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-'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars have argued that Muhammad's illiteracy is evidence that the Quran is a divine miracle. However, skeptics disagree that this is enough to constitute a miracle and challenge the claim altogether.
+'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars have argued that Muhammad's illiteracy is evidence that the Quran is a divine miracle. However, skeptics disagree that this is enough to constitute a miracle and challenge the claim altogether. Among modern academic scholars there is virtual unanimity that the Quran does not in fact describe Muhammad or his people as illiterate, and that this was a reinterpretation arising some time after his death. Indeed, there is now known to be abundant evidence of significant literacy among the pre-Islamic Arabs.
 ==Transfer of Information==
-Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:
+{{Main|Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature}}
+Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible. Verbal communication, historically, was the main mode of information sharing. Many civilizations, their histories, mythologies, and stories have been kept alive as they are passed down orally from one generation to the next.
-*Auditory (sound)
-*Visual (sight)
-*Mechanical (touch)
-*Chemical (taste)
-*Olfactory (smell)
-Verbal communication, historically, was the main mode of information sharing. Many civilizations, their histories, mythologies, and stories have been kept alive as they are passed down orally from one generation to the next.
 During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
@@ Line 17: / Line 10: @@
 And among them are those who abuse the Prophet and say, "He is '''an ear''' (أذن, ''udhun'')."}}
-We also know that during Muhammad's time there was a man named Waraqa b. Naufal who studied the Bible and wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. Once Waraqa went blind, he likely continued teaching scripture verbally.
+Julien Decharneux, an academic scholar who specialises in Syriac traditions and the Quran, proposes that the Quranic author(s) came into contact with East Syriac Christian preachers or missionaries rather than direct accessing Christian texts. In his book ''Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background'', he notes that the Christian lore in the Quran is "always periphrastic, never detailed, and often approximative". Decharneux further explains that the repetoire of texts that would have contributed to the thought of a "standard Christian preacher" at the turn of the 7th century would vary depending on church affiliation, "but it involves among other things the Bible, apocryphal texts, exegetical commentaries, and ascetic literature. These types of texts were not ''occasionally'' read. The sources attest that they were ''omnipresent'' in the Christian scholastic and monastic life from where a 'standard preacher' would have come". Indeed, he adds, "both Syriac ''and'' Greek exegetes were extremely popular".<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023) "Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background", Berlin/Boston: DeGruyter, pp. 10-11</ref>
-{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|301}}|
-Khadija then took him to Waraqa b. Naufal b. Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzza, and he was the son of Khadija's uncle, i. e., the brother of her father. And he was the man who had embraced Christianity in the Days of Ignorance (i. e. before Islam) and he used to write books in Arabic and, therefore, wrote Injil in Arabic as God willed that he should write. He was very old and had become blind Khadija said to him: O uncle! listen to the son of your brother.}}
+Decharneux further writes regarding missionary activity in the vicinity of Arabia:
+{{Quote|Julien Decharneux (2023) "Creation and Contemplation", p. 252|The Church of the East was particarly active from this point of view with far-reaching missionary activites in the south-eastern part of the Asian world. At the time of the emergence of the Qurʾān, both the Syro-Orthodox Church and the Church of the East were already exerting their influence on the south of the Arabian Peninsula, as the records show. Most importantly, the Church of the East was established on both sides of the Persian Gulf. From the end of the 4th century at least, Christian communities had settled in the region called Beth Qatraye, covering a large zone of the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Recent archaeology shows that several monasteries existed along the coast and in the islands of the Persian Gulf. We know that these communities were connected with the regions of Sinai and the Byzantine world particularly. Some of the writings emanating from these circles were also translated in Sogdian, Ethiopic, and Arabic from the 7th century onwards.}}
+For further relevant verses and sources, see the introductory sections in the article [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]].
-This, it is argued, would provide Muhammad a source for Judeo-Christian ideas that he could incorporate into the Quran and his teachings.
+==The myth of pre-Islamic Arab illiteracy==
+Old Arabic (i.e. pre-Islamic) comprised a continuum of dialects over a large region, and is found enscribed on rocks and monuments in a variety of scripts such as Safaitic, and eventually in early Arabic scripts. Ahmad al-Jallad, a leading expert on the history of Arabic and its epigraphic evidence outlines how we now know that a sizable segment of South Arabian society was able to write even for informal purposes, and that North and West Arabia were literate societies, as traced in the extensive range of inscriptions, and even that a large number of desert nomads were able to read and write. He further writes, "Thus, the growing body of pre-Islamic evidence strongly indicates that the use of Arabic for administration in the early Islamic period does not reﬂect an ad hoc invention, but the continuation of an established tradition of administration in Arabic which must have its origins in North Arabian and Syrian scribal practices."<ref>Ahmad al-Jallad (2020) [https://www.academia.edu/43141064 Chapter 7: The Linguistic Landscape of pre-Islamic Arabia - Context for the Qur’an] in Mustafa Shah (ed.), Muhammad Abdel Haleem (ed.), "The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies", Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 122</ref>
 ==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
 ===The meaning of ''ummiy''===
-The word is derived from the root أمم. There are 119 words in the Quran, derived from this root <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref>. There are other words besides ''ummiy'' (أمي):
+The word is derived from the root أمم. There are 119 words in the Quran, derived from this root <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref>. Other words besides ''ummiy'' (أمي) from the same root are:
 *''umm'' (أم) - mother
@@ Line 32: / Line 30: @@
 *''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation
-The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
+Lane's Lexicon of classical Arabic says this about ''ummiy'' specifically:
 {{Quote|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|
@@ Line 40: / Line 38: @@
 Also, (Ḳ,) or [only] أُمِّىٌّ, (AZ, T, M,) applied to a man, (AZ, T,) Impotent in speech, (عَيِىّ, in the Ḳ incorrectly written غَبِىّ, TA,) of few words, and rude, churlish, uncivil, or surly. (AZ, T, M, Ḳ.)}}
-Online Arabic dictionary says about ummiy:
+===The word ''ummiy'' in the Quran===
-{{Quote|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary
+The word ''ummiy'' (أمي) appears 6 times in the Quran. Two times in the singular in relation to Muhammad himself (verses 7:157-158) and four times in the plural form (verses 2:78, 3:20, 3:75 and 62:2). <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref> From these verses quoted below we will see that the word doesn't have to necessarily mean "illiterate", but can also mean "ignorant" or "not given a scripture".
-أُمّيّ  ( اسم ):
+Mehdy Shaddel says that modern academic scholars "virtually unanimously" agree that the Arabic word ummi did not mean that the Prophet is illiterate, contrary to the Islamic tradition. In at least three of the six verses where the word appears such an interpretation does not fit. This is also true of its usage in many cases in the hadith tradition. It is less easy to positively determine exactly what it did mean, though in general it is now believed to mean gentile or pagan i.e. coming from an unscriptured people.<ref>Mehdy Shaddel, [https://www.academia.edu/8811286 Qurʾānic ummī: Genealogy, Ethnicity, and the Foundation of a New Community] (Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 43, 2016, pp. 1-60)</ref>
-illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
+In his commentary on the Quran, Gabriel Said Reynolds (a modern academic scholar) points to verse 3:20 as evidence that the word refers to those who do not know the word of God (similarly verses 3:75 and 62:2).<ref>Reynolds, Gabriel Said, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p.54 (commentary on Q. 2:78-9)</ref> Thus, Muhammad is described as an ummi prophet in verses 7:157-158 because he came from a people to whom God had not yet sent down revelation, not because he was illiterate. As Reynolds further points out (crediting Holger Zelletin), verses 29:47-48, which are commonly cited to interpret the other verses on this topic, deny that Muhammad wrote the Quran himself, yet this does not imply that he could not read:
--
-- illiterate
-- unable to read or uneducated
-- an illiterate person
-- not educated; illiterate
-- illiterate, not well educated
-أُمّيّ  ( اسم ):
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|29|47|48}}|And thus We have sent down to you the Qur'an. And those to whom We [previously] gave the Scripture believe in it. And among these [people of Makkah] are those who believe in it. And none reject Our verses except the disbelievers. And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.}}
-maternal ; mother ; motherly
+====Chapter 2 Verse 78====
--
+One of the plural forms is in sura 2. Shaddel here argues that the verse is talking about Arab converts to Judaism.
-- maternal
-- typical of or connected with being a mother
-- of a female parent of a child or animal
-- of or relating to mother}}
-===The word ''ummiy'' in the Quran===
-The word ''ummiy'' (أمي) appears 6 times in the Quran. Two times in the singular (verses 7:157-158) and four times in the plural form (verses 2:78, 3:20, 3:75 and 62:2). <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref> From the verses we will see that the word doesn't have to necessarily mean "illiterate", but can also mean "ignorant" or "pagan" or "gentile".
-====Chapter 2 Verse 78====
-One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|2|78}}|
 And among them are '''unlettered ones''' (أُمِّيُّونَ, ''ummeeoona'') who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, but they are only assuming.}}
@@ Line 71: / Line 55: @@
 {{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 2:78|
 And there are some of them the Jews that are '''illiterate unlettered not knowing the Scripture''' the Torah but only desires lies which were handed down to them by their leaders and which they relied upon; and in their rejection of the prophethood of the Prophet and fabrications of other matters they have mere conjectures and no firm knowledge.}}
-So here the word could mean "illiterate" or "ignorant".
 ====Chapter 3 Verse 20====
-Another is in the verse 3:20.
+Another is in verse 3:20 (see above regarding Reynolds' commentary about this and similar verses).
 {{Quote|{{Quran|3|20}}|
 So if they argue with you, say, "I have submitted myself to Allah [in Islam], and [so have] those who follow me." And say to those who were given the Scripture '''and [to] the unlearned''' (وَالْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''wa-al-ummeena''), "Have you submitted yourselves?" And if they submit [in Islam], they are rightly guided; but if they turn away - then upon you is only the [duty of] notification. And Allah is Seeing of [His] servants.}}
@@ Line 82: / Line 64: @@
 {{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20|
 So if they the disbelievers dispute with you O Muhammad (s) concerning religion say to them ‘I have surrendered my countenance to God that is to say I have submitted to Him I and whoever follows me’ wajh ‘countenance’ is chosen here because of its noble character for the other parts of the body will just as soon surrender once the countenance has; and say to those who have been given the Scripture the Jews and the Christians '''and to the uninstructed the Arab idolaters''' ‘Have you submitted?’ that is to say ‘Submit!’ And so if they have submitted they have been guided from error but if they turn their backs to Islam your duty is only to deliver the Message; and God sees His servants and so requites them for their deeds — this statement was revealed before the command to fight them had been revealed.}}
-So here, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word ''ummiy'' means gentile/pagan.
+Here, according to Tafsir Al-Jalalayn, as well as most academic scholars, the word ''ummiy'' means pagan or gentile (i.e. those not given a scripture).
 ====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
 {{Quote|{{Quran|3|75}}|
@@ Line 89: / Line 71: @@
 {{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:75|
 And of the People of the Scripture is he who if you trust him with a hundredweight that is with much money he will return it to you on account of his trustworthiness the like of ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām to whom a man entrusted 1200 plates of gold which he then returned to him; and of them is he who if you trust him with one dinar will not return it to you on account of his treachery; unless you keep standing over him not leaving him for one minute for as soon as you leave him he will deny it as was the case with Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf to whom a man from Quraysh entrusted a dinar and later denied it. '''That refusal to return things is because they say ‘We have no duty towards namely no possibility of acquiring sin because of the Gentiles’ the Arabs; for they considered it lawful to be unjust towards any person of a different religion''' and they attributed the source of this conviction to God exalted be He. God exalted be He says They speak falsehood against God by attributing such things to Him while they are aware that they are liars.}}
-So from this verse it seem to indicate that ummiy means gentile.
+The tafsir interprets ummiy here to mean gentiles, those not given a scripture.
 ====Chapter 7 Verses 157-158====
 The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
@@ Line 102: / Line 84: @@
 :159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."}}
-So the information about Muhammad's illiteracy was for some reason inserted into a passage which talks about Moses. The context doesn't provide any indication as to what the word ''ummiy'' means here.
+So the information about Muhammad's illiteracy (as orthodoxy interpreted the word, but alternatively his coming from a people without a scripture) was for some reason inserted into a passage which talks about Moses. The context doesn't provide any indication as to what the word ''ummiy'' means here.
-According to tafsir Ibn Kathir, it is a description of Muhammad in Jewish and Christian scripture and that rabbis and priests "well know" it:
+According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir, it is a description of Muhammad in Jewish and Christian scripture and that rabbis and priests "well know" it:
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 7:157|
 (Those who follow the Messenger, '''the Prophet who can neither read nor write whom they find written with them in the Tawrah and the Injil,) This is the description of the Prophet Muhammad in the Books of the Prophets'''. They delivered the good news of his advent to their nations and commanded them to follow him. His descriptions were still apparent in their Books, as '''the rabbis and the priests well know'''.}}
@@ Line 110: / Line 92: @@
 ====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
+The modern academic view is that again this verse refers to gentiles or pagans i.e. those not given a scripture. The verse has traditionally been interpreted to describe the Arabs as illiterates. However, modern epigraphic research has refuted this picture (as outlined above), and first century Quran manuscripts show that an early Arabic orthographic standard was already in existence.
 {{Quote|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
 :2 "It is He who has sent among '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeen'') a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error -"
@@ Line 213: / Line 197: @@
 This shift from ''"and what shall I read"'' (وما اقرأ) to ''"I don't know how to read"'' (مَا أَنَا بِقَارِئٍ) seems to indicate that Muhammad's illiteracy was a later invention.
-==Association with illiteracy in Muslim majority countries==
+==Hadith regarding the Ummah as an unlettered people==
-Muhammad is seen as the foremost role model in Islam. It is considered [[sunnah]] (righteous conduct) to emulate Prophet Muhammad as much as possible.
+According to a hadith, Muhammad said that the Islamic community was a ummiyya who could not write nor count. The hadith has been understood to mean that the start of the month should be determined by moon sighting and not by calculation.<ref>https://islamqa.info/en/4713</ref>:
-Muhammad said that the ummah (the Islamic community) is illiterate and it's not important to use astronomical calculations to determine beginning of a month and it should be rather determined primitively by sight <ref>https://islamqa.info/en/4713</ref>:
 {{Quote|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
 Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:
@@ Line 222: / Line 204: @@
 We are '''an unlettered people''' ( أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ, ''umma ummiyya'') who can neither write nor count. The month is thus, and thus. folding his thumb when he said it the third time.
 }}
-It is estimated that around 40% of the Muslim population today is illiterate <ref>http://www.iinanews.com/page/public/report.aspx?id=10377#.WsC4q6iWaUk</ref>. The word ''ummah'' (أمة) itself is derived from the same root as ''ummi'' (أمي).
 ==Relevant Quotations==
 {{Quote|{{Quran|9|61}}|
 And among them are those who abuse the Prophet and say, "He is '''an ear''' (أذن, ''udhun'')."
-}}{{Quote|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
+}}{{Quote|{{Quran|44|14}}|Yet they turn away from him and say: "'''Tutored (by others)''' (مُعَلَّمٌۭ), a man possessed!"}}{{Quote|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
 :155 "And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment. And when the earthquake seized them, he said, "My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before and me [as well]. Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is not but Your trial by which You send astray whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us; and You are the best of forgivers."
@@ Line 246: / Line 226: @@
 {{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|
 He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food likewise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "'''I do not know how to read.''' (مَا أَنَا بِقَارِئٍ)" The Prophet (ﷺ) 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 (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists), created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3)
-}}<br />
+}}
 ==See also==
@@ Line 253: / Line 233: @@
 ==References==
 <references />
+[[Category:Apologetics]]
+[[Category:Dawah]]
+[[Category:Sacred history]]
+[[Category:Muhammad]]
+[[Category:Miracles]]
+[[Category:Revelation]]
+[[Category:Sirah]]
+[[Category:Qur'an]]