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The Meaning of Islam

2021-05-19T17:25:16Z

AbdulHurayrah:

{{QualityScore|Lead=2|Structure=3|Content=2|Language=4|References=3}}
[[Image:Arabic Islam.gif|right]]

The noun إسلام "Islam" is the masdar (literally "source", but in Arabic grammar "verbal noun") of the verb أسلم "aslama" meaning "to give up, to submit, to surrender, to give into, or to hand over." "Islam" in its literal sense thus means "submission", "surrender" or "giving up" though of course it is also the name of the religion to which this Wiki is devoted. "Aslama" is the verbal form IV, in Arabic grammar وزن أفعل "wazn afa'ala", from the root s-l-m س-ل-م. The root س-ل-م s-l-m is also the root of the word سلام "salaam" meaning "peace." As with all Arabic words and roots, it should be remembered that the root doesn't have a particular meaning but rather a swarm of semantic relations often produced by history and analogy, and thus words derived from the same root came have very different meanings despite a common linguistic heritage.

==Etymology==

The word ''Islam'' derives from the Arabic triconsonantal root sīn-lām-mīm (SLM [ س ل م ]). As with other Semetic roots in language such as Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, many different words are created from this root word by inserting different vowels or constants between and in front of the three root consonants. As mentioned above, these semetic roots do not have meanings per se but rather clouds of semantic relationships often connected only by history and analogy but not actual meaning. For instance, all of these words are derived from the root S-L-M:

{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
|-
|
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="left"
! width="150px" |Word
! width="80px" |Arabic
! width="210px" |Meaning
|-
|Islam
| اسلام 
|Submission
|-
|Salam
| سلام
|Well-being/Peace
|-
|(Derivation of) Salama
| سلما
|The stinging of a snake or the tanning of the leather
|-
|Saleema
| سليما
|To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a female)
|-
|Saleem
| سليم
|To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a male)
|-
|Aslam
| اسلم
|To submit
|-
|Istaslama
| استسلاما
|To surrender
|-
|Musal
| مسل
|Undisputed
|-
|Tasleem
| تسليم
|To receive a salutation or becoming submitted
|}
|-
|A common translation proposed for ''Islam'' in English and other languages is "peace." The root of this idea is that' 'Islam'', meaning 'submission', shares a root word with ''Salaam'', meaning 'peace', however the existence of these two words with the same root in no way necessarily implies a semantic relationship between the two. By way of example with the same root, there is no a relationship between the meanings of the derivations of the verb سلم ''Salama'', meaning to be safe and sound, and سلّم ''sullam'', meaning a ladder. There may be an analogy from which one was formed from another or an opaque historical connection that links these two words, but there is not obvious semantic connection. ''
|}

The [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]], compiled by the USC-MSA, the Muslim Students Association at the University of Southern California,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/home/|2=2011-09-29}} Religious Texts] - Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, accessed September 29, 2011</ref> confirms this understanding:

{{Quote|1=|2='''Misconception 1'''
Islam is `the religion of peace' because:
:• ''the Arabic word Islam is derived from the Arabic word "Al-Salaam" which means peace.''

It might seem strange to think of this as a misconception, but in fact it is. The root word of Islam is "al-silm" which means "submission" or "surrender." It is understood to mean "submission to Allah." In spite of whatever noble intention has caused many a Muslim to claim that Islam is derived primarily from peace, this is not true. Allah says in the Qur'an (translated):

:''[2:136] Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us and that which was revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have surrendered. [Arabic "Muslimoon"]''

In addition to the above mentioned linguistic reasoning, Allah in the [[Qur'an]] makes it clear this his religion and that of his prophet is one of submission. Peace only comes through submission to Allah and his prophet.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20060206062955/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/notislam/misconceptions.html|2=2011-11-12}} Ten Misconceptions About Islam] - USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts, Internet Archive Wayback Machine capture dated February 6, 2006</ref>}}

==Scripture==

===Qur'an===

====Islam is a Deen (Religion)====

{{Quote|{{Quran|5|3}}|

Today, I have perfected your religion (dīn) for you; I have completed My blessing upon you; I have approved Islam for your religion}}

====Islam is Submission to Allah====

{{Quote|{{Quran|3|19}}|The Religion before Allah is Islam (submission to His Will): Nor did the People of the Book dissent therefrom except through envy of each other, after knowledge had come to them. But if any deny the Signs of Allah, Allah is swift in calling to account.}}

====Islam is the Religion of Allah====

{{Quote|{{Quran|3|83}}|Do they seek for other than the Religion of Allah?-while all creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed to His Will (Accepted Islam), and to Him shall they all be brought back.}}

===Hadith===

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|2|48}}|…Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Apostle replied, "'''To worship Allah Alone and none else''', to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan."}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|52|191}}|This letter is from Muhammad, the slave of Allah, and His Apostle, to Heraculius, the Ruler of the Byzantine. Peace be upon the followers of guidance. '''Now then, I invite you to Islam ( surrender to Allah), embrace Islam and you will be safe'''”}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|009|092|447}}|While we were in the mosque, Allah's Apostle came out and said, "Let us proceed to the Jews." So we went out with him till we came to Bait-al-Midras. The Prophet stood up there and called them, saying, "O assembly of Jews! '''Surrender to Allah (embrace Islam)''' and you will be safe!"

"Know that the earth is for Allah and I want to exile you from this land, so whoever among you has property he should sell it, otherwise, know that the land is for Allah and His Apostle."}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|4|247}}|By Allah! I consider him a believer." The Prophet said, "Or merely a Muslim ('''Who surrender to Allah''')."}}

===Scholars===

====Ibn Taymiyyah====

{{Quote||'''Islam is to surrender to God, submit to him, worship him, and serve him.'''....

The difference arises from the fact that Islam is a Din Submission. Din is the iffinitve of ddna, yadinu, which means to submit or to surrender.

The religion of Islam which god has ordained and promulgated through his prophets is to submit to him alone. It is nothing but submission, worship and service to God and him alone.<ref>Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari, '[http://www.scribd.com/doc/16603238/Expounds-on-Islam-by-Ibn-Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyah Expounds Islam]', pg. 316, Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, Washington, U.S.A., 2000.</ref>}}

====Ramadan Buti====

{{Quote||The theory that our religion is a peaceful and loving religion is a wrong theory<ref>Dr. M. Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti - "Jurisprudence of Muhammad’s Biography", Pg. 135, seventh Arabic edition, published by Azhar University of Egypt</ref><ref>Dr. M. Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti - "Jurisprudence of Muhammad’s Biography", Pg. 73, English edition, published by Azhar University of Egypt (1988)</ref>}}

{{Quote||The Holy war as it is known in Islam is basically an offensive war, and it is the duty of all Muslims of every age, when the needed military power is available, because our prophet Muhammad said that he is ordered by Allah to fight all people until they say ‘No God but Allah,’ and he is his messenger<ref>Dr. M. Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti - "Jurisprudence of Muhammad’s Biography", Pg. 134, seventh Arabic edition, published by Azhar University of Egypt</ref>}}

{{Quote||It is meaningless to talk about the holy war as only defensive, otherwise, what did the prophet mean when he said, "from now on even if they don’t invade you, you must invade them."<ref>Dr. M. Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti - "Jurisprudence of Muhammad’s Biography", Pg. 242, seventh Arabic edition, published by Azhar University of Egypt</ref>}}

==External Links==

*[http://answering-islam.org/Hoaxes/salamislam.html Islam & Peace]'' - Answering Islam''
*[http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Top-10-Reasons.htm Ten Obvious Reasons Why Islam is ''NOT'' a Religion of Peace] ''- The Religion Of Peace''

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Revelation]]
[[Category:Allah]]
[[Category:Muhammad]]
[[Category:Society and human nature]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Arabic]]

The Islamic Whale

2019-09-11T19:27:59Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''The Islamic whale''' (in Arabic الحوت الإسلامي, ''al-hoot al-islami''), is a mythological creature described in Islamic texts that carries the Earth on its back. It is also called Nun (نون), which is also the name of the Arabic letter ن. Two alternative names of the whale are Liwash and Lutiaya.<ref>
Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs: "And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said regarding the interpretation of Allah's saying (Nun): '(Nun) He says: Allah swears by the Nun, which is the whale that carries the earths on its back while in Water, and beneath which is the Bull and under the Bull is the Rock and under the Rock is the Dust and none knows what is under the Dust save Allah. '''The name of the whale is Liwash, and it is said its name is Lutiaya''''; the name of the bull is Bahamut, and some say its name is Talhut or Liyona. The whale is in a sea called 'Adwad, and it is like a small bull in a huge sea. The sea is in a hollowed rock whereby there is 4,000 cracks, and from each crack water springs out to the earth. It is also said that Nun is one of the names of the Lord; it stands for the letter Nun in Allah's name al-Rahman (the Beneficent); and it is also said that a Nun is an inkwell. (By the pen) Allah swore by the pen. This pen is made of light and its height is equal to the distance between Heaven and earth. It is with this pen that the Wise Remembrance, i.e. the Guarded Tablet, was written. It is also said that the pen is one of the angels by whom Allah has sworn, (and that which they write (therewith)) and Allah also swore by what the angels write down of the works of the children of Adam"
http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref> The details behind the mentioning of this creature is a unclear topic. There is little mention of Nun in the Quran, however there is further mention of it in other Islamic scriptures such has [[Hadith]] and [[Tafseer|Tafsir]] along with context verses.

==Nun in the Qur'an==
Nun is mentioned in the verse 68:1.<ref>نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ

Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe,

{{Quran|68|1}}</ref> Most respected scholars of Islam (Ibn Kathir, At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and others including Al-Jalalayn) agree that Nun refers to a whale that carries the Earth on its back:<ref>Al-Jalalayn on 21:87

*ذَا ٱلنُّونِ } صاحب الحوت}
*{Man of the fish} companion of the whale (الحوت, ''al-hoot'')
http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=8&tSoraNo=21&tAyahNo=87&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1
</ref>

Word-by-word translation:

*نٓ - ''noon'' - the name of the whale
*وَٱلْقَلَمِ - ''wal-qalam'' - by the pen (''wa-'' prefix means "and" or "by")
*وَمَا - ''wa-ma'' - and what
*يَسْطُرُونَ - ''yasturoona'' - they write

There is not much information in the Qur'an, but as we'll see, it is necessary to understand the existence of the Islamic whale for understanding other verses of the Qur'an. For example, in verse 21:87 Jonah is called "man of the Nun", because he was eaten by a whale<ref>And [mention] the man of <nowiki>'''</nowiki>the fish<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلنُّونِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-noon<nowiki>''</nowiki>), when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."

{{Quran|21|87}}</ref><ref>http://biblehub.com/library/marshall/the_wonder_book_of_bible_stories/the_story_of_jonah_and.htm</ref>:

== Relevant Quotations ==
{{Quote|{{Quran|68|1}}|نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe,}}{{Quote|{{Quran|21|87}}|And [mention] the man of '''the fish''' (ٱلنُّونِ, ''al-noon''), when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."}} 
==Tafsir Ibn Kathir==
First, we will quote the whole commentary on the verse 68:1 from the English abridged version of the tafsir Ibn Kathir:
{{Quote|Ibn Kathir, English abridged version, on the verse 68:1|}}
There is nothing, because the translator decided not to translate what he wrote about this verse, although in the Arabic original, Ibn Kathir writes a lot about it.

This is the definition of ن (Nun) in the Arabic tafsir:
{{Quote|Ibn Kathir tafsir on 68:1 <ref>altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|نۤ حوت عظيم 
* نۤ - ''noon'' - Nun
* حوت - ''hoot'' - whale
* عظيم - '''azeem'' - big
'''Nun is a big whale.'''
}}

===Hadith from Ibn Abbas, the turjuman ul-Qur'an===
The Tafsir Ibn Kathir quotes At-Tabari, who quotes Ibn Abbas, who gave us some details about how the whale was created:
{{Quote|Ibn Kathir tafsir on 68:1 <ref>altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|ابن عباس قال: أول ما خلق الله القلم قال: اكتب، قال: وماذا أكتب؟ قال: اكتب القدر، فجرى بما يكون من ذلك اليوم إلى قيام الساعة، ثم خلق النون، ورفع بخار الماء، ففتقت منه السماء، وبسطت الأرض على ظهر النون، فاضطرب النون، فمادت الأرض، فأثبتت بالجبال؛

Ibn Abbas (ابن عباس) said: The first thing Allah created (خلق) was the pen (القلم). He ordered it to write. It said: What shall I write? He said: Write the fate (القدر). So it wrote what will happen from that day (اليوم) until the Day of judgement, then he created '''the Nun''' (النون, ''al-noon''), then he raised the water and created the heavens with it and laid the earth (الأرض) on (على) the back (ظهر) of the Nun, the Nun moved and so did the earth, so it was fixed down with mountains (بالجبال).
}}

Another variation of this hadith:
{{Quote|تاريخ الطبري (Tarikh At-Tabari) <ref name="abbas">http://hdith.com/?s=%D8%AB%D9%85+%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%82+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86+%D9%81%D9%88%D9%82+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A1%D8%8C+%D8%AB%D9%85+%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B3+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6+%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87</ref>|
عن ابنِ عباسٍ قال أولُ شيءٍ خلق اللهُ تعالى القلمُ فقال له اكتب فكتب ما هو كائنٌ إلى أن تقومَ الساعةُ ثم خلق النون فوق الماءِ ثم كبس الأرضَ عليه

From Ibn Abbas (ابنِ عباسٍ), who said: The first thing Allah (اللهُ) created was the pen (القلمُ), so he told it: "Write!" (اكتب) And it wrote what will happen until the Hour (Day of Judgement), then he created the Nun (النون) above (فوق) water (الماءِ), then He pressed (كبس) the Earth (الأرضَ) on it (عليه).
}}
The hadith (narration) by Ibn Abbas (collected by At-Tabari) is considered صحيح (sahih)<ref name="abbas"></ref>, which means authentic narration. All Muslims should believe in sahih hadiths. And they should especially believe in hadiths where Ibn Abbas explains Qur'anic verses, because Muhammad made du'a for Ibn Abbas, so that Allah teaches him the interpretation of the Qur'an. Ibn Abbas was also called ''turjuman ul-Qur'an'' (ترجمان القرآن), because he had deep knowledge about the interpretation (''tarjama'') of the revelations.
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|92|375}}|Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas (raa): The Prophet (saws) embraced me and said, “O Allah! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Quran).”}}

His narration also explains why mountains are [[The Quran and Mountains|described as pegs]] in the Qur'an. It is because the earth would move on the back of the whale without the pegs that hold it<ref>That is also supported by the tafsir Al-Jalalayn on the verse 78:7 "and the mountains pegs? with which the earth is tied down like tents are tied down with pegs the interrogative is meant as an affirmative."

http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=78&tAyahNo=7&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref>:
{{Quote|{{Quran|78|6-7}}|
78:6 Have We not made the earth an even expanse? 
78:7 And the mountains as pegs?
}}

It also explains why Allah's throne is "on water" (because Allah created the heavens out of water):
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|7}}|And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and '''His Throne had been upon water'''}}

==Tafsir At-Tabari==
The most respected Sunni tafsir is probably that of At-Tabari. Unfortunately, it is not translated into English yet. Here is just his interpretation of the Nun in the verse 68:1.
{{Quote|At-Tabari tafsir on 68:1 <ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
هو الحوت الذي عليه الأرَضُون

It is (هو) a whale (الحوت), which (الذي) on it (عليه) the Earths (الأرَضُون).
}}

In Islam there are seven [[Flat Earth and the Quran|flat]] Earth'''s''', just like there are seven heavens:
{{Quote|{{Quran|65|12}}|Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them}}
They are placed on the whale like pancakes.

==ِTafsir Al-Qurtubi==
Another very respected tafsir of Al-Qurtubi is of the same opinion. The whale is under the 7th (lowest) Earth:
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Qurtubi on 68:1 <ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=5&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
نۤ> الحوت الذي تحت الأرض السابعة> 
<Nun> - the whale (الحوت), which is (الذي) under (تحت) the Earth (الأرض) the seventh (السابعة).
}}

If Qurtubi knew that Earth is round and considered Earths to be layers of Earth and the whale is inside the globe, he would use the word "inside", not "under". And a whale inside the Earth doesn't really make sense anyway, so Al-Qurtubi obviously considered the Earth to be flat.

==ِTafsir Al-Kabir (by Ar-Razi)==
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Kabir on 68:1<ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
بالحوت الذي على ظهره الأرض وهو في بحر تحت الأرض السفلى

..with the whale (بالحوت) which over its back (ظهره) is the Earth (الأرض) and it is in the sea (بحر) under (تحت) the Earth (الأرض) the lowest (السفلى).
}}

Again, we see that there are multiple flat Earths, under them is the whale and under the whale is the sea (ocean). The whale swims in the sea with the Earths attached to its back.

==ِTafsir Fath Al-Qadir (by Shawkani)==
This tafsir is from the 18th century:
{{Quote|Fath Al-Qadir on 68:1<ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=9&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
هو الحوت الذي يحمل الأرض

It is a whale which carries the Earth.
}}

==Hadith Al-Kafi (shia)==
We can also read about the Islamic whale from the Shia hadiths. This narration explains the connection between the whale and earthquakes:
{{Quote|Al-Kafi, vol. 8, part 6, <ref>Page 45. [https://shiapdfresources.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/alkafi_vol8_part-6.pdf Kitab al-Kafi]. Archived at [http://web.archive.org/web/20161227191002/https://shiapdfresources.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/alkafi_vol8_part-6.pdf].</ref>|H 14813 – From him, from Salih, from one of his companions, from Abdul Samad Bin Basheer, who has reported the following: Abu Abdullah (asws) has said that: ‘'''The whale which is carrying the earth''' secretly said to itself that it is carrying the earth by its own strength. So Allah (azwj) the High Sent to it a fish smaller than a palm’s length, and larger than a finger. So it entered in its gills and shocked it. It remained like that for forty days. Then Allah (azwj) Raised it and was Merciful to it, and Took it out. So whenever Allah (azwj) Intends the earth to be in a quake, He (azwj) Sends that (small) fish to that (big) fish. So when it sees it, it becomes restless, so the earth gets engulfed by the earthquake’. }}

==Tafsir Al-Tusi (shia)==
The first comprehensive Shia tafsir<ref>http://en.wikishia.net/view/Al-Tibyan_fi_tafsir_al-Qur'an_(book)</ref> says this about the Nun:
{{Quote|Al-Tibbyan by Al-Tusi on 68:1 <ref>http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=4&tTafsirNo=39&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
وقال ابن عباس - فى رواية عنه - إن النون الحوت الذى عليه الارضون

And said Ibn Abbas (ابن عباس) - in his narration - that Nun (النون) is a whale (الحوت) which on it are the Earths (الارضون).}}

As we see, Ibn Abbas and his narration is deeply respected by both sunni and shia Muslims.

==Evidence==
There is no scientific evidence suggesting that there is a big whale carrying the Earth on its back. We know today because of overwhelming evidence that the earth is round, or specifically oblate spheroid (there are no seven flat earths stacked one below the other). We also know that the earth is floating in space and is held in its orbit because of the gravitational force of the sun. There are no gigantic animals holding the earth as the tafsirs and hadith claim.

Also, mountains are not like pegs. For example volcanic mountains could be considered the opposite of pegs, because they have a flowing lava in the middle. The flowing lava with its high temperature cannot attach the Earth to a big whale.

==Other interpretations of Nun==
Although the ''turjuman ul-Qur'an'' Ibn Abbas explained that Nun is the whale which carries the Earth(s) on its back, there are also non-whale interpretations of Nun.

==="ن is a letter of the alphabet"===
ن ("n") is a letter of the Arabic alphabet called نون (Nun).

*This doesn't explain the verse at all. If anything, it would mean that Allah puts random letters into his revelation for mankind, for no reason.
*Muhammad was illiterate and he did not write the revelations. He recited them. "Qur'an" means recitation. Maybe it was not just the letter ن ("n"), but the whole name نون ("nun"). It's just a matter of writing it. So maybe it was not meant to be a letter of the alphabet at all. Maybe it was the three-letter word N-u-n.
*The verse 68:1 "نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ" could be translated as "Nun '''and''' the pen and what they write", since و usually means "and". It seems that Allah is enumerating 3 things (and enumeration usually donesn't mix things and letters):
**Nun (ن or نون)
**'''and''' (و) the pen (ٱلْقَلَمِ)
**'''and''' (و) what (مَا)
**they write (يَسْطُرُونَ)

==="N" in "Ar-Rahmaa'''n'''"===
The word الرحمن, Ar-Rahman, "the gracious" is one of the names of Allah. The 13th sura starts with three letters الر, a few suras start with the letters حم. It we put together الر + حم + ن, we get الرحمن.

*The word Ar-Rahman is nowadays actually written as الرحمان, but in the old Uthmani script it was written without the ا (alif) before the ن. It was added later, to indicate the "aa" vowel.
*A lot of verses start on other [[Muqatta'at|letters]] and putting them together doesn't produce any interesting word. So choosing just three of them and getting an interesting word could be considered a cherry-picking.

===Nun means "ink"===
The verse 68:1 would mean "The ink and the pen and that which they write".

*The Qur'an used the word مِدَادًا (''midaadan'') for "ink" in the verse 18:109, while it used the word نون (''nun'') to mean "whale" in the verse 21:87. So it is more probable, that the meaning of nun here is "whale".
*According to this interpretation, this refers to the ink with which the Qur'an was written. Which is not very fitting, since the primary form of the Qu'ran is recitation. The word "Qur'an" itself means "recitation".

==="Allah knows best"===
"[[Allah knows best]]", in other words "the author knows what he meant", is not an interpretation at all. "Allah knows best" could be said about all Qur'anic verses. In fact, there could be a whole tafsir saying only "Allah knows best" to every verse. But it would be useless, because "Allah knows best" doesn't explain the meaning at all.

==Apologetics==
Some Muslims, who consider the whale hypothesis to be false <ref>https://islamqa.info/en/114861</ref> are embarrassed that this is a part of their religion and try to put forward arguments to prove that it is in fact not a part of their religion.

===It's not in the Qur'an===
This is questionable. Nun is mentioned in the Qur'an 68:1 and it was used in another verse 21:87 to mean "whale". It is not clearly stated in the Qur'an that Nun is the whale which carries the Earth on its back, but the Qur'an speaks about mountains being like pegs, which supports the "whale cosmology". If there is no whale under the Earth, then there is no reason for mountains to function as pegs.

Also when something is not in the Qur'an, then it doesn't mean it's not a part of Islam. The "5 pillars of Islam" are also not described in the Qur'an and they are considered to be a part of Islam. Islam (or at least the mainstream Islam) is derived from the Qur'an, hadith and sira.

===The hadith is ''mawqoof''===
When a hadith (narration) is called ''mawqoof'', it means that it is not a quote originally from Muhammad himself, but it is from someone from the Sahaba (his companions). In this case Ibn Abbas. But Muhammad asked Allah to teach Ibn Abbas the correct interpretation of the Quran, so why would Ibn Abbas need to trace his interpretation to Muhammad, when he was taught by Allah himself?

Besides that, there is a fatwa which says that a ''mawqoof'' hadith can be used as evidence if nobody protested against it:
{{Quote|Fatwa 217021 <ref>http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=217021</ref>|As for taking it as evidence, it means that we have to act according to it and consider it a source of evidence of the Islamic religion. Scholars have ten different opinions regarding that issue. The nearest of them to correctness is that '''if the opinion of the companion spread widely and no one went against it, then it is a source of evidence and a consensus by silence'''. However, if it did not spread or some other companions went against it, then it is not a source of evidence, but can be used as secondary evidence.

That is the case if reason and Ijtihaad (personal diligence) can be applied in the opinion of the companion; otherwise (i.e. if his opinion is something that has nothing to do with Ijtihaad like matters of the unseen or the stories of the previous Prophets), then it is regarded as Marfoo‘ (traceable) to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, unless it is known that that companion used to take his information from the books of the People of the Book.

Allaah Knows best
}}

*The whale interpretation spread widely among the scholars and none of them discredited this story in any way.
*The whale story is not a matter of the unseen. It should be observable if you look for it beneath the Islamic [[flat earth]].
*Ibn Abbas was against taking information from People of the book <ref>''Narrated Ubaidullah:''

Ibn `Abbas said, "Why do you ask the people of the scripture about anything while your Book (Qur'an) which has been revealed to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) is newer and the latest? You read it pure, undistorted and unchanged, and Allah has told you that the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, 'It is from Allah,' to sell it for a little gain. Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything? No, by Allah, we have never seen any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!"'' {{Bukhari|9|92|460}}, book 96, chapter '''"Do not ask the people of the Scripture about anything"'''''</ref>
*Muhammad asked Allah to teach Ibn Abbas the correct interpretation of the Quran, so the interpretation should be from Allah himself.

===Only the early scholars believed it===
As we've seen, the scholar Shawkani, who was born more than a thousand years after Muhammad's death, still wrote about the whale. So it's not just a matter of the early scholars.

*About a century later after Shawkani wrote about the flat Earth on the back of a giant whale, non-Muslims from Russia managed to escape the round Earth and land on the Moon.

===It's from the Jews===
The Quran was new to the Jews, so interpretation of the Quran couldn't be from the Jewish tradition. But there is a myth of a big sea monster called "Leviathan" in Judaism and Christianity:
{{Quote|Isiah 27:1|
In that day,
the Lord will punish with his sword—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.
}}

It's not clear whether it is a whale or a dolphin or a crocodile. It was also described as a dragon and serpent. There are many different interpretations. In Judaism Leviathan is sometimes understood metaphorically as a great enemy of Israel. In Christianity Leviathan is sometimes understood as Satan. The Torah nor the Bible say that Leviathan holds the earth on its back, but there is a rabbinic text saying that Leviathan is a flying serpent who has "middle bar of the earth" between its fins:
{{Quote|Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer (Ch. 9)|
On the fifth day He brought forth from the water the Leviathan, the flying serpent, and its dwelling is in the the lowest waters; and between its fins rests the middle bar of the earth.
}}

So maybe the Islamic whale myth is based on one of the interpretations of the myth of Leviathan. But "It's from the Jews" is not an argument, because many Islamic teachings are inspired by Judaism. And Ibn Abbas, the ''turjuman ul-Qur'an'', is the one who interprets the Quran in this way.

===Ibn Abbas narrated it from Jews, but didn't believe it===

There is a hadith telling Muslims to tell the stories of the people of Israel:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|55|667}}|Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "'''Convey (my teachings)''' to the people even if it were a single sentence, and '''tell others the stories of Bani Israel (which have been taught to you)''', for it is not sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally, will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire."}}

This hadith doesn't clearly say that Muslims should take the stories from the Jews. In the phrase "of Bani Israel" (عَنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ), the word عن could mean both "from" and "about". And the beginning of the hadith says literally "convey from me" (بلغوا عني), so it looks more likely that it should be stories about Jews, but from Islamic sources.

We can read in a commentary on this hadith in Fath ul-Bari:
{{Quote|Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, Fathul Bari, Kitab: Ahaadeeth Al 'Anbiyaa', Bab: Ma Thakr 'an Bani Israel <ref>https://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?bk_no=52&ID=2078&idfrom=6279&idto=6300&bookid=52&startno=8</ref>|
وقيل المعنى حدثوا عنهم بمثل ما ورد في القرآن والحديث الصحيح

And it is said that it means relating traditions about them found in the Qur'an and authentic hadith.
}}

So the claim that Muslims should spread narrations from Jews is not supported by the hadith.

The hadith is often combined by apologists with another hadith from Sahih Al-Bukhari, from the chapter '''“Do not ask the people of the Scripture about anything.”''' (The name of the chapter says it clearly, but apologists still think that the hadiths in this chapter support telling false stories from Jews):
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|92|460}}, book 96, chapter '''"Do not ask the people of the Scripture about anything"'''|
Narrated Abu Huraira:

The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said (to the Muslims). "Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, 'We believe in Allah and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.' "
}}
This hadith doesn't say that Muslims should spread the Jewish stories. The most likely interpretation is that Muslims should ignore the Jews, because some of the Jewish stories is right, some is wrong, but the only truth is from Muhammad.

Telling lies from Jews is forbidden, according to Imam Shafii:
{{Quote|Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, Fathul Bari, Kitab: Ahaadeeth Al 'Anbiyaa', Bab: Ma Thakr 'an Bani Israel <ref>https://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?bk_no=52&ID=2078&idfrom=6279&idto=6300&bookid=52&startno=8</ref>|
من المعلوم أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يجيز التحدث بالكذب ، فالمعنى حدثوا عن بني إسرائيل بما لا تعلمون كذبه ، وأما ما تجوزونه فلا حرج عليكم في التحدث به عنهم [ ص: 576 ] وهو نظير قوله : إذا حدثكم أهل الكتاب فلا تصدقوهم ولا تكذبوهم ولم يرد الإذن ولا المنع من التحدث بما يقطع بصدقه

It is known that '''the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not permit speaking lies when he said "relate traditions from the children of Israel", thus it is meant that you relate traditions that you know not to be lies and whatever you find to be compliant with your beliefs''' then there is no harm narrating those traditions from them. This is in obedience to the Prophet's statement "Do not believe the people of the Scripture or disbelieve them." He did not recommend nor prohibit relating those traditions that are known to not be lies.
}}

And finally a quote from Ibn Abbas himself, also from the chapter '''“Do not ask the people of the Scripture about anything.”'''. Did he support taking interpretations of the Quran from the Jews? Let's see:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|92|460}}, book 96, chapter '''"Do not ask the people of the Scripture about anything"'''|
Narrated Ubaidullah:

'''Ibn `Abbas said, "Why do you ask the people of the scripture about anything''' while your Book (Qur'an) which has been revealed to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) is newer and the latest? You read it pure, undistorted and unchanged, and Allah has told you that the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, 'It is from Allah,' to sell it for a little gain. '''Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything?''' No, by Allah, we have never seen any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!"
}}

===Scholars can be wrong===
Everyone can be wrong. For example Muhammad could have been wrong when he assumed he is a prophet and Muslims can be wrong by believing in Islam. Since everyone can be wrong and this argument could be used against both sides, it is not a valid argument for any side.

This is also an act of [[w:Shooting the messenger|shooting the messenger]], an ad hominem fallacy. Muslims have traditionally regarded Islamic scholars as expert authorities on all religious matters. In fact, Islam split into many schools of law (madhhabs) over the centuries because each school considered specific scholars as the sole authorities. If Muslims now want to discredit their own scholars because of such embarrassing claims, they are putting the entire Islamic argument—that Islam is the only true religion, it is perfect and it is from God—on shaky ground. One may wonder, "What is the real history of Islam and what are the correct Islamic laws if the scholars are dismissed by their own followers? Were they all liars or fabricators? And why?"

===Allah is never wrong===
This doesn't mean that he didn't mean the whale which carries the Earth on its back. Maybe the Earth actually is attached to a big whale's back with mountains and all evidence against it is the work of Shaytan who tries to lead people to disbelief?

Also if the only one to be trusted is Allah, then we cannot trust the Qur'an, because it wasn't passed to us directly from him, but through many generations of fallible humans.

Belief in Islam has the prerequisite of belief in the people who passed its doctrine.

==Conclusion==

*Nun definitely means "whale", because Jonah (who was eaten by a whale) was called "man of the Nun".
*The ''turjuman ul-Qur'an'' Ibn Abbas, along with the most respected Islamic scholars, both sunni and shia, agree that Nun in the verse 68:1 refers to the whale which carries the Earth on its back.
*The Earth is supossedly attached to the whale with mountains. The mountains function as pegs.
**So the Islamic whale also helps to explain the verse 78:7 about mountains being "pegs".
*The scholars who based their knowledge on reading the Arabic Qur'an and hadiths believed that the Earth is flat and it is attached with mountains (as pegs) to a big whale.

==See Also==

*The Masked Arab - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back] (video)
*The Islam Issue - [https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/the-nun-whale-and-the-calamity-of-ibn-abbas/ The Nun Whale and the calamity of Ibn Abbas] (blog)
*[[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]

Apologetics and responses:

*Zaify's article [https://medium.com/@galacticwarrior9/the-islamic-whale-debunked-1bc3a922b845 “The Islamic Whale” - debunked]
**''"The argument attempts to prove that the Qur’an implies the Earth is carried on the back of a whale."''
***No, the main point is that Muslims understood it that way.
**''"...the matter at hand is a narration from Ibn Abbas rather than a direct claim made by a mufassir."''
***Ibn Abbas IS a mufassir.
**''"Ijtihad means independent reasoning."''
***The Quran and the hadiths are the basis for reasoning of a Muslim. In Islam the Earth is flat. So within this ideology, it IS reasonable to expect something to hold the Earth.
**''"...an example where Ibn Abbas narrates contradicting Isra’iliyat reports regarding the dimensions of Noah’s Ark..."''
***Why he didn't say both versions in both narrations? It seems more likely that he narrated one version, but one of the hadith was corrupted.
**''"Nobody is criticising Ka’b al-Ahbar - or Ibn Abbas for that matter - for narrating Isra’iliyat. Rather, we are castigating those present the Isra’iliyat as narrations from the Prophet (ﷺ) or opinions of the companions, and so say that they must be believed by Muslims."''
***But this is about the interpretation of the Quran and Muhammad made dua for Ibn Abbas, so that he can know the correct interpretation. Did the dua not work? And if it worked, why Ibn Abbas didn't oppose The Islamic Whale hypothesis if it was a wrong interpretation?
**''"Nun (ن), is known in Arabic as one of the muqatta’at... their meaning is only known to Allah."''
***So how can you be sure that it doesn't mean whale?
**''"The spelling of the two Nuns are different; they are only similar in pronounciation."''
***No. They are exactly the same in pronunciation. The letter ن ("n") standing by itself is read as نون ("nun").
**''"A comparison can be made with the English words hear and here. Although they sound identical, they have different meanings. It is not logical to claim that they have the same meaning because they have the same pronounciation."''
***But we do NOT have ن and نون written differently by Muhammad or Ibn Abbas and then claiming that these differently spelled words have the same meaning. It was transmitted orally and it was pronounced "nun" in both cases. And how some people, dozens of years later, chose to write these orally transmitted traditions, is irrelevant.

{{Translation-links-english|[[Islámská velryba|Czech]]}}

[[Category:Islam and Science]]

==References==
<references />

Waswas

2019-08-13T18:25:37Z

AbdulHurayrah: Restructured

The term '''Waswas''' (in Arabic وسوس) in Islam literally refers to "whispers (usually from Shaitan [Satan])". However, the term is usually used to refer to doubts and temptations. It is commonly believed that Satan and his minions tempt Muslims to sin and weaken their faith in Islam through doubt. When Muslims have negative thoughts about Islam, or thoughts that go against the teachings of Islam this is usually regarded as ''waswas (or waswasa).'' Critics see this as a way to dismiss concerns around Islam and excuse human and biological natural drive.

==Waswas in the Qur'an==
The Arabic word وسوس (''waswas'') in various forms appears five times in the Qur'an.

The first two refer to the story of Adam and Eve. The fa- prefix means "but" or "then".
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}In one instance the Quran says the soul whispers. The tu- simply indicates present tense, 3rd person, feminine, singular verb.{{Quote-text|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}

Two times in a chapter 114. The al- indicates definite article (before a noun). The yu- indicates present tense, 3rd person, singular, masculine verb.<ref>114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,
114:2 The King of men,
114:3 The god of men,
114:4 From the evil of the retreating <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whisperer<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-waswasi<nowiki>''</nowiki>)
114:5 Who <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whispers<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (يُوَسْوِسُ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>yuwaswisu<nowiki>''</nowiki>) into the hearts of men,
114:6 From among the jinn and the men.

{{Quran|114|1-6}}</ref>

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says that the "whisperer" in 114:4 is Satan:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 114:4|from the evil of '''the slinking whisperer Satan''' — he is referred to by the name of the action waswasa on account of his repeated engaging in it — who slinks away and recoils from the heart whenever God is mentioned}}

==Relevant Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|20|120}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to him; he said: O Adam! Shall I guide you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not?}}{{Quote|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are
closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}{{Quote|{{Quran|114|1-6}}|
114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,

114:2 The King of men,

114:3 The god of men,

114:4 From the evil of the retreating '''whisperer''' (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, ''al-waswasi'')

114:5 Who '''whispers''' (يُوَسْوِسُ, ''yuwaswisu'') into the hearts of men,

114:6 From among the jinn and the men.
}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|46|705}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has accepted my invocation to forgive what whispers in the hearts of my followers, unless they put it to action or utter it."}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|78|657}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah forgives my followers those (evil deeds) their souls may whisper or suggest to them as long as they do not act (on it) or speak."}}

{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|4|27|3464}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has forgiven my Ummah for what is whispered to them or what enters their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.'"}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|36}}|
It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin Mughaffal that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"None of you should urinate in the place where he bathes, for most Waswas (devilish whispers) [1] come from that." [1] I.e., with regard to whether the urine has soiled his body or not.}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1254}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'When the call to prayer is given, the Shaitan runs away breaking wind loudly. When the Tathwb (Iqamah) is completed, he comes back and whispers to a man in his hear, until he does not know how many (rak'ahs) he has prayed. If any one of you notices that, let him prostrate twice.'"}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1257}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Ibrahim bin Suwaid said:
"Alqamah prayed five (rak'ahs) and was told about that. He said: 'Did I really do that?' I nodded yes. He said: 'What about you, O odd-eyed one?' I said: 'Yes'. So he prostrated twice, then he narrated to us from 'Abdullah that the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed five (rak'ahs), and the people whispered to one another, then they said to him: 'Has something been added the prayer?' He said: 'No.' So they told him, and he turned around and prostrated twice, then he said: 'I am only human; I forget as you forget.'"
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|134}} (Hasan)|It was narrated from Al-Hakam, from his father, that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performed Wudu', he would take a handful of water and do this with it. Shu'bah described it:
"He would sprinkle his private parts with it." [1] Shaikh Ibn As-Sunni said: "Al-Hakam (one of the narrators) is Ibn Sufyan Ath-Thaqafi. [1] The purpose is to ward off devilish '''whispers''' lest the person think any emission has taken place, and thus think that his Wudu' has been invalidated.}}

 
{{Quote|Riyad As-Salihin 18:1668|Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said:
Some people asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about soothsayers. He (ﷺ) said, "They are of no account." Upon this they said to him, "O Messenger of Allah! But they sometimes make true predictions." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "That is a word pertaining to truth which a jinn snatches (from the angels) and whispers into the ears of his friend (the soothsayers) who will then mix more than a hundred lies with it."}}

 
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|239}}|
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that some people from amongst the Companions of the Apostle (ﷺ) came to him and said:
Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest.}}

==Association with science denial==
Doubt is a cornerstone of the scientific method. However, the concept of waswas attributed doubt to evil supernatural forces.{{Quote-text|{{Muslim|1|244}}| It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah may peace be upon him) observed:
The Satan comes to everyone. of you and says: Who created this and that? till he questions: Who created your Lord? When he comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and keep away (from such idle thoughts).}}There are many instances of believers trying to "cure" themselves from waswas <ref>Just Google "waswas".</ref>. The basic treatment method is ''ruqya'' - exorcism. Verses from the Qur'an are recited on the "posessed" Muslim. There is also a possibility of self-ruqya <ref>http://www.aburuqya.com/self-ruqya</ref>, where Muslim tries to get rid of waswas by praying and reading the Qur'an (and other practices).

==Psychology==
The waswas-avoiding behavior could probably be best described, in a secular way, as a [[W:Psychological repression|psychological repression]]. A Muslim represses his "bad" thoughts. He pushes them out of his consciousness, into the unconscious mind. From the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts might express themselves in dreams or as inner voices.

The therapy for psychological repression is basically the opposite of what "Islamic therapy" does. In Freud's psychotherapy, the psychotherapist re-introduces the repressed thoughts back into the conscious mind <ref>Freud, Five Lectures p. 35</ref>. The conscious mind then learns to live with the previously-repressed thoughts and so there is no more repression. While the Islamic treatment of waswas is trying to repress the "bad" thoughts so much that they become silent. Which is not possible, because repressed thoughts don't disappear. They only hide in the unconscious mind and there they still affect a person's behavior and cause psychological problems.

==References==
<references />

Waswas

2019-08-06T19:49:53Z

AbdulHurayrah:

The term '''Waswas''' (in Arabic وسوس) in Islam literally refers to "whispers (usually from Shaitan [Satan])". However, the term is usually used to refer to doubts and temptations. It is commonly believed that Satan and his minions tempt Muslims to sin and weaken their faith in Islam through doubt. When Muslims have negative thoughts about Islam, or thoughts that go against the teachings of Islam this is usually regarded as ''waswas (or waswasa).'' Critics see this as a way to dismiss concerns around Islam and excuse human and biological natural drive.

==Waswas in the Qur'an==
The Arabic word وسوس (''waswas'') in various forms appears five times in the Qur'an.

The first two refer to the story of Adam and Eve. The fa- prefix means "but" or "then".
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}In one instance the Quran says the soul whispers. The tu- simply indicates present tense, 3rd person, feminine, singular verb.{{Quote-text|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}

Two times in a chapter 114. The al- indicates definite article (before a noun). The yu- indicates present tense, 3rd person, singular, masculine verb.<ref>114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,
114:2 The King of men,
114:3 The god of men,
114:4 From the evil of the retreating <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whisperer<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-waswasi<nowiki>''</nowiki>)
114:5 Who <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whispers<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (يُوَسْوِسُ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>yuwaswisu<nowiki>''</nowiki>) into the hearts of men,
114:6 From among the jinn and the men.

{{Quran|114|1-6}}</ref>

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says that the "whisperer" in 114:4 is Satan:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 114:4|from the evil of '''the slinking whisperer Satan''' — he is referred to by the name of the action waswasa on account of his repeated engaging in it — who slinks away and recoils from the heart whenever God is mentioned}}

==Relevant Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|20|120}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to him; he said: O Adam! Shall I guide you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not?}}{{Quote|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are
closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}{{Quote|{{Quran|114|1-6}}|
114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,

114:2 The King of men,

114:3 The god of men,

114:4 From the evil of the retreating '''whisperer''' (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, ''al-waswasi'')

114:5 Who '''whispers''' (يُوَسْوِسُ, ''yuwaswisu'') into the hearts of men,

114:6 From among the jinn and the men.
}}

Muslims are forgiven thoughts against Islam (the "whispers from Satan") as long as they don't act upon them and keep silent:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|46|705}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has accepted my invocation to forgive what whispers in the hearts of my followers, unless they put it to action or utter it."}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|78|657}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah forgives my followers those (evil deeds) their souls may whisper or suggest to them as long as they do not act (on it) or speak."}}

{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|4|27|3464}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has forgiven my Ummah for what is whispered to them or what enters their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.'"}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|36}}|
It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin Mughaffal that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"None of you should urinate in the place where he bathes, for most Waswas (devilish whispers) [1] come from that." [1] I.e., with regard to whether the urine has soiled his body or not.}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1254}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'When the call to prayer is given, the Shaitan runs away breaking wind loudly. When the Tathwb (Iqamah) is completed, he comes back and whispers to a man in his hear, until he does not know how many (rak'ahs) he has prayed. If any one of you notices that, let him prostrate twice.'"}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1257}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Ibrahim bin Suwaid said:
"Alqamah prayed five (rak'ahs) and was told about that. He said: 'Did I really do that?' I nodded yes. He said: 'What about you, O odd-eyed one?' I said: 'Yes'. So he prostrated twice, then he narrated to us from 'Abdullah that the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed five (rak'ahs), and the people whispered to one another, then they said to him: 'Has something been added the prayer?' He said: 'No.' So they told him, and he turned around and prostrated twice, then he said: 'I am only human; I forget as you forget.'"
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|134}} (Hasan)|It was narrated from Al-Hakam, from his father, that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performed Wudu', he would take a handful of water and do this with it. Shu'bah described it:
"He would sprinkle his private parts with it." [1] Shaikh Ibn As-Sunni said: "Al-Hakam (one of the narrators) is Ibn Sufyan Ath-Thaqafi. [1] The purpose is to ward off devilish '''whispers''' lest the person think any emission has taken place, and thus think that his Wudu' has been invalidated.}}

 
{{Quote|Riyad As-Salihin 18:1668|Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said:
Some people asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about soothsayers. He (ﷺ) said, "They are of no account." Upon this they said to him, "O Messenger of Allah! But they sometimes make true predictions." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "That is a word pertaining to truth which a jinn snatches (from the angels) and whispers into the ears of his friend (the soothsayers) who will then mix more than a hundred lies with it."}}

 
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|239}}|
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that some people from amongst the Companions of the Apostle (ﷺ) came to him and said:
Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest.}}

==Association with science denial==
Doubt is a cornerstone of the scientific method. However, the concept of waswas . You gather only information which is in line with Islam, and everything which is not in line with Islam (regardless if it's true and logical) is dismissed. This creates a ''confirmation bias'' in Muslim minds.

For example, when Muslims try to prove that Allah exists, they often try the creationist argument, that "the world exists, therefore somebody must have created it". And now the question "Who created Allah then?" destroys their argument. But their argument was in line with Islam and this counter-argument is against Islam, so the first one continues to be widely accepted, but the counter-argument is dismissed as "waswas":
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|244}}| It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah may peace be upon him) observed:
The Satan comes to everyone. of you and says: Who created this and that? till he questions: Who created your Lord? When he comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and keep away (from such idle thoughts).}}

Also, attacking the source of counter-arguments, instead of actually analyzing and refuting them is a logical ''[[W:Ad hominem|ad hominem]]'' fallacy.

Also if Allah created everything, then he created waswas. If he created waswas to test Muslims whether they are good enough Muslims, then the whole concept stops making sense, because why would he test them, when he is all-knowing and already knows the results? As we can see, when we consider the waswas concept together with other Islamic concepts like all-knowingness and testing belivers, it all stops making sense.

==Blind faith==
The concept of waswas is a perfect method to keep people believing blindly in false information, because if their beliefs were false, they would never realize that, because everything which leads to the realization would be considered waswas.

==Islamic treatment of waswas==
When you search the web, you will find many Muslims trying to "cure" themselves from waswas <ref>Just Google "waswas".</ref>. The basic treatment method is ''ruqya'' - exorcism. Verses from the Qur'an are recited on the "posessed" Muslim. There is also a possibility of self-ruqya <ref>http://www.aburuqya.com/self-ruqya</ref>, where Muslim tries to get rid of waswas by praying and reading the Qur'an (and other practices).

==Psychology==
The waswas-avoiding behavior could probably be best described, in a secular way, as a [[W:Psychological repression|psychological repression]]. A Muslim represses his "bad" thoughts. He pushes them out of his consciousness, into the unconscious mind. From the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts might express themselves in dreams or as inner voices.

The therapy for psychological repression is basically the opposite of what "Islamic therapy" does. In Freud's psychotherapy, the psychotherapist re-introduces the repressed thoughts back into the conscious mind <ref>Freud, Five Lectures p. 35</ref>. The conscious mind then learns to live with the previously-repressed thoughts and so there is no more repression. While the Islamic treatment of waswas is trying to repress the "bad" thoughts so much that they become silent. Which is not possible, because repressed thoughts don't disappear. They only hide in the unconscious mind and there they still affect a person's behavior and cause psychological problems.

==Conclusions==
Islam commits a logical fallacy by claiming that all information that go against it are ''waswas'' (whispering from Satan). This waswas-avoiding philosophy creates close-minded Muslims, who are not able to realize Islam is false, because everything which leads to that realization is labeled as "waswas" and rejected.

The Islamic treatment of waswas via exorcism is not efficient. The easiest way to get rid of "waswas" is to leave Islam and realize that there is no "waswas" and doubts are just a natural part of how the human brain works.

==References==
<references />

Waswas

2019-08-06T19:28:03Z

AbdulHurayrah:

The term '''Waswas''' (in Arabic وسوس) in Islam literally refers to "whispers (usually from Shaitan [Satan])". However, the term is usually used to refer to doubts and temptations. It is commonly believed that Satan and his minions tempt Muslims to sin and weaken their faith in Islam through doubt. When Muslims have negative thoughts about Islam, or thoughts that go against the teachings of Islam this is usually regarded as ''waswas (or waswasa).'' Critics see this as a way to dismiss concerns around Islam and excuse human and biological natural drive.

==Waswas in the Qur'an==
The Arabic word وسوس (''waswas'') in various forms appears five times in the Qur'an.

The first two refer to the story of Adam and Eve. The fa- prefix means "but" or "then".
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}In one instance the Quran says the soul whispers. The tu- simply indicates present tense, 3rd person, feminine, singular verb.{{Quote-text|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}

Two times in a chapter 114. The al- indicates definite article (before a noun). The yu- indicates present tense, 3rd person, singular, masculine verb.<ref>114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,

114:2 The King of men,

114:3 The god of men,

114:4 From the evil of the retreating <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whisperer<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-waswasi<nowiki>''</nowiki>)

114:5 Who <nowiki>'''</nowiki>whispers<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (يُوَسْوِسُ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>yuwaswisu<nowiki>''</nowiki>) into the hearts of men,

114:6 From among the jinn and the men.

{{Quran|114|1-6}}</ref>

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says that the "whisperer" in 114:4 is Satan:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 114:4|from the evil of '''the slinking whisperer Satan''' — he is referred to by the name of the action waswasa on account of his repeated engaging in it — who slinks away and recoils from the heart whenever God is mentioned}}

==Relevant Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|20}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|20|120}}|'''But''' the Shaitan '''made an evil suggestion''' (فَوَسْوَسَ, ''fa-waswasa'') to him; he said: O Adam! Shall I guide you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not?}}{{Quote|{{Quran|50|16}}|And We have already created man and know what his soul '''whispers''' (تُوَسْوِسُ, ''tuwaswisu'') to him, and We are
closer to him than [his] jugular vein}}{{Quote|{{Quran|114|1-6}}|
114:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men,

114:2 The King of men,

114:3 The god of men,

114:4 From the evil of the retreating '''whisperer''' (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ, ''al-waswasi'')

114:5 Who '''whispers''' (يُوَسْوِسُ, ''yuwaswisu'') into the hearts of men,

114:6 From among the jinn and the men.
}}

Muslims are forgiven thoughts against Islam (the "whispers from Satan") as long as they don't act upon them and keep silent:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|46|705}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has accepted my invocation to forgive what whispers in the hearts of my followers, unless they put it to action or utter it."}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|78|657}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah forgives my followers those (evil deeds) their souls may whisper or suggest to them as long as they do not act (on it) or speak."}}

{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|4|27|3464}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has forgiven my Ummah for what is whispered to them or what enters their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.'"}}

Most of the whispers come from urinating in a place for bathing:
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|36}}|
It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin Mughaffal that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"None of you should urinate in the place where he bathes, for most Waswas (devilish whispers) [1] come from that." [1] I.e., with regard to whether the urine has soiled his body or not.}}

Satan runs away farting, then comes back and whispers into hearts of Muslims when they pray, so they don't know how many rakats they have done:
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1254}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'When the call to prayer is given, the Shaitan runs away breaking wind loudly. When the Tathwb (Iqamah) is completed, he comes back and whispers to a man in his hear, until he does not know how many (rak'ahs) he has prayed. If any one of you notices that, let him prostrate twice.'"}}

But when Muhammad forgets how many rakats he has done during prayer, it is because he is just a human being (and it doesn't seem to be a product of Satan whispers):
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|2|13|1257}} (Sahih)|It was narrated that Ibrahim bin Suwaid said:
"Alqamah prayed five (rak'ahs) and was told about that. He said: 'Did I really do that?' I nodded yes. He said: 'What about you, O odd-eyed one?' I said: 'Yes'. So he prostrated twice, then he narrated to us from 'Abdullah that the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed five (rak'ahs), and the people whispered to one another, then they said to him: 'Has something been added the prayer?' He said: 'No.' So they told him, and he turned around and prostrated twice, then he said: 'I am only human; I forget as you forget.'"
}}

Muhammad sprinkled water on his "private parts", so that he doesn't get whispers from Satan:
{{Quote|{{Al Nasai|1|1|134}} (Hasan)|It was narrated from Al-Hakam, from his father, that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performed Wudu', he would take a handful of water and do this with it. Shu'bah described it:
"He would sprinkle his private parts with it." [1] Shaikh Ibn As-Sunni said: "Al-Hakam (one of the narrators) is Ibn Sufyan Ath-Thaqafi. [1] The purpose is to ward off devilish '''whispers''' lest the person think any emission has taken place, and thus think that his Wudu' has been invalidated.}}

Soothsayers make accurate predictions thanks to hearing waswas:
{{Quote|Riyad As-Salihin 18:1668|Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said:
Some people asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about soothsayers. He (ﷺ) said, "They are of no account." Upon this they said to him, "O Messenger of Allah! But they sometimes make true predictions." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "That is a word pertaining to truth which a jinn snatches (from the angels) and whispers into the ears of his friend (the soothsayers) who will then mix more than a hundred lies with it."}}

Waswas is a sign of faith:
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|239}}|
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that some people from amongst the Companions of the Apostle (ﷺ) came to him and said:
Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest.}}

==Critical thinking==
In the waswas-avoiding philosophy, you don't gather all information and then make rational conclusions. You gather only information which is in line with Islam, and everything which is not in line with Islam (regardless if it's true and logical) is dismissed. This creates a ''confirmation bias'' in Muslim minds.

For example, when Muslims try to prove that Allah exists, they often try the creationist argument, that "the world exists, therefore somebody must have created it". And now the question "Who created Allah then?" destroys their argument. But their argument was in line with Islam and this counter-argument is against Islam, so the first one continues to be widely accepted, but the counter-argument is dismissed as "waswas":
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|244}}| It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah may peace be upon him) observed:
The Satan comes to everyone. of you and says: Who created this and that? till he questions: Who created your Lord? When he comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and keep away (from such idle thoughts).}}

Also, attacking the source of counter-arguments, instead of actually analyzing and refuting them is a logical ''[[W:Ad hominem|ad hominem]]'' fallacy.

Also if Allah created everything, then he created waswas. If he created waswas to test Muslims whether they are good enough Muslims, then the whole concept stops making sense, because why would he test them, when he is all-knowing and already knows the results? As we can see, when we consider the waswas concept together with other Islamic concepts like all-knowingness and testing belivers, it all stops making sense.

==Blind faith==
The concept of waswas is a perfect method to keep people believing blindly in false information, because if their beliefs were false, they would never realize that, because everything which leads to the realization would be considered waswas.

==Islamic treatment of waswas==
When you search the web, you will find many Muslims trying to "cure" themselves from waswas <ref>Just Google "waswas".</ref>. The basic treatment method is ''ruqya'' - exorcism. Verses from the Qur'an are recited on the "posessed" Muslim. There is also a possibility of self-ruqya <ref>http://www.aburuqya.com/self-ruqya</ref>, where Muslim tries to get rid of waswas by praying and reading the Qur'an (and other practices).

==Psychology==
The waswas-avoiding behavior could probably be best described, in a secular way, as a [[W:Psychological repression|psychological repression]]. A Muslim represses his "bad" thoughts. He pushes them out of his consciousness, into the unconscious mind. From the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts might express themselves in dreams or as inner voices.

The therapy for psychological repression is basically the opposite of what "Islamic therapy" does. In Freud's psychotherapy, the psychotherapist re-introduces the repressed thoughts back into the conscious mind <ref>Freud, Five Lectures p. 35</ref>. The conscious mind then learns to live with the previously-repressed thoughts and so there is no more repression. While the Islamic treatment of waswas is trying to repress the "bad" thoughts so much that they become silent. Which is not possible, because repressed thoughts don't disappear. They only hide in the unconscious mind and there they still affect a person's behavior and cause psychological problems.

==Conclusions==
Islam commits a logical fallacy by claiming that all information that go against it are ''waswas'' (whispering from Satan). This waswas-avoiding philosophy creates close-minded Muslims, who are not able to realize Islam is false, because everything which leads to that realization is labeled as "waswas" and rejected.

The Islamic treatment of waswas via exorcism is not efficient. The easiest way to get rid of "waswas" is to leave Islam and realize that there is no "waswas" and doubts are just a natural part of how the human brain works.

==References==
<references />

Inshallah (If Allah Wills)

2019-07-31T19:21:58Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure

'''Inshallah''' (also written as in sha' Allah or insha'Allah), in Arabic إن شاء الله, is an Islamic phrase used Arabic and non-Arabic speaking Muslims. The literal meaning of "in sha' Allah" is "if God wills" and Muslims are supposed to say this phrase whenever they say their plan to do something.<ref>And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow," Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."

{{Quran|18|23-24}}</ref>
{{page_title|In Sha' Allah}}
==The phrase in Arabic==
With [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#The_Arabic_Diacritics|diacritics]] it is written as:

*إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ

In the old Qur'anic Uthmani script, the شَاءَ is written with [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#Special_alif_diacritics|alif maddah]]:

*إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ

The three words are:

*إِن - ''in'' - (a particle) if
*شَاءَ - ''sha''' - (3rd person perfect verb) wills <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(2:70:15)</ref>
*اللَّهُ - ''Allah'' - (proper noun) God

The three letters in شَاءَ are:

*ش - '''sh'''in
*ا - '''a'''lif
*ء - hamza

Hamza is read as a glottal stop (closing the throat), which is indicated by the apostrophe "In sha' Allah".

The root of شَاءَ is شيا.

Some Muslims write ''in'' and ''sha'' together, so they get ''insha''. انشاء الله (insha' Allah) means "we created/invented Allah" (insha is from a different root نشا). So by writing ''in'' and ''sha''' together they proclaim that Allah is a man-made god. <ref>Insha is used in the Qur'an. For example in 23:78:

*وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ لَكُمُ
*It is whe who created (أَنشَأَ) for you
http://www.alahazrat.net/islam/correct-way-of-writing-in-sha-allah-(english).php</ref>

==Origin==
In Ibn Ishaq's sira (biography of Muhammad), we can read that some people were sent to Jewish rabbis, to ask them how to determine whether Muhammad is a real prophet. They prepared 3 questions for Muhammad and if he answers them right, then he is a prophet. Muhammad said, he will give them the answers tomorrow, but after 15 days he was still without any answers. Supposedly because he didn't say "in sha' Allah":

{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah, page 133|...they sent him and `Uqba b. Abu Mu`ayt to the Jewish rabbis in Medina and said to them, 'Ask them about Muhammad; describe him to them and tell them what he says, for they are the first people of the scriptures and have knowledge which we do not possess about the prophets.' They carried out their instructions, and said to the rabbis, 'You are the people of the Taurat, and we have come to you so that you can tell us how to deal with this tribesman of ours.' The rabbis said, 'Ask him about three things of which we will instruct you; if he gives you the right answer then he is an authentic prophet, but if he does not, then the man is a rogue, so form your own opinion about him. Ask him what happened to the young men who disappeared in ancient days, for they have a marvellous story. Ask him about the mighty traveller who reached the confines of both East and West. Ask him what the spirit is. If he can give you the answer, then follow him, for he is a prophet. If he cannot, then he is a forger and treat him as you will.' The two men returned to Quraysh at Mecca and told them that they had a decisive way of dealing with Muhammad, and they told them about the three questions.

They came to the apostle and called upon him to answer these questions. ''He said to them, 'I will give you your answer tomorrow,' but he did not say, 'if God will.' So they went away; and the apostle, so they say, waited for fifteen days without a revelation'' from God on the matter, nor did Gabriel come to him, so that the people of Mecca began to spread evil reports, saying, 'Muhammad promised us an answer on the morrow, and today is the fifteenth day we have remained without an answer.' This delay caused the apostle great sorrow, until Gabriel brought him the Chapter of The Cave, in which he reproaches him for his sadness, and told him the answers of their questions, the youths, the mighty traveller, and the spirit.

I was told that the apostle said to Gabriel when he came, 'You have shut yourself off from me, Gabriel, so that I became apprehensive'. He answered, '' 'We descend only by God's command, whose is what lies before us, behind us, and what lies between, and thy Lord does not forget. ''}}
The last sentence by Gabriel became a verse in the Qur'an:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|19|64}}|And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord; to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your Lord is not forgetful.}}

After 15 days Muhammad revealed vague answers to the questions. The revealed answers seem to be collected from rumors of the people and not from an all-knowing being, because they include phrases like "some people say" with a list of different rumors, instead of giving the exact number. They also include the "[[Allah knows best]]" excuse. This verse deals with the number of [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|the sleepers of Ephesus]]:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|18|22}}|
18:22 '''(Some) say: (They are) three''', the fourth of them being their dog; '''and (others) say: Five''', the sixth of them being their dog, making conjectures at what is unknown; '''and (others yet) say: Seven''', and the eighth of them is their dog. Say: '''My Lord best knows''' their number, none knows them but a few; therefore contend not in the matter of them but with an outward contention, and do not question concerning them any of them.}}

Immediately after that verse (18:22), come the verses (18:23-24) about the necessity of saying ''in sha' Allah'':
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|18|23-24}}|18:23 And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"

18:24 Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." (أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ) And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."}}

So if Islam is true, then Allah refused to help Muhammad with his challenge to prove his prophethood, just because Muhammad didn't say ''in sha' Allah''. But somehow after 15 days he helped him anyway. Also Allah's knowledge seems to be limited by the knowledge of people around Muhammad, because instead of giving the exact number of the sleepers of Ephesus, he gave an answer like "some people say this and some people say that".

And if Islam is false, than it means that Muhammad probably didn't have the answers to the questions and hoped someone would help him with it until the next day, but eventually it took him 15 days to collect at least some vague answers and then as an excuse for his delay he said that it was because he didn't say ''in sha' Allah''.

==Relevant Quotations==
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|23-24}}|
18:23 And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"

18:24 Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." (أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ) And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|70}}|They said: Call on your Lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is, for surely to us the cows are all alike, and '''if Allah please''' we shall surely be guided aright.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|12|99}}|Then when they came in to Yusuf, he took his parents to lodge with him and said: Enter safe into Egypt, '''if Allah please'''.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|69}}|He said: '''If Allah pleases''', you will find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|28|27}}|He said: I desire to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you on condition that you should serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be of your own free will, and I do not wish to be hard to you; '''if Allah please''', you will find me one of the good.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|37|102}}|And when he attained to working with him, he said: O my son! surely I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. He said: O my father! do what you are commanded; '''if Allah please''', you will find me of the patient ones.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|48|27}}|Certainly Allah had shown to His Messenger the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, '''if Allah pleases''', in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear, but He knows what you do not know, so He brought about a near victory before that.}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|70}}|On this world and the hereafter. And they ask you concerning the orphans Say: To set right for them (their affairs) is good, and if you become co-partners with them, they are your brethren; and Allah knows the mischief-maker and the pacemaker, '''and if Allah had pleased''' (وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ), He would certainly have caused you to fall into a difficulty; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.}} 
{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||3|11|2106}} (Sahih)|It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar:
"Whoever swears an oath and says '''In sha' Allah''', will never break his oath."}}

 
{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||3|19|1606}} (Sahih)|Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "If I live - '''if Allah wills''' - I will expel the Jews and the Christians from the Arabian Peninsula."}}

 
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|78|634}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "(The Prophet) Solomon once said, 'Tonight I will sleep with ninety women, each of whom will bring forth a (would-be) cavalier who will fight in Allah's Cause." On this, his companion said to him, "Say: Allah willing!" But he did not say Allah willing. Solomon then slept with all the women, but none of them became pregnant but one woman who later delivered a halfman. By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, if he (Solomon) had said, 'Allah willing' (all his wives would have brought forth boys) and they would have fought in Allah's Cause as cavaliers. "}}

==See Also==

*[[Allah knows best]]
*[[Allahu Akbar]]

==References==
<references />

Inshallah (If Allah Wills)

2019-07-31T19:13:30Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Inshallah''' (also written as in sha' Allah or insha'Allah), in Arabic إن شاء الله, is an Islamic phrase used not only by Arab Muslims, but also by English-speaking Muslims. The literal meaning of "in sha' Allah" is "if wills God" and Muslims have to (because of verses 18:23-24) say this phrase whenever they say their plan to do something.
{{page_title|In Sha' Allah}}
==The phrase in Arabic==
With [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#The_Arabic_Diacritics|diacritics]] it is written as:

*إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ

In the old Qur'anic Uthmani script, the شَاءَ is written with [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#Special_alif_diacritics|alif maddah]]:

*إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ

The three words are:

*إِن - ''in'' - (a particle) if
*شَاءَ - ''sha''' - (3rd person perfect verb) wills <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(2:70:15)</ref>
*اللَّهُ - ''Allah'' - (proper noun) God

The three letters in شَاءَ are:

*ش - '''sh'''in
*ا - '''a'''lif
*ء - hamza

Hamza is read as a glottal stop (closing the throat), which is indicated by the apostrophe "In sha' Allah".

The root of شَاءَ is شيا.

Some Muslims write ''in'' and ''sha'' together, so they get ''insha''. انشاء الله (insha' Allah) means "we created/invented Allah" (insha is from a different root نشا). So by writing ''in'' and ''sha''' together they proclaim that Allah is a man-made god. <ref>Insha is used in the Qur'an. For example in 23:78:

*وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ لَكُمُ
*It is whe who created (أَنشَأَ) for you
http://www.alahazrat.net/islam/correct-way-of-writing-in-sha-allah-(english).php</ref>

==In the Qur'an==
The verses 18:23-24 are the most important since they command Muslims to say ''in sha Allah''. The verse 18:24 actually says أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ (''an yasha' Allah'') and not ان شاء الله (''in sha' allah''):
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|23-24}}|
18:23 And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"

18:24 Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." (أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ) And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."}}

These verses say ''in sha Allah''. Shakir translates the phrase as "if Allah pleases":
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|70}}|They said: Call on your Lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is, for surely to us the cows are all alike, and '''if Allah please''' we shall surely be guided aright.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|12|99}}|Then when they came in to Yusuf, he took his parents to lodge with him and said: Enter safe into Egypt, '''if Allah please'''.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|69}}|He said: '''If Allah pleases''', you will find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|28|27}}|He said: I desire to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you on condition that you should serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be of your own free will, and I do not wish to be hard to you; '''if Allah please''', you will find me one of the good.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|37|102}}|And when he attained to working with him, he said: O my son! surely I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. He said: O my father! do what you are commanded; '''if Allah please''', you will find me of the patient ones.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|48|27}}|Certainly Allah had shown to His Messenger the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, '''if Allah pleases''', in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear, but He knows what you do not know, so He brought about a near victory before that.}}

In the Qur'an sometimes it is also written as "law sha Allah" (لَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ):
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|70}}|On this world and the hereafter. And they ask you concerning the orphans Say: To set right for them (their affairs) is good, and if you become co-partners with them, they are your brethren; and Allah knows the mischief-maker and the pacemaker, '''and if Allah had pleased''' (وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ), He would certainly have caused you to fall into a difficulty; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.}}

==In the hadith==
Oaths with ''in sha' Allah'' are unbreakable:
{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||3|11|2106}} (Sahih)|It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar:
"Whoever swears an oath and says '''In sha' Allah''', will never break his oath."}}

Muhammad's religious tolerance:
{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||3|19|1606}} (Sahih)|Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "If I live - '''if Allah wills''' - I will expel the Jews and the Christians from the Arabian Peninsula."}}

Solomon's wives didn't get pregnant, because he didn't say ''in sha' Allah'':
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|78|634}}| Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "(The Prophet) Solomon once said, 'Tonight I will sleep with ninety women, each of whom will bring forth a (would-be) cavalier who will fight in Allah's Cause." On this, his companion said to him, "Say: Allah willing!" But he did not say Allah willing. Solomon then slept with all the women, but none of them became pregnant but one woman who later delivered a halfman. By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, if he (Solomon) had said, 'Allah willing' (all his wives would have brought forth boys) and they would have fought in Allah's Cause as cavaliers. "}}

==Origin==
In Ibn Ishaq's sira (biography of Muhammad), we can read that some people were sent to Jewish rabbis, to ask them how to determine whether Muhammad is a real prophet. They prepared 3 questions for Muhammad and if he answers them right, then he is a prophet. '''Muhammad said, he will give them the answers tommorow, but after 15 days he was still without any answers'''. Supposedly because he didn't say "in sha' Allah":

{{Quote|Sirat Rasul Allah, page 133|...they sent him and `Uqba b. Abu Mu`ayt to the Jewish rabbis in Medina and said to them, 'Ask them about Muhammad; describe him to them and tell them what he says, for they are the first people of the scriptures and have knowledge which we do not possess about the prophets.' They carried out their instructions, and said to the rabbis, 'You are the people of the Taurat, and we have come to you so that you can tell us how to deal with this tribesman of ours.' The rabbis said, 'Ask him about three things of which we will instruct you; if he gives you the right answer then he is an authentic prophet, but if he does not, then the man is a rogue, so form your own opinion about him. Ask him what happened to the young men who disappeared in ancient days, for they have a marvellous story. Ask him about the mighty traveller who reached the confines of both East and West. Ask him what the spirit is. If he can give you the answer, then follow him, for he is a prophet. If he cannot, then he is a forger and treat him as you will.' The two men returned to Quraysh at Mecca and told them that they had a decisive way of dealing with Muhammad, and they told them about the three questions.

They came to the apostle and called upon him to answer these questions. ''He said to them, 'I will give you your answer tomorrow,' but he did not say, 'if God will.' So they went away; and the apostle, so they say, waited for fifteen days without a revelation'' from God on the matter, nor did Gabriel come to him, so that the people of Mecca began to spread evil reports, saying, 'Muhammad promised us an answer on the morrow, and today is the fifteenth day we have remained without an answer.' This delay caused the apostle great sorrow, until Gabriel brought him the Chapter of The Cave, in which he reproaches him for his sadness, and told him the answers of their questions, the youths, the mighty traveller, and the spirit.

I was told that the apostle said to Gabriel when he came, 'You have shut yourself off from me, Gabriel, so that I became apprehensive'. He answered, '' 'We descend only by God's command, whose is what lies before us, behind us, and what lies between, and thy Lord does not forget. ''}}
The last sentence by Gabriel became a verse in the Qur'an:
{{Quote|{{Quran|19|64}}|And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord; to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your Lord is not forgetful.}}

After 15 days Muhammad revealed vague answers to the questions. The revealed answers seem to be collected from rumors of the people and not from an all-knowing being, because they include phrases like "some people say" with a list of different rumors, instead of giving the exact number. They also include the "[[Allah knows best]]" excuse. This verse deals with the number of [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|the sleepers of Ephesus]]:
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|22}}|
18:22 '''(Some) say: (They are) three''', the fourth of them being their dog; '''and (others) say: Five''', the sixth of them being their dog, making conjectures at what is unknown; '''and (others yet) say: Seven''', and the eighth of them is their dog. Say: '''My Lord best knows''' their number, none knows them but a few; therefore contend not in the matter of them but with an outward contention, and do not question concerning them any of them.}}

Immediately after that verse (18:22), come the verses (18:23-24) about the necessity of saying ''in sha' Allah'':
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|23-24}}|
18:23 And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"

18:24 Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." (أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ) And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."
}}

So if Islam is true, then Allah refused to help Muhammad with his challenge to prove his prophethood, just because Muhammad didn't say ''in sha' Allah''. But somehow after 15 days he helped him anyway. Also Allah's knowledge seems to be limited by the knowledge of people around Muhammad, because instead of giving the exact number of the sleepers of Ephesus, he gave an answer like "some people say this and some people say that".

And if Islam is false, than it means that Muhammad probably didn't have the answers to the questions and hoped someone would help him with it until the next day, but eventually it took him 15 days to collect at least some vague answers and then as an excuse for his delay he said that it was because he didn't say ''in sha' Allah''.

==Effectiveness==
Saying ''in sha' Allah'' is supposed to help people achieve their goals/wishes. If people don't say ''in sha' Allah'', then their goals shouldn't be achieved (for example, Solomon couldn't have kids without saying ''in sha' Allah''). But since people from other religions and atheists can achieve their goals without saying ''in sha' Allah'' and Muslims do not always achieve their goals despite saying ''in sha' Allah'', then the effectiveness of this phrase on achieving goals is approximately 0%.

==See Also==

*[[Allah knows best]]
*[[Allahu Akbar]]

==References==
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-31T19:11:51Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Hadith */

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

==Relevants Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote-text|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 |The blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.
Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote-text|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Moses' Father==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

In Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote-text|History of at-Tabari, volume 3|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote-text|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-31T19:11:20Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Moses' Father */

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

==Relevants Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

===Hadith===
{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote-text|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 |The blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.
Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote-text|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Moses' Father==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

In Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote-text|History of at-Tabari, volume 3|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote-text|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-26T17:34:16Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Apologetic Arguments */

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

==Relevants Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

===Hadith===
{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote-text|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 |The blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.
Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote-text|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Moses' Father==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

In Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote-text|History of at-Tabari, volume 3|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|
ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)
}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-26T16:58:05Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary */

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

==Relevants Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

===Hadith===
{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote-text|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote-text|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 |The blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.
Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Name of the father of Moses==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=ERV-AR</ref>|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

But in Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote|History of at-Tabari, volume 3 <ref>https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/The%20History%20Of%20Tabari/Tabari_Volume_03.pdf</ref>|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|
ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)
}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-26T16:56:36Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Biblical and Talmudic */

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

==Relevants Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

 
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

===Hadith===
{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
 {{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=NIV</ref>|The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 <ref>http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob05.htm</ref>|THE blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.

Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Name of the father of Moses==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=ERV-AR</ref>|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

But in Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote|History of at-Tabari, volume 3 <ref>https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/The%20History%20Of%20Tabari/Tabari_Volume_03.pdf</ref>|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|
ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)
}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Mary, Sister of Aaron

2019-07-25T19:36:13Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron''' (and of Moses), is mentioned in the [[Quran]] in passing in reference to Mariam [[Mary]] (Mariam) the mother of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}</ref> Many [[Critics of Islam|critics]] of the Quran as far back as [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|Muhammad]]'s time regard this as a simple but revealing error.<ref name=":0">Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:

When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.

{{Muslim|28|13}}</ref> In [[Arabic]] both Marys are called by the same name مريم (''Maryam''). Doubting Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.<ref name=":0" /> While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the [[hadith]] Muhammad gives his excuses to the misunderstanding.<ref name=":0" />

==Mention of Mary in the Quran==
===Qur'an===
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|19|27|34}}|Then '''she brought him to her own folk,''' carrying him. '''They said: O Mary!''' Thou hast come with an amazing thing.

(19:28) '''O sister of Aaron!''' Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

'''Then she pointed to him.''' They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

'''He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah.''' He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,

And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,

And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

'''Such was Jesus, son of Mary:''' (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
}}

The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.{{Quote-text|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

The Quran mentions prominent families:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}}

== Relevants Quotations ==
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|45}}|(Remember) when '''the wife of 'Imran said''': My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee '''that which is in my belly''' as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower!

And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! '''I have named her Mary,''' and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.

And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.

Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.

He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.

He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

(And remember) when the angels said: '''O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,''' illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).

He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.

'''She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?''' He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also called "daughter of Imran" in sura 66:
{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
}}

Imran is an Arabic form of the name Amram. Amram was the father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam <ref>1 Chronicles 6:3, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=NIV</ref>. So the Qur'an mentions Mary in the same family relationship as Miriam.

===Hadith===
The Christians of Najran found this mistake in the time of Muhammad. They asked Muhammad's companion about it and he didn't have a clue. He asked Muhammad and received this answer:
{{Quote|{{Muslim|28|13}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.}}
Harun is an Arabic form of Aaron. His answer was that she was only called "sister of Aaron" and the reason is that Aaron was a pious man who lived a thousand years before her.

His answer seems to be an excuse, because the Christians, Muhammad's companions and even Aisha, all understood the Qur'an to mean she is literally the sister of Aaron. Tafsir Ibn Kathir in its non-abridged Arabic version says this:
{{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir (non-abridged) on 19:28 <ref>http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1</ref> | وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر
 
It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (of Sura 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied." Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.}}

So even Aisha understood the Qur'an to mean that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a sister of Aaron and Moses.

If really people used to name people after pious people who lived before them and Mary was called "sister of Aaron", why didn't Aisha nor Muhammad's companion nor the Christians knew about it?

==Biblical and Talmudic ==
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=NIV</ref>|The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.}}

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
{{Quote|The gospel of the birth of Mary, 1:1-2 <ref>http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob05.htm</ref>|THE blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.

Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2684&Itemid=75 Maryam with Al-Masih before the People, Their Rejection of Her and His Reply to Them] Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(O sister of Harun!) referring to the brother of Musa, because she was of his descendants. This is similar to the saying, `O brother of Tamim,' to one who is from the Tamimi tribe, and `O brother of Mudar,' to one who is from the Mudari tribe. It has also been said that she was related to a righteous man among them whose name was Harun and she was comparable to him in her abstinence and worship.}}

Since he put two possible solutions for this problem, he was probably not sure about any of them. Otherwise he would put just one (either she is a descendant "sister" of Aaron or she had an actual brother coincidentally called Aaron).

==="Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"===

The Qur'an literally says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so why is the Qur'an saying she is from the family of Aaron? Some apologists point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1</ref>. But just because Mary is a cousin or somehow related to Elizabeth, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are both descendants of Aaron.

If Mary was known to be a descendant of Aaron, then why the Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) from Muhammad's time didn't know about it?

This also doesn't explain why in the 3rd sura she is described as an actual daughter of Amram.

==="Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"===

Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.

{{Quote|{{Quran|19|28}}|O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.}}

In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".

==Name of the father of Moses==
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:
{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible <ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+6:3&version=ERV-AR</ref>|
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
}}

But in Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:

{{Quote|History of at-Tabari, volume 3 <ref>https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/The%20History%20Of%20Tabari/Tabari_Volume_03.pdf</ref>|
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
}}

the Arabic original has the letter ''nun'' (ن) at the end:
{{Quote|History of at-Tabari (ِArabic) <ref>https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383</ref>|
ذكر نسب موسى بن عمران

Genealogy of Musa bin Imran (عمران)
}}
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.

When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.

==See Also==
{{Hub4|Contradictions and Errors|Contradictions and Errors}}
* [[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]
* [[Contradictions in the Quran‎]]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html "Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram" (Answering Islam)]

{{Translation-links-english|[[Marie, sestra Áronova, v Koránu|Czech]]}}

==References==
[[Category:Qur'anic Errors]]
[[bg:Грешки в Корана: Моисей и Аарон – вуйчовци на Иисус]]
{{Page title|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an}}
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T16:01:49Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Muhammad, the Islamic role model */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- 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-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.
====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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible===
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications Muhammad was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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==
Muhammad is seen as the foremost role model in Islam. It is considered [[sunnah]] (righteous conduct) to emulate Prophet Muhammad as much as possible.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:58:30Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- 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-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.
====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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible===
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications Muhammad was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:57:42Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- 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-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.
====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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible===
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:55:50Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.
====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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother}}

====Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:54:23Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Verses 7:157-158 */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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 7 Verses 157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

=====Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Chapter 2 Verse 78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Chapter 3 Verse 75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Chapter 62 Verse 2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:53:06Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* "Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

=====Claimed prediction of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:51:48Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Transfer of Information */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have many means by which information transfer is possible including:

*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:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:36:56Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have 5 senses for getting information from the outside world:

*Hearing
*Sight
*Touch
*Taste
*Smell

Human can receive information by listening (hearing). Verbal communication is a common way to get information. This point is probably obvious to everyone, except Islamic apologists.

During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{Quote-text|{{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.}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia. }}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{Quote-text|{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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-text|{{Muslim|6|2376}}|
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Apostle as saying:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-10T15:31:32Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Hadiths */

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have 5 senses for getting information from the outside world:

*Hearing
*Sight
*Touch
*Taste
*Smell

Human can receive information by listening (hearing). Verbal communication is a common way to get information. This point is probably obvious to everyone, except Islamic apologists.

During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.
}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].
}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia.
}}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |
Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother
}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.
}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."
}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.
}}
{{Quote-text|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''
}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.
}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.
}}
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'
}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|
'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.

}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote-text|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq |When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

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:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-09T19:29:30Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have 5 senses for getting information from the outside world:

*Hearing
*Sight
*Touch
*Taste
*Smell

Human can receive information by listening (hearing). Verbal communication is a common way to get information. This point is probably obvious to everyone, except Islamic apologists.

During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.
}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote-text|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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].
}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{Quote-text|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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote-text|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 |
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia.
}}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote-text|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |
Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother
}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''
}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.
}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'
}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|
'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.

}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad%27s_first_revelation</ref>|

When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ <ref>https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%82/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84</ref>) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

Muhammad said the 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:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}{{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.
}} 
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
{{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)
}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-08T18:57:50Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Muhammad's literacy''' is a commonly mentioned topic in regards to the historicity, revelation, and compiling of the Quran. Many Muslim scholars claim 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.

==Transfer of Information==
Humans have 5 senses for getting information from the outside world:

*Hearing
*Sight
*Touch
*Taste
*Smell

Human can receive information by listening (hearing). Verbal communication is a common way to get information. This point is probably obvious to everyone, except Islamic apologists.

During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|7|155-159}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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-text|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'''.
}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote-text|Non-existant (Isaiah 29:12 according to Zakir Naik)|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote-text|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
One of the plural forms is in sura 2:
{{Quote-text|{{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.
}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{Quote-text|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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{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.
}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20<ref>http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref>|
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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].
}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 <ref>http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1347&Itemid=118</ref>|
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia.
}}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ <ref>http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/01_a/128_!m.html</ref>|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |
Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother
}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''
}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.
}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'
}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|
'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.

}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad%27s_first_revelation</ref>|

When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ <ref>https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%82/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84</ref>) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

Muhammad said the 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:

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}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice."
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}} 
==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Muhammad and illiteracy

2019-07-04T03:38:53Z

AbdulHurayrah:

Some Islamic apologists claim that Muhammad could not be the author of the Quran, because he was illiterate and it's somehow impossible to give made-up speeches if you're illiterate.

==Is reading the only way to get information?==
Humans have 5 senses for getting information from the outside world:

*'''Hearing ''' (!!!)
*Sight
*Touch
*Taste
*Smell

Human can receive information by listening (hearing). Verbal communication is a common way to get information. This point is probably obvious to everyone, except Islamic apologists.

During Muhammad's time, his critics called him "an ear" (أذن, ''udhun''), which is confirmed in the Quran:
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|61}}|
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 he wrote books in Arabic and he was close to Muhammad's first wife Khadija. He also became blind so we can expect he continued to teach the Bible verbally, when he could no longer write.
{{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.
}}

So Muhammad '''could''' get information without being able to read and he '''could''' give speeches which contain these information. And besides that, he could also be inspired by himself, by his wishes and he could use his imagination.

==Was Muhammad really illiterate?==
===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".
====Verses 7:157-158====
The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses:
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|155}}|
7:155 "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."

7:156 "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [ Allah ] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses -"

7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيَّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."

7:158 "Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allah and His Messenger, '''the unlettered''' (الْأُمِّيِّ, ''al-ummiy'') prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided."

7:159 "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. "[O Muhammad]" was added by translators. This strange insertion could be interpreted in many ways. The context doesn't give us a hint what the word ''ummiy'' means.

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'''.
}}
Ibn Kathir doesn't specify where exactly this "well known" description of Muhammad in the Torah is.

====="Prediction" of an illiterate prophet in the Bible=====
A popular Islamic preacher Zakir Naik proposed that an illiterate prophet is predicted in Isaiah 29:12 <ref>http://www.unchangingword.com/illiterate-prophet/</ref>. According to Zakir Naik, the verse says:
{{Quote|"Isaiah 29:12" in Zakir Naik's imagination <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=onKXQlyFwU8</ref>|
"The book shall be given to a person who is not learned. And when will be asked "Read this!", he will say "I am not learned".
}}
This could be a prediction of what Aisha described:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|1|3}}|...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."...}}
But this is what Isaiah 29:12 actually says:
{{Quote|Isaiah 29:11-13|
29:11 "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”"

29:12 "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”"

29:13 "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
}}
So the verse 29:12 actually talks about hypocrites who give lame excuses for not reading the Bible.

====Verse 2:78====
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.
}}
Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says about the verse:
{{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".

====Verse 3:20====
Another is in the verse 3:20.
{{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.
}}

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20 says:
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20<ref>http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref>|
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.
====Verse 3:75====
{{Quote|{{Quran|3|75}}|
And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. That is because they say, "There is no blame upon us concerning '''the unlearned''' (الْأُمِّيِّينَ, ''al-ummeena'')." And they speak untruth about Allah while they know [it].
}}
The tafsir Al-Jalalayn explains:
{{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.

====Verse 62:2====
{{Quote|{{Quran|62|2-3}}|
62:2 "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 -"

62:3 "And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
}}
In 62:2, according to the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, the word means illiterate and refers to the illiterate Arabs:
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 62:2|
It is He Who sent to the unlettered folk among the Arabs '''ummī means ‘one who cannot write or read a book’''' a messenger from among them namely Muhammad (s) to recite to them His signs the Qur’ān and to purify them to cleanse them from idolatry and to teach them the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom in the rulings that it contains though indeed wa-in in has been softened from the hardened form with its subject having been omitted that is to say understand it as wa-innahum before that before his coming they had been in manifest error.}}
Ibn Kathir says "other" in 62:3 means Persians:
{{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 62:3 <ref>http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1347&Itemid=118</ref>|
The Prophet explained Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ﴾

(And others among them) by mentioning Persia.
}}
===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):

*''umm'' (أم) - mother
*''amam'' (امام) - in front of
*''imam'' (إمام) - leader (because he is "in front of" others)
*''ummah'' (أمة) - the (Islamic) community/nation

The Lane's lexicon says this about ''ummiy'':
{{Quote|Lane's lexicon on أُمِّىٌّ <ref>http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/01_a/128_!m.html</ref>|

أُمِّىٌّ
(T, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and ↓أُمَّانٌ (Ḳ) [the former a rel. n. from أُمَّةٌ, and thus '''properly meaning Gentile''': whence, in a secondary, or tropical, sense,(assumed tropical:) '''a heathen''';] (assumed tropical:) '''one not having a revealed scripture'''; (Bḍ in iii. 19 and 69;) so applied by those having a revealed scripture: (Bḍ in iii.69:) '''[and particularly] an Arab''': (Jel in iii. 69, and Bḍ and Jel in lxii. 2:) [or] in the proper language [of the Arabs], of, '''or belonging to, or relating to, the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs, who did not write nor read''': and therefore '''metaphorically applied to (tropical:) any one not knowing the art of writing nor that of reading''': (Mgh:) or (assumed tropical:) '''one who does not write; (T, M, Ḳ;) because the art of writing is acquired; as though he were thus called in relation to the condition in which his mother (أُمَّهُ) brought him forth''': (T:) or (assumed tropical:) one who is in the natural condition of the nation (الأُمَّة) to which he belongs, (Zj, * T, M, * Ḳ, *) in respect of not writing, (T,) or not having learned writing; thus remaining in his natural state: (M, Ḳ:) or (assumed tropical:) one who does not write well; said to be a rel. n. from أمٌّ; because the art of writing is acquired, and such a person is as his mother brought him forth, in respect of ignorance of that art; or, as some say, from أُمَّةُ العَرَبِ; because most of the Arabs were of this description: (Mṣb:) the art of writing was known among the Arabs [in the time of Moḥammad] by the people of Et-Táïf, who learned it from a man of the people of El-Heereh, and these had it from the people of El-Ambár. (T.) أُمِّيُّون لَا يَعْلَمُونَ, الكِتَابَ, in the Ḳur ii. 73, means Vulgar persons, [or heathen,] who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses: (Jel:) or ignorant persons, who know not writing, so that they may read that book; or, who know not the Book of the Law revealed to Moses. (Bḍ.) '''Moḥammad was termed أُمِّىّ [meaning A Gentile, as distinguished from an Israelite: or, accord. to most of his followers, meaning illiterate;] because the nation (أُمَّة) of the Arabs did not write, nor read writing; and [they say that] God sent him as an apostle when he did not write, nor read from a book; and this natural condition of his was one of his miraculous signs, to which reference is made in the Ḳur [xxix. 47], where it is said, “thou didst not read, before it, from a book, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand:” (T, TA:) but accord. to the more correct opinion, he was not well acquainted with written characters nor with poetry, but he discriminated between good and bad poetry: or, as some assert, he became acquainted with writing after he had been unacquainted therewith, on account of the expression “ before it ”''' in the verse of the Ḳur mentioned above: or, as some say, this may mean that he wrote though ignorant of the art of writing, like as some of the kings, being أُمِّيُّون, write their signs, or marks: (TA:) or, accord. to Jaạfar Es-Sádik, he used to read from the book, or scripture, if he did not write. (Kull p. 73.) [Some judicious observations on this word are comprised in Dr. Sprenger's Life of Moḥammad (pp. 101-2); a work which, in the portion already published (Part I.), contains much very valuable information.]
―
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:
{{Quote-text|Almaany.com on أمي |
Translation and Meaning of أمي in Almaany English Arabic Dictionary

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

illiterate ; uneducated ; unlettered
-
- illiterate
- unable to read or uneducated
- an illiterate person
- not educated; illiterate
- illiterate, not well educated

أُمّيّ ( اسم ):

maternal ; mother ; motherly
-
- maternal
- typical of or connected with being a mother
- of a female parent of a child or animal
- of or relating to mother
}}

*اسم (''ism'') means "a noun".

So this word has a variety of meanings. We could speculate that it could even mean "motherly" (derived from ''umm'' - mother), because Muhammad's father died before Muhammad was born and he lived only with his mother.

===Indications he was literate===
Muhammad was employed by his first wife Khadija to travel as a merchant. It's hard to do trade business without being able to write. Besides this implicit indication to his ability to write, we have explicit hadiths talking about Muhammad writing stuff.

====Hadiths====
كتب (''kataba'') means "he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|3|65}}|
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

'''Once the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter or had an idea of writing a letter'''. The Prophet (ﷺ) was told that they (rulers) would not read letters unless they were sealed. So the Prophet (ﷺ) got a silver ring made with "Muhammad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)" engraved on it. As if I were just observing its white glitter in the hand of the Prophet.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|42|5117}}|
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

'''The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) a letter to Heraclius''': "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|18|2921}} (sahih)|
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Sa'id said: Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Blood-money is meant for the clan of the slain, and she will not inherit from the blood-money of her husband. Ad-Dahhak ibn Sufyan said: '''The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote (كَتَبَ) to me''' that I should give a share to the wife of Ashyam ad-Dubabi from the blood-money of her husband. So Umar withdrew his opinion.

Ahmad ibn Salih said: AbdurRazzaq transmitted this tradition to us from Ma'mar, from az-Zuhri on the authority of Sa'id. In this version he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) made him governor over the bedouins.
}}
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|19|2993}}|
Narrated Yazid ibn Abdullah:

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

'''We then asked: Who wrote (كَتَبَ) this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).'''
}}

وكتب (''wa-kataba'') means "and he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|387}}|
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi:

We accompanied the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of 'Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet. '''And the Prophet (ﷺ) wrote (وَكَتَبَ) to him''' a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.
}}

فكتب (''fa-kataba'') means "then he wrote":
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|89|302}}|
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." '''After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote (فَكَتَبَ) a letter to the Jews''' in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him.
}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|49|863}}|
Narrated Al-Bara:

When the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, '''Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took the document and wrote (فَكَتَبَ)''', 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet (ﷺ) ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.'
}}
====The first revelation====
The first sura was the sura 96, which begins as follows:
{{Quote|{{Quran|96|1-5}}|
'''Read''' (اقرا, ''iqra'') in the name of your Lord who created -

Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -

Who taught '''by the pen''' (بالقلم, ''bil-qalam'') -

Taught man that which he knew not.

}}

*The word ''iqra'' is sometimes translated as "recite", but "recitation" in Arabic is تِلاَوَة (''tilawa'') and the Quran uses form of that word for "recitation" <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=tlw</ref>.

There are two versions of the story of the first revelation. In the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq it goes as follows:
{{Quote|Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad%27s_first_revelation</ref>|

When it was the night on which God honored him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, ‘Read!’ I said, '''‘What shall I read?’''' (وما اقرأ <ref>https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%82/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84</ref>) He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said ‘Read!’ I said, ‘What then shall I read?’—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

‘Read in the name of thy Lord who created, Who created man of blood coagulated. Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, Who taught by the pen, Taught that which they knew not unto men.’
So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart.}}
It says وما اقرأ "and what (should I) read?". So in this story Muhammad can read, he just asks what should he read.

Ibn Ishaq died in 761. But in 810 was born Bukhari, who wrote a little different story in his Sahih Bukhari collection:
{{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)
}}

*If the ''iqra'' in 96:1 meant "recite" as some translators translated it, then here Muhammad says "I don't know how to recite".

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.

==Muhammad, the Islamic role model==
Muslims believe that Muhammad is their role model and at the same time they believe that he didn't learn how to read.

Muhammad said the 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:

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).

==Conclusions==

*According to the hadiths, Muhammad could write.
*The meaning of the word ''ummiy'' in the Quran is not clear, but if it means "illiterate", then the Quran is in contradiction with the sahih hadiths.
*Muslims believe Muhammad was illiterate and they consider him their perfect role model for all times.
*Muhammad could be the author of the Quran regardless if he could or couldn't read and write.

==See also==

{{Translation-links-english|[[Mohamed a negramotnost|Czech]]}}

==References==
<references />

Allahu Akbar (God is Greater)

2019-05-01T17:16:22Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Why some Apologists insist 'Allah' means 'God' */

[[File:Malaysia Allah for Muslims only.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]The phrase '''Allahu Akbar''' (الله أكبر) is a common phrase used by Muslims in various situations, including the [[Salah]] (obligatory five [[prayers]] a day) and has even been used in the past by some [[non-Muslims]] as a show of support or in reference to the common Abrahamic god. It is widely conflated with the Muslims who shout it whilst engaged in [[Terrorism|Jihad]]. The literal translation of this phrase from [[Arabic]] means "God is greater!" The phrase has a unique history in [[Islam and Scripture|scripture]] and its early use and conception.

==Difference between Allah and Ilah==

==='''Allah''' = الله (alif ا, lam ل, lam ل, ha ه)===

'''ilah''' = اله (alif ا, lam ل, ha ه)

The [[Shahadah]] is one of the [[Five Pillars of Islam|five pillars of Islam]], and is recited by all Muslims:

{{Quote||2=
'''Arabic:''' أشهد أن لا إله إلاَّ الله و أشهد أن محمد رسول الله

'''Transliteration:''' ašhadu ʾanla ilāha illal-Lāh, wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlul-Lāh

'''Literal:''' There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.}}

The phrase is commonly mistakenly translated to "There is no god but God." However, in Islam the name Allah as a proper noun, as opposed to a common noun descriptive applicable to any deity. Allah is not the generic word for 'god' in Arabic, but the ''name'' of Islam's deity.

{{Quote|[http://bewley.virtualave.net/Riscreeds.html The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani] A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996)|['''1.1a'''] The belief that Allah is One is the fundamental basis of Islam, and when Divine Unity is expressed, '''the name "Allah" must be used. It is not permissible to say, "There is no god but the Almighty"''' or use any other names except Allah for the shahada. Nothing at all resembles Him or is equal to Him.}}

====Is Allah the same as God?====
In another case in [[Malaysia]], the government banned Christians from using the word 'Allah' in reference to the Christian God,<ref>"[http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5183&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Malaysia&rowcur=0 Malaysia: Government Maintains Only Muslims Can Use ‘Allah’ Term]" - Compass Direct News, January 08, 2008</ref> and in one incident, reported by CNN in October of 2009, twenty-thousand Bibles were seized by authorities because they referred to the Christian God as 'Allah,'<ref>Saeed Ahmed - "[http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/malaysia.bibles.seized/ Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism]" - CNN, October 29, 2009</ref> completely disregarding the fact that due to the evolution of the Malay language, which has borrowed extensively from Arabic, Sanskrit and Portuguese, there is no indigenous Malay word for 'God' other than the pagan 'Allah'. It was reported that in 2010 a court ruling overturned the ban, a decision which the government has appealed against, insisting that it should remain in place.<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute"></ref> This decision to allow Christians to use the word 'Allah' has led to violent protests and bombings of several Malaysian churches.<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute"></ref> One of the protesters summed up the thoughts of many Malaysian Muslims, stating, “Allah is only for us, The Christians can use any word, we don’t care, but please don’t use the word Allah.”<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/world/asia/09malaysia.html|title=Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute|publisher=The New York Times|last=Mydans|first=Seth|date=January 9, 2010}}</ref>

So, according to Muslims, is 'Allah' the word for 'God' or the name of their particular deity distinct from the God of Christianity and Judaism? No doubt you will receive very different answers depending on the situation. However, the original Arabic script found within the Qur'an tells you all that you need to know.

===Akbar===

'''Claim:''' 'Akbar' means 'great.'

'''Fact:''' 'Akbar' in English is translated 'greater,' not 'great.'
'''Great''' = كبير (Kebir)

'''Greater''' = أكبر (Akbar)

====Evidence====

Kebir and akbar are not interchangeable words. For evidence, we only need look to the Qur'an. Both kebir (great) and akbar (greater) are used in the following verse:

{{Quote|{{Qtt|2|219}}|2=
'''Original Arabic script:'''

يسالونك عن الخمر والميسر قل فيها اثمتتفكرون كبير ومنافع للناس واثمهما
اكبر من نفعهما ويسالونك ماذا ينفقون قل العفو كذلك يبين الله لكم الايات لعلكم


'''Transliteration:'''

Yas-aloonaka AAani alkhamri waalmaysiriqul feehima ithmun kabeerun wamanafiAAu lilnnasiwa-ithmuhuma akbaru min nafAAihima wayas-aloonaka mathayunfiqoona quli alAAafwa kathalika yubayyinu Allahulakumu al-ayati laAAallakum tatafakkaroona

'''Yusuf Ali:'''

They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus doth Allah Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider- <ref>[http://www.irreduciblefifth.force9.co.uk/burhan/b.x.373.htm Quran root browser - ك ب ر - k-b-r]</ref>}}

===Allahu Akbar===
====Lane's Lexicon and Other Sources====

Lane's Lexicon, the most revered and scholarly dictionary of the Arabic language, confirms the majority view is that "Allahu Akbar" refers to Allah being "greater". Unlike in its early years, so does [[Wikipedia]], stating the phrase literally means "God is greater". But is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir|title= Takbir|publisher= Wikipedia|author= |date= accessed August 4, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTakbir&date=2013-08-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> Similarly, Pierre Tristam, the [[Lebanon|Lebanese]]-[[United States|American]] About.com Guide states, although most often translated as "god is great," Allahu Akbar is Arabic for "god is greater," or "god is greatest."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://middleeast.about.com/od/a/g/allahu-akbar-definition.htm|title= Allahu Akbar|publisher= Middle East Issues (About.com)|author= Pierre Tristam|date= accessed August 4, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmiddleeast.about.com%2Fod%2Fa%2Fg%2Fallahu-akbar-definition.htm&date=2013-08-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> Many news sources and other web resources are now also beginning to use the more correct translation.

====Used in Context by Muhammad====

"Allahu Akbar" has been used historically by Muslims as a battle cry during war.<ref name="Ludwig W. Adamec">Ludwig W. Adamec, "Historical Dictionary of Islam", Scarecrow Press, 2nd ed. 2009, p. 32</ref> This precedent was set by Prophet [[Muhammad]] when he attacked the Jews of Khaibar.

In the following [[sahih]] [[hadith]], you can see the phrase has been translated correctly into English by Muslims.

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|52|195}}|Narrated Anas:

The Prophet set out for Khaibar and reached it at night. He used not to attack if he reached the people at night, till the day broke. So, when the day dawned, the Jews came out with their bags and spades. When they saw the Prophet; they said, "Muhammad and his army!" '''The Prophet said, Allahu--Akbar! (Allah is Greater)''' and Khaibar is ruined, for whenever we approach a nation (i.e. enemy to fight) then it will be a miserable morning for those who have been warned."}}

One must also note that if the word "Allah" meant "God", why then would he be telling the Jews of Khaibar (who supposedly worship the same god) that Islam's Allah is greater?

Here are a few more quotes which use the phrase "Allahu Akbar".

{{Quote|1={{Muwatta|15|15|7|22}}|2=Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Ubayd, the mawla of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, from Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi that Abu Hurayra said, "Whoever says 'Glory be to Allah' (Subhana'llah) thirty-three times and ''''Allah is Greater' (Allahu akbar)''' thirty-three times and 'Praise be to Allah' (al-hamdu lillah) thirty-three times, and seals the hundred with 'There is no god but Allah, alone without any partner. The Kingdom and praise belong to Him and He has power over everything' (La ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir) after every prayer will have his wrong actions forgiven him even if they are abundant as the foam on the sea."}}

{{Quote|1={{Muwatta|49|49|10|34}}|2=Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father never brought food or drink, nor even a remedy which he ate or drank but that he said, "Praise be to Allah who has guided us and fed us and given us to drink and blessed us. '''Allah is greater'''. O Allah! We have found Your blessing with every evil, give us every good in the morning and evening. We ask You for its completion and its gratitude. There is no good except Your good. There is no god other than You, the God of the salihun and the Lord of the Worlds. Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah. What Allah wills. There is no power except in Allah. O Allah! Bless us in what You have provided us with and protect us from the punishment of the Fire!"
 
Al-hamdu lillahi-lladhi hadana wa at amana wa saqana wa naamana. '''Allahu akbar'''. Allahumma'l fatna nimatik bi-kulli sharr. Fa asbahna minha wa amsayna bi-kulli khayr. Nasaluka tamamaha wa shukraha. La khayr illa khayruk. Wa la ilaha ghayruk. Ilaha'-saliheen wa rabba'l-alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Wa la ilaha illa'llah. Ma sha'Allah. Wa la quwwata illa billah. Allahumma barik lana fima razaqtana. Waqina adhaba'n-na}}

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Allah|Allah}}

{{Hub4|Islamic Terms|Islamic Terms}}

==External Links==

*[http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10908&p=166554#p166554 Allahu Akbar] ''- Muslim Arabic speaker, commenting on this page, confirms "Allahu Akbar" means "Allah is greater" (not "God is great)"''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Terms and Definitions]]
[[Category:Islamic Propaganda]]
[[Category:Sani]]
[[ru:Аллаху_Акбар]]
[[bg:Аллаху Акбар]]

Allahu Akbar (God is Greater)

2019-05-01T16:58:50Z

AbdulHurayrah:

[[File:Malaysia Allah for Muslims only.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]The phrase '''Allahu Akbar''' (الله أكبر) is a common phrase used by Muslims in various situations, including the [[Salah]] (obligatory five [[prayers]] a day) and has even been used in the past by some [[non-Muslims]] as a show of support or in reference to the common Abrahamic god. It is widely conflated with the Muslims who shout it whilst engaged in [[Terrorism|Jihad]]. The literal translation of this phrase from [[Arabic]] means "God is most great!" The phrase has a unique history in [[Islam and Scripture|scripture]] and its early use and conception.

==Difference between Allah and Ilah==

==='''Allah''' = الله (alif ا, lam ل, lam ل, ha ه)===

'''ilah''' = اله (alif ا, lam ل, ha ه)

The [[Shahadah]] is one of the [[Five Pillars of Islam|five pillars of Islam]], and is recited by all Muslims:

{{Quote||2=
'''Arabic:''' أشهد أن لا إله إلاَّ الله و أشهد أن محمد رسول الله

'''Transliteration:''' ašhadu ʾanla ilāha illal-Lāh, wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlul-Lāh

'''Literal:''' There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.}}

The phrase is commonly mistakenly translated to "There is no god but God." However, in Islam the name Allah as a proper noun, as opposed to a common noun descriptive applicable to any deity. Allah is not the generic word for 'god' in Arabic, but the ''name'' of Islam's deity.

{{Quote|[http://bewley.virtualave.net/Riscreeds.html The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani] A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996)|['''1.1a'''] The belief that Allah is One is the fundamental basis of Islam, and when Divine Unity is expressed, '''the name "Allah" must be used. It is not permissible to say, "There is no god but the Almighty"''' or use any other names except Allah for the shahada. Nothing at all resembles Him or is equal to Him.}}

====Why some Apologists insist 'Allah' means 'God'====

For some, it is a [[Lying|lie]] told to facilitate proselytisation (Da'wah). For others, it is purely out of ignorance. Language is always evolving, so the actual definition of a word and its popular usage can, and very often does, differ. The word "[[Allah]]", in predominantly Muslim cultures and societies, is used interchangeably with 'God', as most people are Muslims; to them Allah is God, thus to make a distinction would be redundant.

Some are willing to take advantage of people's ignorance of the Arabic language when it suits their purpose. For example: the [[Fake Conversions|false conversion]] story of pop legend [[Michael Jackson (Conversion to Islam)|Michael Jackson]]. A video entitled 'Inshallah' (Allah willing) has been doing the rounds on user-contributed media sites like YouTube. It contains edited footage of Michael Jackson using the phrase 'Inshallah,' and its editor proudly proclaimed on its page "only Muslims say Inshallah." a view which was echoed by many of the Muslim commentators who viewed it. However, it was simply a case of selective editing. The Muslim who made the video had cut off the first part of Michael's statement. It was a 12 year-old promo for his Tunisian fans on the eve of his ''HIS''tory world tour. Since Arabic is [[Tunisia]]'s official language and since Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians living in Tunisia also use the phrase 'Inshallah', it was not proof that he had converted to Islam.

In another case in [[Malaysia]], the government banned Christians from using the word 'Allah' in reference to the Christian God,<ref>"[http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5183&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Malaysia&rowcur=0 Malaysia: Government Maintains Only Muslims Can Use ‘Allah’ Term]" - Compass Direct News, January 08, 2008</ref> and in one incident, reported by CNN in October of 2009, twenty-thousand Bibles were seized by authorities because they referred to the Christian God as 'Allah,'<ref>Saeed Ahmed - "[http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/malaysia.bibles.seized/ Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism]" - CNN, October 29, 2009</ref> completely disregarding the fact that due to the evolution of the Malay language, which has borrowed extensively from Arabic, Sanskrit and Portuguese, there is no indigenous Malay word for 'God' other than the pagan 'Allah'. It was reported that in 2010 a court ruling overturned the ban, a decision which the government has appealed against, insisting that it should remain in place.<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute"></ref> This decision to allow Christians to use the word 'Allah' has led to violent protests and bombings of several Malaysian churches.<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute"></ref> One of the protesters summed up the thoughts of many Malaysian Muslims, stating, “Allah is only for us, The Christians can use any word, we don’t care, but please don’t use the word Allah.”<ref name="Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/world/asia/09malaysia.html|title=Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute|publisher=The New York Times|last=Mydans|first=Seth|date=January 9, 2010}}</ref>

So, according to Muslims, is 'Allah' the word for 'God' or the name of their particular deity distinct from the God of Christianity and Judaism? No doubt you will receive very different answers depending on the situation. However, the original Arabic script found within the Qur'an tells you all that you need to know.

===Akbar===

'''Claim:''' 'Akbar' means 'great.'

'''Fact:''' 'Akbar' in English is translated 'greater,' not 'great.'

'''Great''' = كبير (Kebir)

'''Greater''' = أكبر (Akbar)

====Evidence====

Kebir and akbar are not interchangeable words. For evidence, we only need look to the Qur'an. Both kebir (great) and akbar (greater) are used in the following verse:

{{Quote|{{Qtt|2|219}}|2=
'''Original Arabic script:'''

يسالونك عن الخمر والميسر قل فيها اثمتتفكرون كبير ومنافع للناس واثمهما
اكبر من نفعهما ويسالونك ماذا ينفقون قل العفو كذلك يبين الله لكم الايات لعلكم


'''Transliteration:'''

Yas-aloonaka AAani alkhamri waalmaysiriqul feehima ithmun kabeerun wamanafiAAu lilnnasiwa-ithmuhuma akbaru min nafAAihima wayas-aloonaka mathayunfiqoona quli alAAafwa kathalika yubayyinu Allahulakumu al-ayati laAAallakum tatafakkaroona

'''Yusuf Ali:'''

They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus doth Allah Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider- <ref>[http://www.irreduciblefifth.force9.co.uk/burhan/b.x.373.htm Quran root browser - ك ب ر - k-b-r]</ref>}}

===Allahu Akbar===
====Lane's Lexicon and Other Sources====

Lane's Lexicon, the most revered and scholarly dictionary of the Arabic language, confirms the majority view is that "Allahu Akbar" refers to Allah being "greater". Unlike in its early years, so does [[Wikipedia]], stating the phrase literally means "God is greater". But is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir|title= Takbir|publisher= Wikipedia|author= |date= accessed August 4, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTakbir&date=2013-08-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> Similarly, Pierre Tristam, the [[Lebanon|Lebanese]]-[[United States|American]] About.com Guide states, although most often translated as "god is great," Allahu Akbar is Arabic for "god is greater," or "god is greatest."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://middleeast.about.com/od/a/g/allahu-akbar-definition.htm|title= Allahu Akbar|publisher= Middle East Issues (About.com)|author= Pierre Tristam|date= accessed August 4, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmiddleeast.about.com%2Fod%2Fa%2Fg%2Fallahu-akbar-definition.htm&date=2013-08-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> Many news sources and other web resources are now also beginning to use the more correct translation.

====Used in Context by Muhammad====

"Allahu Akbar" has been used historically by Muslims as a battle cry during war.<ref name="Ludwig W. Adamec">Ludwig W. Adamec, "Historical Dictionary of Islam", Scarecrow Press, 2nd ed. 2009, p. 32</ref> This precedent was set by Prophet [[Muhammad]] when he attacked the Jews of Khaibar.

In the following [[sahih]] [[hadith]], you can see the phrase has been translated correctly into English by Muslims.

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|52|195}}|Narrated Anas:

The Prophet set out for Khaibar and reached it at night. He used not to attack if he reached the people at night, till the day broke. So, when the day dawned, the Jews came out with their bags and spades. When they saw the Prophet; they said, "Muhammad and his army!" '''The Prophet said, Allahu--Akbar! (Allah is Greater)''' and Khaibar is ruined, for whenever we approach a nation (i.e. enemy to fight) then it will be a miserable morning for those who have been warned."}}

One must also note that if the word "Allah" meant "God", why then would he be telling the Jews of Khaibar (who supposedly worship the same god) that Islam's Allah is greater?

Here are a few more quotes which use the phrase "Allahu Akbar".

{{Quote|1={{Muwatta|15|15|7|22}}|2=Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Ubayd, the mawla of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, from Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi that Abu Hurayra said, "Whoever says 'Glory be to Allah' (Subhana'llah) thirty-three times and ''''Allah is Greater' (Allahu akbar)''' thirty-three times and 'Praise be to Allah' (al-hamdu lillah) thirty-three times, and seals the hundred with 'There is no god but Allah, alone without any partner. The Kingdom and praise belong to Him and He has power over everything' (La ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir) after every prayer will have his wrong actions forgiven him even if they are abundant as the foam on the sea."}}

{{Quote|1={{Muwatta|49|49|10|34}}|2=Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father never brought food or drink, nor even a remedy which he ate or drank but that he said, "Praise be to Allah who has guided us and fed us and given us to drink and blessed us. '''Allah is greater'''. O Allah! We have found Your blessing with every evil, give us every good in the morning and evening. We ask You for its completion and its gratitude. There is no good except Your good. There is no god other than You, the God of the salihun and the Lord of the Worlds. Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah. What Allah wills. There is no power except in Allah. O Allah! Bless us in what You have provided us with and protect us from the punishment of the Fire!"
 
Al-hamdu lillahi-lladhi hadana wa at amana wa saqana wa naamana. '''Allahu akbar'''. Allahumma'l fatna nimatik bi-kulli sharr. Fa asbahna minha wa amsayna bi-kulli khayr. Nasaluka tamamaha wa shukraha. La khayr illa khayruk. Wa la ilaha ghayruk. Ilaha'-saliheen wa rabba'l-alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Wa la ilaha illa'llah. Ma sha'Allah. Wa la quwwata illa billah. Allahumma barik lana fima razaqtana. Waqina adhaba'n-na}}

==Conclusion==

Many Muslims and their apologists claim "Allahu Akbar" is simply the Arabic translation of a common English phrase meaning "God is great!" However, this is untrue. "Allahu Akbar" does not mean "God is great" as claimed. It actually means "Allah is greater."

'Allah' is not simply the Arabic word for 'God,' but the name of Islam's chosen deity and 'Akbar' does not mean 'great', but 'greater'. Greater than what? The answer is, ''Allah is greater than whatever god you happen to believe in''.

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Allah|Allah}}

{{Hub4|Islamic Terms|Islamic Terms}}

==External Links==

*[http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10908&p=166554#p166554 Allahu Akbar] ''- Muslim Arabic speaker, commenting on this page, confirms "Allahu Akbar" means "Allah is greater" (not "God is great)"''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Terms and Definitions]]
[[Category:Islamic Propaganda]]
[[Category:Sani]]
[[ru:Аллаху_Акбар]]
[[bg:Аллаху Акбар]]

Child Marriage in Islamic Law

2019-05-01T16:47:01Z

AbdulHurayrah:

<metadesc>Pedophilia is permitted in the Qur'an, was practiced by Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and some Muslims today continue to commit the crime, following their prophet's example.</metadesc>'''Pedophilia''' (US) or ''paedophilia'' (UK) is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted to prepubescent or peripubescent children.<ref>[http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Pedophilia.html Definition and scope of Pedophilia]</ref> A person with this attraction is called a ''pedophile'' or ''paedophile''.

Some pedophiles are sexually attracted to children only (exclusive pedophiles) whilst others are sexually attracted to both children and adults.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46415|2=2011-06-29}} Definition of Pedophilia] - MedicineNet, April 27, 2011</ref><ref name="Mayo Clinic">Ryan C. W. Hall, MD, and Richard C. W. Hall, MD, PA, - "[http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/4/457.full.pdf+html?sid=80e46e23-3ba0-4fb7-a0c8-bc49932a5559 A profile of Pedophilia: Definition, Characteristics of Offenders, Recidivism, Treatment Outcomes and Forensic Issues]" - Page 459, April 2007;82(4):457-471 • www.mayoclinicproceedings.com</ref>

In contrast to the generally accepted medical definition, the term ''pedophile'' is also used colloquially to denote significantly older adults who are sexually attracted to adolescents below the local age of consent,<ref>Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. '''19''' (4), 333-342.</ref> as well as those who have sexually abused a child.

In contemporary law enforcement definitions, the term "pedophile" is generally used to describe those accused or convicted of the sexual abuse of a minor. Pedophilia is considered a taboo and is illegal in most societies, cultures and religions; except in the Islamic world with regards to [[Islam]].

==Scripture==

The following are summaries of pages discussing Islam, in relation to pedophilia:
===Pedophilia in the Qur'an===
{{Main|Pedophilia in the Qur'an}}

The Qur'an permits pedophilia. The following Qur'anic verse allows sex with pre-pubescent girls who have not yet menstruated.

{{Quote-text|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their courses'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}

This verse is in reference to Iddat (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.

===Muhammad and Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia}}

The most stringent clinical definition of pedophilia in the DSM-IV-TR

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=10307 PsychiatryOnline - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition]|2='''A.''' Over a period of at least six months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
'''B.''' The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies caused marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.

'''C.''' The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.

''Note: This does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.''}}

Muhammad was engaged to Aisha when she was only 6 year old and he was 51, and consummated the marriage while she was still prepubescent, aged 9 [[Islamic Lunar Calendar|lunar years]] old.<ref>Narrated 'Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).

{{Bukhari|7|62|64|}}</ref> {{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Pedophilia|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha}}

===Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia}}

In the early 7th century was pedophilia was common. Some companions of Muhammad also engaged in pedophilia. Umar, the 2nd caliph of Islam, married Umm Kulthum when she was 10-12 years old. Some sources even say that she was five years old when Umar married her.<ref>"<nowiki>'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that '''she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)'''. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to '</nowiki>Umar."

Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168</ref>

==Association with child marriage==

===Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages===
{{Main|Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages}}

Due to its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, child marriages are permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars and leaders, and in many Islamic countries it is common practice.
Girls far below the age of puberty are forcibly married to older persons (sometimes in their 50s and later) for various personal gains by the girls' guardian or with the intention to preserve family honor by helping her avoid pre-marital sex.

Pedophilic Islamic marriages are most prevalent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by other countries in the [[Middle East]] and Bangladesh.<ref>[http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=1631 America Magazine: Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by Andrew Bushell; March 11, 2002]</ref><ref>[http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=630 Americans For UNFPA: Virtual Slavery: The Practice of “Compensation Marriages” by Net Community of AfUNFPA; last retrieved Monday, 08 December 2008]</ref> This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and is on the rise among the growing Muslim populations in many non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom<ref name="Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196955/Ten-fold-rise-forced-marriages-just-years.html Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years] - The Daily Mail July 2, 2009</ref> and the United States.<ref>Christine Vendel - [http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1557578.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container Man charged with statutory rape in ‘marriage’ to 14-year-old girl] - The Kansas City Star, November 8, 2009</ref>

In countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic,<ref name="TONOV282008">{{cite web|url= http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/11_08/11_24_08/112408_nigeria.htm|title= Nigeria Child Brides-Broken Lives |publisher= Times Online|author= |date= November 28, 2008|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunrn.com%2Fnews%2F2008%2F11_08%2F11_24_08%2F112408_nigeria.htm&date=2013-06-15|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="TNTJuly212013">{{cite web |url= http://thenigeriatoday.net/i-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics/|title= I Could Marry Off My Six Year Old Daughter If I So Wished, Senator Ahmed Yerima Replies Critics|publisher= The Nigeria Today|author= |date= July 21, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthenigeriatoday.net%2Fi-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics%2F&date=2013-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="Weekly Blitz">[http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1386/islamist-leader-threatens-of-waging-jihad Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad] - Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011</ref><ref name="MESSAGE">Yessir - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.abigmessage.com/child-marriage-death-of-13-year-old-bride-after-wedding.html|2=2011-10-25}} Child Marriage - Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding] - A BIG MESSAGE, April 10, 2010</ref><ref name="IRIN">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88589|2=2011-10-25}} YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] - IRIN, March 28, 2010</ref> and in the case of Malaysia, the growing Muslim population has effectively turned back the clock on social progress by passing new laws which allow for the practice of pedophilic marriages specifically between followers of Islam.<ref name="World News Australia">[{{Reference archive|1=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/outcry-over-malaysian-child-marriages-20100804-11fey.html|2=2011-10-25}} Outcry over Malaysian child marriages] - Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010</ref>

So one has to agree that whatever reasons and justification people may give for the prevalence of child marriages in Muslim-majority nations, without Islam this practice would have long been discarded as immoral and unacceptable in the modern world.

== Media and statistics ==

===Muslim Statistics on Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muslim Statistics - Children|l1=Muslim Statistics (Children)}}

This page consists of various statistics concerning Islam and children. A small sample include:

#4 out of 5 Middle-Eastern women are sexually abused between the ages of 3 and 6 by family members.
#More than half of all Yemeni girls are married before reaching the age of puberty.
#With more than 3,900 children within 6 months, Indonesia tops the UN bodies list for child trafficking cases
#2,000 child sex abuse claims in 1 year at Pakistani Islamic schools, but not even 1 successful prosecution

== Relevant Quotations ==
{{Quote|1={{Quran|65|4}}|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, '''and [also for] those who have not menstruated.''' And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}{{quote |1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=65&tid=54196 Exegesis on (Qur'an 65:4)] Tafsir Ibn Kathir |2= The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] '''The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation.''' Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.}}{{Quote|1=[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0 Qur'an 65:4] Tafsir al-Jalalayn|2= And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] '''those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months''' - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|2=Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|2=Narrated 'Aisha: that '''the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old''', and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).}} 
==Apologetic Arguments==

===Dispute of Aisha's age===
{{Main|Aishas Age of Consummation|l1=Aisha's Age of Consummation}}

The age of Aisha was not disputed by earlier scholars but a surge of recent scholars claim that Aisha was actually older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. They find the Sahih hadiths of her own testimony mistaken, and opt to use indirect sources and disputed dating techniques to calculate different ages. These heavily criticized research techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years.

The polemics can be broadly categorized into these categories; discrediting Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, use of non-sahih information to refute otherwise sahih hadiths, the use of secondary and indirect sources in preference of direct testimonies, the use of ‘imprecise’ dating in preference to specific dates and statements of age, and the use of misquoted references and erroneous information.

The majority of Muslim scholars agree with the sahih hadith of Aisha's young age. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history, and many scholars take offense to the new claims of Muslim apologists.

===The Meaning of 'Consummate'===
{{Main|The Meaning of Consummate}}

Some Muslim apologist refuse to accept the existence of narrations given by Aisha in which she states that she was married to Prophet Muhammad when she was six years old and that he consummated his marriage with her when she was nine lunar years of age, even though these are recorded in Bukhari's sahih ahadith collection.

These apologists will usually resort to questioning the English translation of Dr. Mushin Khan, without addressing the ahadith in their original Arabic. A reading of the relevant Bukhari ahadith make it clear that Muhammad had sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine years of age.

The terms used are: "udkhilath" and "bana biha", which can only mean "sexual intercourse" in the context of the ahadith. The confusion from Muslims regarding this comes from their lack of understanding regarding the English phrase "consummation of marriage", their ignorance of Arabic and their unwillingness to admit that their prophet had sexual intercourse with a nine year old child.

===Pedophilia and the Tu Quoque Defense===
This article refutes the claim that Joseph, the husband of Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), was a pedophile, a popular yet erroneous tu quoque argument used to defend Prophet Muhammad's pedophilic marriage to Aisha.

Upon reading the non-canonical apocrypha, the Christian equivalent of da`if (weak) or maudu (fabricated) hadith, we find it does not say Mary married Joseph when she was aged only 12. It in fact says she was possibly 17 years of age at the time the marriage was eventually consummated, if ever (Mary's perpetual virginity, the belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, is an essential article of faith for the majority of the world's Christians).

The most decisive argument against the claim that Joseph was a pedophile is the fact that the same non-canonical writings which are used to gather information on Joseph and Mary's age, also confirm Mary's status as "ever virgin" (in The History of Joseph the Carpenter, Jesus says on Joseph's death "my mother, virgin undefiled").

===Miscellaneous Apologetics Used to Defend Muhammad's Actions===
{{Main|Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|l1=Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha}}

This article refutes miscellaneous apologetics which may not be fully covered in our other articles, but are used by some to justify the marriage between the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his six-year-old bride Aisha.

The 26 different excuses covered include; Muhammad can't be a pedophile because he also had sex with grown women, pedophiles prefer children but Muhammad had many adult wives and only one child-bride, at that time it was okay to have sex with 9 year-olds in Arabia, people lived shorter life spans back then, and menstruation in hot climates starts earlier than in cold ones, so girls in Arabia matured as early as nine.

 

==See Also==

'''Articles'''

*[[Concerns with Islam: Child Marriage]]
{{Hub4|Sex|Sex}}

{{Hub4|Children|Children}}
*[[Necrophilia in Islam]]

*

'''Other Core Articles'''

''Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue, and serve as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn about Islam:''

*[[Islam and Apostasy]]
*[[Islam and Homosexuality]]
*[[Islam and Miracles]]
*[[Islam and Propaganda]]
*[[Islam and Science]]
*[[Islam and Scripture]]
*[[Islam and the People of the Book]]
*[[Islam and Violence]]
*[[Islam and Women]]

==External Links==

*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4959002.ece|2=2011-06-01}} Link between child porn and Muslim terrorists discovered in police raids]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sex-in-islam.com/amar.khan/Pedophilia-in-Islam.htm|2=2011-06-01}} A Complete Guide to Pedophilia in Islam]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5541006|2=2011-06-01}} Images of pedophilic Islamic marriages]
*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23452&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Let's clear up all this pedophilia garbage...] ''- Forum discussion on another defence of Muhammad's marriage to a child''

'''News regarding Pedophilia among non-Muslims'''

*[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090928/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_poland_castration Poland okays forcible castration for paedophiles] ''(9/28/2009) - related:'' [[w:Chemical castration|Chemical castration]] ''at wikipedia ''

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Core Articles]]
[[Category:Pedophilia]]
__NOEDITSECTION__
[[ru:Ислам и педофилия‎]]

Aisha's Age

2019-05-01T16:43:42Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Relevant Quotations */

[[File:Muhammad and Aisha freeing chief's daughter.jpg|thumb|332x332px|Mohammed and his wife Aisha freeing the daughter of a tribal chief. From the Siyer-i Nebi]]
'''Aisha''' (''‘Ā’ishah'', c. 613/614 –c. 678)<ref name="Siddiqui">Al-Nasa'i 1997, p. 108</ref> or عائشة, (also transliterated as '''A'ishah''', '''Aisyah''', '''Ayesha''', '''A'isha''', '''Aishat''', or '''Aishah''') was married to [[Muhammad]] at the age of 6 or 7, and the marriage was consummated by Muhammad, then 53, at the age of 9 or 10 according to numerous [[sahih]] [[Hadith|hadiths]].<ref>Narrated Hisham's father:
Khadija died three years before the Prophet (ﷺ) departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married `Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old. {{Bukhari|5|58|236}}</ref><ref>Narrated 'Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). {{Bukhari|7|62|64}}</ref><ref>'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old. {{Muslim|8|3310}}</ref><ref>Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years.") {{Abudawud||2116|hasan}}</ref><ref>Most sources suggest age at consummation as nine, and one that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), ''Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr'', Columbia University Press, <nowiki>ISBN 978-0231079990</nowiki>, pp. 39–40;</ref> Due to concerns about [[child marriage]] this topic is of heavy interest in the [[Apologists|apologetic]] literature and public discourse.

Marriage at a young age was not unheard of in Arabia at the time, and Aisha's marriage to Muhammad may have had a political connotation, as her father Abu Baker was an influential man in the community.<ref>Afsaruddin, Asma (2014). "ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett. ''[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2 Encyclopaedia of Islam]'' (3 ed.). Brill Online. Retrieved 2015-01-11</ref> Abu Bakr, on his part, may have sought to further the bond of kinship between Muhammad and himself by joining their families together in marriage via Aisha. Egyptian-American Islamic scholar, Leila Ahmed, notes that Aisha's betrothal and marriage to Muhammad are presented as ordinary in Islamic literature, and may indicate that it was not unusual for children to be married to their elders in that era.<ref>Ahmed, Leila (1992). ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate''. Yale University Press. p. 51-54. <nowiki>ISBN 978-0300055832</nowiki>.</ref>
==Authenticity==
In the Quran, a rule concerning marriage to those who have not yet reached menstruation appears in Chapter 65 "Al Talaq" verse 4.<ref>And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease. {{Quran|65|4}}</ref> The [[tafsir]] (exegesis) of al-Jalalayn is one of the most respected commentaries on the Quran.<ref>Tafsir al-Jalalayn is one of the most significant tafsirs for the study of the Qur’an. Composed by the two “Jalals” -- Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864 ah / 1459 ce) and his pupil Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 ah / 1505 ce), Tafsir al-Jalalayn is generally regarded as one of the most easily accessible works of Qur’anic exegesis because of its simple style and one volume length. For the first time ever Tafsir al-Jalalayn is competently translated into an unabridged highly accurate and readable annotated English translation by Doctor. Feras Hamza.

[https://www.altafsir.com/Al-Jalalayn.asp altafsir.com]</ref> In the Jalalayn exegesis for this verse it describes "those you have yet to menstruate" as "those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their [waiting] period shall [also] be three months."<ref>And as for those of your women who read allā’ī or allā’i in both instances no longer expect to menstruate if you have any doubts about their waiting period their prescribed waiting period shall be three months and also for those who have not yet menstruated because of their young age their period shall also be three months — both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these latter their period is prescribed in the verse they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten days Q. 2234. And those who are pregnant their term the conclusion of their prescribed waiting period if divorced or if their spouses be dead shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God He will make matters ease for him in this world and in the Hereafter.

[https://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir al-Jalalayn, trans. Feras Hamza Quran 65:4]</ref>

In the modern era, Aisha's age at marriage has been a source of controversy and debate. Some Muslims have attempted to revise the previously-accepted timeline of her life.<ref name=":3">Ali, Kecia. ''Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence''. OneWorld. p. 173-186. <nowiki>ISBN 978-1780743813</nowiki>.</ref> All biographical information on Muhammad and his companions was first recorded over a century after his death,<ref>Kadri, Sadakat (2012). ''Heaven on Earth''. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. p. 30.</ref> but the hadith and [[scripture]] provide records of early Islam through an unbroken chain of witnesses. Various hadiths stating that Aisha was either nine or ten at the time of her consummation come from collections with sahih status, meaning they are regarded as reputable by the majority of Muslims. Some other traditional sources also mention Aisha's age. The ''sira'' of [[Ibn Ishaq]] edited by Ibn Hisham states that she was nine or ten years old at the consummation. The historian al-Tabari also states that she was nine.<ref>When the Prophet married Aisha she very young and not yet ready for consummation.

[https://wikiislam.net/wiki/The_History_of_al-Tabari Al-Tabari, Vol. 9, p. 128]</ref><ref name=":2">According to Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari - Muhammad b. Yazid - Ismai'il (that is Ibn Abi Khalid) - Abd al-Rahman b. Abi al- Dahhak - a man from Quraysh - Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad: "Abd Allah b. Safwan together with another person came to Aishah and Aishah said (to the latter), "O so and so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?" He said, "Yes, o Mother of the Faithful." Abd Allah b. Safwan asked her, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God bestowed on Maryam bt. Imran. By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; '''the Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin,'''no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket; I was one of the dearest people to him, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed concerning me when the community was almost destroyed; I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
According to Abu Ja‘far (Al-Tabari): The Messenger of God married her, so it is said, in Shawwal, and consummated his marriage to her in a later year, also in Shawwal.
Al-Tabari, Vol. 7, pp. 6-7</ref>

==Association with Child Marriage==
[[File:Child Marriage.jpg|thumb|Child bride with her infant daughter]]
No age limits have been fixed by Islam for marriage according to Persian Professor at the University of Cambridge, Reuben Levy, and "quite young children may be legally married".<ref name=":5">Levy p.106</ref> The girl may not live with the husband however until she is fit for marital sexual relations.<ref name=":5" /> The [[Jurisprudence|Hanafi]] school of jurisprudence of Islamic ''fiqh'' maintains that a wife must not be taken to her husband's house until she reaches the condition of fitness for sexual relations.

In Islamic legal terminology, ''Baligh'' refers to a person who has reached maturity, puberty or adulthood and has full responsibility under Islamic law. Legal theorists assign different ages and criteria for reaching this state for both males and females.<ref>John Esposito, "The Oxford Dictionary of Islam", p.35, Oxford University Press 2004</ref> In marriage ''baligh'' is related to the Arabic legal expression, ''hatta tutiqa'l-rijal'', which means that the wedding may not take place until the girl is physically fit to engage in sexual intercourse. Some Hanafi scholars hold the opinion that sexual intercourse may take place before puberty, as long as it's not injurious to one's health.<ref>Public » Askimam"

[http://askimam.org/ ''www.askimam.org''.]</ref> In comparison, ''baligh'' or ''balaghat'' concerns the reaching of sexual maturity which becomes manifest by the menses. The age related to these two concepts can, but need not necessarily, coincide. Only after a separate condition called ''rushd'', or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a girl receive her bridewealth.<ref>Masud, M et. al. "Islamic Legal Interpretation, Muftis and Their Fatwas" p.136, Harvard University Press, 1996</ref>

==Relevant Quotations==

{{Quote|1={{Quran|65|4}}|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, '''and [also for] those who have not menstruated.''' And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|Narrated 'Aisha: that '''the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old''', and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|73|151}}|Narrated 'Aisha: I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13)}}
{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3310}}|'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: '''Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old.''''}}
{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3311}}|'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, ''and her dolls were with her;'' and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.}}
{{Quote|{{Abu Dawud||2116|hasan}}|Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years."). "He had intercourse with me when I was 9 years old.}}
{{Quote|{{Tabari|7|pp. 6-7}}|According to Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari - Muhammad b. Yazid - Ismai'il (that is Ibn Abi Khalid) - Abd al-Rahman b. Abi al- Dahhak - a man from Quraysh - Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad: "Abd Allah b. Safwan together with another person came to Aishah and Aishah said (to the latter), "O so and so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?" He said, "Yes, o Mother of the Faithful." Abd Allah b. Safwan asked her, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God bestowed on Maryam bt. Imran. By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; '''the Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin,'''no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket; I was one of the dearest people to him, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed concerning me when the community was almost destroyed; I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself." According to Abu Ja‘far (Al-Tabari): The Messenger of God married her, so it is said, in Shawwal, and consummated his marriage to her in a later year, also in Shawwal.}}
==Apologetic History==

The majority of scholars today agree that Aisha was 9 when her marriage to Prophet Muhammad was consummated. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history.<ref>Hashmi, Tariq Mahmood (2 April 2015). [http://www.al-mawrid.org/index.php/questions/view/role-importance-and-authenticity-of-the-hadith "Role, Importance And Authenticity Of The Hadith"]. ''Mawrid.org''. Retrieved 28 March 2018.</ref> The first recorded objection raised to Aisha's age was by Maulana Muhammad Ali who lived from 1874 to 1951.<ref name="Zahid Aziz" /> However, he is not considered credible to the [[Sunni]] sect since he belonged to the [[Ahmadiyya]] sect whose beliefs drastically differ from mainstream Islam. The Ahmadiyya and their writings are also heavily focused on missionary work.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8711026.stm Who are the Ahmadi? - BBC News]</ref>

Adding to Ali's objections, there is Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi (1924-1991) who in his Urdu booklet, "Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat" (English trans. 1997), laments that he is "tired of defending this tradition" that is "laughed" at and "ridiculed" by English-educated individuals he meets in Karachi who claim it is against "sagacity and prudence" and "preferred English society to Islam over this", and he readily admits his "aim is to produce an answer to the enemies of Islam who spatter mud at the pious body of the Generous Prophet".<ref>All Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi quotations are taken from the Preface of the 2007 English translation of his Urdu booklet, "''Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat''", translated by Nigar Erfaney and published by Al-Rahman Publishing Trust under the title, "''Age of Aisha (The Truthful Women, May Allah Send His Blessings)''"</ref> A posthumous [[fatwa]] was issued against him in November 2004, labelling him a "Munkir-e-Hadith" (hadith rejector) and a "Kafir" (infidel) on the basis of being a rejector of hadith.<ref>The original fatwa and the English translation branding Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi's beliefs outside of Islam, thus making him a 'kafir', can be viewed here: [{{Reference archive|1=http://marifah.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3036|2=2012-09-24}} Fatwa's on hadith rejectors?]</ref>

Deriving arguments from both Habib Ur Rahman and Muhammad Ali, [[Gibril Haddad|Moiz Amjad]] (who refers to himself as "The Learner") is the most recent reference to online apologetic. Moiz admits to having lifted his arguments from them, summarizing and presenting them in response to a Muslim asking him how he can respond to critical Christians.<ref>See: "[http://www.islamawareness.net/FAQ/what_was_ayesha.html What was Ayesha's (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage?]", by Moiz Amjad.</ref> With Moiz's restructured response the arguments originating from the Ahmadiyya in the 1920s and 1930s finally achieved a little popularity among a few orthodox Muslims. However, this popularity seems to be strictly limited to articles or arguments on the Internet and not between contemporary sheikhs and scholars.

In July 2005, Shaykh [[Dr.]] Gibril Fouad Haddad, responded to Moiz Amjad's polemics with, "Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet."<ref name="Haddad">Shaykh Gibril F Haddad - [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1 Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet] - Sunni Path, Question ID:4604, July 3, 2005 [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqa.sunnipath.com%2Fissue_view.asp%3FHD%3D7%26ID%3D4604%26CATE%3D1&date=2011-05-05 archive 1] [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw&date=2011-05-04 archive 2]</ref> Including many facts that are easily verifiable for those who have access to the hadith and sira literature. For example, his analysis highlighted the fact that many of the arguments were based solely on faulty assumptions taken from hadiths completely unrelated to Aisha's age, or were misrepresenting the sources that were being cited (i.e. hadiths actually in support the idea that Aisha was 9). His reply has not yet been answered by Moiz Amjad.

However, Haddad's response did not stop Amjad's arguments from being rehashed by apologists on the Internet with the same missionary and apologetic focus. Other transmitters of these arguments include, but are not limited to; T.O Shavanas,<ref>T.O Shanavas - [http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/ayesha_age_the_myth_of__a_prover.htm AYESHA’s AGE: THE MYTH OF A PROVERBIAL WEDDING EXPOSED] - Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.</ref> “Imam” Chaudhry (word-for-word plagiarism of Amjad's work),<ref>Imam Chaudhry - [{{Reference archive|1=http://islamicsupremecouncil.com/ayesha.htm|2=2011-05-01}} What Was The Age of Ummul Mo'mineen Ayesha (May Allah be pleased with her) When She Married To Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)?] - Islamic Supreme Council of Canada</ref> Zahid Aziz,<ref name="Zahid Aziz">Zahid Aziz - [http://www.muslim.org/islam/aisha-age.php Age of Aisha (ra) at time of marriage] - Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha`at Islam Lahore Inc. U.S.A.</ref> Nilofar Ahmed,<ref>Nilofar Ahmed - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/17/of-aishas-age-at-marriage.html|2=2012-02-17}} Of Aisha’s age at marriage] - Dawn, February 17, 2012</ref> and David Liepert.<ref>Dr. David Liepert - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-liepert/islamic-pedophelia_b_814332.html|2=2012-09-21}} Rejecting the Myth of Sanctioned Child Marriage in Islam] - The Huffington Post, January 29, 2011</ref>

==Apologetic Arguments==

===Dispute of Aisha's Age===
Some Muslim authors have attempted to calculate Aisha's age based on details found in some biographies, eschewing the traditionally-accepted ahadith, though Kecia Ali labels these attempts as "revisionist".<ref name=":3" /> One [[Sahih#Da'if|da'if]] (weak) hadith recorded in the works of some medieval scholars, including al-Dhahabi,<ref>al-Dhahabi. "Siyar a`lam al-nubala'". IslamWeb. Retrieved 3 September 2018. <q>قال عبد الرحمن بن أبي الزناد : كانت أسماء أكبر من عائشة بعشر" (Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zunad said: Asma was older than Aisha by ten years.)</q></ref> states that Aisha's older sister Asma was ten years older than her. This has been combined with information about Asma's age at the time of her death and used to suggest that Aisha was over thirteen at the time of her marriage.

[[Gibril Haddad|Shaykh Dr. Gibril Haddad]] who was listed amongst the inaugural "500 most influential Muslims in the world",<ref name="The 500">Edited by Prof. John Esposito and Prof. Ibrahim Kalin - [http://thebook.org/books_pdf/500Muslims_2009.pdf The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World (P. 94)] - The royal islamic strategic studies centre, 2009</ref> is considered a Muslim scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert)<ref name="The 500" /> criticizes this approach as relying on a single narrator, and notes that a hadith from the same narrator gives a broader range for the age difference between the sisters.<ref name="Haddad" />

===Not Enough Narrators===

This claim objects that there is only one narrator, Hisham, and that although it is a sahih (authentic hadith) he alone is not enough to consider the hadith reliable. However, many of the chains of narration for these hadiths<ref>[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha#Aisha.27s Age at Consummation and Marriage|Quran, Hadith, and Scholars on Aisha's Age at Consummation and Marriage]]</ref> do not involve Hisham (for example, Sahih Muslim 8:3311<ref>'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old. {{Muslim|8|3311}}</ref>), and in any case, there is no requirement in Islam for multiple narrations. Even a single sahih hadith is sufficient to establish Islamic laws and practices.

[[Gibril Haddad|Shaykh Dr. Gibril Haddad]] also refutes the claim that most of these narrations are reported only by Hisham ibn 'Urwah. "Try more than eleven authorities among the Tabi`in that reported it directly from `A'isha, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha."<ref name="Haddad" />

Shaykh Gibril Haddad<nowiki></ref></nowiki>

Details of some of these other chains of narration that do not include Hisham ibn 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr can be found in the first half of an [https://islamqa.info/en/124483 article by the IslamQA] website.

===Revelation Time of Surah al-Qamar===

This arguments uses the Sahih Bukhari hadith in which Aisha explains she was a young girl when Surah (chapter) al-Qamar of the Quran was revealed.<ref>Narrated Yusuf bin Mahik:
I was in the house of `Aisha, the mother of the Believers. She said, "This revelation: "Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense); and the Hour will be more previous and most bitter." (54.46) was revealed to Muhammad at Mecca while I was a playfull little girl."

[https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-6/Book-60/Hadith-399 Sahih Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Hadith 399]</ref> With the rough estimation that this chapter was revealed nine years before hijrah (c. 622) some conclude that this makes Aisha older than other hadiths claim.

However, the precise date of the revelation of Surah al-Qamar is unknown. Ibn Hajar, Maududi, and other traditionalists said it was revealed 5 years before Hijrah (BH).<ref>The incident of the ''shaqq-al-Qamar'' (splitting of the moon) that has been mentioned in it, determines its period of revelation precisely. The traditionists and commentators are agreed that this incident took place at Mina in Makkah about five years before the Holy Prophet's ''hijrah'' to Madinah.
Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an</ref> Zahid Aziz said it was revealed before 6 BH.<ref>''The Moon,''the fifty-fourth chapter, was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call.
Zahid Aziz</ref> Alternatively there is no reputable source that claims this chapter came about 9 BH.

Shaykh Haddad confirms this as he argues that the traditional estimate of the revelation of Surah al-Qamar is consistent with Aisha’s age being nine years.

{{Quote-text|<ref name="Haddad" />|The hadith Masters, Sira historians, and Qur'anic commentators agree that the splitting of the moon took place about five years before the Holy Prophet's (upon him blessings and peace) Hijra to Madina. Thus it is confirmed that our Mother `Aisha was born between seven and eight years before the Hijra and the words that she was a jariya or little girl five years before the Hijra match the fact that her age at the time Surat al-Qamar was revealed was around 2 or 3. A two year old is not an infant. A two year old is able to run around, which is what jariya means. As for "the comments of the experts" they concur on 6 or 7 as the age of marriage and 9 as the age of cohabitation.}}

===Battle of Badr and Uhud===

This apologetic argument aims to make the claim that Aisha was at the Battles of Badr and Uhud, and that since standard practice at the time disallowed anyone under 15 from joining the battlefield, she could not have been younger than this.

However, there are no sources that can be found mentioning Aisha's participation in the Battle of Badr. A few hadiths highlight Aisha's involvement in the Battle of Uhud, but only to the extent that she was not involved in the battlefield and merely carrying water skins to the combatants.<ref>Narrated Anas: On the day (of the battle) of Uhad when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw 'Aisha bint Abu Bakr and Um Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible hurrying with their water skins (in another narration it is said, "carrying the water skins on their backs"). Then they would pour the water in the mouths of the people, and return to fill the water skins again and came back again to pour water in the mouths of the people. {{Bukhari|4|52|131}}</ref> Women and young children were allowed to perform such functions during battles.<ref>The women and young children went on the battlefield after the battle and gave water to the wounded Muslims and finished off the enemy wounded.

al-Tabari vol.12 p.127,146.</ref>

Shaykh Haddad responds to this apologetic argument:

{{Quote-text|<ref name="Haddad" />|First, the prohibition applied to combatants. It applied neither to non-combatant boys nor to non-combatant girls and women. Second, `A'isha did not participate in Badr at all but bade farewell to the combatants as they were leaving Madina, as narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. On the day of Uhud (year 3), Anas, at the time only twelve or thirteen years old, reports seeing an eleven-year old `A'isha and his mother Umm Sulaym having tied up their dresses and carrying water skins back and forth to the combatants, as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.}}

===Tabari's Account of Abu Baker===
This account uses [[Tabari|al-Tabari's]] exegesis to argue that Aisha was born in the pre-islamic period, and thus could not have been less than 14 tears old.<ref>All four of his [i.e. Abu Bakr's] children were born of his two wives - the names of whom we have already mentioned - during the pre-Islamic period.

Tarikh al-umam wa al-mamloo'k, Al-Tabari, Vol. 4, Pg. 50, Arabic, Dar al-fikr, Beirut, 1979</ref>

However, al-Tabari's own account reports at least five times that Aisha was around 6-7 years old during marriage and the marriage was consummated 3 years later.<ref>The angel brought down my likeness; the Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him

[[The History of al-Tabari|Al-Tabari,]] [[The History of al-Tabari#Volume VII: The Foundation of the Community|Vol. 7, p. 7]]</ref><ref>I was then brought [in] while the Messenger of God was sitting on a bed in our house. [My mother] made me sit on his lap... Then the men and women got up and left. The Messenger of God consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old. Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me.

[[The History of al-Tabari|Al-Tabari,]] [[The History of al-Tabari#Volume IX: The Last Years of the Prophet|Vol. 9, p. 131]]</ref><ref>The Messenger of God saw 'A'ishah twice-[first when] it was said to him that she was his wife (she was six years old at that time), and later [when] he consummated his marriage with her after coming to Medina when she was nine years old.

[[The History of al-Tabari|Al-Tabari,]] [[The History of al-Tabari#Volume IX: The Last Years of the Prophet|Vol. 9, p. 131]]</ref><ref>[The Prophet] married her three years before the Emigration, when she was seven years old, and consummated the marriage when she was nine years old, after he had emigrated to Medina in Shawwil. She was eighteen years old when he died.

[[The History of al-Tabari|Al-Tabari,]] [[The History of al-Tabari#Volume IX: The Last Years of the Prophet|Vol. 9, p. 131]]</ref><ref>The Prophet married Aishah in Shawwal in the tenth year after the [beginning of his] prophethood, three years before Emigration. He consummated the marriage in Shawwal, eight months after Emigration. On the day he consummated the marriage with her she was nine years old.

[[The History of al-Tabari|Al-Tabari,]] [[The History of al-Tabari#Volume XXXIX: Biographies of the Prophet.27s Companions and Their Successors|Vol. 39, pp. 171-173]]</ref>

Furthermore, Shaykh Gibril Haddad says that the initial passage mentioned is misinterpreted, stating "Al-Tabari nowhere reports that 'Abu Bakr's four children were all born in Jahiliyya' but only that Abu Bakr married both their mothers in Jahiliyya, Qutayla bint Sa`d and Umm Ruman, who bore him four children in all, two each, `A'isha being the daughter of Umm Ruman."<ref name="Haddad" />

===Time of Umar's Conversion to Islam===

This argument draws on [[Sira|al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah]] (Biogoraphy of the Prophet) to claim that since Ayesha converted to Islam before Umar she could not have been born during the first year of Islam.<ref>According to Ibn Hisham, Ayesha (ra) was the 20th or the 21st person to enter into the folds of Islam. While `umar ibn al-khattab was the 41st.

Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, Pg. 227 - 234, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah, Al-Riyadh</ref>

However, even if the claim Aisha converted to Islam before Umar were true it, does not mean this took place during the first year of Islam, since Umar converted in 617 AD, about 4 years after Aisha’s birth in 613 AD.<ref name="Siddiqui" /> Furthermore Aisha never accounted converting to islam as hadiths show she never remembered a time before when her family wasn't Muslim.<ref>Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) '''I never remembered my parents believing in any religion other than the true religion (i.e. Islam)''', and (I don't remember) a single day passing without our being visited by Allah’s Apostle in the morning and in the evening."

[https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-5/Book-58/Hadith-245 Sahih Bukhari 5:58:245]</ref>

Besides disputing the claim that Ibn Hisham reported that Aisha accepted Islam quite some time before `umar ibn al-Khattab, Shaykh Haddad also casts doubt on the claim stating:

{{Quote-text|<ref name="Haddad" />|Nowhere does Ibn Hisham say this. Rather, Ibn Hisham lists `A'isha among 'those that accepted Islam because of Abu Bakr.' This does not mean that she embraced Islam during the first year of Islam. Nor does it mean that she necessarily embraced Islam before `Umar (year 6) although she was born the previous year (year 7 before the Hijra) although it is understood she will automatically follow her father's choice even before the age of reason.}}

===Hadith Saying 'Aisha Had Reached Puberty===
This argument is based off a mistranslated haidth, Sahih Bukhari 1:8:465, which reinterprets to the idea that Aisha had seen her parents follow islam since the age of puberty, and not a day passed by without Muhammad visiting them.
{{Quote-text|{{Bukhari|1|8|465}}|Narrated `Aisha:
(the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet (ﷺ) visited us, both in the mornings and evenings[...]}}

However, the word أَعْقِلْ means thoughts or reasoning, but the translator, Muhsin Khan, has used the word 'puberty'. The meaning rather is simply that 'Aisha was aware that her parents were following Islam. A literal translation would be "I was not aware of my parents other than that the two of them both acknowledged the religion". The exact same Arabic phrase is translated correctly in another hadith by the same translator.<ref>Narrated Aisha:
(wife of the Prophet) Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshipping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a single day passed but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) visited us both in the morning and in the evening... {{Bukhari|3|37|494}}</ref>

{{Core Pedophilia}}

==See Also==

*[[Islam and Pedophilia]]
*[[Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha]]

{{Template:Translation-links-english|[[Aišin věk konzumace|Czech]]}}

==External Links==

*[http://www.sunnipath.com/about/shaykhgibrilhaddad.aspx Shaykh Gibril Haddad] ''- Biography of Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad at SunniPath, The online Islamic Academy''
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Learner/index.htm Responses to "The Learner" (Moiz Amjad) and others] - ''Collection of Answering Islam articles''

==Acknowledgments==
{{refbegin}}
This article is greatly indebted to the following:
*Dr. Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad, scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert), for [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw|2=2011-05-04}} Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet]
*The Muslimhope website, for [http://www.muslimhope.com/aishanine.htm A’isha: Mohammed’s Nine-Year Old Wife]
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category: Muhammad and Aisha]]
[[Category:Pedophilia]]
[[Category:Muhammad]]
[[Category:Islam and Women]]
[[Category:Hector]]
{{Page_title|Aisha's Age of Consummation}}

Child Marriage in Islamic Law

2019-05-01T16:19:56Z

AbdulHurayrah:

<metadesc>Pedophilia is permitted in the Qur'an, was practiced by Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and some Muslims today continue to commit the crime, following their prophet's example.</metadesc>'''Pedophilia''' (US) or ''paedophilia'' (UK) is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted to prepubescent or peripubescent children.<ref>[http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Pedophilia.html Definition and scope of Pedophilia]</ref> A person with this attraction is called a ''pedophile'' or ''paedophile''.

Some pedophiles are sexually attracted to children only (exclusive pedophiles) whilst others are sexually attracted to both children and adults.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46415|2=2011-06-29}} Definition of Pedophilia] - MedicineNet, April 27, 2011</ref><ref name="Mayo Clinic">Ryan C. W. Hall, MD, and Richard C. W. Hall, MD, PA, - "[http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/4/457.full.pdf+html?sid=80e46e23-3ba0-4fb7-a0c8-bc49932a5559 A profile of Pedophilia: Definition, Characteristics of Offenders, Recidivism, Treatment Outcomes and Forensic Issues]" - Page 459, April 2007;82(4):457-471 • www.mayoclinicproceedings.com</ref>

In contrast to the generally accepted medical definition, the term ''pedophile'' is also used colloquially to denote significantly older adults who are sexually attracted to adolescents below the local age of consent,<ref>Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. '''19''' (4), 333-342.</ref> as well as those who have sexually abused a child.

In contemporary law enforcement definitions, the term "pedophile" is generally used to describe those accused or convicted of the sexual abuse of a minor. Pedophilia is considered a taboo and is illegal in most societies, cultures and religions; except in the Islamic world with regards to [[Islam]].

==Scripture==

The following are summaries of pages discussing Islam, in relation to pedophilia:{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Pedophilia|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha}}

 

===Pedophilia in the Qur'an===
{{Main|Pedophilia in the Qur'an}}

The Qur'an permits pedophilia. The following Qur'anic verse allows sex with pre-pubescent girls who have not yet menstruated.

{{Quote|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their courses'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}

What is being discussed is the Iddat (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.

===Was Muhammad a Pedophile?===
{{Main|Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia}}

The most stringent clinical definition of pedophilia in the DSM-IV-TR

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=10307 PsychiatryOnline - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition]|2='''A.''' Over a period of at least six months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
'''B.''' The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies caused marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.

'''C.''' The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.

''Note: This does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.''}}

Muhammad was engaged to Aisha when she was only 6 year old and he was 51, and consummated the marriage while she was still pre-pubescent, aged 9 [[Islamic Lunar Calendar|lunar years]] old. Thus he fulfilled all three requirements needed for a positive diagnosis. {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3311}}|'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that '''Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, ''and her dolls were with her;''''' and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.}}

===Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia}}

Besides Muhammad himself, his companions also committed pedophilia. Umar was the 2nd caliph of Islam and married Umm Kulthum at a time when she was 10-12 years old. Some sources even say that she was five years old when Umar married her.

{{Quote|Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168|

"'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that '''she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)'''. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to 'Umar."}}

==Apologetics==

===Some Islamic Sources say Aisha was Really 17 or 18 Years Old===
{{Main|Aishas Age of Consummation|l1=Aisha's Age of Consummation}}

Some Muslim apologists have recently claimed that Aisha was actually older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. They have attempted to explain that Aisha was in fact not nine-years-old as the Sahih hadiths of her own testimony claim, but some other ages derived from misquotations, indirect sources, fuzzy dating techniques and slander. These dubious research techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years.

This article analyzes every single argument put forward by these apologists, and provides additional information on the origins and history of the "Aisha was older" apologetic arguments, and the only logical purpose behind making them.

On closer inspection of these polemics you will discover that the various claims can be broadly categorized into these categories; unjustified slanders against Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, the use of non-sahih information to refute otherwise sahih hadiths, the use of secondary and indirect sources in preference of direct testimonies, the use of ‘imprecise’ dating in preference to specific dates and statements of age, the use of misquoted references and erroneous information, the use of incorrect logic, and personal opinion.

Aisha was nine lunar years old at the time her marriage to the Islamic prophet was consummated and there is simply no valid evidence that suggests otherwise. The majority of Muslims today, including both scholars and the general Muslim population, agree. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history, and many of these honest Muslims take offense to these lies propagated by Muslim apologists who are embarrassed by their own prophet's actions.

===The Meaning of 'Consummate'===
{{Main|The Meaning of Consummate}}

Some Muslim apologist refuse to accept the existence of narrations given by Aisha in which she states that she was married to Prophet Muhammad when she was six years old and that he consummated his marriage with her when she was nine lunar years of age, even though these are recorded in Bukhari's sahih ahadith collection.

These apologists will usually resort to questioning the English translation of Dr. Mushin Khan, without addressing the ahadith in their original Arabic. A reading of the relevant Bukhari ahadith make it clear that Muhammad had sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine years of age.

The terms used are: "udkhilath" and "bana biha", which can only mean "sexual intercourse" in the context of the ahadith. The confusion from Muslims regarding this comes from their lack of understanding regarding the English phrase "consummation of marriage", their ignorance of Arabic and their unwillingness to admit that their prophet had sexual intercourse with a nine year old child.

===Pedophilia and the Tu Quoque Defense===
This article refutes the claim that Joseph, the husband of Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), was a pedophile, a popular yet erroneous tu quoque argument used to defend Prophet Muhammad's pedophilic marriage to Aisha.

Upon reading the non-canonical apocrypha, the Christian equivalent of da`if (weak) or maudu (fabricated) hadith, we find it does not say Mary married Joseph when she was aged only 12. It in fact says she was possibly 17 years of age at the time the marriage was eventually consummated, if ever (Mary's perpetual virginity, the belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, is an essential article of faith for the majority of the world's Christians).

The most decisive argument against the claim that Joseph was a pedophile is the fact that the same non-canonical writings which are used to gather information on Joseph and Mary's age, also confirm Mary's status as "ever virgin" (in The History of Joseph the Carpenter, Jesus says on Joseph's death "my mother, virgin undefiled").

===Miscellaneous Apologetics Used to Defend Muhammad's Actions===
{{Main|Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|l1=Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha}}

This article refutes miscellaneous apologetics which may not be fully covered in our other articles, but are used by some to justify the marriage between the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his six-year-old bride Aisha.

The 26 different excuses covered include; Muhammad can't be a pedophile because he also had sex with grown women, pedophiles prefer children but Muhammad had many adult wives and only one child-bride, at that time it was okay to have sex with 9 year-olds in Arabia, people lived shorter life spans back then, and menstruation in hot climates starts earlier than in cold ones, so girls in Arabia matured as early as nine.

==Modern World==

===Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages===
{{Main|Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages}}

Due to its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, child marriages are permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars and leaders, and in many Islamic countries it is common practice.
Girls far below the age of puberty are forcibly married to older persons (sometimes in their 50s and later) for various personal gains by the girls' guardian or with the intention to preserve family honor by helping her avoid pre-marital sex.

Pedophilic Islamic marriages are most prevalent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by other countries in the [[Middle East]] and Bangladesh.<ref>[http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=1631 America Magazine: Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by Andrew Bushell; March 11, 2002]</ref><ref>[http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=630 Americans For UNFPA: Virtual Slavery: The Practice of “Compensation Marriages” by Net Community of AfUNFPA; last retrieved Monday, 08 December 2008]</ref> This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and is on the rise among the growing Muslim populations in many non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom<ref name="Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196955/Ten-fold-rise-forced-marriages-just-years.html Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years] - The Daily Mail July 2, 2009</ref> and the United States.<ref>Christine Vendel - [http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1557578.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container Man charged with statutory rape in ‘marriage’ to 14-year-old girl] - The Kansas City Star, November 8, 2009</ref>

In countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic,<ref name="TONOV282008">{{cite web|url= http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/11_08/11_24_08/112408_nigeria.htm|title= Nigeria Child Brides-Broken Lives |publisher= Times Online|author= |date= November 28, 2008|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunrn.com%2Fnews%2F2008%2F11_08%2F11_24_08%2F112408_nigeria.htm&date=2013-06-15|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="TNTJuly212013">{{cite web |url= http://thenigeriatoday.net/i-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics/|title= I Could Marry Off My Six Year Old Daughter If I So Wished, Senator Ahmed Yerima Replies Critics|publisher= The Nigeria Today|author= |date= July 21, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthenigeriatoday.net%2Fi-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics%2F&date=2013-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="Weekly Blitz">[http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1386/islamist-leader-threatens-of-waging-jihad Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad] - Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011</ref><ref name="MESSAGE">Yessir - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.abigmessage.com/child-marriage-death-of-13-year-old-bride-after-wedding.html|2=2011-10-25}} Child Marriage - Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding] - A BIG MESSAGE, April 10, 2010</ref><ref name="IRIN">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88589|2=2011-10-25}} YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] - IRIN, March 28, 2010</ref> and in the case of Malaysia, the growing Muslim population has effectively turned back the clock on social progress by passing new laws which allow for the practice of pedophilic marriages specifically between followers of Islam.<ref name="World News Australia">[{{Reference archive|1=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/outcry-over-malaysian-child-marriages-20100804-11fey.html|2=2011-10-25}} Outcry over Malaysian child marriages] - Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010</ref>

So one has to agree that whatever reasons and justification people may give for the prevalence of child marriages in Muslim-majority nations, without Islam this practice would have long been discarded as immoral and unacceptable in the modern world.

===Muslim Statistics on Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muslim Statistics - Children|l1=Muslim Statistics (Children)}}

This page consists of various statistics concerning Islam and children. A small sample include:

#4 out of 5 Middle-Eastern women are sexually abused between the ages of 3 and 6 by family members.
#More than half of all Yemeni girls are married before reaching the age of puberty.
#With more than 3,900 children within 6 months, Indonesia tops the UN bodies list for child trafficking cases
#2,000 child sex abuse claims in 1 year at Pakistani Islamic schools, but not even 1 successful prosecution

===Pedophilia Discussed in Arabic/Islamic Media===
{{Main|Pedophilia (Translations of Arabic/Islamic Media)}}

This hub page contains English translations of various Arabic/Islamic media discussing pedophilia.

{{Quote|1=[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.islamonline.net/ar/IOLCounsel_C/1278406761316/1278406720653/هل-يجوز-تحديد-سن-زواج-للفتيات؟-|2=2011-02-03}} Is it permissible to restrict the age at which girls can marry?] Submitted by Ahmad, IslamOnline, December 24, 2010|2=The Noble Qur'an has also mentioned the waiting period [i.e. for a divorced wife to remarry] for the wife who has not yet menstruated, saying: "And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated" [Qur'an 65:4]. Since this is not negated later, we can take from this verse that it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with a prepubescent girl. The Qur'an is not like the books of jurisprudence which mention what the implications of things are, even if they are prohibited. It is true that the prophet (PBUH) entered into a marriage contract with 'A'isha when she was six years old, however he did not have sex with her until she was nine years old, according to al-Bukhari.

Therefore the issue is fixed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. There is no jurisprudence without it being accused of being a 'male jurisprudence'!!! For a portion of the women in our day deny the jurisprudential efforts of scholars with the accusation that their masculinity leads them to jurisprudence which is in their best-interest, and against women. It appears that those who are led by this idea have the image stuck in their minds of a father or shaykh of a mosque, who would resort to religion. As this was his (description), it was not desirable. But this is not how it was, according to what was related by Allah Almighty: "But if the right is on their side, they come to him with all submission" [Qur'an 24:49]. Wherefore the history of jurisprudence is abounding [with examples] which dispel this mania, and this is not the place to lay them all out. But what can those who follow the Western feminist agenda say to this Qur'anic text, and to the marriage of the Prophet to 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her)!!!}}

==Miscellaneous==

===The Harmful effects of Abuse, Documented in Islamic Scripture===
{{Main|The Tragedy of Aisha}}

It is no secret that sexual abuse of children has serious consequences on its victims and, among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, it is no longer a secret that the Qur'an explicitly condones pedophilia. Of course, for Muslims to finally acknowledge the harmful effects of abuse on a child it becomes necessary for us to expose those effects through authentic Islamic sources. That is why we find Aisha, Muhammad's third and "favorite" wife, to be the perfect model for assessing pedophilia and its consequences on the victims. The life of Aisha bint Abu Bakr truly was a seventh century tragedy.

===Muhammad a Pedophile? Another Look===
A second look at the question; was Muhammad a pedophile? One of the most disturbing things about Islam is that it does not categorically condemn pedophilia. Indeed, it cannot, for to do so would draw attention to the pedophilia of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Many Muslims cannot condemn pedophilia even if they would like to, for they would have to abandon Islam. Muslims tacitly approve of pedophilia, even if they are embarrassed to say so. So mesmerized are Muslims by the example of Muhammad's pedophilia that they are unable to categorically denounce pedophilia or feel shame. It is prevalent in many Muslim countries disguised as child marriage. The UN is today trying to stop the evil of child marriage among the backward Islamic regions of Asia and Africa. The future of some 300 million young girls depends on it.

===Aisha was Still Pre-pubescent Aged Fifteen===
{{Main|Aisha and Puberty}}

The doll-playing exegesis used in "Aisha's Age of Consummation" in itself proves Aisha's status as pre-pubescent at the time of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, but most Muslims are unaware that the Sahih ahadith say that Aisha, was below the age of puberty when she was at least fourteen years old, and remained in that state till the age of sixteen. This is because they have never read the Sahih ahadith in Arabic.

The narrators of the Sahih ahadith were not ashamed that Muhammad had married and had sexual relations with Aisha when she was below the age of puberty. Hence, from the original Arabic, it is clear that Aisha was below the age of puberty at the age of 14 (at the time of the raid on the Bani Mustaliq) or 15 (at the time of the Ethiopian slaves dancing incident), and begun her first menstrual period at the age of 16 (during the journey for hajj).

===Quotes on Muhammad Relating to Pedophilia===
{{Main|Quotes on Muhammad Relating to Pedophilia}}

This page consists of quotes relating to Muhammad's pedophilia made by notable individuals. For example, Simon Ockley, who was chosen Adams Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University:

{{Quote||An Arabian author cited by Maracci,<ref>Marac. Vita Mahometis, p. 23. </ref> says that Abubeker was very averse to the giving him his daughter [Ayesha, who was then but seven years old] so young, but that Mohammed pretended a divine command for it; whereupon he sent her to him with a basket of dates, and when the girl was alone with him, he stretched out his blessed hand (these are the author’s words), and rudely took hold of her clothes; upon which she looked fiercely at him, and said, “People call you the faithful man,<ref>Abulfeda says he was called Al Amin, “the faithful one,” when he was young. </ref> but your behaviour to me shows you are a perfidious one.” And with these words she got out of his hands, and, composing her clothes, went and complained to her father. The old gentleman, to calm her resentment, told her she was new betrothed to Mohammed, and that made him take liberties with her, as if she had been his wife.<ref>Simon Ockley. ''The History of the Saracens'' ([{{Reference archive|1=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Saracens/Life_of_Mohammed/Part_I|2=2013-02-05}} Life of Mohammed, Part I]). 6th Edition. London: Henry G. Bohn. 1857 </ref>}}

==See Also==

'''Articles'''

*[[Concerns with Islam: Child Marriage]]
{{Hub4|Sex|Sex}}

{{Hub4|Children|Children}}
*[[Necrophilia in Islam]]

*

'''Other Core Articles'''

''Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue, and serve as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn about Islam:''

*[[Islam and Apostasy]]
*[[Islam and Homosexuality]]
*[[Islam and Miracles]]
*[[Islam and Propaganda]]
*[[Islam and Science]]
*[[Islam and Scripture]]
*[[Islam and the People of the Book]]
*[[Islam and Violence]]
*[[Islam and Women]]

==External Links==

*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4959002.ece|2=2011-06-01}} Link between child porn and Muslim terrorists discovered in police raids]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sex-in-islam.com/amar.khan/Pedophilia-in-Islam.htm|2=2011-06-01}} A Complete Guide to Pedophilia in Islam]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5541006|2=2011-06-01}} Images of pedophilic Islamic marriages]
*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23452&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Let's clear up all this pedophilia garbage...] ''- Forum discussion on another defence of Muhammad's marriage to a child''

'''News regarding Pedophilia among non-Muslims'''

*[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090928/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_poland_castration Poland okays forcible castration for paedophiles] ''(9/28/2009) - related:'' [[w:Chemical castration|Chemical castration]] ''at wikipedia ''

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Core Articles]]
[[Category:Pedophilia]]
__NOEDITSECTION__
[[ru:Ислам и педофилия‎]]

Cousin Marriage in Islamic Law

2019-04-30T20:49:30Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure + added image

[[File:Ali x fatimah.jpg|thumb|319x319px|Early painting depicting Ali's wedding to his cousin Fatimah (Muhammad's daugther).]]
'''Cousin marriage''' in [[Islam]] is a [[marriage]] to a person who shares a fairly recent ancestor (within a few generations). In some communities cousin marriages are encouraged and in others they are stigmatized. Cousin marriages are illegal and prohibited in some countries.<ref>"The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage". 14 February 2014.</ref><ref>Paul, Diane B.; Spencer, Hamish G. (23 December 2008). ""It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective". ''PLOS Biology''. '''6''' (12): 2627–30. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320. PMC 2605922. <nowiki>PMID 19108607</nowiki>.</ref> Children of cousin marriages may have increased risk of genetic disorders and child mortality.<ref>Bittles 1994, p. 790</ref><ref>Bittles, A.H. (May 2001). "A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage" (PDF). consang.net consang.net. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Bittles, A.H.; Neel, J.V. (1994). "The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level". ''Nature Genetics''. '''8''' (2): 117–121</ref> Cousin marriages has been the norm throughout all Islamic recorded history<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> and remains so in Islamic world today.

==Scripture==

Due to [[#History|the actions]] of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, marriage between cousins is explicitly allowed and even [[Uswa Hasana|encouraged]] in Islam. The Qur'an itself does not discourage or forbid this practice in any way. In fact it implicitly allows it, as seen in [[Surah|chapter]] 4 verse 23<ref>Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-

Quran 4:23</ref>

So everyone besides these relatives named can be married. Such marriages in Muslim majority countries are often preferred and even encouraged in some regions. This is in contrast with [[China]], [[India]], most of the [[United States]] and some other nations where cousin-marriage is against the law and regarded as incest.

Even though there is some debate on this issue, scientists tend to agree it is genetically unhealthy. There are other problems with cousin marriages.
==History==

===Muhammad===

Prophet [[Muhammad]] himself married cousins, as he did with [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Zainab_bint_Jash|Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of Umaimah bint Abd al-Muttalib, one of his father's sisters,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:72; {{Tabari|8|p. 4}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 180}}; cf Guillaume/Ishaq 3; Maududi (1967), Tafhimul Quran, Chapter Al Ahzab</ref> but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Haritha. It was this last issue that caused the most controversy, with traditional Arab norms at the time being opposed, though not the Qur'an (Sura Al-Ahzab 33:37).<ref>{{Quran|33|37}}</ref>

According to Ibn Sa'd, after Zaynab's marriage to his adopted son Zayd, Muhammad went to visit him, but instead found a hastily clad Zaynab. Though he did not enter the house, the sight of her pleased him. [[Tabari]] states that Zaynab was only wearing a single slip, and the wind pushed away a curtain when Muhammad entered, revealing her "uncovered." Thereafter Zayd no longer found her attractive and thought of proposing divorce, but Muhammad told him to keep her. Eventually, however, Zayd did divorce her.

===Ali===

Muhammad also allowed the marriage of his daughter, Fatimah, to his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who would later go on to become the fourth Rightly-guided [[Caliph]] of Islam.

===Umar===

The second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, also married his cousin, Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl.<ref>History of the Prophets and Kings 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref>

 

==Relevant Quotes==
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|23}}|Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-}}{{Quote|{{Quran|33|50}}|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.}}
 
==Science and Statistics==

From a biological point of view it becomes clear that first cousin marriage is not recommended because close relatives have a higher than normal consanguinity which means an increased chance of sharing genes for recessive traits. With this high amount of shared DNA, you have a higher risk of birth defects in a baby. Even if cousin marriages are not performed, you can still have such genetic defects in populations where there is a restricted social structure.

In [[Pakistan]], where there has been cousin marriage for generations, and according to professor Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen from South Danish University, the current rate is 70%,<ref>[http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece Flere dødfødsler blandt indvandrere (Danish language)] - fpn.dk,February 27, 2009</ref> one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among non-consanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of pre-reproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.

A BBC report discussed Pakistanis in the [[United Kingdom]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin. Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in Birmingham either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability.<ref>Justin Rowlatt - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm The risks of cousin marriage] – BBC News, November 15, 2005</ref>

The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean perinatal mortality in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>Alan H. Bittles - [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2137601 The Role and Significance of Consanguinity as a Demographic Variable] - JSTOR</ref><ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm Polygamist community faces genetic disorder] – China Daily, June 15, 2007</ref><ref>John Dougherty - [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] – Phoenix New Times, December 29, 2005</ref><ref>A. H. Bittles and M. L. Black - [http://www.pnas.org/content/107/suppl.1/1779.full Consanguinity, human evolution, and complex diseases] – PNAS, June 25, 2009</ref>

Worldwide, it has been estimated that almost half of all Muslims are inbred:

{{Quote-text|[{{Reference archive|1=http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece|2=2012-03-15}} More stillbirths among immigrants] - Jyllands-Posten, February 27, 2009

[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1|2=2012-03-15}} Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs] - Tadmouri et al. ''Reproductive Health'' 2009 6:17

[http://europenews.dk/en/node/34368 Muslim Inbreeding: Impacts on intelligence, sanity, health and society] - Nicolai Sennels - EuropeNews, August 9, 2010|A rough estimate shows that close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred: In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between first cousins (so-called "consanguinity") and in Turkey the amount is between 25-30 percent.

Statistical research on Arabic countries shows that up to 34 percent of all marriages in Algiers are consanguine (blood related), 46 percent in Bahrain, 33 percent in Egypt, 80 percent in Nubia (southern area in Egypt), 60 percent in Iraq, 64 percent in Jordan, 64 percent in Kuwait, 42 percent in Lebanon, 48 percent in Libya, 47 percent in Mauritania, 54 percent in Qatar, 67 percent in Saudi Arabia, 63 percent in Sudan, 40 percent in Syria, 39 percent in Tunisia, 54 percent in the United Arabic Emirates and 45 percent in Yemen.}}

The British geneticist, Professor Steve Jones, giving The John Maddox Lecture at the 2011 Hay Festival had stated in relation to Muslim inbreeding, "It is common in the Islamic world to marry your brother’s daughter, which is actually [genetically] closer than marrying your cousin."<ref>Jonathan Wynne-Jones - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8544359/Hay-Festival-2011-Professor-risks-political-storm-over-Muslim-inbreeding.html|2=2011-05-31}} Hay Festival 2011: Professor risks political storm over Muslim 'inbreeding’] - The Telegraph, May 29, 2011</ref>

{{Core Science}}

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Health|Health}}

{{Hub4|Marriage|Marriage}}

==External Links==

*{{external link| url = http://islammonitor.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3921:incest-in-islam&catid=294:social-practices-interactions&Itemid=61| title = Incest in Islam| publisher = Islam Monitor| author = | date = | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fislammonitor.org%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D3921%3Aincest-in-islam%26catid%3D294%3Asocial-practices-interactions%26Itemid%3D61&date=2013-12-03| deadurl = no}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Women]]
[[Category:Islam and Science]]

File:Ali x fatimah.jpg

2019-04-30T20:46:57Z

AbdulHurayrah:

Painting depicting of Ali's wedding to Fatimah

Cousin Marriage in Islamic Law

2019-04-30T20:32:23Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Cousin marriage''' in [[Islam]] is a [[marriage]] to a person who shares a fairly recent ancestor (within a few generations). In some communities cousin marriages are encouraged and in others they are stigmatized. Cousin marriages are illegal and prohibited in some countries.<ref>"The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage". 14 February 2014.</ref><ref>Paul, Diane B.; Spencer, Hamish G. (23 December 2008). ""It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective". ''PLOS Biology''. '''6''' (12): 2627–30. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320. PMC 2605922. <nowiki>PMID 19108607</nowiki>.</ref> Children of cousin marriages may have increased risk of genetic disorders and child mortality.<ref>Bittles 1994, p. 790</ref><ref>Bittles, A.H. (May 2001). "A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage" (PDF). consang.net consang.net. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Bittles, A.H.; Neel, J.V. (1994). "The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level". ''Nature Genetics''. '''8''' (2): 117–121</ref> Cousin marriages has been the norm throughout all Islamic recorded history<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> and remains so in Islamic world today.

==Scripture==

Due to [[#History|the actions]] of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, marriage between cousins is explicitly allowed and even [[Uswa Hasana|encouraged]] in Islam. The Qur'an itself does not discourage or forbid this practice in any way. In fact it implicitly allows it, as seen in [[Surah|chapter]] 4 verse 23<ref>Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-

Quran 4:23</ref>

So everyone besides these relatives named can be married. Such marriages in Muslim majority countries are often preferred and even encouraged in some regions. This is in contrast with [[China]], [[India]], most of the [[United States]] and some other nations where cousin-marriage is against the law and regarded as incest.

Even though there is some debate on this issue, scientists tend to agree it is genetically unhealthy. There are other problems with cousin marriages.
==History==

===Muhammad===

Prophet [[Muhammad]] himself married cousins, as he did with [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Zainab_bint_Jash|Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of Umaimah bint Abd al-Muttalib, one of his father's sisters,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:72; {{Tabari|8|p. 4}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 180}}; cf Guillaume/Ishaq 3; Maududi (1967), Tafhimul Quran, Chapter Al Ahzab</ref> but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Haritha. It was this last issue that caused the most controversy, with traditional Arab norms at the time being opposed, though not the Qur'an (Sura Al-Ahzab 33:37).<ref>{{Quran|33|37}}</ref>

According to Ibn Sa'd, after Zaynab's marriage to his adopted son Zayd, Muhammad went to visit him, but instead found a hastily clad Zaynab. Though he did not enter the house, the sight of her pleased him. [[Tabari]] states that Zaynab was only wearing a single slip, and the wind pushed away a curtain when Muhammad entered, revealing her "uncovered." Thereafter Zayd no longer found her attractive and thought of proposing divorce, but Muhammad told him to keep her. Eventually, however, Zayd did divorce her.

===Ali===

Muhammad also allowed the marriage of his daughter, Fatimah, to his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who would later go on to become the fourth Rightly-guided [[Caliph]] of Islam.

===Umar===

The second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, also married his cousin, Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl.<ref>History of the Prophets and Kings 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref>

 

==Relevant Quotes==
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|23}}|Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-}}{{Quote|{{Quran|33|50}}|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.}}
 
==Science and Statistics==

From a biological point of view it becomes clear that first cousin marriage is not recommended because close relatives have a higher than normal consanguinity which means an increased chance of sharing genes for recessive traits. With this high amount of shared DNA, you have a higher risk of birth defects in a baby. Even if cousin marriages are not performed, you can still have such genetic defects in populations where there is a restricted social structure.

In [[Pakistan]], where there has been cousin marriage for generations, and according to professor Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen from South Danish University, the current rate is 70%,<ref>[http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece Flere dødfødsler blandt indvandrere (Danish language)] - fpn.dk,February 27, 2009</ref> one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among non-consanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of pre-reproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.

A BBC report discussed Pakistanis in the [[United Kingdom]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin. Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in Birmingham either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability.<ref>Justin Rowlatt - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm The risks of cousin marriage] – BBC News, November 15, 2005</ref>

The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean perinatal mortality in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>Alan H. Bittles - [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2137601 The Role and Significance of Consanguinity as a Demographic Variable] - JSTOR</ref><ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm Polygamist community faces genetic disorder] – China Daily, June 15, 2007</ref><ref>John Dougherty - [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] – Phoenix New Times, December 29, 2005</ref><ref>A. H. Bittles and M. L. Black - [http://www.pnas.org/content/107/suppl.1/1779.full Consanguinity, human evolution, and complex diseases] – PNAS, June 25, 2009</ref>

Worldwide, it has been estimated that almost half of all Muslims are inbred:

{{Quote||A rough estimate shows that close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred: In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between first cousins (so-called "consanguinity") and in Turkey the amount is between 25-30 percent.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece|2=2012-03-15}} More stillbirths among immigrants] - Jyllands-Posten, February 27, 2009</ref> 

Statistical research on Arabic countries shows that up to 34 percent of all marriages in Algiers are consanguine (blood related), 46 percent in Bahrain, 33 percent in Egypt, 80 percent in Nubia (southern area in Egypt), 60 percent in Iraq, 64 percent in Jordan, 64 percent in Kuwait, 42 percent in Lebanon, 48 percent in Libya, 47 percent in Mauritania, 54 percent in Qatar, 67 percent in Saudi Arabia, 63 percent in Sudan, 40 percent in Syria, 39 percent in Tunisia, 54 percent in the United Arabic Emirates and 45 percent in Yemen.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1|2=2012-03-15}} Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs] - Tadmouri et al. ''Reproductive Health'' 2009 6:17 doi:10.1186/1742-4755-6-17</ref><ref>Nicolai Sennels - [http://europenews.dk/en/node/34368 Muslim Inbreeding: Impacts on intelligence, sanity, health and society] - EuropeNews, August 9, 2010</ref>}}

The British geneticist, Professor Steve Jones, giving The John Maddox Lecture at the 2011 Hay Festival had stated in relation to Muslim inbreeding, "It is common in the Islamic world to marry your brother’s daughter, which is actually [genetically] closer than marrying your cousin."<ref>Jonathan Wynne-Jones - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8544359/Hay-Festival-2011-Professor-risks-political-storm-over-Muslim-inbreeding.html|2=2011-05-31}} Hay Festival 2011: Professor risks political storm over Muslim 'inbreeding’] - The Telegraph, May 29, 2011</ref>

{{Core Science}}

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Health|Health}}

{{Hub4|Marriage|Marriage}}

==External Links==

*{{external link| url = http://islammonitor.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3921:incest-in-islam&catid=294:social-practices-interactions&Itemid=61| title = Incest in Islam| publisher = Islam Monitor| author = | date = | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fislammonitor.org%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D3921%3Aincest-in-islam%26catid%3D294%3Asocial-practices-interactions%26Itemid%3D61&date=2013-12-03| deadurl = no}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Women]]
[[Category:Islam and Science]]

Cousin Marriage in Islamic Law

2019-04-30T20:31:25Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure

'''Cousin marriage''' in [[Islam]] is a [[marriage]] to a person who shares a fairly recent ancestor (within a few generations). In some communities cousin marriages are encouraged and in others they are stigmatized. Cousin marriages are illegal and prohibited in some countries.<ref>"The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage". 14 February 2014.</ref><ref>Paul, Diane B.; Spencer, Hamish G. (23 December 2008). ""It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective". ''PLOS Biology''. '''6''' (12): 2627–30. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320. PMC 2605922. <nowiki>PMID 19108607</nowiki>.</ref> Children of cousin marriages may have increased risk of genetic disorders and child mortality.<ref>Bittles 1994, p. 790</ref><ref>Bittles, A.H. (May 2001). "A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage" (PDF). consang.net consang.net. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Bittles, A.H.; Neel, J.V. (1994). "The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level". ''Nature Genetics''. '''8''' (2): 117–121</ref> Cousin marriages has been the norm throughout all Islamic recorded history<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> and remains so in Islamic world today.

==Scripture==

Due to [[#History|the actions]] of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, marriage between cousins is explicitly allowed and even [[Uswa Hasana|encouraged]] in Islam. The Qur'an itself does not discourage or forbid this practice in any way. In fact it implicitly allows it, as seen in [[Surah|chapter]] 4 verse 23<ref>Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-

Quran 4:23</ref>

So everyone besides these relatives named can be married. Such marriages in Muslim majority countries are often preferred and even encouraged in some regions. This is in contrast with [[China]], [[India]], most of the [[United States]] and some other nations where cousin-marriage is against the law and regarded as incest.

Even though there is some debate on this issue, scientists tend to agree it is genetically unhealthy. There are other problems with cousin marriages.
==History==

===Muhammad===

Prophet [[Muhammad]] himself married cousins, as he did with [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Zainab_bint_Jash|Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of Umaimah bint Abd al-Muttalib, one of his father's sisters,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:72; {{Tabari|8|p. 4}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 180}}; cf Guillaume/Ishaq 3; Maududi (1967), Tafhimul Quran, Chapter Al Ahzab</ref> but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Haritha. It was this last issue that caused the most controversy, with traditional Arab norms at the time being opposed, though not the Qur'an (Sura Al-Ahzab 33:37).<ref>{{Quran|33|37}}</ref>

According to Ibn Sa'd, after Zaynab's marriage to his adopted son Zayd, Muhammad went to visit him, but instead found a hastily clad Zaynab. Though he did not enter the house, the sight of her pleased him. [[Tabari]] states that Zaynab was only wearing a single slip, and the wind pushed away a curtain when Muhammad entered, revealing her "uncovered." Thereafter Zayd no longer found her attractive and thought of proposing divorce, but Muhammad told him to keep her. Eventually, however, Zayd did divorce her.

===Ali===

Muhammad also allowed the marriage of his daughter, Fatimah, to his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who would later go on to become the fourth Rightly-guided [[Caliph]] of Islam.

===Umar===

The second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, also married his cousin, Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl.<ref>History of the Prophets and Kings 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref>

 

== Relevant Quotes ==
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|23}}|Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-}} 
==Science and Statistics==

From a biological point of view it becomes clear that first cousin marriage is not recommended because close relatives have a higher than normal consanguinity which means an increased chance of sharing genes for recessive traits. With this high amount of shared DNA, you have a higher risk of birth defects in a baby. Even if cousin marriages are not performed, you can still have such genetic defects in populations where there is a restricted social structure.

In [[Pakistan]], where there has been cousin marriage for generations, and according to professor Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen from South Danish University, the current rate is 70%,<ref>[http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece Flere dødfødsler blandt indvandrere (Danish language)] - fpn.dk,February 27, 2009</ref> one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among non-consanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of pre-reproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.

A BBC report discussed Pakistanis in the [[United Kingdom]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin. Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in Birmingham either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability.<ref>Justin Rowlatt - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm The risks of cousin marriage] – BBC News, November 15, 2005</ref>

The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean perinatal mortality in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>Alan H. Bittles - [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2137601 The Role and Significance of Consanguinity as a Demographic Variable] - JSTOR</ref><ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm Polygamist community faces genetic disorder] – China Daily, June 15, 2007</ref><ref>John Dougherty - [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] – Phoenix New Times, December 29, 2005</ref><ref>A. H. Bittles and M. L. Black - [http://www.pnas.org/content/107/suppl.1/1779.full Consanguinity, human evolution, and complex diseases] – PNAS, June 25, 2009</ref>

Worldwide, it has been estimated that almost half of all Muslims are inbred:

{{Quote||A rough estimate shows that close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred: In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between first cousins (so-called "consanguinity") and in Turkey the amount is between 25-30 percent.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1616165.ece|2=2012-03-15}} More stillbirths among immigrants] - Jyllands-Posten, February 27, 2009</ref> 

Statistical research on Arabic countries shows that up to 34 percent of all marriages in Algiers are consanguine (blood related), 46 percent in Bahrain, 33 percent in Egypt, 80 percent in Nubia (southern area in Egypt), 60 percent in Iraq, 64 percent in Jordan, 64 percent in Kuwait, 42 percent in Lebanon, 48 percent in Libya, 47 percent in Mauritania, 54 percent in Qatar, 67 percent in Saudi Arabia, 63 percent in Sudan, 40 percent in Syria, 39 percent in Tunisia, 54 percent in the United Arabic Emirates and 45 percent in Yemen.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1|2=2012-03-15}} Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs] - Tadmouri et al. ''Reproductive Health'' 2009 6:17 doi:10.1186/1742-4755-6-17</ref><ref>Nicolai Sennels - [http://europenews.dk/en/node/34368 Muslim Inbreeding: Impacts on intelligence, sanity, health and society] - EuropeNews, August 9, 2010</ref>}}

The British geneticist, Professor Steve Jones, giving The John Maddox Lecture at the 2011 Hay Festival had stated in relation to Muslim inbreeding, "It is common in the Islamic world to marry your brother’s daughter, which is actually [genetically] closer than marrying your cousin."<ref>Jonathan Wynne-Jones - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8544359/Hay-Festival-2011-Professor-risks-political-storm-over-Muslim-inbreeding.html|2=2011-05-31}} Hay Festival 2011: Professor risks political storm over Muslim 'inbreeding’] - The Telegraph, May 29, 2011</ref>

{{Core Science}}

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Health|Health}}

{{Hub4|Marriage|Marriage}}

==External Links==

*{{external link| url = http://islammonitor.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3921:incest-in-islam&catid=294:social-practices-interactions&Itemid=61| title = Incest in Islam| publisher = Islam Monitor| author = | date = | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fislammonitor.org%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D3921%3Aincest-in-islam%26catid%3D294%3Asocial-practices-interactions%26Itemid%3D61&date=2013-12-03| deadurl = no}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Women]]
[[Category:Islam and Science]]

Early Islamic Cosmology

2019-04-29T19:27:42Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure

[[File:Blue-Marble-1972.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on their way to the moon in December 1972]]

When critics point out that the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Qur'anic Earth is flat], or that the author of the Qur'an believed that [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One the sun sets in a muddy spring], and furthermore, that such verses encouraged the early Muslims to maintain false beliefs about the world, sometimes people claim in response that everyone knew that the Earth was round by the time of Muhammad. This article will dispel that assertion, and as such is complementary to discussions about Islamic cosmography.

It seems that despite the best efforts of apologetics websites, there is no known evidence for a round Earth belief among the earliest Muslims, which would surely be abundant if Muhammad had such knowledge, and plenty of evidence for belief in a flat Earth.

==Absence of consensus in the Muslim world==

Knowledge of the spherical nature of the Earth was [[w:Spherical_Earth|known for centuries]], however distribution of information across the world was not uniform. A commonly held stance is that Muhammad and his companions had this knowledge.

[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 One Islamic fatwah website]<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 IslamQA.info - 118698: Consensus that the Earth is round]</ref> (copied by others) quotes from scholars who lived hundreds of years after Muhammad in a failed attempt to show that there was always a Muslim consensus that the Earth is round. They are implying that the Qur'an does not reflect a very human lack of knowledge about the shape of the Earth.

=== ibn Taymiyyah ===
To do so, they first quote from a book by ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH/1328 CE), who in turn cites Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi as saying that the scholars from the second level of the companions of Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH / 855 CE) – i.e. the early Hanbalis – said there was consensus among the scholars that both heaven and Earth are balls, the latter based on astronomical reasoning. This evidence is worthless, because from the 8th century CE the Muslims had access to Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge (see below), so of course Muslim scholars had this view. The term 'consensus' (ijma) was used in different ways by different scholars, but essentially meant the agreement of Muslim scholars, or ideally, also of the salaf (the first three generations of Muslims)<ref>[http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/ijma.htm sunnah.org] Questions on Ijma` (concensus), Taqlid (following qualified opinion), and Ikhtilaf Al-Fuqaha' (differences of the jurists) by Shaykh Hisham Muhammad Kabbani</ref>. In this case it is explicitly the scholars. As we read on, however, it is apparent that even this "consensus" for a round Earth was rather nebulous, and as already mentioned and will see again, those who did endorse a round Earth did so because they were educated people aware of the astronomical arguments.

They then quote ibn Taymiyyah again, who is answering a question about the shape of the heavens and Earth, this time citing Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi (again), Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE), and ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH / 1064 CE) as saying that there is a consensus that the heavens are round. Notice that despite the topic, he says the heavens, but nothing about the Earth. He says they provided evidence from the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the companions (sahabah) and second generation.

Ibn Taymiyyah continues the passage<ref>For the full chapter in Arabic see [https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/مجموع_الفتاوى/المجلد_السادس/سئل_عن_رجلين_تنازعا_في_كيفية_السماء_والأرض Wikisource.org], and for someone's English translation for most of the relevant parts see [http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=1859 Salafitalk forum]</ref> giving the supposed evidence for round heavens in the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the early Muslims (not included by the Islamic fatwah website). In between, he argues that a round heavens and Earth is supported by what specialists on tafsir and language have said about certain words in the Qur'an.

It is the hadiths and companions that we are interested in for the purposes of this article (the Qur'an verses cited by ibn Taymiyyah are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}).

Ibn Taymiyyah then mentions the hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud (graded weak) {{Abu Dawud||4726|darussalam}} in which Muhammad forms a dome with his fingers above his head when saying that Allah's throne is above the heavens. Ibn Taymiyyah's interpretation is that the throne is dome shaped.<ref>if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise." [the word translated 'last' means middle].

Sahih Bukhari 9:93:519</ref>

Ibn Taymiyyah then says that a middle only exists in a round thing. How any of this helps demonstrate that the heavens are spherical is a mystery.

=== Ibn Hazm ===
The Islamic fatwah website then quotes one of the three that ibn Taymiyyah cited, ibn Hazm, who said that there is sound evidence that the Earth is round, but the common people and some non-leading Muslim scholars thought otherwise, though none of the leading scholars denied that the Earth is round.

So firstly, uneducated people (as were Muhammad and the sahabah) thought the Earth to be flat even in ibn Hazm's day. Secondly, his statement provides no evidence that the earliest scholars actually said the Earth is round (just that leading scholars didn't say it was flat). It is clear that Ibn Hazm and the other followers of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal mentioned above believed in a round Earth for astronomical reasons, even if some of them attempted to find further backup from the Qur'an and sunnah.

Given that Ibn Taymiyyah cites these scholars, the narrations he then uses to support spherical heavens (when asked about the shape of both the heavens and Earth), were presumably the best they could come up with. If a consensus for a round Earth went back to Muhammad and the companions, surely the scholars could come up with better than this feeble evidence.

Even the already dubious claims of just a ''scholarly'' consensus are further undermined when we read Tafsir al-Jalalayn, which was written centuries later by two people who were not trying to massage the Qur'an to fit a round Earth reality. For {{Quran|88|20}}

{{Quote-text|Tafsir al-Jalalayn for Qur'an 88:20|As for His words sutihat ‘laid out flat’ this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the revealed Law and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it even if this latter does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law.}}

For details on this word, sutihat, in verse 88:20, see [[Flat Earth and the Quran#Qur.27an 88:20 - sutihat .28spread out flat.29|this section]] of the flat Earth article.

The website goes on to quote from a 20th century book of fatwas, which claims that the Earth is egg shaped and also makes an argument using verse 39:5, both of which are debunked in the article [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Flat Earth and the Quran].

So to summarise, there seems to be no evidence available that the earliest Muslims believed the Earth is round. Instead, there is lots of evidence that they thought the Earth to be flat, as explained further below. But before we come to that, let's see what historians have to say about Arab astronomical knowledge.

==Acquisition of Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge==

Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated into Arabic in the 8th century CE after the Qur’an was completed. Ptolemy recorded in book five of his AlMagest in the mid-2nd century CE the discovery of Hipparchus, and of Aristarchus before him, that the sun is much larger than the earth and much more distant than the moon, and the Aristotelian view that Earth was spherical and the heavens were celestial spheres.<ref>Toomer, G. J., Ptolemy and his Greek predecessors, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>

Professor Kevin Van Bladel says:

"When the worldview of educated Muslims after the establishment of the Arab Empire came to incorporate principles of astrology including the geocentric, spherical, Aristotelian-Ptolemaic world picture – particularly after the advent of the ‘Abbāsid dynasty in 750 – the meaning of these passages came to be interpreted in later Islamic tradition not according to the biblical-quranic cosmology, which became obsolete, but according to the Ptolemaic model, according to which the Quran itself came to be interpreted."<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, “Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 70:223-246, p.241, Cambridge University Press, 2007</ref>

In the same paper, Van Bladel describes how Christian theologians in the region of Syria in the sixth century CE shared the view that the Earth was flat and the heaven, or series of heavens was like a dome or tent above the Earth, based on their reading of the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. This was a rival view to that of the churchmen of Alexandria who supported the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of a spherical Earth surrounded by spinning celestial spheres. See the footnote below<ref name="KVB">ibid. pp.224-226. Here are some more excerpts:
 
{{Quote||Entering into the debate was John Philoponus, a Christian philosopher of sixth-century Alexandria, who wrote his commentary on Genesis to prove, against earlier, Antiochene, theologians like Theodore of Mopsuestia, that the scriptural account of creation described a spherical geocentric world in accord with the Ptolemaic cosmology. [...]

On the other hand, Cosmas Indicopleustes wrote his contentious ''Christian Topography'' in the 540s and 550s to prove that the spherical, geocentric world-picture of the erroneous, pagan Hellenes contradicted that of the Hebrew prophets. Cosmas was an Alexandrian with sympathies towards the Church of the East, who had travelled through the Red Sea to east Africa, Iran, and India, and who received instruction from the East Syrian churchman Mār Abā on the latter's visit to Egypt. His ''Christian topography'' has been shown to be aimed directly at John Philoponus and the Hellenic, spherical world-model he supported. [...] However, it is clear that Cosmas was going against the opinions of his educated though, as he saw it, misguided contemporaries in Alexandria.

A number of Syrian churchmen, notably but not only the Easterners working in the tradition of Theodore of Mopsuestia, took the view of the sky as an edifice for granted. Narsai d. ''c''. 503), the first head of the school of Nisibis, in his homilies on creation, described God's fashioning of the firmament of heaven in these terms: "Like a roof upon the top of the house he stretched out the firmament / that the house below, the domain of earth, might be complete". ''ayk taṭlîlâ l-baytâ da-l-tḥēt mtaḥ la-rqî῾â I d-nehwê mamlâ dûkkat ar῾â l-baytâ da-l῾el''. Also "He finished building the heaven and earth as a spacious house" ''šaklel wa-bnâ šmayyâ w-ar῾â baytâ rwîḥâ''. Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) wrote similarly on the shape of the world in his Hexaemeron homilies. A further witness to the discussion is a Syriac hymn, composed ''c.'' 543-554, describing a domed church in Edessa as a microcosm of the world, its dome being the counterpart of the sky. This is the earliest known text to make a church edifice to be a microcosm, and it shows that the debates over cosmology were meaningful to more than a small number of theologians.}}
</ref> for excerpts of that chapter, which he summarises by saying:

"Clearly the Ptolemaic cosmology was not taken for granted in the Aramaean part of Asia in the sixth century. It was, rather, controversial."<ref name="KVB2"></ref>

David A. King writes:

"The Arabs of the Arabian peninsula before Islam possessed a simple yet developed astronomical folklore of a practical nature. This involved a knowledge of the risings and settings of stars, associated in particular with the cosmical setting of groups of stars and simultaneous heliacal risings of others, which marked the beginning of periods called naw’, plural anwā’. […] Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated at least five times in the late eighth and ninth centuries. The first was a translation into Syriac and the others into Arabic, the first two under Caliph al-Ma’mūn in the middle of the first half of the ninth century, and the other two (the second an improvement of the first) towards the end of that century […] In this way Greek planetary models, uranometry and mathematical methods came to the attention of the Muslims."<ref>King, David A., “Islamic Astronomy”, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>

Hoskin and Gingerich say:

"In 762 [Muhammad’s] successors in the Middle East founded a new capital, Baghdad, by the river Tigris at the point of nearest approach of the Euphrates, and within reach of the Christian physicians of Jundishapur. Members of the Baghdad court called on them for advice, and these encounters opened the eyes of prominent Muslims to the existence of a legacy of intellectual treasures from Antiquity - most of which were preserved in manuscripts lying in distant libraries and written in a foreign tongue. Harun al-Rashid (caliph from 786) and his successors sent agents to the Byzantine empire to buy Greek manuscripts, and early in the ninth century a translation centre, the House of Wisdom, was established in Baghdad by the Caliph al-Ma’mun. […] Long before translations began, a rich tradition of folk astronomy already existed in the Arabian peninsula. This merged with the view of the heavens in Islamic commentaries and treatises, to create a simple cosmology based on the actual appearances of the sky and unsupported by any underlying theory."<ref>Hoskin, Michael and Gingerich, Owen, “Islamic Astronomy” in The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy, Ed. M. Hoskin, p.50-52, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999</ref>

==Flat Earth in Tafsirs==
===The spring where the sun sets===
In the tafsir of al-Tabari (b. 224 AH / 839 CE) for {{Quran|18|86}}, we see the following remarks about the nature of the spring into which the sun sets. The similar sounding words hami'ah (muddy) and hamiyah (hot) seem to have become confused at some point:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=The meaning of the Almighty’s saying, ‘Until he reached the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ is as follows:

When the Almighty says, ‘Until he reached,’ He is addressing Zul-Qarnain. Concerning the verse, ‘the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ the people differed on how to pronounce that verse. Some of the people of Madina and Basra read it as ‘Hami’a spring,’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring that contains mud. While a group of the people of Medina and the majority of the people of Kufa read it as, ‘Hamiya spring’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring of warm water. The people of commentary have differed on the meaning of this depending on the way they read the verse.}}

So he says of the Basra version:

"بـمعنى: أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء ذات حمأة"

"Meaning: that it sets in a spring of muddy water."

And of the people of Kufa reading hot spring:

"يعنـي أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء حارّة"

"It means that it sets in a spring of hot water"

He goes on to quote various opinions such as Ibn 'Abbas, that the sun sets in black mud:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْد الْأَعْلَى , قَالَ : ثنا مَرْوَان بْن مُعَاوِيَة , عَنْ وَرْقَاء , قَالَ : سَمِعْت سَعِيد بْن جُبَيْر ,
قَالَ : كَانَ اِبْن عَبَّاس يَقْرَأ هَذَا الْحَرْف { فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة }

Muhammad bin 'Abd al-A'laa narrated and said: Marwan ibn Mu'awiya narrated from Warqa, he said: I heard Sa'id ibn Jubayr say: ibn 'Abbas read this letter "in a muddy spring"

وَيَقُول : حَمْأَة سَوْدَاء تَغْرُب فِيهَا الشَّمْس

and he said: the sun sets in black mud.

وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ : بَلْ هِيَ تَغِيب فِي عَيْن حَارَّة

Others said: it disappears (تَغِيب) in a hot spring.}}

From these comments and narrations in al-Tabari's tafsir, we can reasonably conclude that many, and perhaps all, of the earliest Muslims took verse 18:86 to mean that the sun actually sets in a spring and thus that the Earth is flat.

If the reader wishes to explore this sub-topic further, they can see how al-Tabari in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'', and al-Baydawi in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set, and the pre-Islamic Arab poems on the same topic in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#Compatibility_with_contemporary_beliefs Dhu'l Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring].

===The sky is a dome above the Earth===

In his tafsir for {{Quran|2|22}}, al-Tabari includes narrations from some of the earliest Muslims about the sky being a dome or ceiling over the Earth:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for 2:22]|2=حَدَّثَنِي مُوسَى بْن هَارُونَ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرو بْن حَمَّاد , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَسْبَاط , عَنْ السُّدِّيّ فِي خَبَر ذَكَرَهُ , عَنْ أَبِي مَالِك , وَعَنْ أَبِي صَالِح , عَنْ ابْن عَبَّاس , وَعَنْ مُرَّة , عَنْ ابْن مَسْعُود وَعَنْ نَاس مِنْ أَصْحَاب النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } , فَبِنَاء السَّمَاء عَلَى الْأَرْض كَهَيْئَةِ الْقُبَّة , وَهِيَ سَقْف عَلَى الْأَرْض .وَحَدَّثَنَا بِشْر بْن مُعَاذ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيد , عَنْ سَعِيد , عَنْ قَتَادَةَ فِي قَوْل اللَّه { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } قَالَ : جَعَلَ السَّمَاء سَقْفًا لَك .

Musa ibn Harun narrated and said that Amru ibn Hammad narrated and said that Asbath narrated from al-Suddi in the report mentioned, from Abu Malik, and from Abu Salih, from ibn 'Abbas and from Murrah, from ibn Masud and from people of the companions of the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

"...and the sky a canopy..." The canopy of the sky over the earth '''is in the form of a dome''', and it is a roof over the earth. And Bishr bin Mu'az narrated and said from Yazid from Sa'id from Qatada in the words of Allah "...and the sky a canopy..." He says he makes the sky your roof.}}

Ibn Kathir in his tafsir for {{Quran|13|2}} has yet more narrations of the sahabah and tabi'un (2nd generation) on this topic:

{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2321 Tafsir ibn Kathir for Qur'an 13:2]|2=Allah said next, (..without any pillars that you can see.) meaning, `there are pillars, but you cannot see them,' according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, "The heaven is like a dome over the earth," meaning, without pillars. Similar was reported from Qatadah, and this meaning is better for this part of the Ayah, especially since Allah said in another Ayah, (He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His permission.) 22:65 Therefore, Allah's statement, (..that you can see), affirms that there are no pillars. Rather, the heaven is elevated (above the earth) without pillars, as you see. This meaning best affirms Allah's ability and power.}}

===The Earth on the back of a whale===
Al-Tabari's tafsir contains other indications of a common flat Earth belief. For example, regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter nun, he (and many other tafsirs) records that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a [[The Islamic Whale|whale on whose back the Earth is carried]] (other interpretations were that it was an inkwell, or a name of Allah). The evidence is extensively documented on other websites including narrations with sahih chains from the sahabah, so the interested reader is referred to them.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab</ref><ref>[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!</ref><ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth</ref>

==Relevant Quotations==
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|86}}| حتى اذا بلغ مغرب الشمس وجدها تغرب في عين حمئة ووجد عندها قوما قلنا ياذا القرنين اما ان تعذب واما ان تتخذ فيهم حسنا

Hatta itha balagha maghriba alshshamsi wajadaha taghrubu fee AAaynin hami-atin wawajada AAindaha qawman qulna ya tha alqarnayni imma an tuAAaththiba wa-imma an tattakhitha feehim husnan

Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness.}} 

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|93|519}}|if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise." [the word translated 'last' means middle].}}

 

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|634}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):

The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a piece of the land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."}}

 

{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi|47|6|44|3298}}|...Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under you?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Indeed it is the earth.’ Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under that?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Verily, below it is another earth, between the two of which is a distance of five-hundred years.’ Until he enumerated seven earths: ‘Between every two earths is a distance of five-hundred years.’...}}

 

{{Quote|{{Abudawud||4002|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Dharr:

I was sitting behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets ? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water (Hamiyah).}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:

'''Do you know where the sun goes?''' They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: '''Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: '''Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting.''' The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.<ref>For the Arabic, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 sunnah.com] or #159: [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=81&BookID=25&PID=299 hadith.al-islam.com]</ref>}}

 {{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1657}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven '''when one-third of the first part of the night is over''' and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? '''He continues like this till the day breaks.'''}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|41|6904}}|Thauban reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends….}}

{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah|25|4|25|2921}}|It was narrated from Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi that the Messenger of Allah said:
“There is no (pilgrim) who recites the Talbiyah but that which is to his right and left also recites it, rocks and trees and hills, to the farthest ends of the earth in each direction, from here and from there.”}}

==Apologetic Arguments==
===Narration of companions===
Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the companions believed in "round heavens" as he explains ibn 'Abbas' account and others said regarding {{Quran|36|40}}
{{Quote-text|al-Tabari and ibn Kathir Tafsirs for 36:40|فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل

fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal

in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle}}

See the comments and footnotes about falak in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Geocentrism_and_the_Quran Geocentrism and the Quran] (a whirl was a small wheel or hemisphere that span around a spindle<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>). Now given that the sun and moon appear both to arc across the sky, even to those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere), such people would also imagine some path for them continuing beneath the Earth after they have set so they can return whence they came (as also in the hadith from Abu Dharr discussed later in this article). Indeed, this is precisely what we read from ibn 'Abbas as noted by ibn Kathir in his Tafsir for {{Quran|31|29}}. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in its falak beneath the Earth:<ref name="TafsirArabic" />

{{Quote-text|Tafsir ibn Kathir for 31:29|Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn ’Abbas said, “The sun is like flowing water, running in its course in the sky during the day. When it sets, it travels in its course beneath the earth until it rises in the east.” He said, “The same is true in the case of the moon.” Its chain of narration is Sahih.}}

Ibn Taymiyyah's argument does not account for the shape of the Earth.
==External links==

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/seven_earths.html Answering Islam] - The Seven Earths
*[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Science]]
[[Category:Martin Taverille]]
{{page_title|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims know the Earth is Round?}}

Early Islamic Cosmology

2019-04-29T19:03:37Z

AbdulHurayrah:

[[File:Blue-Marble-1972.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on their way to the moon in December 1972]]

When critics point out that the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Qur'anic Earth is flat], or that the author of the Qur'an believed that [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One the sun sets in a muddy spring], and furthermore, that such verses encouraged the early Muslims to maintain false beliefs about the world, sometimes people claim in response that everyone knew that the Earth was round by the time of Muhammad. This article will dispel that assertion, and as such is complementary to discussions about Islamic cosmography.

It seems that despite the best efforts of apologetics websites, there is no known evidence for a round Earth belief among the earliest Muslims, which would surely be abundant if Muhammad had such knowledge, and plenty of evidence for belief in a flat Earth.

==Absence of consensus in the Muslim world==

While many people in some regions had [[w:Spherical_Earth|known for centuries]] that the Earth was round and not flat, the question is whether Muhammad and his nearby contemporaries in Arabia had this knowledge.

[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 One Islamic fatwah website]<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 IslamQA.info - 118698: Consensus that the Earth is round]</ref> (copied by others) quotes from scholars who lived hundreds of years after Muhammad in a failed attempt to show that there was always a Muslim consensus that the Earth is round. They are implying that the Qur'an does not reflect a very human lack of knowledge about the shape of the Earth.

'''ibn Taymiyyah'''

To do so, they first quote from a book by ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH/1328 CE), who in turn cites Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi as saying that the scholars from the second level of the companions of Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH / 855 CE) – i.e. the early Hanbalis – said there was consensus among the scholars that both heaven and Earth are balls, the latter based on astronomical reasoning. This evidence is worthless, because from the 8th century CE the Muslims had access to Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge (see below), so of course Muslim scholars had this view. The term 'consensus' (ijma) was used in different ways by different scholars, but essentially meant the agreement of Muslim scholars, or ideally, also of the salaf (the first three generations of Muslims)<ref>[http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/ijma.htm sunnah.org] Questions on Ijma` (concensus), Taqlid (following qualified opinion), and Ikhtilaf Al-Fuqaha' (differences of the jurists) by Shaykh Hisham Muhammad Kabbani</ref>. In this case it is explicitly the scholars. As we read on, however, it is apparent that even this "consensus" for a round Earth was rather nebulous, and as already mentioned and will see again, those who did endorse a round Earth did so because they were educated people aware of the astronomical arguments.

They then quote ibn Taymiyyah again, who is answering a question about the shape of the heavens and Earth, this time citing Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi (again), Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE), and ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH / 1064 CE) as saying that there is a consensus that the heavens are round. Notice that despite the topic, he says the heavens, but nothing about the Earth. He says they provided evidence from the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the companions (sahabah) and second generation.

Ibn Taymiyyah continues the passage<ref>For the full chapter in Arabic see [https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/مجموع_الفتاوى/المجلد_السادس/سئل_عن_رجلين_تنازعا_في_كيفية_السماء_والأرض Wikisource.org], and for someone's English translation for most of the relevant parts see [http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=1859 Salafitalk forum]</ref> giving the supposed evidence for round heavens in the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the early Muslims (not included by the Islamic fatwah website). In between, he argues that a round heavens and Earth is supported by what specialists on tafsir and language have said about certain words in the Qur'an.

It is the hadiths and companions that we are interested in for the purposes of this article (the Qur'an verses cited by ibn Taymiyyah are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}).

'''Hadiths'''

Ibn Taymiyyah then mentions the hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud (graded weak) {{Abu Dawud||4726|darussalam}} in which Muhammad forms a dome with his fingers above his head when saying that Allah's throne is above the heavens. Ibn Taymiyyah's interpretation is that the throne is dome shaped.

The other hadith he mentions is in Sahih Bukhari, which says:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|93|519}}|if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise." [the word translated 'last' means middle].}}

Ibn Taymiyyah then says that a middle only exists in a round thing. How any of this helps demonstrate that the heavens are spherical is a mystery.

'''Ibn Hazm'''

The Islamic fatwah website then quotes one of the three that ibn Taymiyyah cited, ibn Hazm, who said that there is sound evidence that the Earth is round, but the common people and some non-leading Muslim scholars thought otherwise, though none of the leading scholars denied that the Earth is round.

So firstly, uneducated people (as were Muhammad and the sahabah) thought the Earth to be flat even in ibn Hazm's day. Secondly, his statement provides no evidence that the earliest scholars actually said the Earth is round (just that leading scholars didn't say it was flat). It is clear that Ibn Hazm and the other followers of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal mentioned above believed in a round Earth for astronomical reasons, even if some of them attempted to find further backup from the Qur'an and sunnah.

Given that Ibn Taymiyyah cites these scholars, the narrations he then uses to support spherical heavens (when asked about the shape of both the heavens and Earth), were presumably the best they could come up with. If a consensus for a round Earth went back to Muhammad and the companions, surely the scholars could come up with better than this feeble evidence.

Even the already dubious claims of just a ''scholarly'' consensus are further undermined when we read Tafsir al-Jalalayn, which was written centuries later by two people who were not trying to massage the Qur'an to fit a round Earth reality. For {{Quran|88|20}} we read the following:

{{Quote|1=[http://main.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=88&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir al-Jalalayn for Qur'an 88:20]|2=As for His words sutihat ‘laid out flat’ this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the revealed Law and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it even if this latter does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law.}}

For details on this word, sutihat, in verse 88:20, see [[Flat Earth and the Quran#Qur.27an 88:20 - sutihat .28spread out flat.29|this section]] of the flat Earth article.

The website goes on to quote from a 20th century book of fatwas, which claims that the Earth is egg shaped and also makes an argument using verse 39:5, both of which are debunked in the article [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Flat Earth and the Quran].

So to summarise, there seems to be no evidence available that the earliest Muslims believed the Earth is round. Instead, there is lots of evidence that they thought the Earth to be flat, as explained further below. But before we come to that, let's see what historians have to say about Arab astronomical knowledge.

==Acquisition of Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge==

Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated into Arabic in the 8th century CE after the Qur’an was completed. Ptolemy recorded in book five of his AlMagest in the mid-2nd century CE the discovery of Hipparchus, and of Aristarchus before him, that the sun is much larger than the earth and much more distant than the moon, and the Aristotelian view that Earth was spherical and the heavens were celestial spheres.<ref>Toomer, G. J., Ptolemy and his Greek predecessors, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>

Professor Kevin Van Bladel says:

{{Quote||When the worldview of educated Muslims after the establishment of the Arab Empire came to incorporate principles of astrology including the geocentric, spherical, Aristotelian-Ptolemaic world picture – particularly after the advent of the ‘Abbāsid dynasty in 750 – the meaning of these passages came to be interpreted in later Islamic tradition not according to the biblical-quranic cosmology, which became obsolete, but according to the Ptolemaic model, according to which the Quran itself came to be interpreted.<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, “Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 70:223-246, p.241, Cambridge University Press, 2007</ref>}}

Earlier in the same paper, Van Bladel describes how Christian theologians in the region of Syria in the sixth century CE shared the view that the Earth was flat and the heaven, or series of heavens was like a dome or tent above the Earth, based on their reading of the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. This was a rival view to that of the churchmen of Alexandria who supported the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of a spherical Earth surrounded by spinning celestial spheres. See the footnote below<ref name="KVB">ibid. pp.224-226. Here are some more excerpts:
 
{{Quote||Entering into the debate was John Philoponus, a Christian philosopher of sixth-century Alexandria, who wrote his commentary on Genesis to prove, against earlier, Antiochene, theologians like Theodore of Mopsuestia, that the scriptural account of creation described a spherical geocentric world in accord with the Ptolemaic cosmology. [...]

On the other hand, Cosmas Indicopleustes wrote his contentious ''Christian Topography'' in the 540s and 550s to prove that the spherical, geocentric world-picture of the erroneous, pagan Hellenes contradicted that of the Hebrew prophets. Cosmas was an Alexandrian with sympathies towards the Church of the East, who had travelled through the Red Sea to east Africa, Iran, and India, and who received instruction from the East Syrian churchman Mār Abā on the latter's visit to Egypt. His ''Christian topography'' has been shown to be aimed directly at John Philoponus and the Hellenic, spherical world-model he supported. [...] However, it is clear that Cosmas was going against the opinions of his educated though, as he saw it, misguided contemporaries in Alexandria.

A number of Syrian churchmen, notably but not only the Easterners working in the tradition of Theodore of Mopsuestia, took the view of the sky as an edifice for granted. Narsai d. ''c''. 503), the first head of the school of Nisibis, in his homilies on creation, described God's fashioning of the firmament of heaven in these terms: "Like a roof upon the top of the house he stretched out the firmament / that the house below, the domain of earth, might be complete". ''ayk taṭlîlâ l-baytâ da-l-tḥēt mtaḥ la-rqî῾â I d-nehwê mamlâ dûkkat ar῾â l-baytâ da-l῾el''. Also "He finished building the heaven and earth as a spacious house" ''šaklel wa-bnâ šmayyâ w-ar῾â baytâ rwîḥâ''. Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) wrote similarly on the shape of the world in his Hexaemeron homilies. A further witness to the discussion is a Syriac hymn, composed ''c.'' 543-554, describing a domed church in Edessa as a microcosm of the world, its dome being the counterpart of the sky. This is the earliest known text to make a church edifice to be a microcosm, and it shows that the debates over cosmology were meaningful to more than a small number of theologians.}}
</ref> for excerpts of that chapter, which he summarises by saying:

{{Quote||Clearly the Ptolemaic cosmology was not taken for granted in the Aramaean part of Asia in the sixth century. It was, rather, controversial.<ref name="KVB"></ref>}}

David A. King writes:

{{Quote||The Arabs of the Arabian peninsula before Islam possessed a simple yet developed astronomical folklore of a practical nature. This involved a knowledge of the risings and settings of stars, associated in particular with the cosmical setting of groups of stars and simultaneous heliacal risings of others, which marked the beginning of periods called naw’, plural anwā’. […] Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated at least five times in the late eighth and ninth centuries. The first was a translation into Syriac and the others into Arabic, the first two under Caliph al-Ma’mūn in the middle of the first half of the ninth century, and the other two (the second an improvement of the first) towards the end of that century […] In this way Greek planetary models, uranometry and mathematical methods came to the attention of the Muslims.<ref>King, David A., “Islamic Astronomy”, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>}}

Hoskin and Gingerich say:

{{Quote||In 762 [Muhammad’s] successors in the Middle East founded a new capital, Baghdad, by the river Tigris at the point of nearest approach of the Euphrates, and within reach of the Christian physicians of Jundishapur. Members of the Baghdad court called on them for advice, and these encounters opened the eyes of prominent Muslims to the existence of a legacy of intellectual treasures from Antiquity - most of which were preserved in manuscripts lying in distant libraries and written in a foreign tongue. Harun al-Rashid (caliph from 786) and his successors sent agents to the Byzantine empire to buy Greek manuscripts, and early in the ninth century a translation centre, the House of Wisdom, was established in Baghdad by the Caliph al-Ma’mun. […] Long before translations began, a rich tradition of folk astronomy already existed in the Arabian peninsula. This merged with the view of the heavens in Islamic commentaries and treatises, to create a simple cosmology based on the actual appearances of the sky and unsupported by any underlying theory.''"
<ref>Hoskin, Michael and Gingerich, Owen, “Islamic Astronomy” in The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy, Ed. M. Hoskin, p.50-52, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999</ref>}}

==Flat Earth(s) in hadith collections==

The next few sections are about evidence of a commonplace flat Earth belief among the earliest Muslims (it omits evidence from the Qur'an itself, as per the purpose of this article stated in the introduction).

Two easy ways to demonstrate that at least a large number of the earliest Muslims imagined the Earth to be flat are to look at hadiths and tafsirs. For the purposes of this article, it matters little whether the hadiths are authentic or not; either way they demonstrate beliefs of early Muslims.

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|634}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):

The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a piece of the land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."}}

This next hadith is on the same topic. It is graded daif (weak), but shows what some early Muslims (if not actually Muhammad) thought about the world:

{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi|47|6|44|3298}}|...Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under you?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Indeed it is the earth.’ Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under that?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Verily, below it is another earth, between the two of which is a distance of five-hundred years.’ Until he enumerated seven earths: ‘Between every two earths is a distance of five-hundred years.’...}}

The following hadith is graded Sahih by Dar-us-Salam (Hafiz Zubair 'Ali Za'i) and has a chain of narration graded as Sahih (authentic) by al-Albani. It is from Sunan Abu Dawud, book XXV - Kitab Al-Ahruf Wa Al-Qira’at (Book of Dialects and Readings Of The Qur’an):

{{Quote|{{Abudawud||4002|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Dharr:

I was sitting behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets ? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water (Hamiyah).}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:

'''Do you know where the sun goes?''' They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: '''Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: '''Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting.''' The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.<ref>For the Arabic, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 sunnah.com] or #159: [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=81&BookID=25&PID=299 hadith.al-islam.com]</ref>}}

Notice that it says, "from its rising place" (min matli'iha مَطْلِعِهَا ), and "from the place of your setting" (min maghribiki مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ). The sun is commanded to go somewhere – it cannot be claimed that this is an idiomatic way of commanding the Earth to rotate, nor that the words mean the east and west here (despite mistranslations of similar hadiths), not least because the words al mashriq and al maghrib would have been used for that purpose and without the possessive suffixes. The words used in this hadith must refer to the sun’s rising and setting places - it is pure nonsense to claim otherwise.

The following hadith, unless it is allegorised to death, clearly indicates a flat earth belief where night occurs at the same time for everyone on Earth:
{{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1657}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven '''when one-third of the first part of the night is over''' and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? '''He continues like this till the day breaks.'''}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|41|6904}}|Thauban reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends….}}

{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah|25|4|25|2921}}|It was narrated from Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi that the Messenger of Allah said:
“There is no (pilgrim) who recites the Talbiyah but that which is to his right and left also recites it, rocks and trees and hills, to the farthest ends of the earth in each direction, from here and from there.”}}

==Flat Earth in Tafsirs==
===The spring where the sun sets===
In the tafsir of al-Tabari (b. 224 AH / 839 CE) for {{Quran|18|86}}, we see the following remarks about the nature of the spring into which the sun sets. The similar sounding words hami'ah (muddy) and hamiyah (hot) seem to have become confused at some point:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=
الْقَوْل فِي تَأْوِيل قَوْله تَعَالَى : { حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِب الشَّمْس وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة }

يَقُول تَعَالَى ذِكْره : { حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ } ذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ { مَغْرِب الشَّمْس وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة } , فَاخْتَلَفَتْ الْقُرَّاء فِي قِرَاءَة ذَلِكَ , فَقَرَأَهُ بَعْض قُرَّاء الْمَدِينَة وَالْبَصْرَة : { فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة } بِمَعْنَى : أَنَّهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن مَاء ذَات حَمْأَة , وَقَرَأَتْهُ جَمَاعَة مِنْ قُرَّاء الْمَدِينَة , وَعَامَّة قُرَّاء الْكُوفَة : " فِي عَيْن حَامِيَة " يَعْنِي أَنَّهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن مَاء حَارَّة . وَاخْتَلَفَ أَهْل التَّأْوِيل فِي تَأْوِيلهمْ ذَلِكَ عَلَى نَحْو اِخْتِلَاف الْقُرَّاء فِي قِرَاءَته

The meaning of the Almighty’s saying, ‘Until he reached the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ is as follows:

When the Almighty says, ‘Until he reached,’ He is addressing Zul-Qarnain. Concerning the verse, ‘the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ the people differed on how to pronounce that verse. Some of the people of Madina and Basra read it as ‘Hami’a spring,’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring that contains mud. While a group of the people of Medina and the majority of the people of Kufa read it as, ‘Hamiya spring’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring of warm water. The people of commentary have differed on the meaning of this depending on the way they read the verse.}}

So he says of the Basra version:

"بـمعنى: أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء ذات حمأة"

"Meaning: that it sets in a spring of muddy water."

And of the people of Kufa reading hot spring:

"يعنـي أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء حارّة"

"It means that it sets in a spring of hot water"

He goes on to quote various opinions such as Ibn 'Abbas, that the sun sets in black mud:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْد الْأَعْلَى , قَالَ : ثنا مَرْوَان بْن مُعَاوِيَة , عَنْ وَرْقَاء , قَالَ : سَمِعْت سَعِيد بْن جُبَيْر ,
قَالَ : كَانَ اِبْن عَبَّاس يَقْرَأ هَذَا الْحَرْف { فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة }

Muhammad bin 'Abd al-A'laa narrated and said: Marwan ibn Mu'awiya narrated from Warqa, he said: I heard Sa'id ibn Jubayr say: ibn 'Abbas read this letter "in a muddy spring"

وَيَقُول : حَمْأَة سَوْدَاء تَغْرُب فِيهَا الشَّمْس

and he said: the sun sets in black mud.

وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ : بَلْ هِيَ تَغِيب فِي عَيْن حَارَّة

Others said: it disappears (تَغِيب) in a hot spring.}}

From these comments and narrations in al-Tabari's tafsir, we can reasonably conclude that many, and perhaps all, of the earliest Muslims took verse 18:86 to mean that the sun actually sets in a spring and thus that the Earth is flat.

If the reader wishes to explore this sub-topic further, they can see how al-Tabari in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'', and al-Baydawi in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set, and the pre-Islamic Arab poems on the same topic in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#Compatibility_with_contemporary_beliefs Dhu'l Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring].

===The sky is a dome above the Earth===

In his tafsir for {{Quran|2|22}}, al-Tabari includes narrations from some of the earliest Muslims about the sky being a dome or ceiling over the Earth:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for 2:22] See also the English translation from [https://islaambooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/the-commentary-on-the-quran-volume-i-tafsir-al-tabari.pdf J. Cooper's abridged translation of Tafsir al-Tabari]<ref>The commentary on the Qur'an, by Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir al- Tabari ; being an abridged translation of Jami' al-bayan 'an ta'wil ay al-Qur'an, with an introduction and notes by J. Cooper, general editors, W.F. Madelung, A. Jones. Oxford University Press, 1987. p.164</ref>|2=
حَدَّثَنِي مُوسَى بْن هَارُونَ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرو بْن حَمَّاد , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَسْبَاط , عَنْ السُّدِّيّ فِي خَبَر ذَكَرَهُ , عَنْ أَبِي مَالِك , وَعَنْ أَبِي صَالِح , عَنْ ابْن عَبَّاس , وَعَنْ مُرَّة , عَنْ ابْن مَسْعُود وَعَنْ نَاس مِنْ أَصْحَاب النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } , فَبِنَاء السَّمَاء عَلَى الْأَرْض كَهَيْئَةِ الْقُبَّة , وَهِيَ سَقْف عَلَى الْأَرْض .وَحَدَّثَنَا بِشْر بْن مُعَاذ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيد , عَنْ سَعِيد , عَنْ قَتَادَةَ فِي قَوْل اللَّه { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } قَالَ : جَعَلَ السَّمَاء سَقْفًا لَك .

Musa ibn Harun narrated and said that Amru ibn Hammad narrated and said that Asbath narrated from al-Suddi in the report mentioned, from Abu Malik, and from Abu Salih, from ibn 'Abbas and from Murrah, from ibn Masud and from people of the companions of the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

"...and the sky a canopy..." The canopy of the sky over the earth '''is in the form of a dome''', and it is a roof over the earth. And Bishr bin Mu'az narrated and said from Yazid from Sa'id from Qatada in the words of Allah "...and the sky a canopy..." He says he makes the sky your roof.}}

Ibn Kathir in his tafsir for {{Quran|13|2}} has yet more narrations of the sahabah and tabi'un (2nd generation) on this topic:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2321 Tafsir ibn Kathir for Qur'an 13:2]|2=Allah said next, (..without any pillars that you can see.) meaning, `there are pillars, but you cannot see them,' according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, "The heaven is like a dome over the earth," meaning, without pillars. Similar was reported from Qatadah, and this meaning is better for this part of the Ayah, especially since Allah said in another Ayah, (He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His permission.) 22:65 Therefore, Allah's statement, (..that you can see), affirms that there are no pillars. Rather, the heaven is elevated (above the earth) without pillars, as you see. This meaning best affirms Allah's ability and power.}}

===The Earth on the back of a whale===
Al-Tabari's tafsir contains other indications of a common flat Earth belief. For example, regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter nun, he (and many other tafsirs) records that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a [[The Islamic Whale|whale on whose back the Earth is carried]] (other interpretations were that it was an inkwell, or a name of Allah). The evidence is extensively documented on other websites including narrations with sahih chains from the sahabah, so the interested reader is referred to them.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab</ref><ref>[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!</ref><ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth</ref>

==Apologetic Arguments==

=== Narration of companions ===
Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the companions believed in "round heavens" as he explains ibn 'Abbas' account and others said regarding {{Quran|36|40}}
{{Quote-text|al-Tabari and ibn Kathir Tafsirs for 36:40|فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل

fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal

in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle}}

See the comments and footnotes about falak in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Geocentrism_and_the_Quran Geocentrism and the Quran] (a whirl was a small wheel or hemisphere that span around a spindle<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>). Now given that the sun and moon appear both to arc across the sky, even to those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere), such people would also imagine some path for them continuing beneath the Earth after they have set so they can return whence they came (as also in the hadith from Abu Dharr discussed later in this article). Indeed, this is precisely what we read from ibn 'Abbas as noted by ibn Kathir in his Tafsir for {{Quran|31|29}}. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in its falak beneath the Earth:<ref name="TafsirArabic" />

{{Quote-text|Tafsir ibn Kathir for 31:29|Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn ’Abbas said, “The sun is like flowing water, running in its course in the sky during the day. When it sets, it travels in its course beneath the earth until it rises in the east.” He said, “The same is true in the case of the moon.” Its chain of narration is Sahih.}}

Ibn Taymiyyah's argument does not account for the shape of the Earth.

This evidence can be used as a foundation for other arguments concerning the flat Earth verses in the Qur'an: that they cause a justifiable suspicion that the author of the Qur'an was just as unaware as his nearby contemporaries about the shape of the Earth. It also supports the point that even if we supposed that its author was aware of a round Earth, it is a secondary major weakness for the Qur'an to use such language when it will inevitably encourage 7th century Muslims to maintain their false notion that the Earth is flat (and even some Muslims living many centuries later, such as al-Suyuti in his Tafsir al-Jalalyn, and ibn Kathir in his Tafsir<ref>See also ibn Kathir's tafsir for verses [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=410 2:229], [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2645&Itemid=76 21:32], [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1487 36:38], and [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2128&Itemid=97 41:9-12], in all of which he says the heavens are a dome or roof or like the floors of a building over the Earth</ref>).

==External links==

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/seven_earths.html Answering Islam] - The Seven Earths
*[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Science]]
[[Category:Martin Taverille]]
{{page_title|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims know the Earth is Round?}}

Early Islamic Cosmology

2019-04-29T18:55:12Z

AbdulHurayrah: Structure

[[File:Blue-Marble-1972.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on their way to the moon in December 1972]]

When critics point out that the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Qur'anic Earth is flat], or that the author of the Qur'an believed that [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One the sun sets in a muddy spring], and furthermore, that such verses encouraged the early Muslims to maintain false beliefs about the world, sometimes people claim in response that everyone knew that the Earth was round by the time of Muhammad. This article will dispel that assertion, and as such is complementary to discussions about Islamic cosmography.

It seems that despite the best efforts of apologetics websites, there is no known evidence for a round Earth belief among the earliest Muslims, which would surely be abundant if Muhammad had such knowledge, and plenty of evidence for belief in a flat Earth.

==Absence of consensus in the Muslim world==

While many people in some regions had [[w:Spherical_Earth|known for centuries]] that the Earth was round and not flat, the question is whether Muhammad and his nearby contemporaries in Arabia had this knowledge.

[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 One Islamic fatwah website]<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/118698 IslamQA.info - 118698: Consensus that the Earth is round]</ref> (copied by others) quotes from scholars who lived hundreds of years after Muhammad in a failed attempt to show that there was always a Muslim consensus that the Earth is round. They are implying that the Qur'an does not reflect a very human lack of knowledge about the shape of the Earth.

'''ibn Taymiyyah'''

To do so, they first quote from a book by ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH/1328 CE), who in turn cites Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi as saying that the scholars from the second level of the companions of Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH / 855 CE) – i.e. the early Hanbalis – said there was consensus among the scholars that both heaven and Earth are balls, the latter based on astronomical reasoning. This evidence is worthless, because from the 8th century CE the Muslims had access to Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge (see below), so of course Muslim scholars had this view. The term 'consensus' (ijma) was used in different ways by different scholars, but essentially meant the agreement of Muslim scholars, or ideally, also of the salaf (the first three generations of Muslims)<ref>[http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/ijma.htm sunnah.org] Questions on Ijma` (concensus), Taqlid (following qualified opinion), and Ikhtilaf Al-Fuqaha' (differences of the jurists) by Shaykh Hisham Muhammad Kabbani</ref>. In this case it is explicitly the scholars. As we read on, however, it is apparent that even this "consensus" for a round Earth was rather nebulous, and as already mentioned and will see again, those who did endorse a round Earth did so because they were educated people aware of the astronomical arguments.

They then quote ibn Taymiyyah again, who is answering a question about the shape of the heavens and Earth, this time citing Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi (again), Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE), and ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH / 1064 CE) as saying that there is a consensus that the heavens are round. Notice that despite the topic, he says the heavens, but nothing about the Earth. He says they provided evidence from the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the companions (sahabah) and second generation.

Ibn Taymiyyah continues the passage<ref>For the full chapter in Arabic see [https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/مجموع_الفتاوى/المجلد_السادس/سئل_عن_رجلين_تنازعا_في_كيفية_السماء_والأرض Wikisource.org], and for someone's English translation for most of the relevant parts see [http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=1859 Salafitalk forum]</ref> giving the supposed evidence for round heavens in the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the early Muslims (not included by the Islamic fatwah website). In between, he argues that a round heavens and Earth is supported by what specialists on tafsir and language have said about certain words in the Qur'an.

It is the hadiths and companions that we are interested in for the purposes of this article (the Qur'an verses cited by ibn Taymiyyah are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}).

'''Narrations of the companions'''

The solitary piece of evidence that Ibn Taymiyyah can bring from the companions about round heavens is that ibn 'Abbas and others said regarding {{Quran|36|40}} and the heavenly bodies swimming in a falak (rounded course):

{{Quote|1=al-Tabari and ibn Kathir Tafsirs for 36:40<ref name="TafsirArabic">For the Arabic, see [http://quran.al-islam.com/Loader.aspx?pageid=215 quran.al-islam.com]</ref>|2=فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل

fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal

in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle}}

See the comments and footnotes about falak in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Geocentrism_and_the_Quran Geocentrism and the Quran] (a whirl was a small wheel or hemisphere that span around a spindle<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>). Now given that the sun and moon appear both to arc across the sky, even to those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere), such people would also imagine some path for them continuing beneath the Earth after they have set so they can return whence they came (as also in the hadith from Abu Dharr discussed later in this article). Indeed, this is precisely what we read from ibn 'Abbas as noted by ibn Kathir in his Tafsir for {{Quran|31|29}}. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in its falak beneath the Earth:<ref name="TafsirArabic"></ref>

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1784 Tafsir ibn Kathir for 31:29]|2=Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn ’Abbas said, “The sun is like flowing water, running in its course in the sky during the day. When it sets, it travels in its course beneath the earth until it rises in the east.” He said, “The same is true in the case of the moon.” Its chain of narration is Sahih.}}

So the evidence from the companions presented by ibn Taymiyyah is not exactly much to go on regarding the shape of the heavens, and says nothing about the shape of the Earth.

'''Hadiths'''

Ibn Taymiyyah then mentions the hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud (graded weak) {{Abu Dawud||4726|darussalam}} in which Muhammad forms a dome with his fingers above his head when saying that Allah's throne is above the heavens. Ibn Taymiyyah's interpretation is that the throne is dome shaped.

The other hadith he mentions is in Sahih Bukhari, which says:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|93|519}}|if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise." [the word translated 'last' means middle].}}

Ibn Taymiyyah then says that a middle only exists in a round thing. How any of this helps demonstrate that the heavens are spherical is a mystery.

'''Ibn Hazm'''

The Islamic fatwah website then quotes one of the three that ibn Taymiyyah cited, ibn Hazm, who said that there is sound evidence that the Earth is round, but the common people and some non-leading Muslim scholars thought otherwise, though none of the leading scholars denied that the Earth is round.

So firstly, uneducated people (as were Muhammad and the sahabah) thought the Earth to be flat even in ibn Hazm's day. Secondly, his statement provides no evidence that the earliest scholars actually said the Earth is round (just that leading scholars didn't say it was flat). It is clear that Ibn Hazm and the other followers of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal mentioned above believed in a round Earth for astronomical reasons, even if some of them attempted to find further backup from the Qur'an and sunnah.

Given that Ibn Taymiyyah cites these scholars, the narrations he then uses to support spherical heavens (when asked about the shape of both the heavens and Earth), were presumably the best they could come up with. If a consensus for a round Earth went back to Muhammad and the companions, surely the scholars could come up with better than this feeble evidence.

Even the already dubious claims of just a ''scholarly'' consensus are further undermined when we read Tafsir al-Jalalayn, which was written centuries later by two people who were not trying to massage the Qur'an to fit a round Earth reality. For {{Quran|88|20}} we read the following:

{{Quote|1=[http://main.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=88&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir al-Jalalayn for Qur'an 88:20]|2=As for His words sutihat ‘laid out flat’ this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the revealed Law and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it even if this latter does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law.}}

For details on this word, sutihat, in verse 88:20, see [[Flat Earth and the Quran#Qur.27an 88:20 - sutihat .28spread out flat.29|this section]] of the flat Earth article.

The website goes on to quote from a 20th century book of fatwas, which claims that the Earth is egg shaped and also makes an argument using verse 39:5, both of which are debunked in the article [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran Flat Earth and the Quran].

So to summarise, there seems to be no evidence available that the earliest Muslims believed the Earth is round. Instead, there is lots of evidence that they thought the Earth to be flat, as explained further below. But before we come to that, let's see what historians have to say about Arab astronomical knowledge.

==Acquisition of Greek and Indian astronomical knowledge==

Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated into Arabic in the 8th century CE after the Qur’an was completed. Ptolemy recorded in book five of his AlMagest in the mid-2nd century CE the discovery of Hipparchus, and of Aristarchus before him, that the sun is much larger than the earth and much more distant than the moon, and the Aristotelian view that Earth was spherical and the heavens were celestial spheres.<ref>Toomer, G. J., Ptolemy and his Greek predecessors, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>

Professor Kevin Van Bladel says:

{{Quote||When the worldview of educated Muslims after the establishment of the Arab Empire came to incorporate principles of astrology including the geocentric, spherical, Aristotelian-Ptolemaic world picture – particularly after the advent of the ‘Abbāsid dynasty in 750 – the meaning of these passages came to be interpreted in later Islamic tradition not according to the biblical-quranic cosmology, which became obsolete, but according to the Ptolemaic model, according to which the Quran itself came to be interpreted.<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, “Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 70:223-246, p.241, Cambridge University Press, 2007</ref>}}

Earlier in the same paper, Van Bladel describes how Christian theologians in the region of Syria in the sixth century CE shared the view that the Earth was flat and the heaven, or series of heavens was like a dome or tent above the Earth, based on their reading of the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. This was a rival view to that of the churchmen of Alexandria who supported the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of a spherical Earth surrounded by spinning celestial spheres. See the footnote below<ref name="KVB">ibid. pp.224-226. Here are some more excerpts:
 
{{Quote||Entering into the debate was John Philoponus, a Christian philosopher of sixth-century Alexandria, who wrote his commentary on Genesis to prove, against earlier, Antiochene, theologians like Theodore of Mopsuestia, that the scriptural account of creation described a spherical geocentric world in accord with the Ptolemaic cosmology. [...]

On the other hand, Cosmas Indicopleustes wrote his contentious ''Christian Topography'' in the 540s and 550s to prove that the spherical, geocentric world-picture of the erroneous, pagan Hellenes contradicted that of the Hebrew prophets. Cosmas was an Alexandrian with sympathies towards the Church of the East, who had travelled through the Red Sea to east Africa, Iran, and India, and who received instruction from the East Syrian churchman Mār Abā on the latter's visit to Egypt. His ''Christian topography'' has been shown to be aimed directly at John Philoponus and the Hellenic, spherical world-model he supported. [...] However, it is clear that Cosmas was going against the opinions of his educated though, as he saw it, misguided contemporaries in Alexandria.

A number of Syrian churchmen, notably but not only the Easterners working in the tradition of Theodore of Mopsuestia, took the view of the sky as an edifice for granted. Narsai d. ''c''. 503), the first head of the school of Nisibis, in his homilies on creation, described God's fashioning of the firmament of heaven in these terms: "Like a roof upon the top of the house he stretched out the firmament / that the house below, the domain of earth, might be complete". ''ayk taṭlîlâ l-baytâ da-l-tḥēt mtaḥ la-rqî῾â I d-nehwê mamlâ dûkkat ar῾â l-baytâ da-l῾el''. Also "He finished building the heaven and earth as a spacious house" ''šaklel wa-bnâ šmayyâ w-ar῾â baytâ rwîḥâ''. Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) wrote similarly on the shape of the world in his Hexaemeron homilies. A further witness to the discussion is a Syriac hymn, composed ''c.'' 543-554, describing a domed church in Edessa as a microcosm of the world, its dome being the counterpart of the sky. This is the earliest known text to make a church edifice to be a microcosm, and it shows that the debates over cosmology were meaningful to more than a small number of theologians.}}
</ref> for excerpts of that chapter, which he summarises by saying:

{{Quote||Clearly the Ptolemaic cosmology was not taken for granted in the Aramaean part of Asia in the sixth century. It was, rather, controversial.<ref name="KVB"></ref>}}

David A. King writes:

{{Quote||The Arabs of the Arabian peninsula before Islam possessed a simple yet developed astronomical folklore of a practical nature. This involved a knowledge of the risings and settings of stars, associated in particular with the cosmical setting of groups of stars and simultaneous heliacal risings of others, which marked the beginning of periods called naw’, plural anwā’. […] Ptolemy’s Almagest was translated at least five times in the late eighth and ninth centuries. The first was a translation into Syriac and the others into Arabic, the first two under Caliph al-Ma’mūn in the middle of the first half of the ninth century, and the other two (the second an improvement of the first) towards the end of that century […] In this way Greek planetary models, uranometry and mathematical methods came to the attention of the Muslims.<ref>King, David A., “Islamic Astronomy”, In Astronomy Before the Telescope, Ed. Christopher Walker, p.86, London: British Museum Press, 1996</ref>}}

Hoskin and Gingerich say:

{{Quote||In 762 [Muhammad’s] successors in the Middle East founded a new capital, Baghdad, by the river Tigris at the point of nearest approach of the Euphrates, and within reach of the Christian physicians of Jundishapur. Members of the Baghdad court called on them for advice, and these encounters opened the eyes of prominent Muslims to the existence of a legacy of intellectual treasures from Antiquity - most of which were preserved in manuscripts lying in distant libraries and written in a foreign tongue. Harun al-Rashid (caliph from 786) and his successors sent agents to the Byzantine empire to buy Greek manuscripts, and early in the ninth century a translation centre, the House of Wisdom, was established in Baghdad by the Caliph al-Ma’mun. […] Long before translations began, a rich tradition of folk astronomy already existed in the Arabian peninsula. This merged with the view of the heavens in Islamic commentaries and treatises, to create a simple cosmology based on the actual appearances of the sky and unsupported by any underlying theory.''"
<ref>Hoskin, Michael and Gingerich, Owen, “Islamic Astronomy” in The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy, Ed. M. Hoskin, p.50-52, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999</ref>}}

==Flat Earth(s) in hadith collections==

The next few sections are about evidence of a commonplace flat Earth belief among the earliest Muslims (it omits evidence from the Qur'an itself, as per the purpose of this article stated in the introduction).

Two easy ways to demonstrate that at least a large number of the earliest Muslims imagined the Earth to be flat are to look at hadiths and tafsirs. For the purposes of this article, it matters little whether the hadiths are authentic or not; either way they demonstrate beliefs of early Muslims.

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|634}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):

The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a piece of the land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."}}

This next hadith is on the same topic. It is graded daif (weak), but shows what some early Muslims (if not actually Muhammad) thought about the world:

{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi|47|6|44|3298}}|...Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under you?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Indeed it is the earth.’ Then he said: ‘Do you know what is under that?’ They said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said: ‘Verily, below it is another earth, between the two of which is a distance of five-hundred years.’ Until he enumerated seven earths: ‘Between every two earths is a distance of five-hundred years.’...}}

The following hadith is graded Sahih by Dar-us-Salam (Hafiz Zubair 'Ali Za'i) and has a chain of narration graded as Sahih (authentic) by al-Albani. It is from Sunan Abu Dawud, book XXV - Kitab Al-Ahruf Wa Al-Qira’at (Book of Dialects and Readings Of The Qur’an):

{{Quote|{{Abudawud||4002|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Dharr:

I was sitting behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets ? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water (Hamiyah).}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:

'''Do you know where the sun goes?''' They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: '''Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: '''Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting.''' The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.<ref>For the Arabic, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 sunnah.com] or #159: [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=81&BookID=25&PID=299 hadith.al-islam.com]</ref>}}

Notice that it says, "from its rising place" (min matli'iha مَطْلِعِهَا ), and "from the place of your setting" (min maghribiki مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ). The sun is commanded to go somewhere – it cannot be claimed that this is an idiomatic way of commanding the Earth to rotate, nor that the words mean the east and west here (despite mistranslations of similar hadiths), not least because the words al mashriq and al maghrib would have been used for that purpose and without the possessive suffixes. The words used in this hadith must refer to the sun’s rising and setting places - it is pure nonsense to claim otherwise.

The following hadith, unless it is allegorised to death, clearly indicates a flat earth belief where night occurs at the same time for everyone on Earth:
{{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1657}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven '''when one-third of the first part of the night is over''' and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? '''He continues like this till the day breaks.'''}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|41|6904}}|Thauban reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends….}}

{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah|25|4|25|2921}}|It was narrated from Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi that the Messenger of Allah said:
“There is no (pilgrim) who recites the Talbiyah but that which is to his right and left also recites it, rocks and trees and hills, to the farthest ends of the earth in each direction, from here and from there.”}}

==Flat Earth in Tafsirs==
===The spring where the sun sets===
In the tafsir of al-Tabari (b. 224 AH / 839 CE) for {{Quran|18|86}}, we see the following remarks about the nature of the spring into which the sun sets. The similar sounding words hami'ah (muddy) and hamiyah (hot) seem to have become confused at some point:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=
الْقَوْل فِي تَأْوِيل قَوْله تَعَالَى : { حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِب الشَّمْس وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة }

يَقُول تَعَالَى ذِكْره : { حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ } ذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ { مَغْرِب الشَّمْس وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة } , فَاخْتَلَفَتْ الْقُرَّاء فِي قِرَاءَة ذَلِكَ , فَقَرَأَهُ بَعْض قُرَّاء الْمَدِينَة وَالْبَصْرَة : { فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة } بِمَعْنَى : أَنَّهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن مَاء ذَات حَمْأَة , وَقَرَأَتْهُ جَمَاعَة مِنْ قُرَّاء الْمَدِينَة , وَعَامَّة قُرَّاء الْكُوفَة : " فِي عَيْن حَامِيَة " يَعْنِي أَنَّهَا تَغْرُب فِي عَيْن مَاء حَارَّة . وَاخْتَلَفَ أَهْل التَّأْوِيل فِي تَأْوِيلهمْ ذَلِكَ عَلَى نَحْو اِخْتِلَاف الْقُرَّاء فِي قِرَاءَته

The meaning of the Almighty’s saying, ‘Until he reached the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ is as follows:

When the Almighty says, ‘Until he reached,’ He is addressing Zul-Qarnain. Concerning the verse, ‘the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water,’ the people differed on how to pronounce that verse. Some of the people of Madina and Basra read it as ‘Hami’a spring,’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring that contains mud. While a group of the people of Medina and the majority of the people of Kufa read it as, ‘Hamiya spring’ meaning that the sun sets in a spring of warm water. The people of commentary have differed on the meaning of this depending on the way they read the verse.}}

So he says of the Basra version:

"بـمعنى: أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء ذات حمأة"

"Meaning: that it sets in a spring of muddy water."

And of the people of Kufa reading hot spring:

"يعنـي أنها تغرب فـي عين ماء حارّة"

"It means that it sets in a spring of hot water"

He goes on to quote various opinions such as Ibn 'Abbas, that the sun sets in black mud:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for verse 18:86]|2=
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْد الْأَعْلَى , قَالَ : ثنا مَرْوَان بْن مُعَاوِيَة , عَنْ وَرْقَاء , قَالَ : سَمِعْت سَعِيد بْن جُبَيْر ,
قَالَ : كَانَ اِبْن عَبَّاس يَقْرَأ هَذَا الْحَرْف { فِي عَيْن حَمِئَة }

Muhammad bin 'Abd al-A'laa narrated and said: Marwan ibn Mu'awiya narrated from Warqa, he said: I heard Sa'id ibn Jubayr say: ibn 'Abbas read this letter "in a muddy spring"

وَيَقُول : حَمْأَة سَوْدَاء تَغْرُب فِيهَا الشَّمْس

and he said: the sun sets in black mud.

وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ : بَلْ هِيَ تَغِيب فِي عَيْن حَارَّة

Others said: it disappears (تَغِيب) in a hot spring.}}

From these comments and narrations in al-Tabari's tafsir, we can reasonably conclude that many, and perhaps all, of the earliest Muslims took verse 18:86 to mean that the sun actually sets in a spring and thus that the Earth is flat.

If the reader wishes to explore this sub-topic further, they can see how al-Tabari in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'', and al-Baydawi in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set, and the pre-Islamic Arab poems on the same topic in the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#Compatibility_with_contemporary_beliefs Dhu'l Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring].

===The sky is a dome above the Earth===

In his tafsir for {{Quran|2|22}}, al-Tabari includes narrations from some of the earliest Muslims about the sky being a dome or ceiling over the Earth:

{{Quote|1=[http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=13&Page=1 Tafsir al-Tabari for 2:22] See also the English translation from [https://islaambooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/the-commentary-on-the-quran-volume-i-tafsir-al-tabari.pdf J. Cooper's abridged translation of Tafsir al-Tabari]<ref>The commentary on the Qur'an, by Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir al- Tabari ; being an abridged translation of Jami' al-bayan 'an ta'wil ay al-Qur'an, with an introduction and notes by J. Cooper, general editors, W.F. Madelung, A. Jones. Oxford University Press, 1987. p.164</ref>|2=
حَدَّثَنِي مُوسَى بْن هَارُونَ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرو بْن حَمَّاد , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَسْبَاط , عَنْ السُّدِّيّ فِي خَبَر ذَكَرَهُ , عَنْ أَبِي مَالِك , وَعَنْ أَبِي صَالِح , عَنْ ابْن عَبَّاس , وَعَنْ مُرَّة , عَنْ ابْن مَسْعُود وَعَنْ نَاس مِنْ أَصْحَاب النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } , فَبِنَاء السَّمَاء عَلَى الْأَرْض كَهَيْئَةِ الْقُبَّة , وَهِيَ سَقْف عَلَى الْأَرْض .وَحَدَّثَنَا بِشْر بْن مُعَاذ , قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيد , عَنْ سَعِيد , عَنْ قَتَادَةَ فِي قَوْل اللَّه { وَالسَّمَاء بِنَاء } قَالَ : جَعَلَ السَّمَاء سَقْفًا لَك .

Musa ibn Harun narrated and said that Amru ibn Hammad narrated and said that Asbath narrated from al-Suddi in the report mentioned, from Abu Malik, and from Abu Salih, from ibn 'Abbas and from Murrah, from ibn Masud and from people of the companions of the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

"...and the sky a canopy..." The canopy of the sky over the earth '''is in the form of a dome''', and it is a roof over the earth. And Bishr bin Mu'az narrated and said from Yazid from Sa'id from Qatada in the words of Allah "...and the sky a canopy..." He says he makes the sky your roof.}}

Ibn Kathir in his tafsir for {{Quran|13|2}} has yet more narrations of the sahabah and tabi'un (2nd generation) on this topic:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2321 Tafsir ibn Kathir for Qur'an 13:2]|2=Allah said next, (..without any pillars that you can see.) meaning, `there are pillars, but you cannot see them,' according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, "The heaven is like a dome over the earth," meaning, without pillars. Similar was reported from Qatadah, and this meaning is better for this part of the Ayah, especially since Allah said in another Ayah, (He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His permission.) 22:65 Therefore, Allah's statement, (..that you can see), affirms that there are no pillars. Rather, the heaven is elevated (above the earth) without pillars, as you see. This meaning best affirms Allah's ability and power.}}

===The Earth on the back of a whale===
Al-Tabari's tafsir contains other indications of a common flat Earth belief. For example, regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter nun, he (and many other tafsirs) records that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a [[The Islamic Whale|whale on whose back the Earth is carried]] (other interpretations were that it was an inkwell, or a name of Allah). The evidence is extensively documented on other websites including narrations with sahih chains from the sahabah, so the interested reader is referred to them.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab</ref><ref>[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!</ref><ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth</ref>

==Apologetic Arguments==
Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the companions believed in "round heavens" as he explains ibn 'Abbas' account and others said regarding {{Quran|36|40}}<blockquote>فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل</blockquote><blockquote>fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal</blockquote><blockquote>in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle</blockquote><blockquote>al-Tabari and ibn Kathir Tafsirs for 36:40</blockquote>

This evidence can be used as a foundation for other arguments concerning the flat Earth verses in the Qur'an: that they cause a justifiable suspicion that the author of the Qur'an was just as unaware as his nearby contemporaries about the shape of the Earth. It also supports the point that even if we supposed that its author was aware of a round Earth, it is a secondary major weakness for the Qur'an to use such language when it will inevitably encourage 7th century Muslims to maintain their false notion that the Earth is flat (and even some Muslims living many centuries later, such as al-Suyuti in his Tafsir al-Jalalyn, and ibn Kathir in his Tafsir<ref>See also ibn Kathir's tafsir for verses [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=410 2:229], [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2645&Itemid=76 21:32], [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1487 36:38], and [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2128&Itemid=97 41:9-12], in all of which he says the heavens are a dome or roof or like the floors of a building over the Earth</ref>).

==External links==

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/seven_earths.html Answering Islam] - The Seven Earths
*[https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/ AnsweringIslamBlog.wordpress.com] - Muhammad's Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tail!
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm Answering-Islam.com] - The Quran and The Shape of the Earth
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM Youtube.com] Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back - Video by TheMaskedArab

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Islam and Science]]
[[Category:Martin Taverille]]
{{page_title|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims know the Earth is Round?}}

Forced Marriage

2019-04-29T18:41:52Z

AbdulHurayrah:

'''Forced marriage''' is the compelled marriage of an individual (usually female) against their will. The individual is usually forced by family members and in countries with poor women's rights. Forcing a female who has reached the age of puberty to marry someone against her explicit wishes is forbidden in [[Islam]]. Nevertheless, [[Islamic law|Shari'ah]] fails to protect the most vulnerable - children.

==Child marriage==
Most (but not all) Muslim majority countries have made child marriage illegal. However, in all schools of classical Islamic law, a guardian was allowed to enter his pre-pubescent child into a marriage contract without consent. When the child reached the age of puberty he or she could exercise the "option of puberty" (khiyar al-bulugh) to repudiate the marriage, but only if it was entered into negligently, fraudulently or by someone other than the father or grandfather. The option was also lost to a virgin female who has reached puberty and who had taken no action or remained silent for what is considered a reasonable time after being informed of the contract. A male child retained his option in the same circumstances until he actively approved of the marriage <ref>Esposito, John L. (2001) "Women in Muslim Family Law (2nd Edition)", New York: Syracuse University Press, pp.16-17</ref> <ref>Ali, S. M. (2004) "The Position of Women in Islam: A Progressive View", New York: State University of New York Press, pp.40-41</ref>

A father or guardian must ask the consent of his daughter before offering her in marriage if she is a virgin who has reached puberty, based on a well known sahih hadith. However, according to that same hadith, if she remains silent when asked, offering no explicit acceptance, this counts as consent.

A girl is expected to make a life changing decision on marriage while still a child, with very limited experience and utterly dependent on her parents. Child marriages occur [[Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages|all over the world]], but especially in Muslim countries that practice Shari'a. [http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2016/03/new-un-initiative-aims-to-protect-millions-of-girls-from-child-marriage The UN] regards child marriage as a human rights violation and aims to eradicate it by 2030. The girl is vulnerable to spousal abuse and childhood pregnancy which greatly jeopardizes her health and future.

==Islamic law==

Due to Muhammad's marriage to six-year-old Aisha, a child can be betrothed by her father without her explicit consent.<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|18}}</ref><ref>{{Muwatta|28|2|7}}</ref> Some [[sahih]] hadith state that a virgin's silence is taken as consent.<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|68}}</ref> Consummation of the marriage takes place when the father and husband believe she is ready for it. Since Muhammad consummated his marriage to Aisha when she was nine,<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|64}}</ref> there is nothing wrong Islamically with an adult consummating his marriage to a 10-year-old who has reached menarche. In fact, Islamic law allows adults to marry pre-pubescent girls and does not stipulate when sexual relations may occur.<ref>{{Quran|65|4}}</ref> Islam mandates that a woman have sex with her husband whenever he asks for it unless she is menstruating or severely ill.<ref>{{Muslim|8|3368}}</ref><ref>Mishkat al-Masabih Book I, Section 'Duties of husband and wife', Hadith No. 61</ref><ref>Al Tirmidhi Hadith No. 1160 & Ibn Ma’jah Hadith No. 4165</ref> In Iran, for example, ''tamkin'' is the word used to describe a woman's obligation to be sexually available at her husband's whim.<ref>Ilkkaracan, Pinar. (2008). [http://books.google.com/books?id=pnGwP9-FhxYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Deconstructing Sexuality in the Middle East'']. (p. 129). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.</ref> There is no law in Islam that protects a woman from rape by her husband. In fact, a wife is a man's tilth, and he is permitted to approach her however and whenever he feels like it.<ref>{{Quran|2|223}}</ref><ref>[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/cleric-rape-beating-ok-for-wives/story-e6freuy9-1111118629144 Cleric: Rape, beating OK for wives] - Mark Dunns - The Daily Telegraph, January 22, 2009</ref> If she feels that she is being mistreated, she must seek a divorce from an Islamic court and prove the mistreatment. If her husband divorces her, but changes his mind before the mandatory 'idda is over, he may take his wife back whether she desires to remain married to him or not.<ref>{{Quran|2|228}}</ref><ref>[http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/75027/permission%20second%20wife The wife’s consent is not a condition of taking her back after divorce] - Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 75027</ref>

==Slaves and Captives==
We must not forget the others whose lives are at the mercy of those known as ''owners''. Although Islam promotes the freeing of slaves by promising divine rewards in the afterlife, it also institutionalizes the practice by sanctioning the capture and enslavement of enemy ([[Non-Muslims|kuffar]]) noncombatants as well as promoting an [[w:Indulgence|indulgence]]-style requirement of manumitting a slave for the compensation of sins committed.<ref>{{Quran|4|92}}</ref> The buying and selling of human beings like livestock is permitted in Islam, and there is no limit to the number of slaves a Muslim can own so long as he (or she) can afford to feed, clothe, and shelter them. Slaves have no right over their own persons. A slave may not get married without his or her master's permission, and a slave can redeem his or herself only if the master allows it.

A female slave may be used for sex by her master. He does not need her permission to practice [[Al-'Azl|al-'azl]], and after having sex with her he may sell her to another man or ransom her back to her family (if she had been captured during a battle or raid). If he desires her as a wife, he may marry her and does not have to pay her a bride price. Her freedom is considered her [[mahr]]. This can come in handy when a man is poor and yet desires to have a wife. A captured woman costs nothing, and he does not have to pay any money to marry her. A man may have sex with his captives and slaves without the permission of [[Adultery is Permitted in Islam|his wife]] (or wives).

The woman, of course, has no say in the matter. However, it would probably be in her best interest to get married seeing as though she might never experience freedom otherwise. Mandatory freeing of a female slave only occurs upon her master's death IF she has given him a child. Whatever the scenario, a female slave has absolutely no control over her life. Her master can have sex with her if he wants ([[rape]]), sell her to another man, or give her in marriage to another man. Her wishes are meaningless and her compliance unnecessary. The only thing her master cannot do is earn money by prostituting her to other men.<ref>{{Quran|24|33}}</ref>

===Muhammad's slave girls and captives===

====Juwairiya====

[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Juwairiya|Juwairiya]] was a captive from the Banu Mustaliq tribe. She was given to one of the Muslims, and she entered into an agreement with him to purchase her freedom. She then sought assistance from Muhammad for the payment amount. He offered to pay the price of her freedom if she married him (since she was very beautiful). So, she married him and the captives were released because they had become the relatives of Muhammad by marriage. On account of Juwairiya, one hundred families of the Banu al-Mustaliq were set free.

====Safiyah====

[[Safiyah]] was a Jewish captive from Khaibar and chief mistress of the Quraiza and An-Nadir tribes. After the brutal death of her husband [[Kinana]], she was given as war booty to one of the Muslims. Muhammad was informed of her great beauty, and so he ordered her owner to give her to him in exchange for another slave girl. He married her shortly thereafter, and considered her manumission to be her mahr. Of his nine wives, Muhammad spent the least amount of time with Safiya.

====Mariyah====

[[Mariyah_the_Sex_Slave_of_the_Holy_Prophet|Mariyah]] was a Coptic concubine sent as a gift from Egypt to Muhammad. She gave birth to Muhammad's son Ibrahim, but he died by the time he was two. They were never married, but he had sex with her because she was his property.

====Rayhana====

[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Raihana|Rayhana]] was a Jewish captive from the Quraiza tribe. One source says Muhammad offered her marriage instead of slavery, but she declined and remained Jewish. Another source says he married her, and her manumission was her mahr.

===Relevant Quotations===

{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3303}}| Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as having said:
A woman without a husband (or divorced or a widow) must not be married until she is consulted, and a virgin must not be married until her permission is sought. They asked the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ): How her (virgin's) consent can be solicited? He (the Holy Prophet) said: That she keeps silence.}}

{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3305}}| 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported:
I asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) about a virgin whose marriage is solemnised by her guardian, whether it was necessary or not to consult her. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Yes, she must be consulted. 'A'isha reported: I told him that she feels shy, whereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Her silence implies her consent.}} {{Quote|1=Dr Aamir Liaqat Hussain, Pakistan's minister of state for religious affairs|2=[It is] un-Islamic to stop husbands from having sex with their wives even if they were doing so without their consent.<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\08\26\story_26-8-2006_pg1_7 No, it is unIslamic to stop husbands: Aamir] - Daily Times, August 26, 2006</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=Malaysia's Perak state mufti Harussani Zakaria|2=A husband has the right to be intimate with his wife and the wife must obey. If the wife refuses, then the rule of 'nusyuz' (disobedient) applies and the husband is not required to provide financial assistance to her.<ref>[http://www.aegis.com/news/afp/2004/AF040874.html Row erupts in Malaysia over marital rape] - Agence France-Presse, August 23, 2004</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=|2=Similar to almost all Arab and Islamic countries, Bahrain offers women no protection from their sexually abusive husbands. Only in cases of physical injury will the courts grant a divorce. For those who bear no physical marks, victims of sexual abuse feel helpless, as marital rape isn’t penalized in this part of the world.<ref>Saud Hamada - [http://www.thewip.net/contributors/2009/06/bahrain_offers_women_no_protec.html Bahrain Offers Women No Protection from Spousal Rape] - The WIP, June 29, 2009</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=Abdul Aziz Al-Qasim, a professor at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University|2=A medical examination which proves the occurrence of sexual abuse is required when a woman decides to pursue legal action against her husband. If she can’t provide the evidence then she wouldn’t be able to seek a divorce later.<ref>Najah Alosaimi - [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=94779&d=10&m=4&y=2007 Outlaw Marital Abuse, Demand Saudi Women] - Arab News, April 10, 2007</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=|2=''From an interview with Mohammed Asif Mohseni, a conservative Shia cleric:'' 

"The law ... which I created I see as correct for both men and women," he said. "We have given rights to both men and women, even better than rights given to women in the West. We give women more in this law." 

I asked him about reports that if a woman does not comply in having sexual relations with her husband, then the husband can refuse to feed her. "Yes, I said that," Mohseni said looking me in the eye. "When a couple marries, sex is a part of marriage, and they agree to that." 

He went on to explain that a woman isn't obliged to have sexual relations every single night or if she is told by her doctor to refrain. But otherwise it is her obligation and something she signed up for when she got married. He calls it the wife's duty. 

Mohseni added that a wife wearing makeup "prevents a man from thinking about other women on the streets and he can just think of his wife." 

He continued: "It is natural that women (wear makeup). Don't they in the West? Their women wear it on the streets and in shops. Women should put make-up on for their husbands as it will increase the love and attraction between the two." 

The cleric also explained that a woman is not required to ask the permission of a man to leave the house if she has a job and needs to go to work. But they do need to get permission if they are leaving for other reasons. 

More importantly, he said, a couple needs to make clear the day they marry whether or not she will need permission to leave the home. If they disagree then they should not get married.<ref>Atia Abawi - [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/20/afghanistan.cleric.rape.law/ Afghan cleric defends controversial marriage law] - CNN, April 21, 2009</ref>}}

 

{{Core Women}}

==See Also==

{{Hub4|Marriage|Marriage}}
*[[Forced Conversion]]

==External links==
====Helplines====

*[http://www.karmanirvana.org.uk/ Karma Nirvana]'' - A registered charity based in Derby, supporting victims and survivors of forced marriages and honour based violence''

====News====

*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/05/forced-marriage-unit-intervene-2-year-old_n_2809750.html?just_reloaded=1|2=2013-03-07}} Forced Marriage Unit Intervened To Save 2-Year-Old Victim, Statistics Show] ''- Jessica Elgot , The Huffington Post UK, March 5, 2013''
*[http://www.csi-int.org/pdfs/csi_coptic_report.pdf The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt. pdf] ''- A November 2009 Report Commissioned by Christian Solidarity International''
*[http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2112069.aspx Afghan girls burn themselves to escape marriage] ''- Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer, MSNBC World Blog, October 29, 2009''
*[http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/rotterdam-tackling-forced-marriages Rotterdam is tackling forced marriages] ''- Klaas den Tek, RNW, September 25, 2009''
*[http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5815E920090902 New school year puts French on forced marriage alert] ''- Sophie Hardach, Reuters, September 2, 2009''
*[http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2009/07/netherlands-muslim-youth-fear-forced.html Netherlands: Muslim youth fear forced marriage] ''- Islam in Europe, July 18, 2009 (This is a blog. The original news source is in Dutch.)''
*[http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=8050635&page=1 English Summer = Forced Marriage Season?] ''- Aidan Jones, ABC News, July 11, 2009''
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5710243/Up-to-8000-forced-marriages-reported-in-England-last-year.html Up to 8,000 forced marriages reported in England last year] ''- Martin Beckford, The Telegraph, July 2, 2009''
*[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/259569,news-a-forced-marriage-stirs-emotions-in-spain-mauritania--feature.html A forced marriage stirs emotions in Spain, Mauritania] ''- Earth Times, March 12, 2009''
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woman-uses-new-forced-marriage-laws-against-father-1606038.html Woman uses new forced marriage laws against father]'' - Lucy Collins, The Independent, February 10, 2009''
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/11/british-asian-forced-marriages Abducted. Abused. Raped. Survived: The survivors of forced marriages tell their stories] ''- Rebecca Seal and Eva Wiseman, The Observer,January 11, 2009''
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/london-doctor-is-held-as-forced-marriage-hostage-1055684.html London doctor is held as forced marriage hostage]'' - The Independent, December 7, 2008''

:*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/19/statement-nhs-doctor-abedin-forced-marriage Statement from Humayra Abedin] ''- The Guardian, December 19, 2008''

*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7288952.stm Fears over forced marriage levels] ''- BBC News, March 11, 2008''
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/7182887.stm Marriage fear teenager 'murdered'] ''- BBC News, January 11, 2008''
*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/04/MNGH0G1B7L1.DTL Muslim girls in Austria fighting forced marriages] ''- Eric Geiger, San Francisco Chronicle, December 4, 2005''

====Videos====

*[http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/forced-child-marriage-in-islam/ Forced Child Marriage in Islam] ''- Bare Naked Islam''
*[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/10/19/abawi.afghan.womens.courage.cnn Around 90% of Afghan women suffer from domestic violence] ''- CNN, October 2009''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Islam and Women]]
[[Category:Islamic Law]]

WikiIslam:New Articles List

2019-04-29T17:38:42Z

AbdulHurayrah:

{{shortcut|[[WINA]]}}
This list, in general, does not include new [[:Category:Other Languages|translations]], [[:People_Who_Left_Islam|testimonies]], [[Islam in the News|news]], additions to [[:Category:In-Depth Studies|in-depth studies]], [[:Category:Stubs|stubs]] or shorter pages:

#[[Linguistic miracles in the Quran]]
#[[Palindrome in the Quran]]
#[[Gardens under which rivers flow]]
#[[Eid al-Adha]]
#[[Ghazwa-e-hind]]
#[[Dawah]]
#[[Muhammad's Commands in War Hoax]]
#[[Necrophilia in Islam]]
#[[99 names of Allah]]
#[[Muhammad and illiteracy]]
#[[Muhammad's aorta]]
#[[ইসলাম নবি মুহম্মদ এবং নারী]] (Islam prophet Muhammad and women)
#[[রমযানের মেরু প্যারাডক্স]] ([[The Ramadan Pole Paradox]])
#[[360 Joints Miracle]]
#[[Adhan]]
#[[List of Genocides, Cultural Genocides and Ethnic Cleansings under Islam]]
#[[Mary the sister of Aaron in the Quran|Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an]] (Re-Written/Expanded)
#[[The Islamic Whale]]
#[[In Sha Allah]]
#[[Allah knows best]]
#[[Waswas]]
#[[Sahih Bukhari]]
#[[Arabic letters and diacritics]]
#[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]] ''(Re-Written/Expanded)''
#[[Internet Jihad]]
#[[Claims of Evolution in the Qur'an]]
#[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Forbidden Things]]
#[[12 months miracle in the Quran]]
#[[Paradise and hell word count in the Qur'an]]
#[[Did Muhammad and the early Muslims know that the Earth is round|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims Know the Earth is Round?]]
#[[365 days miracle in the Quran]]
#[[Embryology in the Quran]] ''(Re-written)''
#[[Geocentrism and the Quran]] ''(Re-written)''
#[[Zakat (Tax)]] ''(Re-Written/Expanded)''
#[[Taqiyya]]
#[[Lack of Detail in the Quran|Lack of Detail in the Qur'an]]
#[[Mamta Kulkarni - Conversion to Islam|Mamta Kulkarni (Conversion to Islam)]]
#[[Hans_Raj_Hans_-_Conversion_to_Islam|Hans Raj Hans (Conversion to Islam)]]
#[[Bill Warner]]
#[[Muhammads Marriages of Political Necessity|Muhammad's Marriages of Political Necessity]]
#[[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Alexander_Romance_-_Sources|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance (Sources)]]
#[[Quran and a Universe from Smoke|Qur'an and a Universe from Smoke]]
#[[Companions of the Cave]] {{hub3}}
#[[Muslim Statistics - Marriage|Muslim Statistics (Marriage)]]
#[[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance]]
#[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Honor Killing]]
#[[European Court of Human Rights on Shariah Law|European Court of Human Rights on Shari'ah Law]]
#[[Syria FSA Fatwa Prohibits Shaving Lice Infested Beards or Killing the Believer Lice Growing in Blessed Beards|Fatwa Prohibits Killing "Believer Lice Growing in Blessed Beards"]]
#[[Egyptian Group Forbids Eating Tomatoes Because Tomatoes are Christian|Egyptian Group Forbids Eating "Christian" Tomatoes]]

----

*[[Main Page| ← Back to Main Page]]

[[Category:WikiIslam]]

WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines

2019-03-18T17:02:33Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Formatting */ Source Editing

{{shortcut|[[WIPG]]}}
This page contains a summary of the general policies and guidelines that everyone is expected to adhere to at [[WikiIslam]] and is required reading for all editors.

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====Good Faith====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Assume Good Faith}}

Assuming good faith is the assumption that a user's edits and comments are made in good faith. This guideline does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice or obvious vandalism. If an editor wishes to express doubts about the conduct of another user, they should substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for their concerns. WikiIslam administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.

==Pending Changes Protection==
Pending changes protection has been implemented on [[WikiIslam]] to help maintain the quality of its content and to minimize site [[WikiIslam:Vandalism|vandalism]]. This does not contradict the site's claim of being "the online resource on Islam that anyone can edit." All it means is that changes from new and anonymous IP editors are reviewed by other editors (usually within 24 hours) before they appear on the website.

This is not unusual for an open wiki. A common criticism of wikis is that "anyone can edit them, so that mean anyone can insert false information". Pending-changes protection alleviates this issue while also maintaining the Wiki's open collaborative nature.

Edits need to reviewed for two reasons:

*To make sure new content is factually correct, properly formatted and comply with site guidelines.
*To prevent vandalism/removal of content by new and IP address users

After it is ascertained that you [[WikiIslam:Message to New Users|understand how to make appropriate contributions]] to the site, you will receive the '[[WikiIslam:Editor|editor]]' user right which means your own edits will be approved automatically. You can also request the 'editor' right by leaving a message on the [[WikiIslam talk:Pending Changes Protection|talk page]].

Editors with the 'review' right are able to review other editors' changes. Access to the review right can be requested by leaving a message on the [[WikiIslam talk:Pending Changes Protection|talk page]]. After you have the reviewer right, you can view unreviewed changes to the site on the following two pages:

==Legal==

===Copyrights===

When using text or images from another website, editors should make sure that the material is not copyrighted. If it is, they must ask permission from the original content owner(s) before using it. Copyright holders may contact WikiIslam to have their concerns addressed.

===Libel===

The goal of WikiIslam is to create an encyclopedic information source with all information being referenced through the citation of reliable published sources, so as to maintain a standard of verifiability.

For this reason, all contributors should recognize that it is ''their responsibility'' to ensure that material posted on WikiIslam is not defamatory. Libel or defamation is defined as the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation.

It is WikiIslam policy to delete libelous material when it has been identified. This policy applies to living people.

====Subject Guidelines====

Individuals who believe they are the subject of a libelous statement on WikiIslam should contact the site with details of the article and error.

==Pro-Islamic Content==

Due to constant vandalism, disruptive editing, non-compliance with guidelines and a lack of time, pro-Islamic submissions are currently not being accepted. This change is only temporary, and the present list of pro-Islamic articles can still be viewed [[:Category:Pro-Islamic Content|here]]. For debates and general discussions about Islam, users can visit a forum (e.g. the [http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/ FFI forum]).

==Assuming Good Faith==
Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on WikiIslam. It is the assumption that a user's edits and comments are made in good faith. Most people try to help the project, not hurt it. This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of obvious evidence to the contrary (vandalism). Assuming good faith does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice.

When disagreement occurs, try to the best of your ability to explain and resolve the problem, not cause more conflict, and so give others the opportunity to reply in kind. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives, and look for ways to reach consensus.

When doubt is cast on good faith, continue to assume good faith yourself where you can. Be civil rather than attacking editors or edit-warring with them. If you wish to express doubts about the conduct of fellow editors, please substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for your concerns. Although bad conduct may seem to be due to bad faith, it is usually best to address the conduct without mentioning motives, which might exacerbate resentments all around.
===Dealing with Bad Faith===
Even if bad faith is evident, do not act uncivilly yourself in return, attack others, or lose your temper over it. It is ultimately much easier for others to resolve a dispute and see who is breaching policies, if one side is clearly acting appropriately throughout.

WikiIslam administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.
==See Also==

*[[WikiIslam:Frequently Asked Questions]]

==Contact Information==
{{Fb link}}
To contact WikiIslam concerning general help or inquiries, a message can be left on the relevant [[WikiIslam:Discussions|Discussions]] page. For copyright issues, click [[WikiIslam:Copyright Issues|here]]. And for other important issues, click [[WikiIslam:Contact Us|here]].

[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]

WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines

2019-03-18T16:54:28Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Articles */ Writing Style Guide

{{shortcut|[[WIPG]]}}
This page contains a summary of the general policies and guidelines that everyone is expected to adhere to at [[WikiIslam]] and is required reading for all editors.

__TOC__
==Content==

===Core Principles===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Core Principles}}

Content on WikiIslam should:

#be related to the critique or understanding of Islam, not its promotion or issues of a political nature.
#be based on fully referenced facts and mainstream Islamic sources, not fringe theories, personal opinions or deductions.
#be written in a professional and scholarly manner, refraining from sarcastic, offensive, sensationalist or extremist language.
#be tailored to accommodate a universal audience, not only certain countries or demographics.
#remain neutral towards other religions, world-views and political positions, neither promoting nor criticizing them.

===Writing Style===
{{Main|WikiIslam: Writing Style Guide}}

WikiIslam is an international site with administrators, editors and contributors from all over the world. Readership is vast and not saturated by any demographic of visitors, so the content should reflect this. Material should be tailored to accommodate, as best as possible, a universal audience.

WikiIslam is not a political site. The site does not have a left or right-wing political agenda, nor is it a counter-jihad site. Articles concerning immigration, culture wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and other related issues are strictly prohibited. Articles should always remain neutral towards all religions and world views, neither promoting nor criticizing them.

Editors are expected to take a scholarly and rational approach in their conduct and criticisms. Editors should stay away from extremist, sensationalist, sarcastic or emotional commentary by letting the facts speak for themselves. Articles should also be free from vulgar, offensive, or slang language. In short, articles should include no personal opinions or deductions, only referenced facts.

Any critique of Islam should be based on Islam's own sources, meaning content on WikiIslam should never endorse (but may simply document or challenge) fringe theories unsupported by the majority of evidence found within Islamic sources.

Copying and pasting articles from other sites is not allowed. Nor is, for various reasons, copying and pasting articles from Wikipedia. However, there are some exceptions to this rule e.g. where a suitable Wikipedia article is going to be deleted or has been deleted. If something specific is being quoted from another site, it should be made clear that it is a quotation.

===Formatting===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Formatting}}

Articles should be formatted using text codes to create elements of the page (e.g., headings). This markup language is known as wikitext (or wiki-markup).

Bold emphasis should only be used within quotation boxes or when the name of an article's subject in an encyclopedic page is first mentioned. In all other cases, italics should be used when emphasis is needed (this should be used sparingly and only when absolutely needed). Underlining and allcaps should be avoided.

If there are two or more distinct topics being discussed, the article should be made more readable by inserting a heading for each topic. These headings do not form a part of the main text. They only indicate the general topic of that particular section, and should not contain information not found within its main text. So when choosing titles for headings and subheading, editors should avoid questions or long sentences.

When applicable, footer sections of articles should consist of a "See Also", "External Links" and "References" section (always in that particular order).

====Standardization====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Standardization}}

Editors should use [[WikiIslam:Templates|templates]] wherever possible. This is an effective way of standardizing content. Their use enables formatting to remain consistent and allows easy system-wide changes. All pages should be written using the American English spelling rather than UK spelling. This is due to their relative popularity and the need to make a choice between one or the other for consistency, and is not a show of favoritism. Section headings should use title-case for capitalization. Thus "Section Headings" and not "Section headings". The same applies to the titles of articles. Minor words should be left in small caps. Standardized spelling of transliterated Arabic words and names are also to be followed, in order to avoid leaving pages with multiple spelling variations of a single word.

===Honorifics===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Honorifics}}

When discussing Muhammad, the first mention in an article and its conclusion should begin the qualifier, Prophet, i.e. "The Prophet Muhammad". The same applies to Jesus or Ganesha, i.e. "Jesus Christ" or "Lord Ganesha".

Additional honorifics such as "Muhammad (saw)" or "Allah (swt)" are not allowed in articles. The same applies to using an uppercase "H" in words such as "he", "him" or "her" in reference to a deity or Jesus. An exception to this rule would be the talk pages or pro-Islamic articles.

===Images===

If an image adds value to an article and the loss of it would mean that people would not know something important, that image should be included. Additional images used for 'illustration' purposes should not be used unless important information is being conveyed that could otherwise not be conveyed through text. Images within articles that are tagged as [[:Category:Stubs|Stubs]] should be avoided altogether.

If there are too many images related to a page, they can be moved to a gallery section or to a separate page (examples of both can be viewed [[List_of_Genuine_Islamic_Inventions_Innovations_Records_and_Firsts#Image_Gallery|here]] and [[Muhammad_Teddy_Bear_Blasphemy_-_Images|here]]). Images can usually be found and safely copied from Wikipedia (first check issues with their license tags), but those that only have a tenuous link to page content should be avoided.

Articles are not judged on their shock value or humor, so images within written articles should be tasteful. For example, in an article about [[stoning]], the least graphic image should be chosen. Or in an article about [[Diseases and Cures in the Wings of Houseflies|houseflies and bacteriophages]], an electron micrograph of bacteriophages should be chosen over the closeup image of a fly (which some people may find sickening).

===Translations===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Instructions for Translators}}

[[WikiIslam:Translations|Translations]] should always remain faithful to the original English work, retaining their scholarly tone and information. If for localization purposes an editor thinks their should be some slight alterations made, they must first be discussed with others on the talk page.

====Sub-Domains====

Only when there are a front page's worth of translations (about 25-35 articles) and at least one regular and reliable editor for a language can the creation of a dedicated sub-domain be considered. Once launched, they are free to evolve separately to the English site in style and content as long as the core principles are followed i.e. no politics, no promotion or criticism of other religions/worldviews and no opinions, only referenced facts concerning Islam.

==Sources==

===Citing Sources===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Citing Sources}}

All statements of facts, especially those that are likely to be challenged, must be referenced using inline citations. Naked URLs are not sufficient. What is being referenced should be easily identifiable without having to leave the page through an external link. Minimal information (if available) should include the URL, page title, author, publisher and the date of publication. Each link must also be archived to avoid link rot. When quoting from these sources, bold or italic emphasis may be added, but underlining and all-capitals should be avoided.

===Reliable Sources===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Reliable Sources}}

WikiIslam articles should be based on reliable, published sources. More importance is placed on pro-Islamic, religious Muslim sources over neutral secular sources. However, multiple references from both types of sources are preferred. Furthermore, references that are cited must explicitly support any claims being made. There are three types of sources:

====Primary Sources====

Primary sources are original materials, an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. In an article about a book it would be the book itself. In the case of a person, it would be the subject itself. WikiIslam's criticism of Islam is based on its own sources, the Qur'an, hadith and Islamic scholars. So primary sources are not limited and may be freely used in articles. However, only published and recognized translations of primary sources are to be used, and they must be quoted exactly as they appear in the cited reference.

====Secondary Sources====

Secondary sources are documents or recordings that relate or discuss information originally presented elsewhere. For example, a statement by a scholar about a certain battle in the history of Islam would be a secondary source. News articles that report on a development or an incident are also secondary sources. Statements of fact concerning Islam from polemic sources such as books, articles or commentaries by individuals such as Robert Spencer, Pamela Gellar, Mark A. Gabriel etc. are not to be used under any circumstances as references on WikiIslam. If editors come across any such statements, they must remove them immediately.

====Tertiary Sources====
Tertiary sources are sources that rely upon primary and secondary sources. Unlike secondary sources, they attempt to provide a broad introductory overview of a topic. ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'' would be an example. They may be used as well. There are a [http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref32.00.00/ variety of encyclopedias].

==Interactions==

===User Names/Pages===
{{Main|WikiIslam:User Names and Pages}}

Usernames should be chosen appropriately and should not be promotional, misleading, disruptive or offensive towards a race, religion or social group in any way. Usernames that fall under any of these categories will be renamed by an administrator.

Userpages should not be used as placeholders or homes for articles and essays. Personal email addresses should also not be displayed. Active editors with over 50 constructive edits are permitted to post links. However, these should also be chosen appropriately and they should try to keep the number of links within 10.

===Discussions===
{{Main|WikiIslam:Talk Pages}}

The purpose of a talk page is to provide space for editors to discuss changes directly relating to its associated article or project page. Acceptable topics for discussion include concerns directly relating to the page, such as inaccuracies, formatting, renaming, merging and suggestions for further improvement. They are not there for debating the subject of the article or for general attacks on the site or its editors.

Talk pages should not be blanked, and other users' messages should not be removed or altered unless a valid reason is provided. All new discussion topics should be given a relevant heading and created at the bottom of the page, below all previous discussions, and all messages should be signed and follow the rules concerning indentation. Users should avoid excessive emphasis and be concise; capital letters are considered shouting, and long, rambling messages or SMS language may be difficult to understand and will be ignored. For continuity of discussion, comments should be kept on the same talk page where they were initiated.

====Indentation====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Indentation}}

Good indentation makes prolonged discussions on talk pages easier to read and understand. Replies should always be indented and placed beneath the last comment. Indents are achieved by typing one or more leading colon ":" characters at the very left margin, just before the new text about to be added. With every new comment added, the number of colons must be increased by one.

A long discussion will cause indentation to become too deep, which can make it difficult to read in narrower browser windows. When this occurs, editors should consider resetting the level of indentation by outdenting their next comment. Outdenting must be performed by using the "Outdent" template.

====Signatures====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Signatures}}

Signing comments on talk pages, both for the article and non-article namespaces, facilitates discussion by helping identify the author of a particular comment. Occasional forgetfulness is understandable but if certain editors continually ignore requests to sign their comments, any new comments by them should be reverted and a discussion should be initiated on their user talk page.

Customized signatures, like usernames, should be chosen appropriately and not be promotional, misleading, disruptive or offensive. They must include at least one direct internal link to the editor's user page, user talk page, or contributions page, allowing other editors easy access to their talk page and contributions log. Images or templates should not be used in signatures as this may cause unnecessary server load.

===Contributions===

====Pending Changes====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Pending Changes Protection}}

Pending changes protection has been implemented to help maintain the quality of the sites content and to minimize vandalism. This means changes from new and anonymous IP editors are reviewed by other editors (usually within 24 hours) before they appear on the website. Once a new user demonstrates that their edits are factually correct, properly formatted and comply with guidelines, they will receive the 'Editor' user right which means their own edits will be approved automatically.

====Corrections====

It is the responsibility of each individual editor to make sure that their own edits are of a high standard. Edits should not be made with the expectation that someone else will fix the problems those edits may have caused (e.g. spelling, punctuation, formatting, broken links/redirects etc.).

When a user makes contributions that need corrections or cleanup by another editor, these issues should be explained to them on their talk page. If their contributions continue to suffer from the same issues after being corrected two or three times and having the matter explained to them, editors should then revert their future edits, ask them to see their talk page (in the edit summary) and consult with other editors and administrators.

====Good Faith====
{{Main|WikiIslam:Assume Good Faith}}

Assuming good faith is the assumption that a user's edits and comments are made in good faith. This guideline does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice or obvious vandalism. If an editor wishes to express doubts about the conduct of another user, they should substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for their concerns. WikiIslam administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.

==Pending Changes Protection==
Pending changes protection has been implemented on [[WikiIslam]] to help maintain the quality of its content and to minimize site [[WikiIslam:Vandalism|vandalism]]. This does not contradict the site's claim of being "the online resource on Islam that anyone can edit." All it means is that changes from new and anonymous IP editors are reviewed by other editors (usually within 24 hours) before they appear on the website.

This is not unusual for an open wiki. A common criticism of wikis is that "anyone can edit them, so that mean anyone can insert false information". Pending-changes protection alleviates this issue while also maintaining the Wiki's open collaborative nature.

Edits need to reviewed for two reasons:

*To make sure new content is factually correct, properly formatted and comply with site guidelines.
*To prevent vandalism/removal of content by new and IP address users

After it is ascertained that you [[WikiIslam:Message to New Users|understand how to make appropriate contributions]] to the site, you will receive the '[[WikiIslam:Editor|editor]]' user right which means your own edits will be approved automatically. You can also request the 'editor' right by leaving a message on the [[WikiIslam talk:Pending Changes Protection|talk page]].

Editors with the 'review' right are able to review other editors' changes. Access to the review right can be requested by leaving a message on the [[WikiIslam talk:Pending Changes Protection|talk page]]. After you have the reviewer right, you can view unreviewed changes to the site on the following two pages:

==Legal==

===Copyrights===

When using text or images from another website, editors should make sure that the material is not copyrighted. If it is, they must ask permission from the original content owner(s) before using it. Copyright holders may contact WikiIslam to have their concerns addressed.

===Libel===

The goal of WikiIslam is to create an encyclopedic information source with all information being referenced through the citation of reliable published sources, so as to maintain a standard of verifiability.

For this reason, all contributors should recognize that it is ''their responsibility'' to ensure that material posted on WikiIslam is not defamatory. Libel or defamation is defined as the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation.

It is WikiIslam policy to delete libelous material when it has been identified. This policy applies to living people.

====Subject Guidelines====

Individuals who believe they are the subject of a libelous statement on WikiIslam should contact the site with details of the article and error.

==Pro-Islamic Content==

Due to constant vandalism, disruptive editing, non-compliance with guidelines and a lack of time, pro-Islamic submissions are currently not being accepted. This change is only temporary, and the present list of pro-Islamic articles can still be viewed [[:Category:Pro-Islamic Content|here]]. For debates and general discussions about Islam, users can visit a forum (e.g. the [http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/ FFI forum]).

==Assuming Good Faith==
Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on WikiIslam. It is the assumption that a user's edits and comments are made in good faith. Most people try to help the project, not hurt it. This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of obvious evidence to the contrary (vandalism). Assuming good faith does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice.

When disagreement occurs, try to the best of your ability to explain and resolve the problem, not cause more conflict, and so give others the opportunity to reply in kind. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives, and look for ways to reach consensus.

When doubt is cast on good faith, continue to assume good faith yourself where you can. Be civil rather than attacking editors or edit-warring with them. If you wish to express doubts about the conduct of fellow editors, please substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for your concerns. Although bad conduct may seem to be due to bad faith, it is usually best to address the conduct without mentioning motives, which might exacerbate resentments all around.
===Dealing with Bad Faith===
Even if bad faith is evident, do not act uncivilly yourself in return, attack others, or lose your temper over it. It is ultimately much easier for others to resolve a dispute and see who is breaching policies, if one side is clearly acting appropriately throughout.

WikiIslam administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.
==See Also==

*[[WikiIslam:Frequently Asked Questions]]

==Contact Information==
{{Fb link}}
To contact WikiIslam concerning general help or inquiries, a message can be left on the relevant [[WikiIslam:Discussions|Discussions]] page. For copyright issues, click [[WikiIslam:Copyright Issues|here]]. And for other important issues, click [[WikiIslam:Contact Us|here]].

[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]

WikiIslam:Article Style and Content Guide

2019-02-11T17:57:09Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Article Style and Content Guide to WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

#REDIRECT [[WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide]]

WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

2019-02-11T17:57:09Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Article Style and Content Guide to WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

It is often difficult for new editors at [[WikiIslam]] to understand what is or is not appropriate within articles. This page expands on the site's [[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines|policies and guidelines]] concerning style, tone and content of its articles by providing a visual guide for editors.

==Standardized Spellings==
There are many acceptable phonetic spellings for different words that are translated or transliterated into English. However, WikiIslam editors should standardize spelling to use throughout the wiki. The following is a list of required spelling standardizations. Note: You should not standardize spelling in quotations, leave the quoted text as originally written. This table is subject to change to accommodate new words.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of Standardized Spellings
!WikiIslam Standard
!Proper Noun
!Meaning
|-
|'''Allah'''
|Yes
|God of the Quran
|-
|'''Quran'''
|Yes
|Central religious text (Holy book) of Islam
|-
|'''Hadith'''
|No
|Notable collections of words, actions, approvals and disapprovals of Muhammad during his life
|-
|'''Muhammad'''
|Yes
|Prophet of Islam
|-
|'''Abu Bakr'''
|Yes
|First caliph and best friend of Muhammad
|-
|'''Umar (ibn al-Khattab)'''
|Yes
|Second caliph and senior companion of Muhammad
|-
|'''Uthman (ibn Affan)'''
|Yes
|Third caliph, second cousin, and son-in-law of the Muhammad
|-
|'''Ali (ibn-Abi Talib)'''
|Yes
|Fourth caliph and Muhammad’s son-in-law
|-
|'''Tafsir'''
|No
|Exegesis – scholarly commentary on the Quran and hadith
|-
|'''Mufassir'''
|No
|Author of a Tafsir
|-
|'''Sunni'''
|Yes
|One of the two main branches of Islam
|-
|'''Shia'''
|Yes
|One of the two main branches of Islam
|-
|'''Aisha (bint Abu Bakr)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives, daughter of Abu Bakr
|-
|'''Khadijah (bint Khuwaylid)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Sawda (bint Zam’a)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Hafsa (bint Umar)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Zaynab (bint Khuzayma)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Hind (bint Abi Umayya)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Rayhana (bint Zayd)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Zaynab (bint Jahsh)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Juwayriyya (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Safiyya (bint Huyeiy)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Ramla (bint Abi Sufyan)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Maria al-Qibtiyya'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s sex slaves / concubines
|-
|'''Maymuna (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Juwayriyya (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Fatimah'''
|Yes
|Muhammad’s youngest daughter, wife of Ali ibn-Abi Talib
|-
|'''Ahmadiyya'''
|Yes
|Islamic revival sect founded in Punjab
|-
|'''al-Bukhari'''
|Yes
|Islamic scholar who authored what is considered to be the most authentic hadith collection
|-
|'''al-Tabari'''
|Yes
|Islamic foremost Mufassir
|-
|'''al-Jalalayn'''
|Yes
|Classical tafsir of the Quran composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli
|-
|'''al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah'''
|Yes
|Biography of Muhammad
|-
|'''Jannah'''
|No
|Heaven
|-
|'''Jahanam'''
|No
|Hell
|-
|'''Huri'''
|No
|Heavenly virgins
|-
|'''Istishhad'''
|No
|Martyrdom
|-
|'''Shahid'''
|No
|Muslim martyr
|-
|'''Mecca'''
|Yes
|Holy city of Islam
|-
|'''Hajj'''
|No
|Greater holy pilgrimage in Islam
|-
|'''Umrah'''
|No
|Lesser holy pilgrimage in Islam
|-
|'''Kaaba'''
|Yes
|Building at the center of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. Direction of Muslim prayers and destination of pilgrimage
|-
|'''Khitan'''
|No
|Circumcision
|-
|'''Najis'''
|No
|Ritually unclean or impure physically or spiritually
|-
|'''Fiqh'''
|No
|Islamic jurisprudence
|-
|'''Sahih'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith is “authentic”
|-
|'''Hasan'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith as “good”
|-
|'''Da’if'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith as “weak”
|-
|'''Mutawatir'''
|No
|Hadith with multiple narrators
|-
|'''Ahaad'''
|No
|Non-Mutawatir hadith, usually narrated by one narrator
|-
|'''Sharia'''
|No
|Islamic canonical law based on Islamic scriptures
|-
|'''Hanafi'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Maliki'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Shafi’i'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Ja’fari'''
|Yes
|The religious Shia Islamic school of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Fatwa'''
|No
|Non-binding but authoritative legal ruling issued by qualified jurist
|-
|'''Sheikh'''
|No
|Honorific title for knowledgeable Islamic clergyman.
|-
|'''Imam'''
|No
|Someone who leads prayer
|-
|'''Mufti'''
|No
|Someone who can give jurisprudence judgements on religious matters
|-
|'''Ayatollah'''
|No
|Honorific title of Shia religious leader
|-
|'''Halal'''
|No
|Permissible in Islam
|-
|'''Haram'''
|No
|Impermissible in Islam
|-
|'''Makruh'''
|No
|Religiously disliked
|-
|'''Kafir'''
|No
|Infidel
|-
|'''Shirk'''
|No
|Idolatry or polytheism
|-
|'''Mushrik'''
|No
|Someone who commits shirk
|-
|'''Mulhid'''
|No
|Apostate, heretic, or atheist
|-
|'''Murtad'''
|No
|Denier (of Islam)
|-
|'''Aqidah'''
|No
|Creed
|-
|'''Zakat'''
|No
|Obligatory charity based on % wealth
|-
|'''Dawah'''
|No
|Islamic proselytizing
|}
{{shortcut|[[WISCG]]}}
==Tone==

WikiIslam should strive to be an objective source for knowledge about Islamic matters. To do so we must remain objective in language. Unsourced claims and assertions degrade the quality of the site. In your own writing, summarize the main and relevant information of the source cited; be sure to avoid phrases of certainty (of course, surely etc...). Do ''not'' include conclusions at any point of the text. Readers should be able to come to their own conclusions given the resources. We want to maintain a trustworthy and neutral reputation that encourages readers to do further research.

Do not make generalizing, political or hateful statements against any group of people (including Muslims); this could result in a ban.

===Examples===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="4%" |
! width="33%" |Incorrect {{spaces|1}}[[File:Cross.png]]
! width="33%" |Corrected [[File:Checkmark.gif|15px]]
!Notes
|-
|{{center|1}}
|''Dr. Omar Abdul Rehman’s article is clearly the most detailed, and we will use it as the basis for our rebuttal as it includes all the QEP nonsense of Drs' Keith Moore and Maurice Bucaille.''
|''Dr. Omar Abdul Rehman’s includes the QEP claims of Drs' Keith Moore and Maurice Bucaille.''
|The harsh and unprofessional tone of the sentence has been replaced and made more concise
|-
|{{center|2}}
|''Because of this double standard, countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands have banned people concealing their identity in public completely.''
|Omit - "''Because of this double standard, countries such as..."''
|Editor should not conclude the state of affairs, leave this to the reader
|-
|{{center|3}}
|''This is another of the absurd pseudo-scientific claims of the champion of Qur'anic Pseudo-Science, Maurice Bucaille.''
|Omit
|Sarcasm, humor or insults should be avoided
Editors should not draw conclusions no matter how "obvious" they seem
|-
|{{center|4}}
|''Aisha even started a war against her old enemy Ali, causing ten thousand Muslims to kill each other in one day.''
|''Aisha began a war against Ali that resulted in ten thousand fatalities in one day.''
|Avoid writing in an emotional, dramatic style. State the facts and nothing else
|-
|{{center|5}}
|''He isn't specific on the time frame, offering up a number of years but not definitely stating that it is exact. He doesn't mention any names or where the events took place, and doesn't...''
|''He is not specific on the time frame, offering a number of years but nothing definitive. He does not mention any names or where the events took place, and does not...''
|Do not use contracted forms (e.g. "doesn't", "isn't") when you should use "is not", "does not" etc.
|-
|{{center|6}}
|''So how, we must ask, is the early universe anything like "smoke"?''
|Scientific Journal X addresses the early universe as...
|The use of first or second person in writing ("we" and addressing the reader) should be avoided. Either reword or remove these sections.
|}

==Analysis==
All and any analysis should not be labeled as an analysis and there should be no sections dedicated to or labeled as analysis—the whole article should be a comprehensive summary and analysis of scripture and scholarly sources. Thus, analysis will present itself throughout the article.

===Acceptable analysis===
Includes that which brings together scholarly stances and/or direct scriptural references on a position and makes objective observations. The idea is to summarize the sources and allow the reader to determine how they support or conflict with one another. All positions mentioned should stay relevant to the subject of the article.

===Unacceptable analysis===
Includes any analysis that includes the editor’s own judgement, conclusions, impressions, evaluations, or ethics. It is also unacceptable for editors to judge intentions or character of any author, source, or person—real or fictional.

We do not want to lose valuable ideas present in the Wiki. While editing, do not to delete good analyses that are poorly written. Instead try to clean any biases and opinions from the old editor and leave any of the objective valuable or citable material.

Be sure to investigate counter arguments and check key translated words in the original Arabic before adding a point.

===Examples===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="4%" |
! width="33%" |Incorrect {{spaces|1}}[[File:Cross.png]]
! width="33%" |Corrected [[File:Checkmark.gif|15px]]
!Notes
|-
|{{center|7}}
|''The Quran relates that God has woken the sleepers as a way to test who could calculate the length of their stay the best.''
|''The Quran relates that Allah has woken the sleepers as a way to test who could calculate the length of their stay the best.''
|When referring to Islam's deity, always use his proper name (i.e. Allah) rather than the generic English term "God" (or the Arabic equivalent "Illah").
|-
|{{center|8}}
|'' Hiding your identity in public this way is completely legal in many western countries, whilst other face coverings such as balaclavas, masks, and motorcycle helmets will quickly get the wearer arrested if worn in a public place.''
|''Hiding your identity in public this way is legal in many countries [...]''
|Focus on the topic at hand and not bringing in comparative analysis
|-
|{{center|9}}
|''The Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day, so reporting dates in Gregorian style is an anachronism. The Europeans used the Julian calendar, which was then only two or three days variant from the Gregorian. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the one currently used by the majority of readers.''
|''The Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the Gregorian calendar, which is internationally the most widely accepted and used civil calendar.''
|Material should be tailored to accommodate, as best as possible, a universal audience.
|-
|{{center|10}}
|''If this is the sort of thing Islamists are ready to propagate openly with the approval and endorsement of authorities, Universities and so many sponsors, then what other lies do they feed to children at Muslim schools, and to young adults at mosques? Why are so many of the non-Muslim governments and individuals who continue to perpetuate these myths via websites and forums so eager to appease Muslims and show that their culture produced superior inventions by taking rightful credits from other civilizations such as ancient China, ancient Rome, and pre-Islamic Egypt? ''
|(avoid)
|Opinionated rants are to be avoided. This is not an anti-jihad site or blog for airing ones frustrations concerning perceived wrongs in society.
|-
|{{center|11}}
|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. As with adultery and justice, the term martyr in Islam differs from the secular and Biblical definitions of the word.''
|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. As with adultery and justice, the term martyr in Islam differs from the commonly agreed upon definitions of the word.''
|Commentary on other religious traditions should be avoided. In this case it s an unnecessary distinction. Unless the article is comparing religious parallels as the main subject.
|-
|{{center|12}}
|''The fact that the earth is not flat has been known for thousands of years. The Rigveda of Hindus (1700 BC or older), The Ancient Greeks Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) all knew this. The Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) knew this.''
|''The spherical nature of the Earth has been understood for thousands of years. Literature of this can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks, Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) as well as Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD).''
|Positive and definitive claims about what other religious texts (Bible, Rigveda, etc.) say should be avoided because such texts are open to interpretation and our aim is to remain neutral towards them. The examples given are sufficient and already cover India, so mentioning the Rigveda is unnecessary.
|-
|{{center|13}}
|''Further, this apologist has ignored...''
|''This argument ignores...''
|WikiIslam is not an "interfaith" or "dialogue" site, so unless it is someone very notable for work outside of the Internet, responses should not be made to specific, usually obscure, web-based apologists. Instead responses should be made to the general arguments raised, if those arguments merit a response at all.
|-
|{{center|14}}
|''<nowiki>==</nowiki>Verses Claiming that Quran is Detailed<nowiki>==</nowiki>''
|''<nowiki>==</nowiki>Quranic Claim<nowiki>==</nowiki>''

The Qur'an claims it is a book explained in detail: (citations)
|Section headings do not form a part of the main text. They only indicate the general topic of that particular section, and should not contain information not found within its main text. So when choosing titles for headings and subheading, editors should avoid questions or long sentences.
|-
|{{center|15}}
|''Time would show that Aisha was confident, spirited, strong-willed and highly intelligent – she had indeed “some of the qualities of Khadijah”.''
|(avoid)
|This sentence draws conclusions from text that can be debated. There are no hadiths that mention explicitly that Aisha was 'intelligent', 'strong willed' and so on. Report facts and not opinions and deductions.
|-
|{{center|16}}
|''he must have been a good stepfather to Hala and Hind, for they remained unswervingly loyal to him.''
|(avoid)
|This sentence is drawing conclusions that are not present in the original text. Stepchildren remaining loyal could equally suggest that Muhammad was a strict and uncaring disciplinarian. But since neither conclusion is supported by facts, commenting on them should be avoided.
|-
|{{center|17}}
|''Juwayriya was sweet-natured, charming and as alluringly beautiful as a fairy; men became infatuated with her at first sight.''
|''Juwayriya was described in some hadiths as "jinnya" which some dictionaries translate to "angelic".''
|An editor's own conclusions or exaggerations are being replaced with facts.
|}

==Lead vs Body==

===Lead===
The Lead Text should define and explain only essential information about the subject and its impacts/contributions. The Lead Text text comes before the table of contents and does not have a section title. It is composed of one to four paragraphs and should be written simply and concisely to allow for easy digestion of information. This will also help Google create snippets for their search engine and therefore boosts the article’s visibility.

The lead text is the most important text in the article and should reflect the objective standard we are trying to achieve.

===Body===
The body text should go into greater detail than the Lead text. It is important that all challengeable materials, or any claim that is subject to dispute, are from third party published works. The body should go into further details of interest on the subject and be broken down into sections.

Where a source is open to interpretation or is disputed, editors should not assume a particular meaning. Interpretations can be discussed by reference to scholars. The editor should only seek to summarize and collect sources that accurately reflect the positions and dialogue concerning the article’s subject. Articles should ''never'' end with an evaluation of the editor’s impression. In fact, the article should not have ending remarks at all, as they give a sense of finality and closure that discourages the reader from further research. The WikiIslam articles should aim only to provide the reader with the information they need to draw their own conclusions.

==Transliteration==
If the transliterated word is not the subject of the article always link the first occurrence of the word to its own article when applicable. If you find a commonly transliterated word does not have its own article suggest or start one.

===Title===
For titles of transliterated words use the standardized transliteration as the title with the English translation in brackets next to it. Example: Jannah (Heaven)

===Article===
If a word has a suitable English translation the first occurrence of the word should use the translation followed by brackets including the transliteration and the word in its original language. Example: dust (turabin تُرَابٍ) all following occurrences can use either the English translation (preferred) or the transliteration if necessary.

If the word does not have a suitable English translation the first occurrence of the word should use the standardized transliteration followed by brackets including the language and the word in its original language. Example: Jizyah (جزية‎) all following occurrences can use the transliterated word.

==Honorifics==
This page explains polices concerning honorifics
===Prophet, Christ or Lord===
When discussing the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the first mention in an article and its conclusion should begin with the capitalized qualifier, Prophet, i.e. "The Prophet Muhammad". The same applies to any personal noun such as Jesus or Ganesha, (i.e. Jesus Christ" or "Lord Ganesha). This is because we need to be clear that we are discussing the religious figures named Muhammad, Jesus or Ganesha, and not another individual. Referring to Jesus as "Jesus Christ" does not make one a Christian, nor does referring to Muhammad as "Prophet Muhammad" make one a Muslim.
===Sheikh, Imam, Saint or Doctor===
Due to similar reasons, at least the first mention in an article should include the individual's religious title. For example, "Imam Bukhari" or "Shaykh Qaradawi". This is no different than referring to a saint or doctor as "Saint Patrick" or "Dr. Phil".
===SAW, SWT, He, Him or Her===
WikiIslam aims to be an objective platform, therefore additional religious honorifics such as "Muhammad (saw)" or "Allah (swt)" are not permitted in articles. The same applies to using an uppercase "H" in words such as "he", "him" or "her" in reference to deities of any religion. An exception to this rule would be the talk pages where users are free to use whatever form they feel comfortable with.
==See Also==

*[[WikiIslam:Arguments Not To Use]]
*[[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines]]

==External Links==

*{{external link| url = http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc063| title = Guidelines for Effective Professional and Academic Writing| publisher = University of Florida| author = | date = Reviewed January 2013| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fedis.ifas.ufl.edu%2Fwc063&date=2014-01-18| deadurl = no}}

[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]

WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

2019-02-11T17:56:40Z

AbdulHurayrah:

WikiIslam:Talk Pages

2019-02-11T17:51:05Z

AbdulHurayrah:

{{shortcut|[[WITP]]}}
This page contains a summary of the general [[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines|policies and guidelines]] concerning talk pages (accessible via the "discussion" tab).

==Primary Points==

#Participants should remain civil to one another.
#Discussions should be kept on the page they were initiated.
#Messages should be signed and properly indented.
#Talk pages are for improving articles, not debating.

==Etiquette==

To maintain a cooperative atmosphere on the site, it is required for all editors and administrators to maintain civility, not be unnecessarily aggressive and [[WikiIslam:Assume Good Faith|assume good faith]] while communicating with others; newcomers in particular. Edit summaries and log comments are also required to follow these rules.

Do not remove or alter another user's message (unless it clearly violates talk page guidelines), do not use profanities and do not personally harass other users or the site.

For continuity of discussion, comments should be kept on the same talk page where they were initiated. All new discussion topics should be given a relevant heading and created at the bottom of the page, below all previous discussions. Each new message should be [[WikiIslam:Signatures|signed]] and follow the rules concerning [[WikiIslam:Indentation|indentation]].

You should avoid excessive emphasis and be concise; capital letters are considered shouting, and long, rambling messages or SMS language may be difficult to understand and will be ignored.

To maintain a collegial atmosphere between editors of different faiths and backgrounds, it is suggested to not make comments critical of other religious beliefs or the lack of belief in any religion. Depending on the situation comments containing hate speech or extreme views may be removed. Users may freely remove comments from their own talk pages.

Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in the offending messages being edited or removed or your user account being [[WikiIslam:Blocking Policy|blocked]] from editing WikiIslam, depending on the severity of your actions.

==Topics==

The purpose of a talk page is to provide space for editors to discuss changes directly relating to its associated article or project page. WikiIslam is not a social networking site. All discussion should ultimately be directed solely toward the improvement of the website.

Acceptable topics for discussion include concerns directly relating to the page, such as inaccuracies, formatting, renaming, merging and suggestions for further improvement. They are not there for debating the content of the article or for general attacks on the site or users of the site.

If your comment does not directly relate to improving the article, it may be deleted without a response, or moved to the appropriate location. Comments that do get a response may be deleted from the page after some time.

The reason for this rule is to not create disruptions on talk pages, and to not take up our editors time. Debating can be time-consuming and is not what this website is here for.

If you would like to debate issues concerning Islam, please use a forum, e.g. the [http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/index.php FFI forum] (you will have to create a separate account there if you do not have one already). For questions about how to use or edit WikiIslam, leave a message at the [[Help talk:Contents#Help Desk|Help Desk]]. And for general inquiries/suggestions, use the relevant [[WikiIslam:Discussions|Discussions]] page.
==Signatures==
Signing comments on talk pages, both for the article and non-article namespaces, is good practice, and facilitates discussion by helping identify the author of a particular comment.

===Signing Posts===
Editors can sign their own posts by:

#Clicking the signature button in the edit toolbar ([[File:Wiki-sign-button.gif|link=]]), or
#Typing 4 tildas (<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>) manually.

This will produce a signature and timestamp automatically.
====Other Users====
In the case of another user not signing their comments, the [[Template:Unsigned|"unsigned"]] template should be used and the editor should be politely reminded to insert their own signatures in the future.

To insert a signature for a user who may have forgot to sign, type: <code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned|###|###}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the username or IP address of the editor. The second parameter is optional and contains the time and date of the edit (this information can be copied from the edit history).

Occasional forgetfulness is understandable but if certain editors continually ignore requests to sign their comments, any new comments by them should be reverted and a discussion should be initiated on their user talk page.
===Customized Signatures===
Customized signatures must include at least one direct internal link to the editor's user page, user talk page, or contributions page; this allows other editors easy access to their talk page and contributions log.

Signatures can be customized with a nickname or with custom formatting, or both, in the following way:

#Click on ''Preferences''
#In the ''Signature'' field, type in a nickname and/or the HTML code for the desired output. Customizing signature this way makes it possible to include links to user pages, talk pages and contributions pages.
#In the preferences panel, make sure ''Treat signature as wikitext (without an automatic link)'' is checked.
#''Save'' the preferences

Now when the signature button or the 4 tildas(~) is used, the formatted signature will appear automatically in place of the standard signature.
====Sample Signatures====
Here are a few example signatures and their codes:

#[[User:Ahmad|Ahmad]] [[User talk:Ahmad|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Ahmad|contribs]]   '''Use code:''' <nowiki>[[User:Ahmad|Ahmad]] [[User_talk:Ahmad|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Ahmad|contribs]]</nowiki>
#[[User:Amina|Amina]] [[User talk:Amina|Talk]]    '''Use code:''' <nowiki>[[User:Amina|Amina]] [[User talk:Amina|Talk]]</nowiki>
#AhmadAO [[User talk:Ahmad|Talk]]    '''Use code:''' <nowiki>[[User:Ahmad|AhmadAO]] [[User talk:Ahmad|Talk]]</nowiki>
#[[User:Amina|Amina]] {{small2|([[User_talk:Amina|talk]] . [[Special:Contributions/Amina|contribs]])}}   '''Use code:''' <nowiki>[[User:Amina|Amina]] {{small2|([[User_talk:Amina|talk]] . [[Special:Contributions/Amina|contribs]])}}</nowiki>

====Use of Images====
Images should not be used in signatures as this may cause unnecessary server load. A suitable alternative is the use of Unicode characters. For example, <code>& #9807;</code> produces: ♏. A list of Wingding codes equivalents for Unicode characters can be found [http://www.alanwood.net/demos/wingdings.html here], and a full list of Unicode characters can be found [http://unicode-table.com/ here] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unicode_characters here].
====Misleading Signatures====
The following types of signatures are not permitted because they may be misleading in a way that disrupts the project:

*Signatures that impersonate other people or another editor.
*Signatures that give the impression that the account has permissions which it does not have, for example by containing the terms "administrator", "bureaucrat", "editor", "checkuser", "oversight", or similar terms like "admin", "sysop" or "moderator".
*Signatures which could be easily misunderstood to refer to a "bot" (which is used to identify bot accounts) or a "script" (which alludes to automated editing processes), unless the account is of that type.
*Signatures including phrases such as "wikiislam" that give the incorrect impression that the account may be officially affiliated with WikiIslam or one of its projects.
*Signatures which resemble IP addresses (as these are expected to designate non-logged-in users), timestamps or other names which would be confusing within the WikiIslam signature format.

====Disruptive or Offensive Signatures====
The following types of signatures are not permitted because they are disruptive or offensive:

*Signatures that blink, scroll, or otherwise cause inconvenience to or annoy other editors.
*Signatures that include large or small fonts or excessive use of superscript or subscript.
*Signatures that contain contentious material about living persons, or those that are offensive towards any race, religion or social groups.
*Signatures that are likely to offend other contributors, making harmonious editing difficult or impossible, for example by containing profanities.
*Signatures that contain or imply personal attacks.
*Signatures that seem intended to provoke emotional reaction ("trolling").
*Signatures that otherwise show a clear intent to disrupt WikiIslam.

Note that signatures that are inappropriate in another language, or that represent an inappropriate name with misspellings and substitutions, or do so indirectly or by implication, are still considered inappropriate.
====Promotional Signatures====
The following types of signatures are not permitted because they are considered promotional:

*Signatures that unambiguously consist of a name of a company, group, institution or product (e.g. AhmadsWidgets, MyWidgetsUAE.com, CairoMuseumofAntiquities).
*Signatures that include email addresses and URLs (such as "Amina@example.com" and "Example.com") to promote a web page and do not simply identify a person.
*Signatures that support political issues (e.g. SupportIsrael, FreeGaza, NotoImmigration).

==Indenting==
Good indentation makes prolonged discussions on talk pages easier to read and understand. It is a [[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines|behavioral guideline]] that editors are expected to follow.

Replies should always be indented and placed beneath the last comment. Indents are achieved by typing one or more leading colon ":" characters at the very left margin, just before the new text about to be added. With every new comment added, the number of colons must be increased by one.
===Examples===
What is typed:
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|This is a talk page comment. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
<nowiki>:</nowiki>This is the first reply. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

<nowiki>::</nowiki>This is the second reply. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
|}How it looks:
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|This is a talk page comment. --[[User:Amina|Amina]] ([[User talk:Amina|talk]]) 12:24, 5 March 2014 (PST)

:This is the first reply. --[[User:Ahmad|Ahmad]] ([[User talk:Ahmad|talk]]) 12:32, 5 March 2014 (PST)
::This is the second reply. --[[User:Amina|Amina]] ([[User talk:Amina|talk]]) 12:39, 5 March 2014 (PST)
|}See [[WikiIslam:Signatures]] for help with signing comments.
==Outdenting==
A long discussion will cause indentation to become too deep, which can make it difficult to read in narrower browser windows. When this occurs, editors should consider resetting the level of indentation by outdenting their next comment. Outdenting can be performed by using the "[[Template:Outdent|Outdent]]" template; either by typing <code><nowiki>{{Outdent}}</nowiki></code> or clicking on it in the "User interaction" section of the lower Edit toolbar.
===Examples===
In the following example, the user adding the final comment has typed the characters of the template, including its "braces", at the left margin, below the preceding comment, and just ahead of the text she entered for her own comment:

What is typed:
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|This is a talk page comment. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
<nowiki>:</nowiki>This is the first reply. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

<nowiki>::</nowiki>This is the second reply. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

<nowiki>:::</nowiki>This is the third reply. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

<nowiki>{{Outdent}}</nowiki>This is the fourth reply, but the first to be outdented. --<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
|}How it looks:
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|This is a talk page comment. --[[User:Amina|Amina]] ([[User talk:Amina|talk]]) 12:24, 5 March 2014 (PST)

:This is the first reply. --[[User:Ahmad|Ahmad]] ([[User talk:Ahmad|talk]]) 12:32, 5 March 2014 (PST)
::This is the second reply. --[[User:Amina|Amina]] ([[User talk:Amina|talk]]) 12:39, 5 March 2014 (PST)
:::This is the third reply. --[[User:Ahmad|Ahmad]] ([[User talk:Ahmad|talk]]) 12:43, 5 March 2014 (PST)

{{Outdent|4}}This is the fourth reply, but the first to be outdented. --[[User:Amina|Amina]] ([[User talk:Amina|talk]]) 12:56, 5 March 2014 (PST)
|}This example has been exaggerated for demonstration purposes. A lot more indentations would be used before outdenting is required in an actual talk page discussion.

==See Also==

*[[WikiIslam:Assume Good Faith]]
*[[WikiIslam:Core Principles]]
*[[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines]]

[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]

WikiIslam:Citing Sources

2019-02-11T17:49:22Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Citing Sources to WikiIslam:Citing, Linking, and Quoting: Accuracy

#REDIRECT [[WikiIslam:Citing, Linking, and Quoting]]

WikiIslam:Citing, Linking, and Quoting

2019-02-11T17:49:22Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Citing Sources to WikiIslam:Citing, Linking, and Quoting: Accuracy

This protocol will explain where, when, and why editors must cite, link, and quote their sources. For source editing and how to use related templates please go to the [[WikiIslam:Formatting]] page.

==Citing==
Any claim or material that is likely to be challenged must be cited. All claims must be supported by scholarly sources and not reliant solely on reasoning provided by editors. We should strive to be as objective, and fact-centered as possible.

All sources must be third-party published sources, and must avoid tabloid and unreliable sources. Sources must verify the claim being made, and must not be copy-pasted from it unless it is being quoted. Cite in MLA or APA format when possible unless you are citing direct Islamic scriptures.

The standard method of citing in Wikiislam is with a footnote at the end of the sentence and after the punctuation where the claim it supports appears. More than one citation may be necessary if the claim is heavily disputed or controversial.

'''Example of weak citing:'''

"Leaving his wife and children behind during the month of [[Ramadan]], the now wealthy Muhammad would often fall back to a cave located at the summit of Mount Hira, just outside Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz, where he fasted and prayed. According to Islamic belief, when he was about forty years old (610 AD) he was visited by the Angel [[Gabriel]] (جبريل ''Jibreel'') and commanded to recite verses sent by Allah. These verses would later become what is believed to be the first part of Sura 96. This experience frightened him, and originally thinking he was possessed by a demon, he became suicidal. According to [[Sahih]] Bukhari:"

'''Amended version:'''

"The begginings of the Qur'an were conceived as Muhammad began to leave his wife and children to pray alone in a cave several weeks each year.<ref>Emory C. Bogle (1998), p. 6</ref><ref>John Henry Haaren, Addison B. Poland (1904), p. 83</ref> According to Islamic belief, when he was about forty years old (610 AD) he was visited by the Angel [[Gabriel]] (جبريل ''Jibreel'') and commanded to recite verses sent by Allah.<ref>Brown (2003), pp. 72–73</ref> These verses would later become what is believed to be the first part of Sura 96.<ref>Wensinck, A.J.; Rippen, A. (2002). "Waḥy". ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''. '''11''' (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. p. 54. <nowiki>ISBN 90-04-12756-9</nowiki>.</ref> This experience frightened him, and originally thinking he was possessed by a demon, he became suicidal. According to [[Sahih Bukhari]]<ref>...But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while and the Prophet (Mohammad) became so sad as we have heard that he intended several times to throw himself from the tops of high mountains and every time he went up the top of a mountain in order to throw himself down, Gabriel would appear before him and say, "O Muhammad! You are indeed Allah's Apostle in truth" whereupon his heart would become quiet and he would calm down and would return home. And whenever the period of the coming of the inspiration used to become long, he would do as before, but when he used to reach the top of a mountain, Gabriel would appear before him and say to him what he had said before. [https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-9/Book-87/Hadith-111 Sahih Bukhari 9:87:111]</ref> After this first '[[revelation]]' no new ones came for a time, but then after a long period they started up again and continued at a steady rate till his death. The collection of these verses is known as the [[Qur'an]].<ref>Uri Rubin, ''Muhammad'', Encyclopedia of the Qur'an</ref>"

===Citing Formats===
Quran

*Full Verse(s) in English - Only use the translations of Pickthall, Yusuf Ali, or Sahih International. Generally, you should use the most accurate translation of the relevant Arabic words.
*Using Quran templates will cite and link automatically (See [[Template:Quran|here]] and [[Template:Quran-range|here]])
*Chapter (A) and verse (B) numbers will appear in “Quran A:B” format
*Example: Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar Qur’an 108:1

Hadith:

*Using hadith templates for appropriate collection will cite and link automatically (See [[WikiIslam:Citing Sources#Referencing%20Hadith|here]])
*Quote the full Hadith in English
*Where applicable Use USC-MSA web (English) reference

*For certain hadith collections where USC-MSA is unavailable use the reference system suggested for each collection [[WikiIslam:Citing Sources#Referencing%20Hadith|here]] (or one of the listed alternatives if necessary). These correspond to the reference systems selected by default for each collection on QuranX.
*Some hadiths may be long - it is acceptable to bold the relevant information to the claim within the hadith. If the hadith is very long, it may be acceptable to place [...] at the beginning and end of an extract.
*Always test generated links. If there is a problem read the relevant template page. Use the reference numbers as found on QuranX if they differ from sunnah.com. The latter has many numbering mistakes, corrected on QuranX.
*Example: Narrated 'Aisha: that '''the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old''', and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). Sahih Bukhari 7:62:64

===Citing in Relevant Quotations Section===
Do ''not'' cite in the “Relevant Quotations” section of any article. This section is only for quotes from direct Islamic scriptures. When a single source makes more than one claim they should be listed as separate citations. If two sources make the same claim you should pick the more reliable source.

==Mediums==

===Book===

====Lane’s Lexicon (For Terms)====

*Word being termed in both original and English language
*“Lane’s Lexicon” linked to appropriate pdf page file on (<nowiki>http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/</nowiki>)
*page number (not pdf file number)
*Example: مَهْدً mahdan - Lane's Lexicon, p.2739

====Other Books - In APA or MLA format====

*Name of author(s) (mandatory)
*Title of book in italics (mandatory)
*Translated title of book in square brackets after the title if not in English (optional)
*Volume when appropriate
*Name of publisher (mandatory)
*City of publication, e.g. London: Routledge (optional)
*Year of publication of the edition you are citing
*Original year of publication in square brackets, e.g. 2017 [1972] (optional)
*Chapter or page numbers cited, if appropriate
*Edition, if not the first edition
*ISBN (optional)

===Article===

*Name of the author(s) (mandatory)
*Title of the article within quotation marks (mandatory)
*Year
*Name of the journal in italics (mandatory)
*Volume number, issue number, and page numbers

===Web page===

*URL (mandatory)
*Name of the author(s) (mandatory)
*Title of the article within quotation marks (mandatory)
*Title or domain name of the website
*Publisher, if known
*Date of publication
*Page number(s) (if applicable)
*Date retrieved (or accessed) the web page (required if the publication date is unknown)

===Video===

*Director (mandatory)
*Producer, if relevant (mandatory)
*Names of major performers
*Title of the episode in quotation marks (mandatory)
*Title of the film or TV series in italics
*Name of the studio (mandatory)
*Year of release
*Medium (for example: film, videocassette, DVD)
*Approximate time at which event or point of interest occurs, where appropriate

===Music/Sound===

*Composer(s), songwriter(s), script writer(s), etc… (mandatory)
*Performer(s) (mandatory)
*Title of the song or individual track in quotation marks (mandatory)
*Title of the album in italics (if applicable)
*Name of the record label
*Year of release
*Medium (for example: LP, audio cassette, CD, MP3 file)
*Approximate time at which event or point of interest occurs, where appropriate

==Linking==
Linking is a way to connect Wikiislam pages within the text. If there exists a page on a subject that is brought up within an article it is encouraged to link the page within the text. However, over-linking can be distracting. By rule of thumb only link the first occurrence of the subject being mentioned in the article.

You can link a subject by enclosing it in double brackets <nowiki>[[X]]</nowiki>

==Quoting==
Using the quote template can provide useful information from primary sources in a direct manner. However too many of them will cause unnecessary clutter in the page. Unless absolutely necessary to keep the flow of the article, do not use the quote template outside the “Relevant Quotations” section. (See Structure Protocol for more details)

The “Relevant Quotations” section will contain the direct relevant quotations from primary scriptures such as Qur’an and hadith. These will only be in quotation template format.

If you must reference something to support a claim, cite it in a footnote. If you must quote a published work outside of the “Relevant Quotations” section use quotation marks and incorporate the quote into the text and include a footnote citation at the end. It may also be justifiable to highlight a certain quote within the main text - if so please use the “Quote-text” template.

'''Example of cluttered formatting:'''

Shaykh Gibril Haddad says that the evidence Amjad provided above is false.{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Al-Tabari nowhere reports that "Abu Bakr's four children were all born in Jahiliyya" but only that Abu Bakr married both their mothers in Jahiliyya, Qutayla bint Sa`d and Umm Ruman, who bore him four children in all, two each, `A'isha being the daughter of Umm Ruman.}}'''Amended version:'''

Shaykh Gibril Haddad states that the passage mentioned is misinterpreted, stating "Al-Tabari nowhere reports that 'Abu Bakr's four children were all born in Jahiliyya' but only that Abu Bakr married both their mothers in Jahiliyya, Qutayla bint Sa`d and Umm Ruman, who bore him four children in all, two each, `A'isha being the daughter of Umm Ruman."<ref name=":6">''Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet'' Shaykh Gibril Haddad</ref>

==See Also==
[[WikiIslam:Formatting]]

==References==
[[Category:Help Pages]]
[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]
<references />

WikiIslam:Formatting

2019-02-11T17:43:05Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Formatting to WikiIslam:Source Editing: Accuracy

#REDIRECT [[WikiIslam:Source Editing]]

WikiIslam:Source Editing

2019-02-11T17:43:04Z

AbdulHurayrah: AbdulHurayrah moved page WikiIslam:Formatting to WikiIslam:Source Editing: Accuracy

{{shortcut|[[WIFMT]]}}
Formatting a [[WikiIslam]] article differs from when writing on a standard word processor. Wikis use text codes to create particular elements of the page (e.g., headings). This markup language is known as wikitext (or wiki-markup) and is designed for ease of editing.

==Font==
'''Bolding''' and ''italicizing'' are done by surrounding a word or phrase with multiple apostrophes (<tt>'</tt>):

{| style="width:50%; height:200px" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Input!!Output
|-
|<tt><nowiki>''italic''</nowiki></tt>
|''italic''
|-
|
<tt><nowiki>'''bold'''</nowiki></tt>
|
'''bold'''
|-
|
<tt><nowiki>'''''bold italic'''''</nowiki></tt>
|
'''''bold italic'''''
|}

Bold emphasis should only be used within quotation boxes or when the name of an article's subject in an encyclopedic page is first mentioned. In all other cases, italics should be used when emphasis is needed (this should be used sparingly and only when absolutely needed). {{underline|Underlining}} and ALLCAPS should be avoided.

==Sections==

Headings and subheadings are a way to improve the organization of an article. If there are two or more distinct topics being discussed, the article should be made more readable by inserting a heading for each topic — that is making each into its own section. This can go up to subsubsubsubheadings.

{| style="width:50%; height:200px" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Input!!Output
|-
|<tt><nowiki>==Headings==</nowiki></tt>
|

==Headings==
|-
|
<tt><nowiki>===Subheadings===</nowiki></tt>
|
===Subheadings===
|-
|
<tt><nowiki>====Subsubheadings====</nowiki></tt>
|
====Subsubheadings====
|}

If an article has at least four headings, a table of contents will automatically be generated. Headings do not form a part of the main text. They only indicate the general topic of that particular section, and should not contain information not found within its main text. So when choosing titles for headings and subheading, questions or long sentences should be avoided.

==Lists==

{| style="width:100%; height:200px" border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"
! width="50%" |Input!! width="50%" |Output
|-
|
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Unordered lists can be created by: 
<nowiki>**</nowiki> Starting every line with a star. 
<nowiki>***</nowiki> More stars indicate a deeper level. 
<nowiki>*:</nowiki> Previous item continues. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki> A new line 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> in a list 
marks the end of the list. 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> A new list can be started again.
|
*Unordered lists can be created by:
**Starting every line with a star.
***More stars indicate a deeper level.
*:Previous item continues.
**A newline
*in a list

marks the end of the list.

*A new list can be started again.
|-
|
<nowiki>#</nowiki> Used appropriately, numbered lists can be: 
<nowiki>##</nowiki> Very organized 
<nowiki>##</nowiki> Easy to follow 
<nowiki>A</nowiki> new line marks the end of the list. 
<nowiki>#</nowiki> New numbering starts with 1.
|
#Used appropriately, numbered lists can be:
##Very organized
##Easy to follow

A new line marks the end of the list.

#New numbering starts with 1.
|}

==Quotations==

===Box Quotations | Islamic Texts===
When quoting an Islamic text in the 'Relevant Quotations' sections or QHS articles, the [[Template:Quote|Quotation]] template should be used: {{<nowiki>Quote|###|###}}</nowiki>

The first parameter is the reference for the text being quoted (this parameters can be left empty if references are being cited via ref tags). The second parameter is where the actual quotation is placed.

There are many templates available for Islamic sources (e.g. [[Template:Quran|Qur'an]], [[Template:Bukhari|Bukhari]], [[Template:Muslim|Muslim]], [[Template:Abudawud|Dawud]], [[Template:Muwatta|Malik's Muwatta]], [[Template:Al Tirmidhi|Tirmidhi]], [[Template:Al Nasai|Nasai]], [[Template:Ibn Majah|Majah]] and [[Template:Tabari|Tabari]]). To quote an Islamic text, the relevant template for referencing that particular text must be placed within the first parameter of the Quotation template.

{| style="width:100%; height:100px" border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"
! width="50%" |Input!! width="50%" |Output
|-
| <tt>{{Quote |{{<nowiki>Quran|2|256}}|Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error...}}</nowiki>
|{{Quote|{{Quran|2|256}}|Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error...}}
|}

For quoting general sources, a modified version of the [[Template:Cite web|Cite Web]] template is used. The [[Template:Cite web quotebox|modified Cite Web]] template must be placed within the first parameter of the Quotation template.

{| style="width:100%; height:100px" border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"
! width="50%" |Input!! width="50%" |Output
|-
|<tt><nowiki>{{Quote|{{cite web quotebox|url= http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888|title= Productivity suffers during holy month|publisher= The Jordan Times|author= Mohammad Ghazal|date= September 10, 2009|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888&date=2011-04-04|deadurl=no}}|The holy month at the time of the Prophet Mohammad and his companions was a time of great achievements and crucial battles won by the Muslims, Sharia (Islamic law) scholar Hamdi Murad said Wednesday.}}</nowiki></tt>
|{{Quote|{{cite web quotebox|url= http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888|title= Productivity suffers during holy month|publisher= The Jordan Times|author= Mohammad Ghazal|date= September 10, 2009|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888&date=2011-04-04|deadurl=no}}|The holy month at the time of the Prophet Mohammad and his companions was a time of great achievements and crucial battles won by the Muslims, Sharia (Islamic law) scholar Hamdi Murad said Wednesday.}}
|}
Templates make it easy to cite Islamic sources. For example, instead of finding the exact USC-MSA URL of a Qur'an verse or hadith, all that is needed is to type <code><nowiki>{{Muslim|7|88}}</nowiki></code> and the reference and link is automatically created. Here are some templates you can use.

====Referencing the Qur'an====
Not all Qur'an-related templates are covered here. Refer to the Q section in [[:Category:Templates]] for the full list.

=====Single Verse=====
To reference a verse from the Qur'an type: <code>{{<nowiki>Quran|#|#}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the chapter/surah number, while the second parameter is the verse number.
=====Multiple Verses=====
To reference multiple verses from the Qur'an type: <code>{{<nowiki>Quran-range|#|#|#}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the chapter/surah number, while the second parameter is the starting verse number, and the third parameter is the ending verse number.
=====Verse and Transliteration=====
To reference a verse from the Qur'an along with its Romanized transliteration type: <code>{{<nowiki>Qtt|#|#}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the chapter/surah number, while the second parameter is the verse number
====Referencing Hadith====
=====Referencing Sahih Bukhari=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Bukhari|Bukhari]] type: <code>{{<nowiki>Bukhari|#|#|#}}</nowiki></code> The first parameter is the volume number, the second parameter is the book number and the third parameter is the narration number.

By default, this will create a link using the USC-MSA hadith referencing system.

=====Sahih Bukhari Alternative=====
You can cite a hadith using its Dar-us-Salam reference number (as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Bukhari) by adding an additional parameter with the value "darussalam".

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Bukhari|||#|darussalam}}</nowiki></code> (note that the first parameter for the volume number and second parameter for the book number are left empty for Dar-us-Salam Reference citations)

You can also cite a Bukhari hadith using the In-book reference convention (created by sunnah.com) by adding an additional parameter with the value "in-book".

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Bukhari||#|#|in-book}}</nowiki></code> (note that the first parameter for the volume is left empty for in-book citations)

The book number in the In-book reference system corresponds with the book number in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Bukhari, and the hadith number is an incremental number which starts at 1 for the first hadith in each book.

The alternative referencing systems allow hadiths to be cited that did not appear within the USC-MSA collection. It also allows a specific hadith to be cited when there are multiple hadiths with the same USC-MSA number (a link using the default USC-MSA referencing system would display a list of hadiths in that situation).
=====Referencing Sahih Muslim=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Muslim|Muslim]] type: <code>{{<nowiki>Muslim|#|#}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the book number and the second parameter is the narration number.

By default, this will create a link using the USC-MSA hadith referencing system.

=====Sahih Muslim Alternative=====
You can cite a hadith by a single hadith reference number as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Sahih Muslim by adding an additional parameter with the value "reference". Please note that this is not the square bracket number in the Dar-us-Salam edition, but rather the round bracket number for the hadith in the same book, which was devised by the Islamic scholar Fuwad Abdul Baqi. This is a number commonly used when citing hadiths in Sahih Muslim.

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Muslim||#|reference}}</nowiki></code> (note that the first parameter for the book number is left empty for Dar-us-Salam Reference citations)

You can also cite a Sahih Muslim hadith using the In-book reference convention (created by sunnah.com) by adding an additional parameter with the value "in-book".

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Muslim|#|#|in-book}}</nowiki></code>

The book number in the In-book reference system corresponds with the book number in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Sahih Muslim, and the hadith number is an incremental number which starts at 1 for the first hadith in each book.

The alternative referencing systems allow hadiths to be cited that did not appear within the USC-MSA collection. It also allows a specific hadith to be cited when there are multiple hadiths with the same USC-MSA number (a link using the default USC-MSA referencing system would display a list of hadiths in that situation).
=====Referencing Abu Dawud=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Abudawud|Abu Dawud]] type: <code>{{<nowiki>Abudawud|#|#}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the book number and the second parameter is the narration number.

By default, this will create a link using the USC-MSA hadith referencing system. The USC-MSA (CMJE) partial collection for Abu Dawud only included roughly half of his hadiths.

=====Abu Dawud Alternative=====
You can cite a Sunan Abu Dawud hadith using the reference system found in the translation of the entire Abu Dawud collection by Ahmad Hasan (this translation is used by USC-MSA and other popular sites). You can do this by adding an additional parameter with the value "hasan".

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Abudawud||#|hasan}}</nowiki></code> (note that the first parameter for the book number is left empty for Ahmad Hasan reference citations - they are not used because his book numbers varied depending on the edition).

Ahmad Hasan's hadith (narration) numbers were also used by USC-MSA (for the hadiths in their partial collection). USC-MSA used the book numbers from the 1990 edition of Hasan's translation, which had 41 books unlike the other editions in which he put the same hadiths into 36 books.

You can also cite a hadith using its Dar-us-Salam reference number (as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Sunan Abu Dawud) by adding an additional parameter with the value "darussalam".

To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Abudawud||#|darussalam}}</nowiki></code> (note that the first parameter for the book number is left empty for Dar-us-Salam Reference citations)

The alternative referencing systems allow hadiths to be cited that did not appear within the USC-MSA collection. It also allows a specific hadith to be cited when there are multiple hadiths with the same USC-MSA number (a link using the default USC-MSA referencing system would display a list of hadiths in that situation).
=====Referencing Muwatta=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Muwatta|Malik's Muwatta]] type: <code>{{<nowiki>Muwatta|#||#}}</nowiki></code> (note the empty 2nd parameter)

The first parameter is the book number, the second parameter is the section number (no longer used), and the third parameter is the narration number. If you do happen to know the section number (second parameter) for the hadith you are citing, put it in anyway as it might be useful one day.

:An optional fourth parameter allowed a suffix to be added to the narration number (no longer used, but put it in if you know there is one in case it's useful one day). The disused 2nd and 4th parameters are retained for the sake of earlier citations which had them, and their values are visible on the pages although not included in the links (except when they were mistakenly used for the book and hadith number - the template can detect this).

By default, this will create a link using the USC-MSA hadith referencing system.

=====Muwatta Alternative=====
To do so type: <code>{{<nowiki>Muwatta|#||#||arabic}}</nowiki></code> (note the empty 2nd and 4th parameters)

<nowiki>The alternative referencing system allows hadiths to be cited that did not appear within the USC-MSA collection. It also allows a specific hadith to be cited when there are multiple hadiths with the same USC-MSA number (a link using the default USC-MSA referencing system would display a list of hadiths in that situation).}}</nowiki>
=====Referencing Tirmidhi=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Al Tirmidhi|Tirmidhi]] type: <code><nowiki>{{Al Tirmidhi||#|#|#}}</nowiki></code> (note the empty first parameter)

The first parameter is the book number on sunnah.com (can be left blank), the second parameter is the volume number, the third parameter is the book number, and the forth parameter is the narration number.

This provides the full citation as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Jami` at-Tirmidhi (this is the reference called "English reference" on sunnah.com).

The first parameter was used by the old template to link to the relevant book on sunnah.com. It is no longer used and can be left empty, but is retained for the sake of existing citations that used 4 parameters. It is recommended to input this parameter in case it is ever needed in future.
=====Referencing Nasa'i=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Al Nasai|Nasai'i]] type: <code><nowiki>{{Al Nasai||#|#|#}}</nowiki></code> (note the empty first parameter)

The first parameter can be left blank, the second parameter is the volume number, the third parameter is the book number, and the forth parameter is the narration number.

This provides the full citation as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Sunan an-Nasa'i (this is the reference called "English translation" on sunnah.com).

The first parameter is no longer used and can be left empty, but is retained for the sake of existing citations that used 4 parameters. It was used by the old template to link to the relevant book on sunnah.com. In any case for Nasa'i it was always the same as the book number in the 3rd parameter, so was redundant anyway.
=====Referencing Ibn Majah=====
To reference a hadith from [[Template:Ibn Majah|Ibn Majah]] type: <code><nowiki>{{Ibn Majah||#|#|#}}</nowiki></code> (note the empty first parameter)

The first parameter can be left blank, the second parameter is the volume number, the third parameter is the book number, and the forth parameter is the narration number.

This provides the full citation as found in the Dar-us-Salam print edition of Sunan Ibn Majah (this is the reference called "English reference" on sunnah.com).

The first parameter is no longer used and can be left empty, but is retained for the sake of existing citations that used 4 parameters. It was used by the old template to link to the relevant book on sunnah.com. In any case for Ibn Majah it was always the same as the book number in the 3rd parameter, so was redundant anyway.
====Referencing Sirah====
=====Referencing Tabari=====
To reference text from [[Template:Tabari|Tabari]] type: <code>{{<nowiki>Tabari|###|###}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the volume number and the second parameter is the page or page range. "<code>p.</code>" or "<code>pp.</code>" (whichever is applicable) will have to be typed in manually. For example, <code><nowiki>{{Tabari|4|p. 220}}</nowiki></code> or <code><nowiki>{{Tabari|4|pp. 220-221}}</nowiki></code>.
====Examples====
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="width:700px; height:200px"
!Input!!Output
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Quran|2|35}}</nowiki>||{{Quran|2|35}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Quran-range|2|35|36}}</nowiki>||{{Quran-range|2|35|36}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Qtt|2|35}}</nowiki>||{{Qtt|2|35}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Bukhari|1|1|5}}</nowiki>||{{Bukhari|1|1|5}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Muslim|1|5}}</nowiki>||{{Muslim|1|5}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Abudawud|1|7}}</nowiki>||{{Abudawud|1|7}}
|-
| |{{<nowiki>Muwatta|1|1|5|}}</nowiki>
|{{Muwatta|1|1|5|}}
|-
| |<nowiki>{{Al Tirmidhi|2|1|2|6}}</nowiki>||{{Al Tirmidhi|2|1|2|6}}
|-
| |<nowiki>{{Al Nasai|26|4|26|3257}}</nowiki>||{{Al Nasai|26|4|26|3257}}
|-
| |<nowiki>{{Ibn Majah|9|3|9|1903}}</nowiki>||{{Ibn Majah|9|3|9|1903}}
|-
| |<nowiki>{{</nowiki><nowiki>Tabari|4|p. 220}}</nowiki>||{{Tabari|4|p. 220}}
|}
===Indented Quotations | General in-text===

To add an indented quotation without any surrounding box, type: <code>{{<nowiki>Quote-text|###|###}}</nowiki></code>

The parameters are used in the same way as in the Quote template described above. For example, to quote {{Quran|2|256}}, this is what has to be typed:

:<code>{{Quote-text|{{<nowiki>Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}</nowiki></code>

And it should produce this:{{Quote-text|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}
==In-line Citations==

===Single Citation===
An example of a reference being made on a page:
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|This is how to provide inline citations.<ref>This is the reference text. [http://example.com/ Links can also be provided]</ref>''(article text)''

''(more article text)''

<big>'''References'''</big>
----
<references group=""></references>
|}Here is what has to be typed:

::<code>This is how to provide inline citations.<nowiki><ref>This is the reference text. [http://example.com/ Links can also be provided]</ref></nowiki></code>

At the end of an article, there should be a "References" heading and below that:

::<code><nowiki>{{reflist}}</nowiki></code>

The wiki will then automatically do everything else to produce the reference. To edit the reference section produced at the bottom, edit the <nowiki><ref></nowiki> tags.
===Multiple Citations===
For multiple citations of the same reference or footnote:

::<code><nowiki><ref name="name here">details of the citation</ref></nowiki></code>

Thereafter, the same footnote may be used multiple times by adding:

::<code><nowiki><ref name="name here"></ref></nowiki></code>

===Cite Web===
The [[Template:Cite web|Cite Web]] template deals with the actual references i.e. the content that goes between the ref tags. Its use ensures that the formatting for references remains consistent throughout the site and also enables easy system-wide changes.

When citing references in articles, it is important not to leave naked URLs. What is being referenced should be easily identifiable without having to leave the page through an external link. For example, this link:

::<code>http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888</code>

When applied to the Cite Web template:

::<code><nowiki>{{cite web|url= http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888|title= Productivity suffers during holy month|publisher= The Jordan Times|author= Mohammad Ghazal|date= September 10, 2009|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888&date=2011-04-04|deadurl=no}}</nowiki></code>

Should produce this:

::{{cite web|url= http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888|title= Productivity suffers during holy month|publisher= The Jordan Times|author= Mohammad Ghazal|date= September 10, 2009|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19888&date=2011-04-04|deadurl=no}}

====Minimal Parameters====
<pre>
{{cite web| url= | title= | author= | publisher= | date= | archiveurl= | deadurl=no/yes}}
</pre>

*url= URL of an online location where the text of the publication can be found.
*title= Title of web page. Displays in quotes.
*author= Name of author or authors if available.
*publisher= Organization or website's name. A website's URL should be used only when there is no proper name available. So, for example, Islam Q&A is located at islamqa.info, but Islam Q&A is the title that should be cited as the publisher.
*date= Full date of source being referenced in the month/day/year format (e.g. February 21, 2014). This is the date mentioned on the website (if any).

:*accessdate= Full date when URL was accessed (use if the sourced page does not indicate a date of publication).

*archiveurl= The URL of an archived copy of a web page, if or in case the url becomes unavailable. Typically used to refer to services like WebCite.
*deadurl= When the URL is still live, but preemptively archived, then set |deadurl=no. This changes the display order with the title retaining the original link and the archive linked at the end.

====Additional Parameters====
<pre>| accessdate= | series= | isbn= | page= | pages= | quote= | language=
</pre>

*series= Additional information that cannot be included under author or publisher. For example journal number
*quote= Relevant text quoted from the source. Displays enclosed in quotes. When supplied, the citation terminator (a period by default) is suppressed, so the quote needs to include terminating punctuation.
*isbn= For citing books. The ISBN is a numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit SBN code. Most published books have them.
*page= Page number of the book/journal being cited.
*pages= Page numbers of the book/journal being cited. Used when the information is spread over more than 1 page (e.g. 223-224).
*language= Language of content being cited. Only needed for languages other than English

===Multi-Columned References===
For ease of reading, when a page includes many citations, the standard <code><nowiki>{{reflist}}</nowiki></code> template should be replaced by <code><nowiki>{{Reflist|30em}}</nowiki></code> (for 10+ citations).
==Links==

===Internal Links===

Internal link can be added by enclosing the name of the target page in double square brackets (<tt><nowiki>[[]]</nowiki></tt>). If the page exists, it is displayed in [[#Internal Links|blue]], if it does not, it is displayed in [[This is a red-colored link indicating an internal link to a page that does not exist. If red-colored links are found in articles, editors should remove them.|red]]. Leaving red links should always be avoided. Piped links can be used when the displayed text is required to be different to the page title of the actual target page (<tt><nowiki>[[page title|desired text]]</nowiki></tt>). This is often required because WikiIslam uses title-case for capitalization of headings.

===External Links===

Most articles also include links to supplementary external web content (i.e. an "External Links" section). These sections should always be placed below the "See Also" section and above the "References" section. Links should be kept to a minimum (about two) and should be beneficial to the page in some way. They should not be provided just for the sake of providing them. They should include additional information that is not available or out of the scope of WikiIslam. External links should always be archived and can be cited using the [[Template:External link|External link]] template.

===Archived Links===
Link rot is a frequently occurring phenomena where external website links become unavailable after some time.

The Cite Web template has two parameters dedicated to archived links. This is due to the many sources that are comprised of links to external websites, making the preservation of the content of these external links very important. However, archiving links is very easy and only takes a moment.
====WebCitation.org====
WebCite archives:

*Regular web pages
*Forum threads
*Blogs
*PDF and other media files

But it does ''not'' archive Facebook pages.

To archive a page, enter the target URL and any email address as that of the citing author on the WebCite archive form (http://www.webcitation.org/archive), then press submit. Using the "transparent" WebCite URL is preferred over the short one.
====Archive.is====
Archive.is archives:

*Regular web pages
*Forum threads
*Blogs
*Facebook pages

But it does ''not'' archive PDF and other media files.

To archive a page, enter the target URL into the "submit url" box (http://archive.is/) and press submit. You will then see the new archived URL that can be used in the 'archiveurl' parameter for the Cite Web template.
====Embedded Links====
Embedded links to external websites should never be used as a form of inline citation. Nevertheless, they are used on occasion, for example, in the [[Fatwa: It is Permissible to Use the "Torah and the New Testament... for Anal Cleansing after Defecation"|Translations of Arabic/Islamic Media]] pages. In these rare instances, only a single link is appropriate, rather than both the original and the archive link side-by-side. For these, the [[Template:Reference archive|Reference archive]] template should be used.

To use this template, the target URL would have to be archived by entering it into the WebCite archive form (http://www.webcitation.org/archive).

Then the target URL in its original form, along with the date it was archived, need to be added to the Reference archive:

<code><nowiki>{{Reference archive|1=###|2=###}}</nowiki></code>

The first parameter is the original URL, and the second parameter is the date it was archived. The date format is year-month-day, all in numbers rather than words (e.g. 2014-02-26 rather than February 26, 2014).

If absolutely needed, embedded links to Wikipedia can be made by using the <code><nowiki>[[w:Target article|Text]]</nowiki></code> feature or <code><nowiki>{{</nowiki><nowiki>wp|article name}}</nowiki></code>. As with embedded links to other sites, these links should never be used as a form of inline citation.
==See Also==
Additional help with formatting and other related issues can be found at:

*[[WikiIslam:Standardization]]
*[[WikiIslam:Reliable Sources]]
*[[Help:Contents]]
*[[WikiIslam:Citing Sources]]
*[[WikiIslam:Article Style and Content Guide]]

[[Category:Help Pages]]
[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]

WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

2019-02-08T17:24:41Z

AbdulHurayrah: /* Examples */

It is often difficult for new editors at [[WikiIslam]] to understand what is or is not appropriate within articles. This page expands on the site's [[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines|policies and guidelines]] concerning style, tone and content of its articles by providing a visual guide for editors.

==Standardized Spellings==
There are many acceptable phonetic spellings for different words that are translated or transliterated into English. However, WikiIslam editors should standardize spelling to use throughout the wiki. The following is a list of required spelling standardizations. Note: You should not standardize spelling in quotations, leave the quoted text as originally written. This table is subject to change to accommodate new words.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of Standardized Spellings
!WikiIslam Standard
!Proper Noun
!Meaning
|-
|'''Allah'''
|Yes
|God of the Quran
|-
|'''Quran'''
|Yes
|Central religious text (Holy book) of Islam
|-
|'''Hadith'''
|No
|Notable collections of words, actions, approvals and disapprovals of Muhammad during his life
|-
|'''Muhammad'''
|Yes
|Prophet of Islam
|-
|'''Abu Bakr'''
|Yes
|First caliph and best friend of Muhammad
|-
|'''Umar (ibn al-Khattab)'''
|Yes
|Second caliph and senior companion of Muhammad
|-
|'''Uthman (ibn Affan)'''
|Yes
|Third caliph, second cousin, and son-in-law of the Muhammad
|-
|'''Ali (ibn-Abi Talib)'''
|Yes
|Fourth caliph and Muhammad’s son-in-law
|-
|'''Tafsir'''
|No
|Exegesis – scholarly commentary on the Quran and hadith
|-
|'''Mufassir'''
|No
|Author of a Tafsir
|-
|'''Sunni'''
|Yes
|One of the two main branches of Islam
|-
|'''Shia'''
|Yes
|One of the two main branches of Islam
|-
|'''Aisha (bint Abu Bakr)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives, daughter of Abu Bakr
|-
|'''Khadijah (bint Khuwaylid)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Sawda (bint Zam’a)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Hafsa (bint Umar)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Zaynab (bint Khuzayma)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Hind (bint Abi Umayya)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Rayhana (bint Zayd)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Zaynab (bint Jahsh)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Juwayriyya (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Safiyya (bint Huyeiy)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Ramla (bint Abi Sufyan)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Maria al-Qibtiyya'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s sex slaves / concubines
|-
|'''Maymuna (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Juwayriyya (bint al-Harith)'''
|Yes
|One of Muhammad’s wives
|-
|'''Fatimah'''
|Yes
|Muhammad’s youngest daughter, wife of Ali ibn-Abi Talib
|-
|'''Ahmadiyya'''
|Yes
|Islamic revival sect founded in Punjab
|-
|'''al-Bukhari'''
|Yes
|Islamic scholar who authored what is considered to be the most authentic hadith collection
|-
|'''al-Tabari'''
|Yes
|Islamic foremost Mufassir
|-
|'''al-Jalalayn'''
|Yes
|Classical tafsir of the Quran composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli
|-
|'''al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah'''
|Yes
|Biography of Muhammad
|-
|'''Jannah'''
|No
|Heaven
|-
|'''Jahanam'''
|No
|Hell
|-
|'''Huri'''
|No
|Heavenly virgins
|-
|'''Istishhad'''
|No
|Martyrdom
|-
|'''Shahid'''
|No
|Muslim martyr
|-
|'''Mecca'''
|Yes
|Holy city of Islam
|-
|'''Hajj'''
|No
|Greater holy pilgrimage in Islam
|-
|'''Umrah'''
|No
|Lesser holy pilgrimage in Islam
|-
|'''Kaaba'''
|Yes
|Building at the center of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. Direction of Muslim prayers and destination of pilgrimage
|-
|'''Khitan'''
|No
|Circumcision
|-
|'''Najis'''
|No
|Ritually unclean or impure physically or spiritually
|-
|'''Fiqh'''
|No
|Islamic jurisprudence
|-
|'''Sahih'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith is “authentic”
|-
|'''Hasan'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith as “good”
|-
|'''Da’if'''
|No
|The denotation of a hadith as “weak”
|-
|'''Mutawatir'''
|No
|Hadith with multiple narrators
|-
|'''Ahaad'''
|No
|Non-Mutawatir hadith, usually narrated by one narrator
|-
|'''Sharia'''
|No
|Islamic canonical law based on Islamic scriptures
|-
|'''Hanafi'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Maliki'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Shafi’i'''
|Yes
|One of four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Ja’fari'''
|Yes
|The religious Shia Islamic school of jurisprudence
|-
|'''Fatwa'''
|No
|Non-binding but authoritative legal ruling issued by qualified jurist
|-
|'''Sheikh'''
|No
|Honorific title for knowledgeable Islamic clergyman.
|-
|'''Imam'''
|No
|Someone who leads prayer
|-
|'''Mufti'''
|No
|Someone who can give jurisprudence judgements on religious matters
|-
|'''Ayatollah'''
|No
|Honorific title of Shia religious leader
|-
|'''Halal'''
|No
|Permissible in Islam
|-
|'''Haram'''
|No
|Impermissible in Islam
|-
|'''Makruh'''
|No
|Religiously disliked
|-
|'''Kafir'''
|No
|Infidel
|-
|'''Shirk'''
|No
|Idolatry or polytheism
|-
|'''Mushrik'''
|No
|Someone who commits shirk
|-
|'''Mulhid'''
|No
|Apostate, heretic, or atheist
|-
|'''Murtad'''
|No
|Denier (of Islam)
|-
|'''Aqidah'''
|No
|Creed
|-
|'''Zakat'''
|No
|Obligatory charity based on % wealth
|-
|'''Dawah'''
|No
|Islamic proselytizing
|}
{{shortcut|[[WISCG]]}}
==Tone==

WikiIslam should strive to be an objective source for knowledge about Islamic matters. To do so we must remain objective in language. Unsourced claims and assertions degrade the quality of the site. In your own writing, summarize the main and relevant information of the source cited; be sure to avoid phrases of certainty (of course, surely etc...). Do ''not'' include conclusions at any point of the text. Readers should be able to come to their own conclusions given the resources. We want to maintain a trustworthy and neutral reputation that encourages readers to do further research.

Do not make generalizing, political or hateful statements against any group of people (including Muslims); this could result in a ban.

===Examples===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="4%" |
! width="33%" |Incorrect {{spaces|1}}[[File:Cross.png]]
! width="33%" |Corrected [[File:Checkmark.gif|15px]]
!Notes
|-
|{{center|1}}
|''Dr. Omar Abdul Rehman’s article is clearly the most detailed, and we will use it as the basis for our rebuttal as it includes all the QEP nonsense of Drs' Keith Moore and Maurice Bucaille.''
|''Dr. Omar Abdul Rehman’s article is clearly the most detailed, and we will use it as the basis for our analysis as it includes all the QEP claims of Drs' Keith Moore and Maurice Bucaille.''
|The harsh and unprofessional tone of the sentence has been replaced.
|-
|{{center|2}}
|''Because of this double standard, countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands have banned people concealing their identity in public completely.''
|''Because of this conflicting standard, [...]''
|The term "double-standard" has been replaced with a more neutral word.
|-
|{{center|3}}
|''this is another of the absurd pseudo-scientific claims of the champion of Qur'anic Pseudo-Science, Maurice Bucaille.''
|''this is another pseudo-scientific claim made by Maurice Bucaille.''
|Sarcasm, humor or insults should be avoided.
|-
|{{center|4}}
|''Aisha even started a war against her old enemy Ali, causing ten thousand Muslims to kill each other in one day.''
|''Aisha began a war against Ali that resulted in ten thousand fatalities in one day.''
|Avoid writing in an emotional, dramatic style. State the facts and nothing else.
|-
|{{center|5}}
|''He isn't specific on the time frame, offering up a number of years but not definitely stating that it is exact. He doesn't mention any names, fails to mention where these events take place, and doesn't state when this story happened. ''
|''He is not specific on the time frame, offering a number of years but nothing definitive. He does not mention any names, fails to mention where these events took place, and does not state when this story happened.''
|Do not use contracted forms (e.g. "doesn't", "isn't") when you should use "is not", "does not" etc.
|-
|{{center|6}}
|''So how, we must ask, is the early universe anything like "smoke"?''
|''There is no similarities between the early universe and smoke.''
|The use of first or second person in writing ("we" and addressing the reader) should be avoided. Either reword or remove these sections.
|}

== Analysis ==
All and any analysis should not be labeled as an analysis and there should be no sections dedicated to or labeled as analysis—the whole article should be a comprehensive summary and analysis of scripture and scholarly sources. Thus, analysis will present itself throughout the article.

=== Acceptable analysis ===
Includes that which brings together scholarly stances and/or direct scriptural references on a position and makes objective observations. The idea is to summarize the sources and allow the reader to determine how they support or conflict with one another. All positions mentioned should stay relevant to the subject of the article.

=== Unacceptable analysis ===
Includes any analysis that includes the editor’s own judgement, conclusions, impressions, evaluations, or ethics. It is also unacceptable for editors to judge intentions or character of any author, source, or person—real or fictional.

We do not want to lose valuable ideas present in the Wiki. While editing, do not to delete good analyses that are poorly written. Instead try to clean any biases and opinions from the old editor and leave any of the objective valuable or citable material.

Be sure to investigate counter arguments and check key translated words in the original Arabic before adding a point.

===Examples===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="4%" |
! width="33%" |Incorrect {{spaces|1}}[[File:Cross.png]]
! width="33%" |Corrected [[File:Checkmark.gif|15px]]
!Notes
|-
|{{center|7}}
|''The Qur'an relates that God has woken the sleepers as a way to test who could calculate the length of their stay the best.''
|''The Qur'an relates that Allah has woken the sleepers as a way to test who could calculate the length of their stay the best.''
|When referring to Islam's deity, always use his proper name (i.e. Allah) rather than the generic English term "God" (or the Arabic equivalent "Illah").
|-
|{{center|8}}
|'' Hiding your identity in public this way is completely legal in many western countries, whilst other face coverings such as balaclavas, masks, and motorcycle helmets will quickly get the wearer arrested if worn in a public place.''
|''Hiding your identity in public this way is legal in many countries [...]''
|There is no reason for singling-out/providing undue attention to "western" countries when the issue being discussed applies equally to non-western countries.
|-
|{{center|9}}
|''The Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day, so reporting dates in Gregorian style is an anachronism. The Europeans used the Julian calendar, which was then only two or three days variant from the Gregorian. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the one currently used by the majority of readers.''
|''The Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day, so reporting dates in Gregorian style is an anachronism. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the Gregorian calendar, which is internationally the most widely accepted and used civil calendar.''
|There is no reason to assume the target-audience are Europeans. In fact, while demographics vary from week to week, visitors from Africa and Asia often outnumber those from Europe or the United States. Material should be tailored to accommodate, as best as possible, a universal audience.
|-
|{{center|10}}
|''If this is the sort of thing Islamists are ready to propagate openly with the approval and endorsement of authorities, Universities and so many sponsors, then what other lies do they feed to children at Muslim schools, and to young adults at mosques? Why are so many of the non-Muslim governments and individuals who continue to perpetuate these myths via websites and forums so eager to appease Muslims and show that their culture produced superior inventions by taking rightful credits from other civilizations such as ancient China, ancient Rome, and pre-Islamic Egypt? ''
|(avoid)
|Opinionated rants are to be avoided. This is not an anti-jihad site or blog for airing ones frustrations concerning perceived wrongs in society.
|-
|{{center|11}}
|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. As with adultery and justice, the term martyr in Islam differs from the secular and Biblical definitions of the word.''
|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. As with adultery and justice, the term martyr in Islam differs from the commonly agreed upon definitions of the word.''
|Commentary on other religious traditions should be avoided. In this case, the Christian (or even Buddhist and Hindu) definitions would likely mirror the secular ones, so it is unnecessary to make a distinction.
|-
|{{center|12}}
|''The fact that the earth is not flat has been known for thousands of years. The Rigveda of Hindus (1700 BC or older), The Ancient Greeks Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) all knew this. The Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) knew this.''
|''The fact that the earth is not flat has been known for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) all knew this. The Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) knew this.''
|Positive and definitive claims about what other religious texts (Bible, Rigveda, etc.) say should be avoided because such texts are open to interpretation and our aim is to remain neutral towards them. The examples given are sufficient and already cover India, so mentioning the Rigveda is unnecessary.
|-
|{{center|13}}
|''Further, this apologist has ignored...''
|''This argument also ignores...''
|WikiIslam is not an "interfaith" or "dialogue" site, so unless it is someone very notable for work outside of the Internet, responses should not be made to specific, usually obscure, web-based apologists. Instead responses should be made to the general arguments raised, if those arguments merit a response at all.
|-
|{{center|14}}
|''<nowiki>==</nowiki>Verses Claiming that Quran is Detailed<nowiki>==</nowiki>''
|''<nowiki>==</nowiki>Qur'anic Claim<nowiki>==</nowiki>''

The Qur'an claims several times that it is a book explained in detail:
|Section headings do not form a part of the main text. They only indicate the general topic of that particular section, and should not contain information not found within its main text. So when choosing titles for headings and subheading, editors should avoid questions or long sentences.
|-
|{{center|15}}
|''Time would show that Aisha was confident, spirited, strong-willed and highly intelligent – she had indeed “some of the qualities of Khadijah”.''
|(avoid)
|This sentence draws conclusions from text that can be debated. There are no hadiths that mention explicitly that Aisha was 'intelligent', 'strong willed' and so on. Report facts and not opinions and deductions.
|-
|{{center|16}}
|''he must have been a good stepfather to Hala and Hind, for they remained unswervingly loyal to him.''
|(avoid)
|This sentence is drawing conclusions that are not present in the original text. Stepchildren remaining loyal could equally suggest that Muhammad was a strict and uncaring disciplinarian. But since neither conclusion is supported by facts, commenting on them should be avoided.
|-
|{{center|17}}
|''Juwayriya was sweet-natured, charming and as alluringly beautiful as a fairy; men became infatuated with her at first sight.''
|''Juwayriya was described in some hadiths as "jinnya" which some dictionaries translate to "angel like".''
|An editor's own conclusions or exaggerations are being replaced with facts.
|}

== Lead vs Body ==

=== Lead ===
The Lead Text should define and explain only essential information about the subject and its impacts/contributions. The Lead Text text comes before the table of contents and does not have a section title. It is composed of one to four paragraphs and should be written simply and concisely to allow for easy digestion of information. This will also help Google create snippets for their search engine and therefore boosts the article’s visibility.

The lead text is the most important text in the article and should reflect the objective standard we are trying to achieve.

=== Body ===
The body text should go into greater detail than the Lead text. It is important that all challengeable materials, or any claim that is subject to dispute, are from third party published works. The body should go into further details of interest on the subject and be broken down into sections.

Where a source is open to interpretation or is disputed, editors should not assume a particular meaning. Interpretations can be discussed by reference to scholars. The editor should only seek to summarize and collect sources that accurately reflect the positions and dialogue concerning the article’s subject. Articles should ''never'' end with an evaluation of the editor’s impression. In fact, the article should not have ending remarks at all, as they give a sense of finality and closure that discourages the reader from further research. The WikiIslam articles should aim only to provide the reader with the information they need to draw their own conclusions.

== Transliteration ==
If the transliterated word is not the subject of the article always link the first occurrence of the word to its own article when applicable. If you find a commonly transliterated word does not have its own article suggest or start one.

=== Title ===
For titles of transliterated words use the standardized transliteration as the title with the English translation in brackets next to it. Example: Jannah (Heaven)

=== Article ===
If a word has a suitable English translation the first occurrence of the word should use the translation followed by brackets including the transliteration and the word in its original language. Example: dust (turabin تُرَابٍ) all following occurrences can use either the English translation (preferred) or the transliteration if necessary.

If the word does not have a suitable English translation the first occurrence of the word should use the standardized transliteration followed by brackets including the language and the word in its original language. Example: Jizyah (جزية‎) all following occurrences can use the transliterated word.

==Honorifics==
This page explains polices concerning honorifics
===Prophet, Christ or Lord===
When discussing the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the first mention in an article and its conclusion should begin with the capitalized qualifier, Prophet, i.e. "The Prophet Muhammad". The same applies to any personal noun such as Jesus or Ganesha, (i.e. Jesus Christ" or "Lord Ganesha). This is because we need to be clear that we are discussing the religious figures named Muhammad, Jesus or Ganesha, and not another individual. Referring to Jesus as "Jesus Christ" does not make one a Christian, nor does referring to Muhammad as "Prophet Muhammad" make one a Muslim.
===Sheikh, Imam, Saint or Doctor===
Due to similar reasons, at least the first mention in an article should include the individual's religious title. For example, "Imam Bukhari" or "Shaykh Qaradawi". This is no different than referring to a saint or doctor as "Saint Patrick" or "Dr. Phil".
===SAW, SWT, He, Him or Her===
WikiIslam aims to be an objective platform, therefore additional religious honorifics such as "Muhammad (saw)" or "Allah (swt)" are not permitted in articles. The same applies to using an uppercase "H" in words such as "he", "him" or "her" in reference to deities of any religion. An exception to this rule would be the talk pages where users are free to use whatever form they feel comfortable with.
==See Also==

*[[WikiIslam:Arguments Not To Use]]
*[[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines]]

==External Links==

*{{external link| url = http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc063| title = Guidelines for Effective Professional and Academic Writing| publisher = University of Florida| author = | date = Reviewed January 2013| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fedis.ifas.ufl.edu%2Fwc063&date=2014-01-18| deadurl = no}}

[[Category:Policies and Guidelines]]