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Church of God Message
HINDUISM, SIKHISM AND ISLAM: ARE THESE GOD'S RELIGIONS
CHAPTER 20
Muhammed: The Unlettered (Illiterate) Prophet
Muslims claim divine inspiration of the Quran, pointing to Muhammed being illiterate, and called the unlettered prophet. They say that he could not have made up what he recited to his followers of the revelations to him from Allah by reading the writings of the old prophets in the Bible. Others eventually preserved what he recited of the revelations to him in the Quran. Muhammed claimed that the revelations he received were from the archangel Gabriel.
The understanding that Muhammed was an unlettered-prophet comes from the word Ummi in Sura 7:155-158 (Y. Ali translation):
“And Moses chose seventy of his people for Our place of meeting: when they were seized with violent quaking, he prayed: "O my Lord! if it had been Thy will Thou couldst have destroyed, long before, both them and me: wouldst Thou destroy us for the deeds of the foolish ones among us? this is no more than Thy trial: by it Thou causest whom Thou wilt to stray, and Thou leadest whom Thou wilt into the right path. Thou art our Protector: so forgive us and give us Thy mercy; for Thou art the best of those who forgive. And ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the Hereafter: for we have turned unto Thee." He said: "With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right, and practise regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs; - Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet (al-nabiyya al-ummiyya), whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures), - in the law and the Gospel; - for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him, - it is they who will prosper." Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Apostle of God, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in God and His Apostle, the Unlettered Prophet (al-nabiyyi al-ummiyyi), who believeth in God and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
Muslims have traditionally interpreted the word ummi to refer to somebody who is illiterate, i.e. someone who can neither read nor write. They claim that Muhammad was such a prophet.
New scholarship indicates that the word ummi may refer not to a person who cannot read or write, but to a person who was not schooled in the scriptures, much like in the New Testament when the high priests claimed the same about the apostles in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
Some of the apostles were businessmen, such as fishermen. I doubt if any businessman can conduct business by being completely illiterate, though Muhammed conducted business on behalf of a rich woman Khadija, who became his first wife.
I do not know Arabic. Muslim scholars claim that the Quran is NOT translatable into other languages. The English translations are their best efforts, which are all I have read. From reading the English translations, it is quite evident that the verses in the Quran were not dictated by a well-educated person. It is not coherent in most places.
Muhammed’s claim is that the archangel Gabriel revealed the Quran to him. Contrast that with what the Bible describes with whom the archangel Gabriel communicated. He communicated with Daniel the prophet, an intellectual giant of His day, belonging to royalty, number two or three man in the greatest empires of his time. Gabriel also communicated with Mary the mother of Jesus who was also of the royal lineage of David.
Most of the men who wrote the Bible were intellectual giants of their times. Abraham communicated with servants of the Pharaoh of Egypt and taught them science, astronomy and mathematics. That was a major factor in rise of Egypt to prominence. That knowledge was passed on to his sons Isaac and Jacob. Joseph was an intellectual giant of his day. One of the canals in the irrigation system he created in Egypt still exists today and carries the name Yusuf Bahr. Job, the writer of the book that bears his name (Genesis 46:13) was a nephew and contemporary of Joseph and was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh which still stands today.
Isaiah the prophet was royalty. Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra were priests and the most literate people of their day who wrote or edited major portions. David and wisest man who ever lived after Jesus Christ, king Solomon, were royalty. All the other prophets were men of means to have been able to afford a copy of the scriptures. Each of the prophets was very well versed with the scriptures. They were well connected in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and were well aware of what went on in the neighboring kingdoms to have prophesied about them.
The apostles were businessmen, tax collectors and otherwise learned men, though not formally taught in the schools of the Pharisees and Sadducees as was Paul the apostle. They were not illiterate. They knew the scriptures. They were able to write scripture in Greek, a foreign language.
The real God simply does not work with illiterate people, or people who were not already well-versed with the scriptures. It is evident that Muhammed had absolutely no knowledge of the existing scriptures that Allah claims he gave to the Jews and Christians, the Taurat (the Old Testament) and the Injil (the New Testament). Can you imagine the Bible prophesying about the coming of a prophet who would have no knowledge of what He had revealed before him in the scriptures?
It was a demon masquerading around as the archangel Gabriel who communicated with Muhammed, and not the real archangel Gabriel. That is another reason why the Quran is not inspired by God. It’s worse than that. It is Satan-inspired. It has the words of Satan the devil masquerading as the God of the Bible.
Muslims should recognize that Muhammed as a prophet is so antithetical to what the prophets in the Bible were. They should stop believing in the lies in the Quran, perpetuated by their Imams, Maulvis and other religious leaders because that’s how they make a decent living, and derive their power and hold over the people.
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