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Muhammad and illiteracy: Difference between revisions
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The word ''ummiy'' (أمي) appears 6 times in the Quran. Two times in the singular in relation to Muhammad himself (verses 7:157-158) and four times in the plural form (verses 2:78, 3:20, 3:75 and 62:2). <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref> From these verses quoted below we will see that the word doesn't have to necessarily mean "illiterate", but can also mean "ignorant" or "not given a scripture". | The word ''ummiy'' (أمي) appears 6 times in the Quran. Two times in the singular in relation to Muhammad himself (verses 7:157-158) and four times in the plural form (verses 2:78, 3:20, 3:75 and 62:2). <ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Amm</ref> From these verses quoted below we will see that the word doesn't have to necessarily mean "illiterate", but can also mean "ignorant" or "not given a scripture". | ||
Mehdy Shaddel says that modern academic scholars "virtually unanimously" agree that the Arabic word ummi did not mean that the Prophet is illiterate, contrary to the Islamic tradition. In at least three of the six verses where the word appears such an interpretation does not fit. This is also true of its usage in many cases in the hadith tradition. It is less easy to positively determine exactly what it did mean, though in general it is now believed to mean gentile i.e. coming from an unscriptured people.<ref>Mehdy Shaddel, [https://www.academia.edu/8811286 Qurʾānic ummī: Genealogy, Ethnicity, and the Foundation of a New Community] (Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 43, 2016, pp. 1-60)</ref> | Mehdy Shaddel says that modern academic scholars "virtually unanimously" agree that the Arabic word ummi did not mean that the Prophet is illiterate, contrary to the Islamic tradition. In at least three of the six verses where the word appears such an interpretation does not fit. This is also true of its usage in many cases in the hadith tradition. It is less easy to positively determine exactly what it did mean, though in general it is now believed to mean gentile or pagan i.e. coming from an unscriptured people.<ref>Mehdy Shaddel, [https://www.academia.edu/8811286 Qurʾānic ummī: Genealogy, Ethnicity, and the Foundation of a New Community] (Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 43, 2016, pp. 1-60)</ref> | ||
In his commentary on the Quran, Gabriel Said Reynolds (a modern academic scholar) points to verse 3:20 as evidence that the word refers to those who do not know the word of God (similarly verses 3:75 and 62:2).<ref>Reynolds, Gabriel Said, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p.54 (commentary on Q. 2:78-9)</ref> Thus, Muhammad is described as an ummi prophet in verses 7:157-158 because he came from a people to whom God had not yet sent down revelation, not because he was illiterate. As Reynolds further points out (crediting Holger Zelletin), verses 29:47-48, which are commonly cited to interpret the other verses on this topic, deny that Muhammad wrote the Quran himself, yet this does not imply that he could not read: | In his commentary on the Quran, Gabriel Said Reynolds (a modern academic scholar) points to verse 3:20 as evidence that the word refers to those who do not know the word of God (similarly verses 3:75 and 62:2).<ref>Reynolds, Gabriel Said, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p.54 (commentary on Q. 2:78-9)</ref> Thus, Muhammad is described as an ummi prophet in verses 7:157-158 because he came from a people to whom God had not yet sent down revelation, not because he was illiterate. As Reynolds further points out (crediting Holger Zelletin), verses 29:47-48, which are commonly cited to interpret the other verses on this topic, deny that Muhammad wrote the Quran himself, yet this does not imply that he could not read: | ||
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====Chapter 2 Verse 78==== | ====Chapter 2 Verse 78==== | ||
One of the plural forms is in sura 2 | One of the plural forms is in sura 2. Shaddel here argues that the verse is talking about Arab converts to Judaism. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|78}}| | {{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.}} | And among them are '''unlettered ones''' (أُمِّيُّونَ, ''ummeeoona'') who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, but they are only assuming.}} | ||
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{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 2:78| | {{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.}} | 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.}} | ||
====Chapter 3 Verse 20==== | ====Chapter 3 Verse 20==== | ||
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{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20| | {{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:20| | ||
So if they the disbelievers dispute with you O Muhammad (s) concerning religion say to them ‘I have surrendered my countenance to God that is to say I have submitted to Him I and whoever follows me’ wajh ‘countenance’ is chosen here because of its noble character for the other parts of the body will just as soon surrender once the countenance has; and say to those who have been given the Scripture the Jews and the Christians '''and to the uninstructed the Arab idolaters''' ‘Have you submitted?’ that is to say ‘Submit!’ And so if they have submitted they have been guided from error but if they turn their backs to Islam your duty is only to deliver the Message; and God sees His servants and so requites them for their deeds — this statement was revealed before the command to fight them had been revealed.}} | So 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.}} | ||
Here, according to Tafsir Al-Jalalayn, as well as most academic scholars, the word ''ummiy'' means pagan or gentile (i.e. those not given a scripture). | |||
====Chapter 3 Verse 75==== | ====Chapter 3 Verse 75==== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|3|75}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|3|75}}| | ||
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{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 3:75| | {{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.}} | 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.}} | ||
The tafsir interprets ummiy here to mean gentiles, those not given a scripture. | |||
====Chapter 7 Verses 157-158==== | ====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: | The two singular forms are in the verses 7:157 and 7:158 in the context of talking about Moses: | ||
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So the information about Muhammad's illiteracy (as orthodoxy interpreted the word, but alternatively his coming from a people without a scripture) was for some reason inserted into a passage which talks about Moses. The context doesn't provide any indication as to what the word ''ummiy'' means here. | So the information about Muhammad's illiteracy (as orthodoxy interpreted the word, but alternatively his coming from a people without a scripture) was for some reason inserted into a passage which talks about Moses. The context doesn't provide any indication as to what the word ''ummiy'' means here. | ||
According to | 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| | {{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'''.}} | (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'''.}} | ||
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====Chapter 62 Verse 2==== | ====Chapter 62 Verse 2==== | ||
This verse has traditionally been interpreted to describe the Arabs as illiterates. However, the modern academic view is that again it means gentile or pagan i.e. those not given a scripture. Moreover, modern epigraphic research (study of rock inscriptions) has shown that there was a degree of literacy in the Hijaz around the time of Muhammad, and first century Quran manuscripts show that a simple Arabic orthographic standard was already in existence. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|62|2-3}}| | {{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 -" | 62:2 "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 -" | ||