"WAS MUHAMMAD ILLITERATE"

PROOF 1#: There was no way he could've copied the Bible

The Arabic version of the Bible was not present at the time of prophet Muhummad (pbuh). The earliest Arabic version of the Old Testament is that of rabbi Saadias Gaon of 900 c.e. - more than 250 years after the death of our beloved prophet. The oldest Arabic version of the New Testament was published by Erpenius in 1616 c.e. - about a thousand years after the demise of our prophet.

PROOF #2: Muhammad was illiterate and his biography proves this In the arabic language, the word "iqra" may mean "read" or "recite". Muhammad was clearly illiterate, as he could not "read" or write with paper and pen, but he could verbally "recite" which is proven in many ayat of the Quran, and supported by the opinion of the scholars. Many of the arabs were illiterate, which is why he let the prisoners of war teach his illiterate companions to write. If he could read and write, he would've taught them to read and write himself and he would've written the Qur'an himself. he wouldn't have had to memorize the entire Qur'an. And since he was a poor orphan with no education, nobody was around to teach him to read and write. If he had a teacher, there would've been evidence, and you have none. The arab pagans would've exposed the identity of his teacher, and they would've known this because they knew him best. Lastly, even his enemies among the pagan knew him to be honest and "The Trustworthy" and none of them ever accused him of lying or being literate. Many of the arabs were illiterate, but still were able to do business. You don't have to read to do business, you just have to have sense. Lastly, if Muhammad had written anything, the Muslims would've guarded it and protected it, even with their lives. show some proof, or you're a liar. Show me 5 scholars from the past and 5 from the present who disagree about the illiteracy of Muhammad. As far as I know, there wasn't even ONE scholar of the past who disagreed on this topic.

PROOF #3: The language of the Qur'an is unmatched Muhammad was not a poet, nor has the perfection of the Qur'an ever been matched. Lastly, nobody ever said the Qur'an is a miracle because of Muhammad's illiteracy. That's just a bonus. The Qur'an is a manifest miracle because of its unmatchable, perfect Divine language. There have been billions of Arabic speakers through history. none can match the Qur'an.

PROOF #4: Muhammad's illiteracy proven in the Qur'an and Hadith (and in the Bible) Now, here is the REAL proof! ("UMMI" HERE ALSO REFERS TO JEWS, THEREFORE IT MEANS ILLITERATE, NOT "NON-JEW" or "someone who someone who doesn't have a divine book". it's possible that Ummi may have different meanings according to context. UNLETTERED PROPHET) 2:78. And there are among them (Jews) unlettered people, who know not the Book, but they trust upon false desires and they but guess. (THOSE WHO FOLLOW "THE UNLETTERED PROPHET" MENTIONED IN THEIR OWN SCRIPTURES, IN THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL) 7:157. "Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper." 7:158. Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided." Remember, "The unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel". Here's Muhammad in the Bible. Notice that even the Jews translated it as ILLITERATE and CANNOT READ. Nice try: ISAIAH 29:10-12(For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He

has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed." Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, "Please read this." And he will say, "I cannot read.") DEUTERONOMY 18:18-19('I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 'It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.) John 14:16-17(And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.) John 14:26(But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.) John 15:26("When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.) John 16:7-14(But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.) (MUHAMMAD COULDN'T RECITE A BOOK AND HE IS NOT ABLE TO WRITE A BOOK) 29:48. And thou wast not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: In that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted. 29:49. Nay, here are Signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge: and none but the unjust reject Our Signs.

(MUHAMMAD DID NOT KNOW POETRY) 36:69. We have not instructed the (Prophet) in Poetry, nor is it meet for him: this is no less than a Message and a Qur'an making things clear: (THE PROPHET WAS UNLETTERED AND SENT AMONG THE UNLETTERED) 62:2. It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered an apostle from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error;from Bukhari Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3: Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' It is true that some tend to use these occasions to prove that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was literate. However, by analyzing each one of the incidents, one can easily discover the fallacies in the allegation. For example, in the al-Hudaybiyah Treaty, the prophet (pbuh) did not write the treaty, but his cousin `Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was the writer. While writing the treaty, Suhail ibn `Amr [Quraish side] rejected that the prophet would have his name signed as the messenger or apostle of Allah (rasoulu Allah). Sohail asked to have it changed to "Muhammad, son of Abdullah". Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) then asked `Ali to omit rasoulu Allah, which means the messenger of Allah. Yet, Ali did not like the idea of omitting it and said: "By Allah I swear I will never omit rasoulu Allah!" Thus, the prophet himself - with his thumb - omitted rasoulu Allah. One part of the story, which the Orientalists usually - deliberately - do not mention, is the fact that when `Ali refused to omit rasoulu Allah, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said to `Ali: "show it to me." After `Ali showed it to him, the prophet omitted it. (Salem Al Hasi, Prophet's Illiteracy and Mariya) If the Prophet (peace be upon him) could read then why did he need Ali to point it out to him? (Refer to Saheeh Muslim, Book 019, Number 4403)

Muhammad wasn't necessarily going to write anything himself, but have one of his scribes do so on his behalf. One can easily understand those statements of the Prophet to mean that he had them written down. (Refer to Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani's Fathul Baari, Kitab: Al Jihad Wal Sayr, Bab: Salh Hudaybiyyah fil Hudaybiyyah, Hadith no. 3336) However, the hadiths that he presented are not that clear since it is very possible linguistically and not by twisting the statements that the hadiths are really saying that the Prophet had his scribes write down the material for him. The Arabic word "yatlu" should be better translated as "reciting" just as Yusuf Ali, Hilali-Khan, Shakir, Sher Ali, Arberry, Palmer and Rodwell have translated it. Also, the Arabic word iktatabaha means "had it written down". The proper Arabic word that should be used to signify that the Prophet himself wrote it would have been katabaha. Bring ONE reputable Islamic scholar who with a committee of scholars who also back his opinion who agree that Muhammad was literate. It never occurred to you that words can have more than one meaning, and can be applied to mean something different in the appropriate context and place. No, you just want to play stupid though and ignore this basic fact. Secondly, the scholars have unanimously agreed that the term "ummi" when referring the prophet Muhammad means illiterate. Even if the text of the hadith actually stated that Muhammad could read and write with his hands (which isn't what it means), i wouldn't accept a hadith that contradicted clear evidence from the Qur'an anyway, especially when the hadith are being selected by a KAFIR. We don't accept proofs from you. WE follow the evidences of the scholars, and besides that, these are not the only hadith that mention the prophet's illiteracy, so I'm not going to let you pick and choose the ones that prove your point. Lastly, the hadith which was just cited shows that the prophet Muhammad could not read, as he himself said, "I cannot read."