It is still
common among Muslim apologists to claim that Muhammad was completely illiterate
and could not write anything, ergo, the Qur’an is a miracle ipso facto. However, early Islamic
traditions impute to Muhammad the ability to be able to write. Recounting some
traditions relating to Muhammad on his deathbed, Stephen Shoemaker wrote:
‘Abd al-Razzāq and Ibn Sa’d also ascribe to
al-Zuhrī a tradition that Muhammad sought to write something down just before
his death, a report that Ibn Isḥāq has possibly suppressed. As Muhammad’s
illness grew worse, he asked for something to write on, in order to leave
behind a document that would prevent his followers from going astray. ‘Umar
opposed the request, suggesting that Muhammad’s illness was clouding his
judgment and that the existence of the Qur’ān obviated the need for any
additional document to guide the community. Others, however, began to argue
that Muhammad should be given something to write with. When the ensuing noise
and confusion eventually began to disturb Muhammad, he dismissed the throng and
ultimately failed to produce a document. While it is certainly possible that
al-Zuhrī taught something of this nature, the absence of any ascription to
al-Zuhrī independent of Ma’mar suggests that possibly the latter is its author.
Nevertheless, in light of the controversies surrounding the issue of writing in
earliest Islam, as noted above, as well as the politically volatile nature of
the tradition with regard to issues to succession to Muhammad, it is certainly
conceivable that Ibn Isḥāq may have chosen to omit the story form his
collection. (Stephen J. Shoemaker, The
Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam
[Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012], 96)
In an end
note (p. 304 n. 101), Shoemaker provides the sources for this tradition:
< Ma’mar < al-Zuhrī: ‘Abd al-Razzāq, Muṣannaf, 5:438-39. Al-Bukhārī cites
this tradition from ‘Abd al-Razzāq, but with some slight difference: al-Bukārī,
al-Jāmic, Kitāb al-Maghāzī,
bāb 83, ḥadīth 5 (Krehl and Juynboll, Le
Recueil, 3:185; Khan, ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhāri 5:512-13); <
al-Wāqidī < Usāma b. Zayd al-Laythi and Ma’mar < al-Zuhrī; Ibn Sa’d, ṭabaqāt
(Sachau, Biographien Muhammeds,
2.2:37)
