By Allah -azwj ...

By Allah -azwj , Rasool-Allah -saww was able to read and write in seventy two’ – (or said) – ‘seventy three’ ‘languages, and he -asws has been called ‘ Al-Ummy ’ because he -saww was from the inhabitants of Mecca, and Mecca is the mother of all towns, and that is in the Words of Allah -azwj Mighty and Majestic: and for you to warn the mother town (أُمَّ الْقُرى) and the ones around it [6:92] . And the mother of towns is Makkah.

So he -saww was referred to as Ummy due to that.’’ [12] محمد بن الحسن الصفار: عن الحسين بن علي، عن أحمد بن هلال، عن خلف بن حماد، عن عبد الرحمن بن الحجاج، قال: قال أبو عبد الله (عليه السلام): «إن النبي (صلى الله عليه و آله) كان يقرأ و يكتب، و يقرأ ما لم يكتب Muhammad Bin Al-Hassan Al-Saffar, from Al-Husayn Bin Ali, from Ahmad Bin Hilal, from Khalaf Bin Hamaad, from Abdul Rahman Bin Al-Hajaaj who said, Abu Abdullah -asws said: ‘The Prophet -saww used to read and write, and he -saww (also) read what he -saww had not written (What someone else had written).’ [13] Those who claim that -saww was illiterate refer to the following verse: وَمَا كُنْتَ تَتْلُو مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَلَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ ۖ إِذًا لَارْتَابَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ {48} And you did not recite any (other) Book from before it nor did you transcribe (copy-wrote) it with your right hand, for then the falsifiers would have doubted [29:48] They wrongly interpret the words ‘nor writing it with your right hand’ to claim that Rasool Allah -saww () could neither read nor write.

These words, do not refer to the writing of the Quran, these words, nevertheless, clearly state that -saww never recited nor wrote down any Scriptures before the Quran, meaning, never went to a school or visited a teacher before the Revelation of the Holy Quran, so was taught by Allah -azwj and not by others.

و في العيون عن الرضا عليه السلام في حديث: و من آياته انّه كان يتيماً فقيراً راعياً أجيراً لم يتعلّم كتاباً و لم يختلف الى معلم ثمّ جاء بالقرآن الذي فيه قصص الأنبياء و أخبارهم حرفاً حرفاً و أخبار من مضى و من بقي إلى يوم القيامة And in (the book) Al-Uyoon – ‘From Al-Reza -asws , there is a lengthy Hadeeth.

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