Muhammad Wrote God's Revelations
With His Own Hand
With His Own Hand
The first revelation was "Read" and included the statement "God teaches by means of the pen" (69:1-4), and the second revelation was "The Pen" (68:1). The only function of the pen is to write.
Muslim scholars of the first two centuries after the revelation of the Quran could not understand the Quran's challenge to "produce one like it" (2:23). They had no idea about the Quran's mathematical code (19) and how the challenge in 2:23 is connected to the mathematical composition of the book. They were also aware that many renowned writers did compose works comparable to the Quran while others did claim the ability to produce a literary work as excellent as the Quran. One such claim was made by the well known Egyptian Writer Taha Hussein.
As a result, the Muslim scholars decided to proclaim Muhammad an illiterate man! They figured that this would make the Quran's literary excellence seem miraculous for coming from an illiterate man!
Moreover, the early followers of Muhammad were constantly being harassed by the Christians and Jews who demanded: If Muhammad was a genuine prophet from God, where are his miracles? All our prophets came with miracles!
The fabrication of the illiteracy of Muhammad was thus a deliberate ploy to answer the Christians and Jews, for now Muhammad too would be able to have claim to personal miracles just like the prophets of the "children of Israel"!
The Quranic word on which they proclaimed Muhammad's illiteracy was the word "ummi." However, and contrary to their claims, the use of this word in the Quran consistently denotes the meaning of "gentile," or one who has never received a scripture [see 2:78, 3:20, 3:75, 62:2). The word "ummi" is never used in the Quran to mean "illiterate."
The Quranic word on which they proclaimed Muhammad's illiteracy was the word "ummi." However, and contrary to their claims, the use of this word in the Quran consistently denotes the meaning of "gentile," or one who has never received a scripture [see 2:78, 3:20, 3:75, 62:2). The word "ummi" is never used in the Quran to mean "illiterate."
The following pieces of evidence all confirm that the Prophet was not illiterate:
1- The Prophet was a successful merchant. The Muslim scholars who fabricated the illiteracy lie forgot that there were no numbers during the Prophet's time; the letters of the alphabet were used as numbers.
As a merchant dealing with numbers every day, the Prophet had to know the alphabet. The Quran tells us that Muhammad wrote down the Quran - Muhammad's contemporaries are quoted as saying:
"These are tales from the past that he wrote down. They are being dictated to him day and night" 25:5
But since it is not possible to "dictate" to someone who cannot write, Muhammad could not have been illiterate.
2- Those who claim that the Prophet was illiterate refer to 29:48 where it is said that the Prophet "did not write it down". However, 29:48 does not refer to writing the Quran, it clearly refers to writing previous scripture, and the words in 29:48 tell us that Muhmmad never wrote down the pevious scripture. Before the Quran was revealed to the Prophet, he had no knowledge of the previous scripture, this is confirmed in the following Quranic words:
1- The Prophet was a successful merchant. The Muslim scholars who fabricated the illiteracy lie forgot that there were no numbers during the Prophet's time; the letters of the alphabet were used as numbers.
As a merchant dealing with numbers every day, the Prophet had to know the alphabet. The Quran tells us that Muhammad wrote down the Quran - Muhammad's contemporaries are quoted as saying:
"These are tales from the past that he wrote down. They are being dictated to him day and night" 25:5
But since it is not possible to "dictate" to someone who cannot write, Muhammad could not have been illiterate.
2- Those who claim that the Prophet was illiterate refer to 29:48 where it is said that the Prophet "did not write it down". However, 29:48 does not refer to writing the Quran, it clearly refers to writing previous scripture, and the words in 29:48 tell us that Muhmmad never wrote down the pevious scripture. Before the Quran was revealed to the Prophet, he had no knowledge of the previous scripture, this is confirmed in the following Quranic words:
“You (Muhammad) had no idea about the scripture, nor faith." 42:52
3- The first command that came to Muhammad at the first revelation was to "Read", the question is: Would Muhammad be asked to read if he cannot read?
The Hadith guru's quickly fabricated a hadith to counter act this argument. According to this hadith Muhammad replied to Gabriel "I cannot read"! So Gabriel commanded him once more to "Read", and once again Muhammad gave the same reply, then the rest of the sura was given to him.
This hadith makes Gabriel look like an idiot asking someone who cannot read to read then insisting on his request when Muhammad keeps insisting he cannot read, and since at the end of this curious exchange the matter was still unresolved and Muhammad was still unable to read (according to the hadith guru's) then how did he receive the rest of the revelation?
The hadith guru’s say that he did not need to be able to read to receive the revelation! But if that is so, then why did Gabriel ask him to read in the first place?
Whichever way we look at it, the concept of this hadith is ridiculous to say the least.
4- Further to the command in 96:1 to "Read", the command continues to Muhammad in 96:3-4 as follows:
"Read, and your Lord, Most Generous, teaches by means of the pen."
How can Muhammad be taught by the PEN if he cannot write?
All the above evidence clearly confirms that Muhammad was not illiterate. When Muhammad died, he left the complete Quran written down with his own hand in the chronological order of revelation, along with specific instructions as to where to place every verse. The divine instructions recorded by the Prophet were designed to put the Quran together into the final format intended for God's Final scripture to the world (75:17).
4- Further to the command in 96:1 to "Read", the command continues to Muhammad in 96:3-4 as follows:
"Read, and your Lord, Most Generous, teaches by means of the pen."
How can Muhammad be taught by the PEN if he cannot write?
All the above evidence clearly confirms that Muhammad was not illiterate. When Muhammad died, he left the complete Quran written down with his own hand in the chronological order of revelation, along with specific instructions as to where to place every verse. The divine instructions recorded by the Prophet were designed to put the Quran together into the final format intended for God's Final scripture to the world (75:17).