In the book entitled...

In the book entitled: “The Stories of the Qur’an”, written in Persian in the 5th Century (Hijrah) by Abu Bakr `Atiqi Nayshapuri who adapted the work from his own exegesis of the Qur’an, the author relates the Hudaybiyyah event up to the point where Suhayl ibn `Amr, on behalf of the Quraysh, objected to the words “Allah’s messenger”. Suhayl ibn `Amr said “The Prophet said to `Ali to erase “Allah’s messenger”. `Ali disinclined to do this and felt uneasy at the Prophet’s insistence.

Then the Prophet said to `Ali; “Put my finger on the words so that I may erase them”. Since Allah’s Messenger was untaught, and did not know how to write, `Ali placed the Prophet’s finger on the words and the Prophet erased the words as Suhayl ibn `Amr meant. Al-Ya’qubi too, in his book: `Tarikh al-Ya’qubi” writes: “The Prophet ordered `Ali to write “ibn `Abdillah” in place of “Allah’s Messenger”.

Having written “`Ali refused to erase the words”, in “Sahih Muslim”, Muslim writes: “The Prophet said to `Ali to show him the words. `Ali did likewise whereupon the Prophet erased the words and wrote Muhammad ibn `Abdillah [2] .” In this statement, on the one hand, Muslim writes: “The Prophet (PBUHH) sought `Ali’s help to erase the words”, and on the other hand, he writes: “The Prophet erased the words and wrote”.

It might appear that the Prophet wrote after erasing the words, but the writer of the statement means that `Ali did the writing, for the text of the statement reads that the Prophet sought `Ali’s help to erase the words. It follows explicitly from “Tarikh al-Tabari” and “Kamil Ibn al-Athir” and Al-Bukhari’s account under the chapter: “Al-Shurut” that the second word was written by the Prophet (PBUHH) himself.

It is on record that “The Prophet (PBUHH) took the pen from `Ali’s hand and wrote himself.” In Al-Tabari’s and Ibn al-Athir’s statements, there is an additional sentence: “Allah’s Messenger took the pen from `All’s hand and while it was not proper for him to write, he wrote.” Al-Tabari’s and Ibn al-Athir’s accounts confirm that the Prophet (PBUHH) would not write, but that he did write exceptionally in Hudaybiyyah.

This may confirm the view of those who observe that under divine instructions, he could have written had he so wished; he never composed a poem nor recited anyone else’s.