The Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) illiteracy and the response to those who deny it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This is a woman asking. Recently, some messages have spread on social media sites denying that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate. They cite the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-'Ankabut 29:48].
The Shaykh:
Glory be to Allah.[Al-'Ankabut 29:48] Except for this refuter; this indicates that he is illiterate.
The questioner:
Meaning, completing the question, they say that this is evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) later became able to read and write.
The Shaykh:
He neither reads nor writes. The Messenger did not read or write, but Allah revealed the Qur'an to him and taught it to him, and he was illiterate (peace and blessings be upon him). It is prohibited for one who reads and writes to claim otherwise. Is not the blind one illiterate? Are not many of the scholars blind, not reading or writing, yet they receive knowledge? Do the scholars deny this? He is capable of everything. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Also, it has spread recently that describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as illiterate is merely a reference to the Mother of Cities (Makkah).
The Shaykh:
What Allah willed. This is proof of the ignorance of this speaker. He is the one who is truly illiterate. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
The unlettered one learns, my brother. The unlettered one learns and becomes a scholar while remaining unlettered. But the one who asks this appears to be, he is still unlettered and has not learned. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
This is a woman asking. Recently, some messages have spread on social media sites denying that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate. They cite the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand
وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُو مِن قَبْلِهِ مِن كِتَابٍ وَلَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَThe Shaykh:
Glory be to Allah.
And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand
وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُو مِن قَبْلِهِ مِن كِتَابٍ وَلَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَThe questioner:
Meaning, completing the question, they say that this is evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) later became able to read and write.
The Shaykh:
He neither reads nor writes. The Messenger did not read or write, but Allah revealed the Qur'an to him and taught it to him, and he was illiterate (peace and blessings be upon him). It is prohibited for one who reads and writes to claim otherwise. Is not the blind one illiterate? Are not many of the scholars blind, not reading or writing, yet they receive knowledge? Do the scholars deny this? He is capable of everything. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Also, it has spread recently that describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as illiterate is merely a reference to the Mother of Cities (Makkah).
The Shaykh:
What Allah willed. This is proof of the ignorance of this speaker. He is the one who is truly illiterate. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
The unlettered one learns, my brother. The unlettered one learns and becomes a scholar while remaining unlettered. But the one who asks this appears to be, he is still unlettered and has not learned. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 18 من 18 / شرح كتاب الفتن والحوادث / ليلزم كل إنسان مصلاه / صالح الفوزان / العقيدة / كبار العلماء — youtube.com (40:09)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.