Misinterpretation of a Verse by modernists on Prophet's confirmed illiteracy

[Zainab_M]

 


"And they say: Fables of the men of old which he hath had written down so that they are dictated to him morn and evening."  (25:5)  Al-Furqan

Some unthinking minds have wrongly used this verse as refuting the Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) illiteracy.  Without carefully reading the words of the verse, they say that it refers to the Prophet writing through dictations of others.  Apart from the fact that such an idea  contradicts the rest of the Quraan and it contradicts the reliable facts of history, it also contradicts the facts stated in this specific verse itself. 

As we all know, the disbelievers and enemies of the Prophet (pbuh) brought plenty of false accusations against him claiming that the Quraan was taught to him by some human being.  Verse 25:5 describes such an attitude of these disbelievers.

What one needs to follow carefully is that while mentioning the misguided talks of the disbelievers, this verse does not refer to the Prophet 'taking dictation' from others in writing.  Many readers tend to look upon the term "dictate" or "dictation" through a very narrow spectrum.  They think that "dictation" is what we used to get in school.  The teacher 'dictates' a passage to the students and they write it down.  But the term 'dictate' or 'dictation' has a much wider meaning than just that.  In a broader light, 'dictate' would refer to as issuing commands, orders or simply someone passing on their ideas to others with a specific motive or reason.  Such 'dictates' or 'dictation' do not necessarily have to be in writing.  In fact, mostly they are verbal.  This refutes the misinterpretation of those modernists who try to misconstrue the second part of this verse which states about the false allegations of the idolaters claiming that the Quraan was "dictated to him morn and evening."  Since the Prophet couldn't write, this "dictation" falsely alleged by the idolaters was meant by them as verbal.

Regarding the first part of the above verse that states the untruthful allegation of the idolaters about the Quraan being written down through other sources, I quote: "which he hath had written down" does not refer to the idolaters saying that the Prophet wrote the Quraan himself.  If you concentrate on the above words, it says that the misguided minds of the disbelievers alleged that the Prophet 'had the Quran written down.'   Grammatically, there's a big difference between 'writing down' and 'having it written down.'  Of course, regarding this topic, factually both the statements are untrue.  The truth being, the Quraan came from Allah Almighty and thus was written down by scribes upon the recitation of the Prophet (pbuh).  But concerning this part of the verse, the modernists at present have further falsified the already false statement of the idolaters.  The idolaters lied by saying that the Prophet had the Quraan written down (meaning, written down from non-Divine sources by requesting others to do so), while some current modernists misinterpret this by saying that the Prophet wrote it himself.  Both are total lies and fitnah. 
 
May Allah Almighty grant the believers refuge in His Truth from the evil thoughts of all evil doers who purposely spread falsehood and confusion by distorting the truth.  Ameen. 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Very refreshing read and so well perceived.  If I recall correctly, some years ago, it was this exact verse that someone at Free Minds quoted for the purpose of misinterpreting that the Prophet (SAW) could read and write.

I really like your explanation.  thanks sister.

Salam and peace!