Taken from
The Un-schooled Prohet
By Allama Murtaza Mutahhari
Chapter III.

                        The Adversaries Accusation
                        --------------------------


        It was mentioned at the very beginning of the
        book that: "The opponents of Islam and the
        Prophet (PBUH&HF) accused him of borrowing ideas from
        others (this accusation is reflected from some
        verses of the Qur'an). But they did not say that he
        was literate and knew how to read and write and
        that he perhaps had some books which he consulted
        before presenting his views."

        Someone might, however, claim that the
        Prophet (PBUH&HF) was accused in this respect too. This
        accusation is reflected from the Qur'an where it
        says: 
        
          They say: The stories of the ancient he has got 
          them written down - so that these are recited to 
          him morning and evening (25:5)

        The answer is that this verse does not explicit-
        ly indicate their claim that the Prophet (PBUH&HF) used
        to write, regardless of the fact that the opponents'
        accusations were so prejudiced and based on com-
        plexes and grudges that, as the Holy Qur'an puts it,
        only terms like "injustice" and "oppression" can
        best be used for them. At the same time, the Arabic
        term "iktitab" means both "to write" and "istiktab"
        i.e to make someone write something.

        Here, the second meaning applies to the verse
        which would mean "They said: 'He has written (or
        others have written for him) the stories of the
        ancient, then someone reads to him every morning
        and evening," "Iktitab" is mentioned here in the
        past tense and "imla"' in the present continuous.
        It implies that someone wrote them, and that those
        who knew how to read, used to come to Prophet
        (PBUH&HF) every day and night and read them to him,
        and that he learned and memorized them. Thus, if
        the Prophet (PBUH&HF) knew how to read, they would
        not necessarily say that others used to read to him
        day and night; rather, it would suffice them to say
        that he himself referred to writings and memorized
        them.

        Therefore, even the oppressive and accusing
        infidels of his time, who accused the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
        in many ways and named him an insane, a sorcerer,
        a liar and an imitator of others' oral statements,
        etc, could not claim that he read the contents of
        other books to them due to his inability to read
        and write.