however, Muslim tradition began to hold that his message
was a miracle in itself, primarily because he himself was
illiterate.
28. Was Muhammad really illiterate,
as Muslims claim?
Muslims claim that Muhammad was illiterate in order to
affirm what they consider to be the miraculous character of
the Koran. This sublime book of poetry, they say,
could not have been written by any ordinary man — and
certainly not by one who was illiterate. However, this claim
of Muhammad’s illiteracy has no actual Koranic support at
all.
Islamic commentators on the Koran and the Hadith
base their claims on the Arabic word ome, which they
translate as ‘‘illiterate.’’ This is one meaning of the word,
but it has another meaning that has nothing to do with
reading or writing. The Koran’s use of the word establishes
that this secondary meaning is the one it is using. Sura 62:2
says, ‘‘It is He that sent forth among the omeyeen [the plural
of ome] an apostle of their own. . . .’’ This same word is
repeated in many other places in the Koran, including Suras
2:78; 3:20; 3:75; and 7:157–158. Almost all Muslim scholars
interpret the wordomeyeenin these passages as meaning
‘‘illiterate.’’ Yet if the word omeyeen refers to illiteracy,
Sura 62:2 would be saying that Allah sent forth to all
illiterates one of their own.