Before Salaat al-`Isha
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Allah (swt) said:
هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
Huwal-ladhee ba`atha fi 'l-ummiyyeen rasoolan minhum, yatlu `alayhim ayaatihi wa yuzakkeehim wa yu`alimahumu 'l-kitaaba wa 'l-hikmata wa in kaanoo min qablu lafee dallaalim mubeen.
He it is Who raised among the inhabitants of Mecca an apostle from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them, and teaches them the book and the wisdom, although certainly they were before in clear error." (al-Jumu'ah: 62:2,3)
Here Allah (swt) is saying, He is the One Who sent from the ummiyyoon a messenger, "And I will ask a messenger from those who are ummiyy." Allah (swt) is telling us, Prophet (s) recites His verses of Holy Qur'an and yuzakkeehim, "purifies them," meaning the Sahaabah (r), and he teaches them the kitaab and the hikmah. How then is Prophet ummiyy? The standard meaning most scholars use to describe ummiyy is "illiterate," and all of us say the Prophet (s) was ummiyy, illiterate. But in what sense can we accept a description of him as being illiterate? We can only accept it in comparison to Allah's Divine Knowledge, but not in comparison to human knowledge, as he is not illiterate among human beings. That means Prophet (s) needs more, as what he has is like a drop of an ocean.
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ
Qul innamaa 'anaa basharun mithlukum.
Say (O Muhammad), "I am only a man like you." (Surat al-Kahf, 18:110)
قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَادا ً لِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي
Qul law kaana al-bahru midaadaan li-kalimaati rabbee la-nafida 'l-bahru qabla an tanfada kalimaatu rabbee.
Say (O Muhammad), "And if the seas were ink and the trees pens, they would be used up before writing the Words of our Lord." (Surat al-Kahf, 18:109)
So Prophet (s) is completely different from me and you. Ummiyy is the one who doesn't know how to read and write, but the first word revealed in Holy Qur'an is iqraa, "Read!" (al-'Alaq, 96:1), so how is he illiterate if the first word is "read"? What does this mean when Allah says to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), "Read, in the Name of your Creator Who created!" Allah directly gave Prophet (s) the power to read the secret of all Creation! As Allah (swt) is ordering His Messenger to "read," how then is he ummiyy, when the root of that word is amma, "one who leads." You cannot lead without knowledge! Amma means he is the one whose leadership everyone needs. That is why the Arabic word umm, "mother," means every child is in need of his mother. You can be without a father, but you cannot be without mother. If the father leaves you, the mother can take care of you, but if the mother leaves, the father cannot take care of you, he cannot breastfeed you; he has no breasts, so how is he going to feed you? (laughter) In that time there was no baby formula or feeding bottles. The mother feeds you, so as soon as the child is born it is in need of the mother in order to eat, so it runs (figuratively) to the mother. Further, without the mother it is impossible to be a man!
Also stemming from the roots amma, ummiyy, is the word imaam, and so Prophet (s) is "the one who sent imaaman rasoola" a rasool to the ummiyy, those in need of leadership. A rasool, "messenger," carries a message, so how can he be illiterate? O scholars, we have to be very careful! Yes, we say that Prophet (s) is illiterate when compared to Allah's Divine Knowledge, but compared to human beings he has `Uloomu 'l-Awwaleen wa 'l-Akhireen, Knowledge of Firsts and Lasts (before and after this life). From that root, amma, also comes the word tayammum, when you have no water for ablution and you perform dry wudu. Follow what needs to be followed, fi 'l-ummiyyeen, those who are ammoo li Sayyidina Muhammad followed Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in whatever he gives them. That is why Allah (swt) said, "Read, yaa Muhammad, because they are illiterate, not you!"
You can say, amma al-Ka`aba, "He moved toward the Ka`aba." Amma ad-daar, "He reached the house." So they say amma an-nabi, "They came to the Prophet (to the leadership)." So in reference to Prophet (s), ummiyy does not mean, "illiterate," it means ammoo, "(as they were not knowing anything) they came to that one who will lead them to safety." That is Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! We also say al-umm, "the mother." When based on the root ummiyy,it means someone who knows how to read and write, and with the root amma, it means that lady is the one whom the child needs. That word doesn't have a meaning if she doesn't know how to read and write. So of ummiyy, the root is "taking leadership," which means Prophet (s) is taking leadership for humanity overall.
I am not going to go too much into that; I was looking into that meaning and inshaa-Allah we will discuss this in the future. May Allah (swt) grant us to understand the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! This is a small hint or reasoning of intricacies of the Arabic language, how in the time of Prophet (s) they were understanding knowledge that Allah (swt) opened from different angles. The Prophet is not illiterate, but he is the one who said, Allahuma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfata `ayn, "O my Lord! Do not leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye!" This shows he is illiterate compared to the Divine Knowledge, but not compared to us. We have to understand that. It is a big ocean and big reality coming out with Sayyidina Mahdi (a), whom we hope to be with and see!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.