The Unlettered prophet, Muhammad or Jesus?
Sami Zaatari
The two stooges Shamoun and his boss Jochen Katz have come up with their own "new" interpretation of the Quran concerning the Unlettered (Ummi) prophet. The two missionaries assert that when the Quran refers to the Unlettered prophet, it is not referring to the prophet Muhammad, but rather it is referring to Jesus.
All the 2 missionaries have done is show the world how bankrupt Christian apologetics is, and how dishonest as well. (Their comments will be in green.)
the two goons write:
Muslims have traditionally understood the word ummi to refer to somebody who is illiterate, i.e. someone who can neither read nor write. Muhammad, according to Islamic tradition, was such a person, and the above passage is usually applied to him.
Indeed, however so Muslim scholars haven't arrived at this conclusion from guess work, rather they arrived at this conclusion due to the fact that the Quran calls Muhammad the unlettered prophet who cannot read or write, as Allah says:
007.157
YUSUFALI: "Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, 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."
This verse here is referring to the prophet Muhammad, and the verse makes it clear that the prophet Muhammad is an unlettered prophet, meaning an illiterate who cannot read or write.
Shamoun and Katz contend this though, they claim the above passage refers to Jesus! As they write:
to answer the question whether this passage really refers to Muhammad, as Muslims claim, or if it refers to someone else, specifically to the Lord Jesus.
Before showing the verse is NOT referring to Jesus I have a challenge to the missionaries. I challenge these two missionaries to bring ONE reputable Islamic scholar who says the unlettered prophet according to the Quran is Jesus. On top of this the scholar MUST have a committee of scholars who also back his opinion.
I would normally not demand such a thing, however the reason I do this is to expose the double standards and dishonesty of these two missionaries, when they find it convenient to use Islamic scholars they will quote them none stop, just as they do in this article when they write:
According to the Muslim expositors
&
The footnote 14 to Tafsir al-Jalalayn
So notice these two missionary goons appealed to the scholars, not me. Hence I will hold their own standards against them, so I repeat, BRING ME ONE SCHOLAR, WHO HAS THE BACKING OF A COMMITTEE WHO SAYS THE UNLETTERED PROPHET IS JESUS.
Guess what people, there are no such scholars! The consensus of Islamic scholars say that Muhammad is the unlettered prophet, Shamoun and Katz will completely ignore this though, but then when it suits them they will appeal to the scholars by writing:
According to the Muslim expositors
&
The footnote 14 to Tafsir al-Jalalayn
As I said, these two men simply show the world how dishonest they are. Let me make it crystal clear though, to leave no room for them to make a straw man. I would have NO PROBLEM if Shamoun and Katz gave their own interpretation which contradicts every Islamic scholar; this is not a problem for me. However so SINCE THE MISSIONARIES APPEALED TO THE SCHOLARS THEREFORE I WILL HOLD THIS STANDARD WHICH THEY USED AGAINST THEM.
Since no group of scholars agrees with them, their whole argument falls apart since this is the standard they set up.
Now to the other issue, is Surah 7 verse 157 referring to Jesus? The answer is no, if these two missionaries even bothered reading on they would see the context and that the passages are addressing the prophet Muhammad.
"Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, 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 Messenger of Allah, 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 Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
So if the two missionaries even bothered to continue reading to verse 158 they would have clearly seen it is referring to the prophet Muhammad.
Every single top Islamic scholar and tafsir say this verse refers to the prophet Muhammad, Ibn Kathir, Tabari, Ibn Abbas, and many many more.
Shamoun and his leader Katz now need to get us any reputable scholar with a consensus to back him up, they won't be able to, they themselves admit:
1. As far as we know, this interpretation is new. At least we have never seen it proposed before, though we have not specifically searched the academic literature in this regard.
The two missionaries admit their interpretation is new and they don't know anyone who agrees with them or has made this argument before! Amazing! And these two goons had the audacity to appeal to Muslim scholars at first!
Again, it must be made clear that Islamic scholars came to the understanding that the prophet Muhammad was the unlettered prophet due to the fact that the Quran says so, as we have just seen from the two verses above, plus this one:
062.002
YUSUFALI: It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error;-
And also as this hadith makes it explicitly clear:
Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3:
Narrated 'Aisha:
The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read
The missionaries aren't done yet though, they write:
The preceding data helps us come to a proper understanding of the meaning of the term ummi. An ummi is not an illiterate, at least as far as the Quran is concerned, but a person who has not read the Holy Scriptures and/or received any formal instructions about their contents.
It never occurred to these missionaries that words can have more than one meaning, and can be applied to mean something different in the appropriate context and place. No, these missionaries just want to play stupid though and ignore this basic fact.
Secondly, the scholars have unanimously agreed that the term ummi when referring the prophet Muhammad means illiterate, remember these two goons were the ones who referred to the scholars in the first place, hence again their own standards debunk them.
Thirdly, the hadith which was just cited completely debunks the two goons and shows that the prophet Muhammad could not read, as he himself said, I cannot read.
All I could have done for this article was to quote Islamic scholars, this would have completely annihilated these two buffoons based on their own standards, as they wrote:
According to the Muslim expositors
&
The footnote 14 to Tafsir al-Jalalayn
Yes, in other words, these 2 goons say this:
?When Islamic scholars have opinions which agree with us, we will use it none stop and refer to them, but when they don't agree with us we will keep our dirty mouths shut and our filthy fingers away from typing their names and what they have written'.
I guarantee you all that if these 2 missionaries try to reply back they will resort to straw mans, straw mans which I have already made sure to cut off, but idiots will be idiots.
And Allah Knows Best
www.muslim-responses.com
Appendix
Since Shamoun is usually childish, I will cut him off before he employs one of his childish tactics. Just recently Brother Bassam Zawadi issued a rebuttal to Shamoun dealing with whether the prophet Muhammad was an illiterate or not. Shamoun raised the above hadith which I mentioned, where the prophet says I don't know how to read. According to Shamoun this hadith proves the prophet Muhammad could read or else Gabriel would not have asked him to read. Brother Zawadi responds like this:
The answer is simply that Gabriel asked Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to recite (since Iqraa' could mean recite) and the Prophet (peace be upon him) replied back and said "What shall I recite?" (Shamoun himself shows us that ma aqra'u could mean this) three times. During this, Prophet Gabriel was squeezing him. Some scholars said that the reason why Gabriel squeezed the Prophet three times was to ensure that he wasn't dreaming and that this was a real experience. Some said that it was done in order to empty/prepare/purify the receptacle of revelation.
Shamoun since he is childish and generally quite stupid as well will start barking saying look at these 2 dawagandists who don't even agree with each other and contradict each other.
For starters Brother Bassam Zawadi specifically said this:
I can find more than one possible solution to this alleged problem. However, I would only put forth one because that would be enough to refute the argument.
So the brother made it explicitly clear that he could bring many more replies, and the one he has is just one of them, hence this means me and the brother are not in contradiction or disagreement as the response he gave is just one of many possible replies.
Secondly, even if I and Zawadi are in disagreement it means nothing, since in Islam Muslims can respectfully disagree with each other on such issues; it is a part of the Sunnah as well!
Lastly I and Zawadi agree that God is one, only God has the right to be worshipped, and that God has his unique attributes and characteristics that cannot be denied, nor likened to men. And we also believe that the prophet Muhammad is the last and final messenger of God, and that he was given the revelation of the Quran which is the pure and uncorrupted eternal and uncreated speech of Allah.
Can the same be said for Shamoun? No, unlike I and Zawadi (this is even assuming that Zawadi disagrees with me) Shamoun's differences with some of his fellow Christians go right to the very heart of Christianity. Shamoun and his fellow Christians don't even agree with each other on whether Jesus is God, whether the Bible has 66 or 73 books, whether it is Trinitariasm or Unitariasm! Imagine that, Shamoun's differences with his fellow Christians has to do with the FUNDAMENTALS OF HIS RELIGION!
The difference between I and Zawadi in this case (which is assuming that Zawadi even disagrees with me!) is not a difference on a main fundamental issue in Islam, it is just about a particular INCIDENT. Do not forget that Zawadi DOES BELIEVE THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD WAS AN ILLITERATE, I and Zawadi are in complete agreement here. The only point of disagreement (which again is assuming Zawadi even disagrees with me) is as I repeat again, is that I and Zawadi have a disagreement on a certain INCIDENT, not the main contention that the prophet Muhammad was indeed an illiterate.
I had to make this point clear, because I know Shamoun, and I guarantee you that this missionary fool would have raised this issue and try to act smart and say look how these Muslims are confused and don't even agree with each other! As we can see, that is not the case at all. You must always cut the routes of distortion whenever you can.
Bassam's rebuttal can be found here:
http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/rebuttal_to_sam_shamoun_s_article__to_read_or_recite__that_is_the_question__was_muhammad_really_illiterate__
