The Illiterate Prophet of Allah Or was he really Literate

[Massorite]

The Illiterate Prophet of Allah
Or was he really Literate

According to my research the Arabic script is derived from Semitic alphabetical scripts which is one of the first alphabetical scripts non to man and was developed around 1700 B.C. in Israel and Syria. The script had 22 consonant characters. The Hebrew, the Phoenician and the Arabic scripts were all based on the more ancient Semitic script and the North Arabic script which is the script of the Quran is related to the Nabatian script and the Aramaic script. The Aramaic language of Jesus and most of his apostles also dates back to 2000 B.C.
When Muhammad first began to take his wife into his confidence about the visions and communications he was having she took him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal who was her cousin. Waraqah ibn Nawfal was an Ebionites priest who was living in Mecca and is still considered by Muslims to have been a very pious and knowledgeable person so we know that he had intimate knowledge about the old and new testaments and according to Islamic tradition, as soon as the priest set eyes on Muhammad, he saw that Muhammad was to be a prophet. Unfortunately for Mohammed his view of Jesus was distorted.
The Ebionites were a Jewish-Christian sect whose doctrinal beliefs were Gnostic in nature. They believed that the Mosaic laws should still be followed to the letter; they regarded Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God and considered Paul and his gospels to be heretical. They also believed in engaging in excessive ritual bathing, vegetarianism and celebrated a commemorative meal annually with unleavened bread and water only in opposition to the Roman churches ritual of the Eucharist. The belief that Jesus didn?t really die on the cross has been a Gnostic belief since the days when Paul preached against Gnosticism.
The belief that Jesus didn?t die on the cross comes from Gnosticism which is and was a religious and philosophical movement that started sometime during the first and second centuries. It was based on a so called ?secret knowledge? of God and his nature which became very popular in the Roman world during the second and third centuries. It was a movement that contained both Christian and pagan elements and was prominent in places like Syria and Egypt and this is how Muhammad came to believe that Christ did not die on the cross. Because this is what Muhammed was taught by those who came into his life before he began to have the visions. Manuscripts such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary play down the importance of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. The First Apocalypse of James where Jesus is quoted as saying ?Never have I suffered in any way, nor have I been distressed. And this people (the Jews) have done me no harm.? and in the Second Treatise of the Great Seth where Jesus is quoted as saying ?I did not die in reality, but in appearance. Those in error and blindness saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with a reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. I was rejoicing in the height over all and I was laughing at their ignorance. All of these quotes are false and improvable.
The Arabic word ?Ummy? has caused much disagreement among Islamic scholars because some say the word Ummy means (in any language) ?illiterate? and others claim that the more accurate meaning of the word ?Ummy? is ?Gentile?. So let?s take a look at what several different translations of the Quran have translated the word ?Ummy? to mean in several verses.

N.J. Dawood was a graduate of the London University and an Iraqi Statue Scholar in 1945. In 1959 he founded the Arabic Advertising & Publishing Co. He is best known for his translation of the Quran in1959 and his translation has sold over one million copies. Here is a quote from his translation of the Quran.

The ?Imrans verse 320.
?If they argue with you, say I have submitted to Allah and so have those who follow me.? To those who were given the Scriptures and to the Gentiles say Will you submit to Allah? If they become Muslims they shall be rightly guided; if they pay no heed, then your only duty is to warm them. Allah is watching all his servants?.

Now let?s replace the word ?Gentiles? with the word ?illiterate?.
?If they argue with you say I have submitted to Allah and so have those who follow me.? To those who were given the Scriptures and to the illiterate say; Will you submit to Allah? If they become Muslims they shall be rightly guided; if they pay no heed, then your only duty is to warn them. Allah is watching all of his servants.

The word ?illiterate? means uneducated, uninformed, ignorant, untaught, and unacquainted and has nothing at all to do with reading and writing what so ever. All who were not Jewish i.e. ?the people who were given the Scriptures? or Muslims were considered by both the Jew and the Muslim to be and were called ?Gentiles? because they were unacquainted with or uneducated in the way of Allah. This ignorance has nothing at all to do with being able to or unable to read and write and has everything to do with the fact that they have never heard of the way of Allah vie the Quran, recited or read from Muhammad or any other Muslim. This is why Allah says ?if they pay no heed, then your only duty is to warn them? which means that ?after they (the gentiles) have become learned, educated in or told or heard of the way of Allah and the gentiles still refused to submit to the way of Allah, then the duty of the Muslim to convert the gentile has ended and a warning is all that is left to tell the gentiles.
Muhammed Habib Shakir was born in 1866 and died in 1939 in Cairo. During his life time he held the positions of Sudan?s Supreme Judge for four years, Dean of Alexandria?s Scholars, Al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt Secretary General, Al-Azhar University Corps of High Scholars, and a member of the Al-Azhar legislative Society.
Here is what his version of the Quran says in 320.
?But if they dispute with you, say I have submitted myself entirely to Allah and (so) everyone who follows me; and say to those who have been given the Book {Hebrew and Christian testament} and the unlearned people Do you submit yourselves? So if they submit then indeed follow the right way; and if they turn back, then upon you is only the delivery of the message and Allah sees the servants.
Again there is nothing at all in this verse that says anything about anybody who is not able to write or read and the word ?unlearned? is used to speak of those who are not or have not been informed about the way of Allah and the word of Allah.
The Noble Quran in the English Language which is printed by the King Fahd complex for the printing of the Quran. Was translated by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali who was formerly Professor of Islamic Faith and Teachings at Islamic University, Al-Madeinah Al- Munawwarah and his co- translator was Dr.Mohammed Mushin Khan who was formerly the Director of University Hospital at Islamic Uiniversity in Al-Madeinah Al- Munawwarah and here is how he translated this verse.
?So they dispute with you {Muhammad} say ?I have submitted myself to Allah {in Islam}, and {so have} those who follow me.? And say to those who were given the Scriptures {the Hebrew and Christian bibles} and those who are illiterate {Arab pagans} ?Do you {also} submit yourselves {to Allah in Islam}? If they do, they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, your duty is only to convey the Message; and Allah is All-Seer of {his} slaves?
In this verse do we see anything at all that is telling us that anybody is un-able to read or write? No!
What we see is that the word ?illiterate? is being used to tell us that those who are unfamiliar with or do not have knowledge of the message being spoken by Muhammad or his followers and nothing else, in which case this particular translator of this Quran has chosen to put in parenthesis on the words ?Arab pagans? to clarify what he means by the word ?illiterate? This does not mean that the Arab pagans who were living in those days were uneducated or unable to read and write. It means that the pagan Arabs were worshiping pagan idols and were not learned in the way of Allah. Otherwise why are the Hebrew and Christian scriptures spoken of? They are spoken of because this verse is talking about the religions and the scriptures of the Hebrews and the Christians as being the same as that of the way of Allah and have nothing to do with people who are not educated in the since that they have never learned how to read and write. However there is another Quran that has been translated by Marmaduke Pickthall. He was born in 1875 and became an educated Islamic Schalor who traveled to many eastern countries as an adult gaining a reputation as a Middle Eastern scholar along the way. Declaring his belief in Islam, Pickthall studied the Orient and published several articles and novels on the subject of e.g. The Meaning of the Glorious Quran. His translation of the Quran was authorized by the Al-Azhar University and is considered to be a great literary achievement.
His translation of Surah 320 brings in confusion when the other translated verses are lined up and compared to Pickthall,s translation. ?And if they argue with thee, (O Muhammad), say I have surrendered my purpose to Allah and (so have) those who follow me. And say unto those who have received the Scriptures {the Hebrew and Christian scriptures} and those who read not Have ye (too) surrendered??
If they surrender, then truly they are rightly guided, and if they turn away, then it is your duty only to convey the message (to them) Allah is Seer of (his) bondmen.
This verse brings a number of questions to my mind here. First of all are the words ?those who read not? speaking of pagan Arabs as if they cannot read or write or are they speaking aboutr those who read not the Quran. So what about the Christians or the Jews, is this verse saying that the Jews and Christians are more literate or educated then the Arabs who are pagans? The very people who were the tribe and family of Muhammad? Is this what the Angel Gabriel told Muhammad to write in the Quran? Is this verse talking about the Quraysh along with all of the other Meccans and all of the merchants in Arabia? If Allah is all knowing then why doesn?t he know that just because an Arab is a worshiper of pagan gods it doesn?t mean that he/she cannot read or write? If Allah is all-knowing, of all things and knew that there were many pagan worshipers that were in fact educated in the art of reading and writing then why didn?t Allah inform the angel Gabriel so Gabriel wouldn?t inform Muhammad wrongly?
The fact of the matter is that this verse in this Quranic translation does not line up with the other three translated Qurans that I have quoted from. The very fact of the matter is that this verse by using the words ?those who read not? has been set wide open to all of these questions which puts the whole of this entire translation of this Quran very questionable. If one verse in this Quran is confusing there are other verses that would be equally confusing which destroys the integrity, the reliability and brings doubt to this translation of the Quran.
There are other translators of the Quran such as S.A la Maududi who translated the Quran in Arabic and Muhammad Akbar who did the English rendering who in verse 320 used the words ?Then ask those who possess the Book and those who do not?. An Englishman named John Medows Rodwell (1808?1900) was a Non-Muslim Islamic scholar and he used the words ?common folks? and so did A. J. Arberry from Portsmouth New Hampshire. Born on May 12 1908 and died in October 2 1969 in Cambridge Massachusetts who was a respected and prolific scholar of Arabic, Persian and Islamic studies.
Yousuf Ali translated Surah 320 this way ?So if they dispute with you, say "I have submitted my whole self to Allah and so have those who follow me." And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned "Do you (also) submit yourselves?" if they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, Thy duty is to convey the Message; and in Allah?s sight are (all) His servants. Also using the word ?unlearned?.
This next Quran is translated and annotated by Edip Yuksel, Layth Saleh al-Shaiban, Martha Schulte-Nafeh
??If they debate with you, then say. ?I have peacefully surrendered Myself to God, as well as those who follow me.? In addition, say to those who were given the Book and the Gentiles Have you peacefully surrendered? If they have surrendered then they are guided; but if they turn away, then you are only to deliver. God is watcher over the servants?.
This translation comes from Rashad Khalifa. Surah 320 If they argue with you, then say, "I have simply submitted myself to God; I and those who follow me." You shall proclaim to those who received the scripture, as well as those who did not, "Would you submit?" If they submit, then they have been guided, but if they turn away, your sole mission is to deliver this message. God is Seer of all people. Of all of these translations not one is the same.
Now for clarity let us look at another verse in the Quran that is translated from a different source and speaks directly about Muhammed describing his education.
The Heights Surah 7158
?Say {O Muhammed) O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah to who belongs the dominion of the Heavens and the earth. La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshiped but he) It is he who gives life and causes death. So believe in Allah and his Messenger (Muhammed) the prophet who can neither read or write, who believes in Allah and his words (this Quran), the Taurat {the Jewish Torah}and the Injeel {the Gospel of Jesus}and also Allah?s word. Be ? and he was, i.e. Isa (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), and follow him so that you may be guided?. (Translated by Dr. Muhammed Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr.Mohammed Mushin Khan) This verse I believe puts Muhammed in a bad or negative light.
So let us look at what some other translators of the Quran do with this verse.
Mr. N. J. Dawood translates the verse like this.
The Heights 7158
Say ?You people! I am God?s emissary to you all. He has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. There is no god but him. He ordains life and death. Therefore have faith in God and his apostle, the Unlettered Prophet, who believes in God and his commandments. Follow him so that you may be rightly guided.
In this verse the word ?unlettered? means to be unlearned, uneducated, and or illiterate. But as we all should know. One can be unlettered or uneducated and still be able to write and read. Before the arch angel Gabriel started teaching Muhammed the way of Allah he was uneducated or unlettered in that respect. i.e. the way of Allah.? We also know that Mohammed could never have functioned in a merchant society had he not been able to read or write.
This next translation comes from Marmaduke Pickthall. Surah 7158 Say (O Muhammad) O mankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah to you all (the messenger of) Him unto whom belongs the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no God save Him. He quickens and He gives death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believeth in Allah and in his words and follow him that happily you may be led aright.
As we can see here we have three translations of the same verse and all of them are different so which one of them is correct? Is this verse saying that Muhammed was uneducated (unlettered)? We know that two of these verses are telling us that Muhammed could not read or write and in the translation of Al-Hilali and Khan where did the info. about the Injeel and the Torah come from? My point here why did Allah through Muhammad tell Muhammad to read the scriptures in Surah 96 two times and say that Muhammad could not read and write in this verse?

So it seems that what we have here is confusion and in both the Torah and the Gospel the Devil/ Chief Shayatin is called ?The Author of Confusion? because the Word of God is always clearly made manifest in the Scriptures and never confusing unless men have translated the Scriptures in a way that best suits what men wants to believe rather than believing what is actually written the word of God. To put it shortly there is some Quranic corruption in some of the many translations of the Quran. Personally I prefer the oldest English translation of the Bible because I know from my research of several English biblical manuscripts that there are fewer changes in the older King James Version then there in any of the newer bible versions.
Unfortunately the oldest manuscript of the Quran I was able to acquire is perhaps only about 200 years old so those that I have quoted from are all I can go by.
Out of the 17 Qurans that were translated into English that I could find, only two have stated that the Prophet of Allah could not read or write and the rest of these translations are talking about those who are uneducated in the words and way of Allah. Another interesting point is that even if the word ?Ummy? actually means both ?Illiterate? and ?Gentile? at the same time. The word ?Ummy? has nothing to do with whether or not the Prophet of Allah could read or write and everything to do with the fact that the Prophet of Allah was unlearned in the words and way of Allah and the word Ummy can be applied to both interpretations.
Now let us move on to what the Arch Angel Gabriel?s very first words were, that he spoke to Muhammed on the very first visit Gabriel made to Muhammed while he was communing in the cave. A literal translation of verse one of the Arabic Quran into English is worded like this.
Surah 961 ?Read by your Lord?s name who creates?. (A Literal Translation from the Arabic) In verse 2 Gabriel is telling Muhammed that Allah created man from a clot and in verse 3 Gabriel is once again telling Muhammed to ?Read by your Lord the most honored/ generous?.
Both verse one and verse three brings some very significant questions to my mind. If Muhammed was truly uneducated in the art of reading and writing why did the Angel Gabriel command Muhammed to read? Why didn?t Allah tell Gabriel that the man he was sent to talk to could not do what Allah instructed Gabriel to command Muhammed to do? Out of 16 translations by 16 different individuals one used the word ?Proclaim?, 5 used the word ?recite?, and 10 used the word ?read? in this verse. The literal translation uses the word ?read? also. It is abundantly clear that Allah commanded Muhammed through Gabriel, to read to the people that which Allah telling him to write down. So why would Allah command Muhammed to do that which he could not do? In verse 4 the Quran tells us that Allah teaches us by the pen. ? Who teaches by the pen,?
The Quran is the heart and soul of Islam so why didn?t Allah offer to teach Muhammed how to read and write if he was not able to do so? Or better yet, why didn?t Muhammed learn how to do reading and writing in an effort to better fulfill the commanded tasks of Allah. It seems that there is a great deception going on here because there are men like Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq who are teaching that in the Quran in chapter/Sura 961-5 that Muhammed tells the angel Gabriel that he cannot read. But the words ?I cannot read? are nowhere to be found in any of the verses referred to by Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq. Here is exactly what they are teaching on an Islamic web site.
?Muhammad (s) was forty when, during his one of many retreats to Mount Hira for meditation during the month of Ramadan, he received the first revelation from the Archangel Jibril (Gabriel). On this first appearance, Gabriel (as) said to Muhammad "Iqraa," meaning Read or Recite. Muhammad replied, "I cannot read," as he had not received any formal education and did not know how to read or write. The Angel Gabriel then embraced him until he reached the limit of his endurance and after releasing said "Iqraa." Muhammad?s answer was the same as before. Gabriel repeated the embrace for the third time, asked him to repeat after him and said
"Recite in the name of your Lord who created! He created man from that which clings. Recite; and thy Lord is most Bountiful, He who has taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not.
These revelations are the first five verses of Surah (chapter) 96 of the Qur?an. Thus it was in the year 610 CE that the revelations from Allah began. So in all of the 17 different translations of the Quran that I am using to do my research not only are the words ?I cannot read? not written in any of the first five verses of any of the 17 translations of Surah 96, there is also nothing written about any kind of embracing that was supposed to have happened between Muhammed and Gabriel. So are these men deceived or are these men ignorant just as they have claimed Muhammed was, or are these two men continuing to propagate a false Islamic doctrinal belief that is pushed by the Islamic Scholars. Proof of these statements can be found at this Islamic web site www.cyberistan.org/islamic/muhammad.html and apparently these revelations about the hugging came from the Hadiths. One would think that if Muhammed truly couldn?t read or write at the time that Allah would have made sure that Gabriel told Muhammed to put the words ?I cannot read? in the Quran instead of letting some obscure man fill in the blanks for the all knowing god who is Allah.
In the bible when God commanded Moses to go to the Pharaoh and speak the words of God to the Pharaoh, Moses told God that he could not speak very eloquent. Did God know ahead of time that Moses had a speech impediment? Yes he did but God didn?t care. He wanted Moses to do what he was commanded to do in spite of his speech problem. However in an effort to help Moses to do what he was commanded to do God appointed Aaron the brother of Moses to be the mouth piece for Moses and speak for Moses.
Here is the Torah?s account of the events and conversation at the burning bush.

Exodus Chapter
3 & 4

1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4. And he said, Draw not near here put off your shoes from off your feet; for the place where on you stand is holy ground.
5. Moreover he said I am the God of your father, and the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
6. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
7. And I am come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and a large, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
8. Now therefore, behold the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
9. Come now therefore, and I will send you unto Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
10. And Moses said to God, ?Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
11. And he said, certainly I will be with you; and this shall be a token to you, that I have sent you; When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.
12. And Moses said to God, Behold when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?
13. And God said to Moses, ?I am that I am? and he said, This shall you say to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you.
14. And God said, moreover to Moses, This shall you say to the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations.
15. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob appeared to me, saying I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to in Egypt
16. And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
17. And they shall listen to your voice and you shall come you and the elders of Israel, to the King of Egypt. And you shall say to him, The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us and now let us go, we beseech you, three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
18. And I am sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go, no not by a mighty hand.
19. And I will stretch out my hand, and hit Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof and after that he will let you go.
20. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass,
    That when you go you shall not go empty;
21. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourned in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and you shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters and you shall spoil the Egyptians.

Chapter 4

1. And Moses answered and said, But behold they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.
2. A the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
3. And he said, Cast it down on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses fled from before it.
4. And the Lord said to Moses, put forth your hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5. That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.
6. And the Lord said furthermore to him, put now your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow.
7. And he said, put your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold it was turned again as his other flesh.
8. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land.
10. And Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, O my Lord; I am not eloquent, neither hereto for, nor since you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11. And the Lord said to him, Who has made man?s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?
12. Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say.
13. And he said, O my Lord send I pray you, by the hand of him whom you will send.
14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold he comes forth to meet you; and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15. And you shall speak to him, and put words in his mouth and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.
16. And he shall be your spokesman to the people And he shall be, even he shall be to you instead of a mouth, and you shall be to him instead of God.
17. And you shall take this rod in your hand, wherewith you shall do signs.

Moses returns to Egypt

18. And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, let me go I pray you, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace.
19. And the Lord said to Moses in Median, go and return to Egypt For all the men are dead which sought your life.
20. And Moses took his wife and sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21. And the Lord said to Moses, when you go to return to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22. And you shall say to Pharaoh, This says the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first born;
23. And I say to you, ?Let my people go?, that he may serve me and if you refuse to let him go, behold I will kill your son, even your first born.

As we can see from these verses that when God called upon Moses to speak for him to the Israelites and to the Pharaoh, God gave Moses Aaron to speak the words of Moses because of the speech impediment that Moses had. He gave Moses the rod to show the Pharaoh and to show the Israelites the power and majesty of the God of Abraham. He also gave Moses the power to do wonders as a tool to cause the Israelites to believe that Moses was really a Prophet of God who was instructed by God to teach the Israelites the way of God. All of this power and back up was given to Moses on the very same day that God first called upon Moses to do a job for him.
Muhammed didn?t get any help from Allah nor did Allah make any such offer even though according to the Quran and on the same day that Allah first called upon Muhammed to do a job for Allah he was simply told to read or recite and that is all. Muhammed was not given any power to do wonders in an effort to cause the people of Mecca to believe in Allah, to believe in one god only and to stop believing in several false gods. Could it be that the reason that Allah never offered to give Muhammed any help was because Allah knew that Muhammed could indeed read and write and therefore didn?t need any help? According to Islamic tradition Muhammed was never educated in the art of reading or writing his whole life so why didn?t Allah teach him to read? Which is correct the Noble Quran or the Hadiths?
We know from 964 that Allah spoke through Gabriel and told Muhammed that he taught men the art of writing which also meant that Allah had to have taught men how to read what men were taught to write.
Ibn Kathir was born in 1301 in Busra Syria after his studies in 1341 he held a position with an Islamic inquisitorial commission that was formed to determine certain questions of heresy and before his death he held a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus.
He also wrote a commentary on the Quran which linked certain Hadith, or sayings of Mohammed, and sayings of the sahaba to verses of the Quran, in explanations. His commentary is famous all over the Muslim world and among Muslims in the Western world, his commentary is one of the most widely used explanations of the Quran today. Here is a short commentary that Mr. Ibn Kathir wrote about Enoch.
The Story of Enoch (Idris)
Ibn Kathir
Allah has praised Enoch, describing him as being a prophet and truthful Mention in the Book (Quran) Idris (Enoch). Verily! He was a man of truth (and) a prophet. We raised him to a high station. (Ch 1956-57 Quran).
Enoch was born and raised in Babylon following the teachings and religion of Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his son Seth (pbuh). Enoch was the 5th generation of the Prophet Adam. He called the people back to his forefathers religion, but only a few listened to him, while the majority turned away.
Prophet Enoch and his followers left Babylon for Egypt. There he carried on his mission, calling people to what is just and fair, teaching them certain prayers and instructing them to fast on certain days and to give a portion of their wealth to the poor. He was the first of the Children of Adam to be given prophet hood after Adam and Seth (peace upon them). It is reported that he was the 1st to invent the basic form of writing. Some of his wise sayings are Happy is he who looks at his own deeds and appoints them as pleaders to his Lord. None can show better gratitude for Allah's favors than he who shares them with others. Do not envy people for what they have as they will only enjoy it for a short while. He who indulges in excess will not benefit from it. The real joy of life is to have wisdom.

According to Islamic lore Enoch was the third prophet of Allah and the first to be taught the art of reading and writing by Allah and according to the book of Enoch {which I have read} who is supposed to be the author of his own book, Enoch was called ?The Scribe of Justice?. But I don?t remember Enoch elevating himself above others by giving himself a divine title. In the book of Enoch that I have read.
The problem with this concept that Enoch was the first to read and write, and who was the first to invent books, is that there is no proof.
Without any real proof secular scholars believe that the first writing developed independently in Egypt, Mesopotamia {Iraq} and Pakistan between 3500 and 3100 B.C. So if Enoch was taught how to read and write by Allah why didn?t the art get carried over to the other side of the great flood by Noah and his family? Why didn?t Allah make sure that the art of reading and writing was continued by Noah and his family and why didn?t Allah re-teach man how to read and write long before 3500 B.C.?
We do know that the book of Enoch did exist at the time of the writing of the New Testament because Jude quoted from the book and according to my research the first known existence of the book of Enoch came from Ethiopia. However since nothing at all is mentioned in the Hebrew or the Christian testaments about Enoch?s ability to read and write it leaves us with no beyond the shadow of a doubt historical proof that he knew how to read or write much less write a whole book. What we do know about the book of Enoch is that it was not a carryover from the flood. The book of Enoch was supposed to have been written by the inspiration of God long after the flood and there is no author that has ever been recorded as a fact. So we have no idea who wrote it and there is even less proof that the Islamic view of Enoch is actually true and could br nothing more then fable.
In Surah 31 27 Allah speaks of what the pen is made of and the ink it uses.
?And where every tree that is in the earth (made into) pens and the sea (to supply the pens with ink), with seven more seas to increase it the words of Allah would not come to an end; surly Allah is Mighty, Wise.? (Translated by Shakir) Here we can see that Allah spoke of pens being made of wood and that ink comes from the sea. Indeed at one time man got his ink from the cuttlefish in the sea. So some form of ink pen was available for Muhammed to write with during his days here on earth?
With the tools God gave Moses to use and the help that God gave Moses, it took Moses only a few weeks to convince both the Egyptians and the Israelites that the God of Moses is the one and only true God, who was in control of all things at all times. God even destroyed the Egyptian army to help Moses reach his God given goals. But after 13 years of failing to get Islam to take a foot hold in Mecca, the followers of Mohammed were suffering great persecution and Mohammed himself was in danger of being assassinated, so and his followers were forced to move to Medina and out of the reach of his would be assassins.
There is no question in my mind that Mohammed could in fact read and write. This is why the very first function the angel Gabriel commanded Mohammed to do was to READ. Mohammed was far to intelligent to have willingly remained un-able to read and write his whole life, and Gabriel knew he could read and write when he first spoke to him in the cave. There is ancient art work that depicts Mohammed preaching and reading from a book.

Sorry but the pictures did not transfer.
Renaissance painting 15th century

There is even a depiction of Mohammed preaching from a book in the Supreme of United States of America in Washington D.C.