Mustafa Al-A`dhamiy has said...

Mustafa Al-A`dhamiy has said, “If we accept the charge that people who lived in the time of the Holy Prophet did not master writing, how can we accept the reports telling that the Holy Qur’an was recorded in that period? We all know that the Sahabah used to record the holy verses as soon as they were revealed.

What is the meaning of the Holy Prophet’s instruction, ‘Record not anything about me except the Holy Qur’an?’ Such an instruction would be unnecessary if people in that time could not write. Nevertheless, the previous report itself bears out that they used to record the Holy Qur’an as well as other things.

The existence of a big number of clerks who worked for the Holy Prophet violates the aforementioned claim; and the administration of a big state, like that reigned by the Rashidite caliphs,[^6] required the presence of people mastering writing, arithmetic, and similar basic sciences. As a result, it is inescapable to admit to the fact that a big number of people, including the Sahabah themselves, could read and write in that time.

Furthermore, the Holy Prophet’s educational policy brought forth its initial fruits during his lifetime, and consequently, the fruits must have increased manifold afterwards. On this account, albeit that most of people in the Holy Prophet’s time could not read and write, there were many others who could read and write and could meet the clerical requirements of that time.”[^7] Aiming at identifying a convincing reason beyond the prohibition of recording the Hadith, Mr.

al-Khatib returned to some of the traditional reasons by which he fell upon others, saying, “The reason beyond the official prohibition of recording the Hadith during the Holy Prophet’s lifetime was not the Muslims’ having been illiterate; rather some of them could read and write and, thus, they recorded the Holy Revelations.

As a matter of fact, there were other reasons, such as the fear that the Holy Qur’an would be confused with the Hadith and that Muslims would engage themselves with the recordation of the Holy Sunnah and consequently would ignore the recording, study, and memorization of the Holy Qur’an.”[^8] Dr.

`Abd al-Khaliq has fallen in the same mistake; refuting the words of Ibn Qutaybah, he says, “The narration of Abu-Sa`id al-Khidriy seems to be the basic evidence on the prohibition of recording the Hadith.