Ulum al Qur'an
Did the Prophet himself write?
Although it is not clear whether the Prophet Muhammad knew how to write, there is unanimous agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation. The Qur'an clearly states:
'And thou (O Muhammad) wast not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted who follow falsehood' (29:48).
The Qur'an also refers to Muhammad on several occasions as the 'unlettered prophet' which some scholars have interpreted in the sense that he did not read or write:
'Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered prophet ...' (8: 157).
His community too has been described as 'unlettered':
'It is he who has sent amongst the unlettered an apostle from among themselves ...' (62:2).