Rosul-allah (saw)

[Mystique]

Assalamualaikum Brothers and Sisters

May peace and blessings of Allah be with our beloved prophet and his Ummah.

Among the many things that we know about our prophet (saw), one is that he was an illiterate person. I'm curious in what sense was he illiterate. In other words was it just the fact that he never received what we call a formal education today or was it that he was absolutely ignorant of the use of the pen? Please inform me of your understanding of the word illiterate when applied to the Rosul-allah (saw). Any helpful reply would be greatly appreciated.

[Abdur_Rahman]

Among the many things that we know about our prophet (saw), one is that
he was an illiterate person. I'm curious in what sense was he illiterate. In
other words was it just the fact that he never received what we call a formal
education today or was it that he was absolutely ignorant of the use of the
pen? Please inform me of your understanding of the word illiterate when
applied to the Rosul-allah (saw). Any helpful reply would be greatly
appreciated.

Salam

from my little understanding the Prophet (Saw) of Allah (Swt) did not have that formal education, it is well established fact that he could not Read or Write this was probably because he never had the chance to do so but dispite his illiteracy he was the most knowledgeble and wisest man alive.
Being iliterate does not necesarily mean you are stupid and ignorant, if he was this just looking at it materially he could not have achived what he did, he wiht the help of the Almighty Allah (Swt) managed to cevillise the uncivillised and barbaric people of Arabia and brought down the mighty empires of the Romans and the Persians surely a stupid and ignorant person is not capable of such an achivement which has led to revolutionise the entire mankind...
Wassalam

[Nur]

Originally posted by Mystique:
Assalamualaikum Brothers and Sisters

May peace and blessings of Allah be with our beloved prophet and his Ummah.

Among the many things that we know about our prophet (saw), one is that he was an illiterate person. I'm curious in what sense was he illiterate. In other words was it just the fact that he never received what we call a formal education today or was it that he was absolutely ignorant of the use of the pen? Please inform me of your understanding of the word illiterate when applied to the Rosul-allah (saw). Any helpful reply would be greatly appreciated.

Salaam,
As far as I know the Holy Prophet (PBUH) could neither read nor write and the fact that a person who could neither read nor write could come up with verses of the Quran is supposed to be one of his miracles. He (PBUH) is sometimes referred to as the Unlettered Prophet.

I don't think when it is said that he (PBUH)was illiterate it refers to a lack of formal education, because probably the majority of arabs of that time lacked a formal education, in which case there is nothing special about the the Prophet (PBUH) lacking a formal education.

Also the very first words of the Quran that were revealed begins with the word "Read", to which the Prophet(PBUH) replied that he could not read.

I assume that the Prophet(PBUH) did later learn to read and write, seeing as he(PBUH) taught others to learn to read and write. In fact, I think Jibreel taught him(PBUH) later. Insh'Allah, I will try to find out more about this topic and respond again with a more definite answer.

[Wais_Islam]

Salaam all, thank you Mystique for starting this topic, very interesting. See u all soon.

[mahdi]

bismil rabil noor,
assalamu alaikum,
this issue has a school that say he was ileterate and the second who say he could.
i follow the send and for these reasons.
1- it is not befitting for a prophet to tell people to do what he fails to do himself, ie to learn and to emphasise the importance of learning while he remains ileterate.
2- he was a very wise and intellignet man, not just a pious prophet. he had many title before prophethood that indicate that he was very wise and intelligent and mature. therefore, learning to read and write was not a great effort or heavy task for him, given the importance, he would have learnt even prior to prophethood let alone as a prophet.
3-the word ummi(now interpreted as ileterate) is disputed by some ulama as rather meaning 'ordinary'. he was a simple and ordinary man with an ordinary job and not from the high social class.
4-he was not formally educated but that did not deprive him from the knowledge.
he was to set an example, he was an imam as well as a messenger. therefore, he could not have been ileterate.
the confusion as i said before comes from the title of 'ummi', the meaning of which can be interpreted as 'iletarate' or 'ordinary' given his humility it must be the second. qur'an in calling him ummi must mean that he was one of you, the ordinary people.
wasalam,
mahdi

[Abdur_Rahman]

Salm brothers
brother Mahdi
Thank you for this, I have to admit I never thought it this way the way you have explained, I have always heard and read that the Prophet was 'iliterate' but never saw any analysis of this, what you have said has brought a new light atleast in my heart. I hope Allah the Almighty (Swt)will forgive me for any error from my part.

[islamicboy]

salaam brothers


we know from our islamic history that our prophet (saw) was illiterate. And as brother nur highlighted this is one of the miracles of the quran. The well know poet at that time was walid ibn al mugaihra, who was like the shakespear of today. He was well known amongst the qureish and he was very knowledeg in the arabic language. They used to hold competitions and many men would go out into the desert to try and write the best poems.

so the miracle lies in how can a man who could not read or write as well as the top poets of the quresh society bring forth some verses that totally suprpasses what these men could wirte or recite. Even walid ibn al mughaira the top poet at that time could not believe what the prophet (saw) was reciting.

This is a clear challenge to all non muslims by allah (swt). That if they doubt anything about the quran, ten they should try and bring a surah like it.


jazak allah