Adversaries acknowledged Muhammad wrote the Quran
Even the prophet's adversaries among his contemporaries acknowledged that he could read and write. This is stated in the following verse.
[25:5] They also said, “Tales from the past that he wrote down; they were dictated to him day and night.”
(٥) وَقَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا فَهِيَ تُمْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
1 | waqālū | وَقَالُوٓا۟ | And they said, |
---|---|---|---|
2 | asāṭīru | أَسَـٰطِيرُ | “Tales (of) |
3 | l-awalīna | ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ | the former [ones] (people) / past generations |
4 | ik’tatabahā | ٱكْتَتَبَهَا | (which) he wrote it |
5 | fahiya | فَهِىَ | and [it] |
6 | tum’lā | تُمْلَىٰ | it is dictated |
7 | ʿalayhi | عَلَيْهِ | to him |
8 | buk’ratan | بُكْرَةً | morning / day |
9 | wa-aṣīlan | وَأَصِيلًا | and evening / night.” |
In another verse, we see a similar claim made against the prophet, but this time, it specifies that they speculated a human was teaching him.
[16:103] We are fully aware that they say, “A human being is teaching him!” The tongue of the source they hint at is non-Arabic, and this is a perfect Arabic tongue.
وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا يُعَلِّمُهُۥ بَشَرٌ لِّسَانُ ٱلَّذِى يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِىٌّ وَهَـٰذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ
Interestingly, the Quran never refutes the claim that the prophet "wrote"; instead, it only refutes the other claims that the Quran was tales from the past or that it was dictated to him by men.
[53:2] Your friend (Muhammad) was not astray, nor was he deceived. [53:3] Nor was he speaking out of a personal desire. [53:4] It was divine inspiration. [53:5] Dictated by the Most Powerful.
(٢) مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ (٣) وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ (٤) إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْىٌ يُوحَىٰ (٥) عَلَّمَهُۥ شَدِيدُ ٱلْقُوَىٰ
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