Did the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, live and die illiterate? Could you please enlighten me regarding this issue, along with providing me with relevant hadiths and Quranic verses?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Noble Prophet; Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was born illiterate and remained so until he received revelation while he was still illiterate. Actually, this is an aspect of perfection of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and one of his honorable miracles. Allah Almighty says (what means): {It is He Who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom – although they were before in clear error.} [Quran 62: 2]

Describing the illiterate Messenger with that he recites the verses of Allah, i.e. His revelation, for the illiterate, and purifies them; teaches them the Book as the Messengers, may Allaah exalt their mention, used to teach their nations the revealed book through writing; and teaches them wisdom that the previous Messengers taught to their nations – all such characteristics imply a challenge represented in the miracle of illiteracy of this Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. That is, in spite of being illiterate, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, brought his nation all benefits, in much the same way as the literate messengers brought their nations, without being less efficient in fulfilling this task. Illiteracy brought the universe a miracle in that its bearer did greater things than those literate Messengers, such as Moosa (i.e. Moses) did. Describing the illiterate as reciting, teaching the Book and wisdom, and purifying souls is a form of antithesis because it is well known that such attributes are opposite to illiteracy. [Prominent scholar Ibn ‘Aashoor in At-Tahreer wat Tanweer 13/209]

There is no doubt that Allah Almighty kept His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, illiterate for a great wisdom. Al-Fakhr Ar-Razi said on his commentary on the statement of Allah Almighty (which means): “…a Messenger from themselves…”:

Meaning Muhammad, whose linage belonged to theirs and who was from their race, as Allah Almighty says (what means): {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves...} [Quran 9: 128]   

Scholars of connotation said, “He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was himself illiterate like the nation he was sent to. His coming was mentioned in the previous divinely revealed books; that he is the illiterate Prophet. Having such characteristic destroys all possibilities of doubting that he brought such wisdom from writings, and thus his condition was the same as those to whom he was sent. This proves his truthfulness with greater sense.” [Ar-Razi; At-Tafseer Al-Kabeer (10538)]

Amongst the verses that refer to the wisdom of being illiterate is the statement of Allah Almighty (which means): {And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.} [Quran 29: 48]    

Ibn ‘Ashoor said, “This verse uses the characteristic of illiteracy with which the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is known as proof that he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, received revelation from Allah Almighty.” It was also used as proof in other places, such as the saying of Allah Almighty (which means):

•        {…You did not know what is the Book or [what is] faith,…} [Quran 42: 52]

•        {…for I had remained among you a lifetime before it. Then will you not reason?} [Quran 10: 16]

{And you did not recite before it any scripture…} means that you never read a book so that one might say that this Quran which he came with is from what he used to recite before.

{…nor did you inscribe one with your right hand} means that he never wrote a book since he cannot even recite. What is meant is to negate both processes of education i.e. writing and reading. {Rather, the Quran is distinct verses [preserved] within the breasts of those who have been given knowledge. And none reject Our verses except the wrongdoers.} [Quran 29: 49], means that the Noble Quran consists of verses that were never recited before sending them down. Rather, they are verses preserved in the breast of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. {...the breasts of those who have been given knowledge…} means the breast of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and it was stated in plural form as a means of exaltation for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. As for the knowledge that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was given, it is Prophethood. [At-Tahreer wat Tanweer (10/12)]

It is worth it to mention the answer to some important questions here: Did the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remain illiterate until he died? Did he learn to read and write a while after receiving revelation? Did the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ever read a book? Did the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, write anything with his honorable hand?

Answer: Imam An-Nawawi reported different opinions from Al-Qadhi ‘Iyadh regarding this issue and ascribed to him that he reported that Al-Baji and others viewed that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not die except after learning how to write, as it was said in the story of the Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyyah, as narrated by Al-Al-Bukhari, “So, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, took the document and wrote...” He added, from another way of transmission, “And he could not write properly, so he wrote…”

Scholars said that this does not cast doubts about his illiteracy. In spite of this, most scholars rejected this report and said, “The word “wrote” means commanded it to be written, and so on.

Please refer to Saheeh Muslim, the Book of Jihad, the chapter of the Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyyah in Al-Hudaybiyyah, along with the commentary of An-Nawawi (6/381).

Allah knows best.