Literacy of the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.) before his Prophetic Mission from the Viewpoint of Regis Blaschere

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 6, Volume 42, Issue 1 - Serial Number 84, June 2010   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/naqhs.v42i1.11811

Author

Sayyid Muḥammad Murtaḍawī^*

Abstract

Orientalism, as a phenomenon, has a long record in the West; and the orientalists are also varied in their motivations.
The orientalists have attempted throughout the history to make believe that the Prophet of Islam had not been a Prophet and that the Qur’ān is a human achievement adopted from the Torah, Gospel, etc. To prove their claim, they have alluded to some texts in the Sunnī sources, one of which is Suhayl b. ‘Umar’s conversation with the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.) during the Truce of Ḥudaybiya.
The present article has examined this evidence of the orientalists and concluded that Suhayl b. ‘Umar had not said anything suggesting the Prophet’s ability to read and write before his Prophetic Mission. Besides, the orientalists’ claim is contrary to the clear assertion of the Qur’ān, the Islamic traditions, historical records, and the Muslim’s sīra, the details of which are to be found in the article.
Keywords: writing, reading, reciting, taṣḥīf (misrepresentation), Ḥudaybiya.