Seventh Preliminary
(from page 561, 1st ed page 470)
The Quran records all the fine truths about religious knowledge, subtle knowledge of the Divine, absolute proofs and solid principles, and other secrets and concepts. By themselves, and as a whole, they are such that human faculties are too weak to discover them, and the intellect of a sane person cannot by itself leap to discover them, as it is proven from an overview of past periods that no oracle or philosopher has gone by who could be called the discoverer of these knowledge and concepts.
Muhammad (saw) was Unlettered and Illiterate
In this context, the strangest thing is that those knowledge and concepts were bestowed on an unlettered person who was utterly unfamiliar with writing and reading, and who never set foot inside a school all his life or read a single letter from any book, and nor did he benefit from the company of learned or wise men. In contrast, he lived all his life among jungle-dwellers and savages, he was born and raised up among them and mingled with them. And the fact that Muhammad (saw) was unlettered and illiterate is so self-apparent that no Islamic historian is unaware of it, but because this fact will be put to great use in the coming themes (of this book), therefore I write down a number of Quranic verses to prove the illiteracy of Muhammad(saw), and the verses in detail are:
62:2 (regular translation)
7:156-158 (author's translation): I cause punishment to reach whoever I please, and my mercy has encompassed all things; so I will write my mercy for those who avoid all types of shirk and kufr and debauchery, and they pay the zakah , and also for those who believed perfectly in our signs. These are the very people who believe in this messenger and prophet, in whom there are two signs of Our infinite Power: one external sign that there are prophecies about him in the Torah and the Injeel which they themselves find in their books, and the second sign is present in the person of this prophet and it is that despite being unlettered and illiterate, he brought such a perfect guidance that all types of real truths whose truthfulness is recognized by intellect and justice and that were extinct, he recites these for the guidance of people and commands them to comply with them and every illogical thing from which intellect and justice reject he forbids and he holds pure things to be pure and impure to be impure; and he takes off the heavy burden from the Jews and the Christians which was upon them, and frees them of the yokes that bound them. So, those people who believe in him and strengthen him and help him and completely follow his light that has descended along with him, they are the saved ones.
Surah A'raaf, v 156-158 (Regular Translation)
Surah Al-Shura, v 52 (Regular Translation)
Al-Ankaboot, v 48-49 (Regular Translation)
In all these verses prove with great clarity that Muhammad(saw) was unlettered, as it is apparent that if he was not unlettered and illiterate, many people would have refuted this claim of being unlettered, because Muhammad(saw) did not make this claim in a land whose people could be said to be unaware and unfamiliar with his situation and events. But all those people among whom Muhammad (saw) grew up from an early age and a good portion of his life was spent mingling with them and in their company. Therefore, if the excellent gentleman was not really unlettered, it would not be possible for him to even mention that he was unlettered in front of those from whom none of his situation was hidden, and who were always in search of anything to say against him and advertise it. Whose enmity had reached a point that if they could they could have concocted something false about him and and presented it as proof. An from this direction, they would have received such a blunt response that they would be blunted and without answer. For example, some people of Mecca started saying that we do not look the Unity (of God) in the Quran; bring such a Quran in which idols are glorified and worshipped, or make changes in it and stuff it with _ shirk _ instead of Unity and then we will accept it and believe in it. God's answer to their question was taught to his prophet which appears from a look at his biography, viz:
Surah Yunus, v 15-17. (Commentary TODO)
In short, Muhammad (saw) being unlettered was such an apparent thing to the Arabs, Christians and Jews that they could not bring themselves to refute it. From this angle, they would question the prophet about certain stories in the Torah that cannot remain hidden from a literate person, as a test of his prophethood. When they got the right and complete answer that was free from the manifest errors that had crept into the stories of the Torah, the ones with strong learning among them believed with a true heart, and this incident is recorded in the Quran as:
Al-Maadiah, v 82-84 (regular translation)
Bani-Isareel, v 107-109 (regular translation)
This was the situation of those who were learned and just from among the Christians and Jews: On one hand, when they looked at the state of Muhammad (saw) that he was a mere unlettered person and had not even learnt a dot of knowledge and training, nor did he ever live in a civilized nation, nor did he chance on literary meetings. On the other hand they not only saw the stories of past books in the Quran, but also hundreds of fine truths that completed and fulfilled the previous books. As such, thinking about the unlettered state of Muhammad (saw) and then seeing the wonders of knowledge in that dark age, and also witnessing external and internal light, they perceived his prophethood to be more apparent than the sun. It is obvious that if those Christian scholars were not completely convinced that Muhammad (saw) was unlettered and helped by God they would not abandon their faith - a faith in whose support the Great Roman Empire and that was not only in Asia but had also spread to some parts of Europe and because of its _ shirk _ teachings appeared dear and near to world-worshippers. They would not have left their faith just due to some doubts , and adopted a faith, which due to the teaching of Unity, considered bad by all _ mushriks _ . A faith whose accepters were always surrounded by destruction and calamity. So, the thing that moved their hearts to Islam was the very thing that they found Muhammad (saw) a mere unlettered person and an embodiment of Divine help and found the Quran to be above human powers, and they themselves had read the good news of the arrival of this last prophet in past books. So God opened up their chests to believe and they turned out to be such believers that they let their blood flow in God's way, and looking at the situation of tthose who were extremely corrupt ignorant mischief-makers from among the Christians, Jews and Arabs, it is known that they also knew Muhammad(saw) to be unlettered with complete certainty. Therefore, when they asked about certain stories from the bible as a test of his prophethood and got the correct answers, they did not have the courage to say that Muhammad(saw) was literate and gave the answers by reading a book, but like someone discredited and without answer, they gave forth weak excuses embarrassingly, that 'maybe behind the scenes, some Christian or Jew scholar of the Bible related these stories to him.
So, it is apparent that if the unlettered status was not firmly implanted in their hearts with complete certainty, they would have tried very hard to prove that Muhammad(saw) was not unlettered and he was educated in so-and-so school. Was it necessary to say silly things that proved their stupidity? Because accusing that some Jew or Christian scholar was a friend and assistant of Muhammad(saw) behind the scenes was evidently false because the Quran repeatedly refers to what was descended on the People of the Book as deficient, and declared their books to be forged and changed, and their beliefs to be destructive and false, and themselves as cursed and Hell-bound if they died without believing; and breaks their fabricated principles by strong arguments. Then, how was it possible that those alleged assistants would make the Quran to criticize their own religion, and make it write a refutation of their own religions, and themselves become the agents of the devastation of their own religion.
So, these lazy and false statements were foolishly uttered by the world-worshippers as they saw no way to proceed logically, and the sun of truth was casting its strong light in all ways that they were hiding from it like a bat, and they were not standing firm on one position but their bias and extreme enmity had made them like crazy and possessed people. First, listening to the stories of the Quran about the Israelite prophets that maybe someone from the people of the book may be teaching him these stories behind the scenes, as their statement is recorded in the Quran (Nahl 103) and when they saw that the Quran contains not only stories but great truths, then they came up with another theory (Furqan 4) viz. That a big group has got together to compile the Quran and it is not the work of one person. Then, when the Quran replied that if it had been made by a party of scholars, oracles and poets, then you should also use such a party to make its like so that you are proven truthful. Then they let go of this theory and adopted a third one: the Quran has been created with the help of Jinn and it is not the work of a human, and God answered them in a way that they could not bring themselves to whine against it:
(Takweer 24-26; Bani Israeel: 88)(author's commentary): i.e. Quran is composed of all types of unknown matters, and telling of such matters is not the work of Jinns. Say to them: that if all the Jinn were united and the children of Adam were also united with them, and all combined to want to create another Quran like this Quran, it will be impossible for them, even if they help each other.
So, when these unfortunate people realized the falsehood of all they were thinking and nothing was making sense, they ended up shamelessly and like vile people saying that the publishing of this teaching should be stopped in all ways, as the Quran says: (hamim sajdah 26) and (al-Nisa:51-52)
In summary, if Muhammad(saw) was not unlettered then the opponents of Islam, especially the Jews and Christians - who in addition to opposition of belief were also jealous and spiteful that why did the Messenger not come from the Children of Israel but rather from their brothers - the Bani Isameel - why would they have remained silent when faced with such a clear non-factual issue? Doubtless that this was completely proven to them that whatever came out of the mouth of Muhammad(saw) was not the work of an unlettered and illiterate person, nor the work of 10-20 people, and this is why in their ignorance they used to say (Furqan:4). Those that were intellectual and real scholars had known well that the Quran was beyond human powers, and the door of certainty had been opened on them that God says about them: (Baqarah:147). i.e. they have recognized this prophet as they recognize their own sons, and in reality this door of certainty and conceptual knowledge was not only opened for them but is also open in this age for everyone, because the same (tools) are still available to know the truth of the Quran that were present in that age: Quranic miracles, effects of the Furqan, Divine help, and signs without doubt. God wanted to keep this strong faith established so He kept established all its blessings and signs and He wished the passing away of the changed, false and deficient religions of the Christians, Jews and Hindus. From this angle, they were left with only stories upon stories and their was nothing left of the blessings of truthfulness and Divine help. Their books are relating signs for which there is not an iota of proof - only references to past stories, but the Quran presents signs which anyone can see.