The Prophet's Illiteracy and Allah's Saying: "He Teaches Them the Book and Wisdom"
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, this questioner says: You mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate, not knowing how to read or write, as stated in the verse. He asks: Is there a contradiction with the other verse, in which the Exalted says about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)[Ali 'Imran 3:164]?
Answer:
That is, He teaches them, while he himself is not a learner, because it is revealed to him. He conveys to them what Allah revealed to him. Was he illiterate before the Qur'an was revealed to him? Yes, he was illiterate, not knowing how to read or write. When he needed to send a message, he would call someone to write it for him, such as 'Ali, or Zayd ibn Thabit, or one of the scribes of the Companions. He (peace and blessings be upon him) did not write it himself.
Yes, even at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, , so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Show it to me." He showed it to him, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) erased it in order to carry out the treaty between him and the polytheists, and he said, Mishkat al-Masabih 4042. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, this questioner says: You mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate, not knowing how to read or write, as stated in the verse. He asks: Is there a contradiction with the other verse, in which the Exalted says about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)
teaching them the Book and wisdom
وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَAnswer:
That is, He teaches them, while he himself is not a learner, because it is revealed to him. He conveys to them what Allah revealed to him. Was he illiterate before the Qur'an was revealed to him? Yes, he was illiterate, not knowing how to read or write. When he needed to send a message, he would call someone to write it for him, such as 'Ali, or Zayd ibn Thabit, or one of the scribes of the Companions. He (peace and blessings be upon him) did not write it himself.
Yes, even at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
When 'Ali wrote, "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. This is the agreement upon which Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has made a treaty," the man who came on behalf of the polytheists said, "If we knew you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have disobeyed you, but erase 'Messenger of Allah.'"
لما كتب علي بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم من محمد رسول الله هذا ما صالح عليه محمد رسول الله قال الرجل الذي جاء من قبل المشركين قال لو نعلم أنك رسول الله ما عصيناك ولكن أمح"Erase 'Messenger of Allah.' So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'Ali, 'Erase it.' 'Ali said, 'No, by Allah, I will not erase it.'
امح رسول الله، فالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لعلي امحها، قال لا والله لا أمحوها،I swear by God that I am God’s Messenger even if you disbelieve me
والله إني لرسول الله وإن كذبتموني
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية، العقيدة الواسطية 19-06-1437هـ — alfawzan.live (59:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.