go, your cousin has taken her.” Ali, Zaid and Ja’far disputed over her. Ali said: “I took her, and she is my cousin.” Ja’far said: “She is my cousin and her aunt is under my care.” Zaid said: My brother's daughter, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) ruled that she should go to her maternal aunt and said: The maternal aunt is like the mother. He said to Ali: You are to me and I am to you. He said to Ja'far: You resemble me in appearance and character. He said to Zaid: You are our brother and our master. Ali said: Why don't you marry Hamza's daughter? He said: She is my foster brother's daughter
. Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih.
In another narration:
Ahmad ibn Uthman ibn Hakim narrated to us, Shurayh ibn Maslamah narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn Yusuf ibn Abi Ishaq narrated to us, he said: My father narrated to me, on the authority of Abi Ishaq, he said: Al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wanted to perform Umrah, he sent to the people of Mecca asking their permission to enter Mecca, and they stipulated that he should not… He would stay there for only three nights and would not enter it except with his armor and would not call anyone from them. He said: Then Ali ibn Abi Talib began to write the condition between them and wrote: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of God, has decided. They said: If we had known that you were the Messenger of God, we would not have prevented you and would have pledged allegiance to you. But write: This is what Muhammad ibn Abd al- Allah. He said: I, by Allah, am Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and I, by Allah, am the Messenger of Allah. He said: And he did not write. He said: So he said to Ali: Erase the Messenger of Allah. Ali said: By Allah, I will never erase it. He said: Then show it to me . He said: So he showed it to him, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, erased it with his own hand. When he entered and the days passed, they came to Ali and said: Tell your companion to leave. So he mentioned That is what Ali, may God be pleased with him, said to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he said, “Yes,” then he departed. [5]
We infer from these narrations two important matters:
1- That the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to read
2- That the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to write.
The evidence:
Not knowing how to read as mentioned in the second narration:
So show it to him. He said, so he showed it to him, so the Prophet protected him...
If he had been a writer, he would not have needed Ali, may God be pleased with him, to tell him where it was [6].
The evidence that he, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to write is what is mentioned in the two narrations:
And he did not know how to write,
and also:
And he did not write . If
this is the case, then what is the meaning of what is mentioned in the narrations:
So he wrote, this is what Muhammad ibn Abd al-... What
is meant by his saying, “So he wrote,” is that he ordered writing, and this style is well-known and widely used in writing and other things. It says: Banu Umar, may God be pleased with him, Basra and Kufa. Yes, he ordered that, and there are many such things... It has been proven that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wrote to the kings of his time, such as Al-Muqawqis, Khosrow, and Caesar... He only ordered his scribes to write those letters.
The evidence is what Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih:
Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah told us, Affan told us, Hammad bin Salamah told us, on the authority of Thabit, on the authority of Anas, that the Quraysh made peace with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, regarding Suhayl bin Amr. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “Perhaps I will write, ‘In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.’ Suhayl said, ‘As for the name of God, we do not know what ‘In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’ means, but write what we know, ‘In Your name, O God.’ He said, ‘Write from Muhammad, the Messenger of God.’ They said, ‘If we knew that you were the Messenger of God, we would have followed you, but write your name and the name of your father.’ The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘ Write from Muhammad bin Abdullah.’
[7] Imam Al-Qurtubi said [8 ]: This is the correct view in this regard, that he did not write a single letter, but he ordered someone to write, and he did not read or spell. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said [9]: Regarding the story of Al-Hudaybiyyah, the story is the same and the writer in it is Ali, and it was stated in the hadith of Al-Miswar that Ali is the one who wrote, so it is understood that the point in his saying: “
So he took the book and he did not know how to write” is to clarify that his saying: “Show it to me” is that he did not need to show him the location of the word that Ali refused to erase except because he did not know how to write, and that his saying after that “So he wrote” has an omission, meaning that he erased it and returned it to Ali, so he wrote. Ibn al-Tin was certain of this and used the word “wrote” to mean “he ordered to write,” which is common, such as his saying: “He wrote to Caesar,” and “He wrote to Khosrow.” Al-Suhayli said: “It is impossible for miracles to contradict each other. The truth is that the meaning of his saying: “So he wrote” is that he ordered Ali to write.” End quote. I said: If the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, knew how to write and could write whatever he wanted , then what is the reason for having a book for him? And Imam Ibn al-Qayyim listed them in al-Zad [10]: A section in his letter, may God bless him and grant him peace: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, al-Zubayr, Aamer ibn Fuhayrah, Amr ibn al-Aas, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Abdullah ibn al-Arqam, Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas, Hanzalah ibn al-Rabi’ al-Usaydi, al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah, Abdullah ibn Rawahah, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and Khalid ibn Sa’id ibn al-Aas. It was said that he was the first to write to him, along with Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and Zayd ibn Thabit, and he was the most committed to this matter and the most dedicated to it. If it is said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed when he mentioned the Antichrist and said: (Written between his eyes is KAFAR) and you said that the miracle is in his being illiterate. Allah the Most High said: And you did not recite before him from the Book (verse) and he said: (Indeed, we are an unlettered nation; we do not write nor do we calculate). So how is this? The answer is what he (peace be upon him) stated in the hadith of Hudhayfah. The hadith is like the Qur’an, some of it explains some of it. In the hadith of Hudhayfah (Every believer, literate and illiterate, will read it). He stated in that about the illiterate who is not a writer, and this is the clearest thing that can be made clear. [11][/size] ____ 1- Da’if al-Jami’ No. 675 (Weak) If you write (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) then put the seen in it . 2- Da’if al-Jami’ No. 676 (Fabricated) If you write, then put your pen to your ear, for it will remind you (Ibn Asakir) on the authority of Anas. 3- Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azim by Ibn Kathir Al-Dimashqi, Vol. 6, p. 285 4- Al-Ta’liq Al-Raghib, Vol. 2, p. 34, Ad-Da’ifah 3637, Da’if Ibn Majah 528 5- Narrated by Al-Bukhari - Book: Jizya and Truce - B: Reconciliation for Three Days or a Specific Time, Hadith 3184, Vol. 2, p. 301. 6- Manahil Al-Irfan, Study and Evaluation, Vol. 2, p. 459 7- Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, Book: Jihad and Military Expeditions, B: The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in Hudaybiyyah - Hadith 1784 - Vol. 3, p. 345 8- Al-Jami’ Li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 13, p. 352 9- Fath Al-Bari, Vol. 7, p. 503 10- Zad Al-Ma’ad, Vol. 1, p. 49 11- Al-Jami’ Li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 13, p. 352
The Christian said in a series of weak and fabricated hadiths:
Al-Suyuti narrated in (Tabaqat Al-Lughawiyyin Wa Al-Nahhat) on the authority of Zaid bin Thabit, the scribe of the revelation, who said: The Messenger of God said: If you write “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,” then separate the “seen” in it.
Weak [1]
It was mentioned in (Subh Al-A’sha) on the authority of Anas bin Malik that Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan used to write for the Prophet, and whenever he saw any signs of weakness in the Prophet, he would put the pen in his mouth. The Prophet looked at him and said: O Muawiyah, if you are a writer, put the pen to your ear, for it will make you and I remember better. Al-Tirmidhi 2932.
Topic [2]
Ibn Shaybah narrated on the authority of Awf: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not die until he had written and read. See Muhammad and His Era, pp. 85-86.
Weak, baseless [3]
On the authority of Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: On the night of my ascension, I saw written on the gate of Paradise: “Charity is rewarded tenfold” and a loan is rewarded eight (ten) times. I said: O Gabriel, why is a loan better than “charity?” He said: Because the one who asks is asked when he has something, and the one who borrows does not borrow except out of need. Ibn Majah 2422. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, recited it: “Charity is rewarded tenfold”!
Very weak [4]
Did the Prophet write with his own hand?
The Christians claim that the Prophet wrote with his own hand in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
and they rely on this narration:
Ubaydullah bin Musa told me, on the authority of Israel, on the authority of Abu Ishaq, on the authority of Al-Bara’, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed the ‘Umrah in Dhul-Qa’dah, the people of Mecca refused to let him enter Mecca until he had decided that he would stay there for three days. When they wrote the document, they wrote: This is what he decided.” Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. They said, “We do not acknowledge this for you. If we knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have prevented you from anything. But you are Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” He said, “I am the Messenger of Allah and I am Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” Then he said to Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, “Erase the Messenger of Allah.” Ali said, “No, by Allah, I will never erase you.” So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took hold of the He handed over the letter, but he could not write well. So he wrote: This is what Muhammad ibn Abdullah has decreed: No weapon shall be brought into Mecca except the sword in a sheath, and that no one of its people shall leave if he wishes to follow him, and that no one of his companions shall be prevented if he wishes to reside in it. So when he entered it and the time had passed, they came to Ali and said: Tell your companion to leave us. The time has passed, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out and Hamza’s daughter followed him, calling out, “O uncle, O uncle!” Ali took her and took her by the hand and said to Fatima (peace be upon her): “Here you go, your cousin has taken her.” Ali, Zaid and Ja’far disputed over her. Ali said: “I took her, and she is my cousin.” Ja’far said: “She is my cousin and her aunt is under my care.” Zaid said: My brother's daughter, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) ruled that she should go to her maternal aunt and said: The maternal aunt is like the mother. He said to Ali: You are to me and I am to you. He said to Ja'far: You resemble me in appearance and character. He said to Zaid: You are our brother and our master. Ali said: Why don't you marry Hamza's daughter? He said: She is my foster brother's daughter
. Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih.
In another narration:
Ahmad ibn Uthman ibn Hakim narrated to us, Shurayh ibn Maslamah narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn Yusuf ibn Abi Ishaq narrated to us, he said: My father narrated to me, on the authority of Abi Ishaq, he said: Al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wanted to perform Umrah, he sent to the people of Mecca asking their permission to enter Mecca, and they stipulated that he should not… He would stay there for only three nights and would not enter it except with his armor and would not call anyone from them. He said: Then Ali ibn Abi Talib began to write the condition between them and wrote: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of God, has decided. They said: If we had known that you were the Messenger of God, we would not have prevented you and would have pledged allegiance to you. But write: This is what Muhammad ibn Abd al- Allah. He said: I, by Allah, am Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and I, by Allah, am the Messenger of Allah. He said: And he did not write. He said: So he said to Ali: Erase the Messenger of Allah. Ali said: By Allah, I will never erase it. He said: Then show it to me . He said: So he showed it to him, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, erased it with his own hand. When he entered and the days passed, they came to Ali and said: Tell your companion to leave. So he mentioned That is what Ali, may God be pleased with him, said to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he said, “Yes,” then he departed. [5]
We infer from these narrations two important matters:
1- That the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to read
2- That the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to write.
The evidence:
Not knowing how to read as mentioned in the second narration:
So show it to him. He said, so he showed it to him, so the Prophet protected him...
If he had been a writer, he would not have needed Ali, may God be pleased with him, to tell him where it was [6].
The evidence that he, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know how to write is what is mentioned in the two narrations:
And he did not know how to write,
and also:
And he did not write . If
this is the case, then what is the meaning of what is mentioned in the narrations:
So he wrote, this is what Muhammad ibn Abd al-... What
is meant by his saying, “So he wrote,” is that he ordered writing, and this style is well-known and widely used in writing and other things. It says: Banu Umar, may God be pleased with him, Basra and Kufa. Yes, he ordered that, and there are many such things... It has been proven that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wrote to the kings of his time, such as Al-Muqawqis, Khosrow, and Caesar... He only ordered his scribes to write those letters.
The evidence is what Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih:
Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah told us, Affan told us, Hammad bin Salamah told us, on the authority of Thabit, on the authority of Anas, that the Quraysh made peace with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, regarding Suhayl bin Amr. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “Perhaps I will write, ‘In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.’ Suhayl said, ‘As for the name of God, we do not know what ‘In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’ means, but write what we know, ‘In Your name, O God.’ He said, ‘Write from Muhammad, the Messenger of God.’ They said, ‘If we knew that you were the Messenger of God, we would have followed you, but write your name and the name of your father.’ The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘ Write from Muhammad bin Abdullah.’
[7] Imam Al-Qurtubi said [8 ]: This is the correct view in this regard, that he did not write a single letter, but he ordered someone to write, and he did not read or spell. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said [9]: Regarding the story of Al-Hudaybiyyah, the story is the same and the writer in it is Ali, and it was stated in the hadith of Al-Miswar that Ali is the one who wrote, so it is understood that the point in his saying: “
So he took the book and he did not know how to write” is to clarify that his saying: “Show it to me” is that he did not need to show him the location of the word that Ali refused to erase except because he did not know how to write, and that his saying after that “So he wrote” has an omission, meaning that he erased it and returned it to Ali, so he wrote. Ibn al-Tin was certain of this and used the word “wrote” to mean “he ordered to write,” which is common, such as his saying: “He wrote to Caesar,” and “He wrote to Khosrow.” Al-Suhayli said: “It is impossible for miracles to contradict each other. The truth is that the meaning of his saying: “So he wrote” is that he ordered Ali to write.” End quote. I said: If the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, knew how to write and could write whatever he wanted , then what is the reason for having a book for him? And Imam Ibn al-Qayyim listed them in al-Zad [10]: A section in his letter, may God bless him and grant him peace: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, al-Zubayr, Aamer ibn Fuhayrah, Amr ibn al-Aas, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Abdullah ibn al-Arqam, Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas, Hanzalah ibn al-Rabi’ al-Usaydi, al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah, Abdullah ibn Rawahah, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and Khalid ibn Sa’id ibn al-Aas. It was said that he was the first to write to him, along with Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and Zayd ibn Thabit, and he was the most committed to this matter and the most dedicated to it. If it is said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed when he mentioned the Antichrist and said: (Written between his eyes is KAFAR) and you said that the miracle is in his being illiterate. Allah the Most High said: And you did not recite before him from the Book (verse) and he said: (Indeed, we are an unlettered nation; we do not write nor do we calculate). So how is this? The answer is what he (peace be upon him) stated in the hadith of Hudhayfah. The hadith is like the Qur’an, some of it explains some of it. In the hadith of Hudhayfah (Every believer, literate and illiterate, will read it). He stated in that about the illiterate who is not a writer, and this is the clearest thing that can be made clear. [11][/size] ____ 1- Da’if al-Jami’ No. 675 (Weak) If you write (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) then put the seen in it . 2- Da’if al-Jami’ No. 676 (Fabricated) If you write, then put your pen to your ear, for it will remind you (Ibn Asakir) on the authority of Anas. 3- Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azim by Ibn Kathir Al-Dimashqi, Vol. 6, p. 285 4- Al-Ta’liq Al-Raghib, Vol. 2, p. 34, Ad-Da’ifah 3637, Da’if Ibn Majah 528 5- Narrated by Al-Bukhari - Book: Jizya and Truce - B: Reconciliation for Three Days or a Specific Time, Hadith 3184, Vol. 2, p. 301. 6- Manahil Al-Irfan, Study and Evaluation, Vol. 2, p. 459 7- Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, Book: Jihad and Military Expeditions, B: The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in Hudaybiyyah - Hadith 1784 - Vol. 3, p. 345 8- Al-Jami’ Li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 13, p. 352 9- Fath Al-Bari, Vol. 7, p. 503 10- Zad Al-Ma’ad, Vol. 1, p. 49 11- Al-Jami’ Li Ahkam Al-Quran, Vol. 13, p. 352
Some of the scholars’ opinions on Muhammad’s illiteracy
. This is the last chapter in his failed book.
He included some excerpts from here and there,
and what is in this chapter is only a repetition of what he mentioned previously. Perhaps the most prominent thing in it is his citing of al-Razi to prove that he was not illiterate, peace and blessings be upon him.
Al-Maqdisi said:
When I went to the interpretation of Mafatih al-Ghayb by al-Razi in that place,
I found it located in the second part on page 127, starting from the first line.
Al-Razi, may God have mercy on him, says:
Know that what is meant by His saying: {And among them are the unlettered} is the Jews, because when God Almighty described them as stubborn and removed greed from their faith among their groups, the first group is the misguided and misleading group, and they are the ones who distort words from their places.
The second group: the hypocrites, the third group: those who argue with the hypocrites, and the fourth group: those mentioned in this verse, and they are the common illiterate people who have no knowledge of reading or writing and their way is imitation and accepting what is said to them. So God Almighty made clear that those who refuse to accept faith do not have one reason for this refusal, but rather each group of them has another reason. Whoever contemplates what God Almighty mentioned in this verse regarding the explanation of the sects of the Jews will find that same in the sects of this nation, for among them are those who oppose the truth and strive to mislead others, and among them are those who are moderate, and among them are those who are purely common imitators. Here are some issues:
Then he begins to discuss the first of his issues and says:
The first issue: They differed regarding the illiterate, so some of them said that he is the one who does not acknowledge a book or a messenger.
Others said: He who does not know how to read and write . The second one is more correct because the verse is about the Jews and they acknowledged the Book and the Messenger and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation; we neither write nor calculate.” This indicates this statement, and because his statement: “They do not know the Book” is only appropriate for that.
Shame on you, you impostor.
Al-Razi confirms the illiteracy of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and defends it: He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his interpretation of the verse of Al-A’raf
that Allaah the Almighty described our Master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with nine attributes .
Let us see what Al-Razi said about the third:
The third attribute: He was illiterate.
Al-Zajjaj said: The meaning of “illiterate” is the description of the Arab nation. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation; we neither write nor calculate.” Most of the Arabs neither wrote nor read, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was like that, so for this reason he described him as being illiterate.
The people of investigation said that his being illiterate with this interpretation was among his miracles and its explanation is from aspects: First: That he, peace and blessings be upon him, would read to them the Book of God Almighty in verse, time after time, without changing its wording or altering its words. And if an Arab preacher improvises a sermon and then
repeats it, he must add to it or subtract from it, little or much. Then he, peace and blessings be upon him, even though he did not write or read, would recite the Book of God without adding, subtracting, or changing.
This was one of the miracles, and it is indicated by the Almighty’s saying: {We will make you recite, and you will not forget} (Al-A’la: 6). The second: If he had been good at writing and reading, he would have been accused of having perhaps studied the books of the ancients and acquired these sciences from that reading. So when he brought this great Qur’an, which includes many sciences, without learning or studying, this was one of the miracles, and this is what is meant by His saying: {And you did not recite from it before it any book, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand; then the falsifiers would have had doubts} (Al-Ankabut: 48). The third: Learning writing is an easy thing, for the least intelligent and perceptive people learn writing with the least effort, so not learning it indicates a great deficiency in understanding. Then the Almighty gave him the sciences of the ancients and the last, and gave him sciences and truths that no human being has attained.
With that great power of mind and understanding, he made it so that he did not learn the script that is easy to learn for the least intelligent and understanding person, so the combination of
these two opposing states was like the combination of opposites, and that is one of the extraordinary matters and like miracles. [1]
Will anyone come after that to doubt the illiteracy of the Messenger based on the words of al-Razi??
And Our word has already gone forth to Our servants, the messengers. (171) Indeed, they will be the victors. (172) And indeed, Our soldiers will be the predominant. (173) So turn away from them for a time. (174) And observe them, for they will soon see. (175) Is it then that they are impatient for Our punishment? (176) So when it descends upon their courtyard, evil is the morning of those who were warned. (177) And turn away from them for a time. (178) And observe Then they will see. (179) Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, above what they describe. (180) And peace be upon the messengers. (181) And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (181) [2]
____
1- Keys to the Unseen, Vol. 8, p. 20,
21 2- From Surat As-Saffat
. This is the last chapter in his failed book.
He included some excerpts from here and there,
and what is in this chapter is only a repetition of what he mentioned previously. Perhaps the most prominent thing in it is his citing of al-Razi to prove that he was not illiterate, peace and blessings be upon him.
Al-Maqdisi said:
Al-Fakhr al-Razi said, Vol. 3, p. 138, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah edition: Know that what is meant by his saying (and among them are the illiterate) is the Jews. Then he explained a fourth group of Jews who were stubborn against the truth and described them as illiterate because they imitated people in knowledge and refused to accept the truth.
I found it located in the second part on page 127, starting from the first line.
Al-Razi, may God have mercy on him, says:
Know that what is meant by His saying: {And among them are the unlettered} is the Jews, because when God Almighty described them as stubborn and removed greed from their faith among their groups, the first group is the misguided and misleading group, and they are the ones who distort words from their places.
The second group: the hypocrites, the third group: those who argue with the hypocrites, and the fourth group: those mentioned in this verse, and they are the common illiterate people who have no knowledge of reading or writing and their way is imitation and accepting what is said to them. So God Almighty made clear that those who refuse to accept faith do not have one reason for this refusal, but rather each group of them has another reason. Whoever contemplates what God Almighty mentioned in this verse regarding the explanation of the sects of the Jews will find that same in the sects of this nation, for among them are those who oppose the truth and strive to mislead others, and among them are those who are moderate, and among them are those who are purely common imitators. Here are some issues:
Then he begins to discuss the first of his issues and says:
The first issue: They differed regarding the illiterate, so some of them said that he is the one who does not acknowledge a book or a messenger.
Others said: He who does not know how to read and write . The second one is more correct because the verse is about the Jews and they acknowledged the Book and the Messenger and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation; we neither write nor calculate.” This indicates this statement, and because his statement: “They do not know the Book” is only appropriate for that.
Shame on you, you impostor.
Al-Razi confirms the illiteracy of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and defends it: He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his interpretation of the verse of Al-A’raf
that Allaah the Almighty described our Master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with nine attributes .
Let us see what Al-Razi said about the third:
The third attribute: He was illiterate.
Al-Zajjaj said: The meaning of “illiterate” is the description of the Arab nation. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “We are an illiterate nation; we neither write nor calculate.” Most of the Arabs neither wrote nor read, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was like that, so for this reason he described him as being illiterate.
The people of investigation said that his being illiterate with this interpretation was among his miracles and its explanation is from aspects: First: That he, peace and blessings be upon him, would read to them the Book of God Almighty in verse, time after time, without changing its wording or altering its words. And if an Arab preacher improvises a sermon and then
repeats it, he must add to it or subtract from it, little or much. Then he, peace and blessings be upon him, even though he did not write or read, would recite the Book of God without adding, subtracting, or changing.
This was one of the miracles, and it is indicated by the Almighty’s saying: {We will make you recite, and you will not forget} (Al-A’la: 6). The second: If he had been good at writing and reading, he would have been accused of having perhaps studied the books of the ancients and acquired these sciences from that reading. So when he brought this great Qur’an, which includes many sciences, without learning or studying, this was one of the miracles, and this is what is meant by His saying: {And you did not recite from it before it any book, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand; then the falsifiers would have had doubts} (Al-Ankabut: 48). The third: Learning writing is an easy thing, for the least intelligent and perceptive people learn writing with the least effort, so not learning it indicates a great deficiency in understanding. Then the Almighty gave him the sciences of the ancients and the last, and gave him sciences and truths that no human being has attained.
With that great power of mind and understanding, he made it so that he did not learn the script that is easy to learn for the least intelligent and understanding person, so the combination of
these two opposing states was like the combination of opposites, and that is one of the extraordinary matters and like miracles. [1]
Will anyone come after that to doubt the illiteracy of the Messenger based on the words of al-Razi??
And Our word has already gone forth to Our servants, the messengers. (171) Indeed, they will be the victors. (172) And indeed, Our soldiers will be the predominant. (173) So turn away from them for a time. (174) And observe them, for they will soon see. (175) Is it then that they are impatient for Our punishment? (176) So when it descends upon their courtyard, evil is the morning of those who were warned. (177) And turn away from them for a time. (178) And observe Then they will see. (179) Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, above what they describe. (180) And peace be upon the messengers. (181) And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (181) [2]
____
1- Keys to the Unseen, Vol. 8, p. 20,
21 2- From Surat As-Saffat
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