Almighty Allah
created people and send Messengers to show them His way and caution
them against the other way. The final Messenger was the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) upon whom the Qu’ran was revealed. Before Prophethood, Prophet Muhammad
used to spend days or weeks in seclusion in the Hira’ cave. Once while
he was in this cave, the revelation came to him. Lady `Aisha narrated to
us the story of the first time of revelation to the Prophet. She said,
“The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah’s Messenger was in
the form of good dreams, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed
upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira’ where he used
to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to
see his family. He said that the angel came to him and asked him to
read. The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to read.” 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?’ 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. (Surah Al-`Alaq 96:1-3) (Al-Bukhari)
Then, revelation continued, and orders came to Prophet Muhammad to
proclaim his message and call people to the worship of Allah Alone. The
Prophet undertook this duty fully and started inviting people to forsake
the worship of idols and worship Allah, the Most High.
Allah (Glory be to Him) revealed upon Muhammad the Qur’an;
a miraculous book that astonished people for its matchless style and
perfection. The people of Arab Peninsula were renowned for their
eloquence and purity of language. The Qur’an challenged them in what
they were well versed in, and excelled them. Allah challenged them to
bring something like the Qur’an or even a chapter like one of the
Qur’anic chapters but they failed. They found that the Qur’an is
inimitable in its style and articulacy. Ibn Hisham reported that Abu
Al-Walid Ibn `Utbah was well known for his fluency and eloquence. He
went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and attempted to divert him away
by offering him money and high position among people. When Abu Al-Walid
finished his speaking, the Prophet recited some verses from the
beginning of Surah Fussilat to him. Abu Al-Walid returned impressed by
the style of the Qur’an and said to his people, “By Allah, I heard some
words that I never heard alike. By Allah, it is not poetry, magic or
soothsaying.”
The Qur’an also included scientific, historical and philosophic facts
that were unknown to Arabs at that time. It talked about the creation
of the heavens and earth, the beginning of life and stories of the past
nations.
The enemies of Islam tried
to raise groundless allegations about the Prophet by claiming that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) was not illiterate. Rejecting his
Prophethood, they wished to prove that Muhammad was able to read and
write and that he read the scriptures of the former nations and composed
the Qur’an from them. They brought as evidence that during the pact of
Al-Hudaibiyah the people of Quraysh refused to write the Prophet’s title
“Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah” and asked to remove it. So, he
commanded `Ali to replace it with “Muhammad son of `Abdullah” but `Ali
refused to erase it. So, the Prophet himself erased it with his own
hand. They maintain that erasing means that he could identify it and he
was able to write and read. Moreover, some of them say that the Prophet
was able to recognize his engraved signature in his seal.
Actually, if we review other narrations of this event, we would reach
the truth and get the answer. In another narration of the story of
Hudaybiyah, it is reported that the Prophet asked `Ali where was the
word “the Messenger of Allah” and `Ali told him. Then, he erased it.
As for the seal of the Prophet on which his name is inscribed, it is
also nonsense because all those who use seals for signature are able
identify their signature because it is something typed in the mind as a
picture especially for an intelligent person like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Moreover, the endless miracles of the Qur’an prove that it is
impossible for a human being to provide it from his own, even if he is
the most knowledgeable person. The fact is as simple as that Muhammad
was a Messenger of the Creator of the universe and that the Qur’an was
not his own saying but it was revealed to him from Allah.
It should be noted that the illiteracy of the Prophet is
not something defaming the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) whom
Allah favored upon all humans. Rather, this was for certain wisdom from
Allah, Glory be to Him. It might be that people have firm faith that the
Prophet did not bring this book from his own but it is revealed to him.
Almighty Allah says,
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.
Rather, the Qur’an is distinct verses [preserved] within the breasts of
those who have been given knowledge. And none reject Our verses except
the wrongdoers. (Surah Al-`Ankabut 29:48-49)
Post a Comment