Sciences
The Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge and sciences
Allah gave His Prophet ﷺ an abundance of concentrated knowledge relating to both worldly affairs and His religion. He gave to him knowledge of the instructions of Law, of politics and what was in the best interest of his nation.
He was given knowledge of the circumstances of previous nations, and became knowledgeable of the stories of prophets, messengers, tyrants and of each generation from Sayyidina Adam until his time coupled to knowledge of their laws and scriptures. The Prophet ﷺ was knowledgeable of the aspects of their lives, their battles and events. He knew details of their prominent personnel and their varying opinions. He even knew how long they lived and the wisdom of their elders.
When the unbelievers came to him ﷺ, he was able to debate and clearly answer both Jew and Christian according to their own scripture. He told them of the secrets of their scriptures and spoke of their hidden sciences and informed them of what they choose to conceal and how they had tampered with their Books.
As for Arab tribes, he was familiar with each dialect and knew the doubtful words special to certain tribes. He knew each of the eloquent styles of pure Arabic. He knew the circumstances of their battles, their wisdom, expressions and the meaning of their poems, his vocabulary encompassed all their words and he would use them to give clarifying stories or sayings so that all were able to understand the depth of matters and shed light on the unclear. He made the rules of the Law easy to understand, they were neither strict nor differing. The Law he brought taught the traits of good character, ethics and every kind of desirable characteristic, so much so that even an unbeliever could not raise any objection unless he became frustrated and just said anything in revenge. Even the unbelievers in the “Time of Ignorance” who opposed or rejected him were not able to refute this and said what he brought
was correct and did not attempt to prove it to be otherwise.
The Prophet ﷺ made lawful what was good for everyone and forbade that which was opposite, and it was through this that he protected lives, honour and property from harm, and made them fear the Fire of the Everlasting Life.
The Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge surpasses that of even the most dedicated people of science who are only able to acquire, even after years of study, an incomplete understanding of perhaps one or more scientific field such as that of medicine, the interpretation of dreams, the distribution of inheritance, mathematic, lineage etc., that stem from his knowledge. His knowledge encompassed all sciences in full.
Of visions, the Prophet ﷺ warned, “Visions should only be interpreted by the truly knowledgeable scholars of interpretation, and the realisation of the vision will be come in due course.” He also said, “Visions fall into three categories, the true vision, a dream in which a person talks to himself, and a distressful dream which is from satan.”[2] He also said, “When the end of time draws near, the dream of a believer will nearly lie.”[3]
Of illness, the Prophet ﷺ informs us of his knowledge saying, “The root of every illness is indigestion.”[4]
Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah tells us that he said, “The intestines are the drain of the body and the veins reach it.”[5]
He spoke of many cures including those of the ear and inside the mouth, of cupping, and laxatives. Regarding the best time for cupping he told his Companions that it is on the seventeenth, nineteenth and twenty-first of the lunar month.[6]
The Prophet ﷺ spoke of other cures one of which is for pleurisy saying, “In the aloes-wood, there are seven cures, one of which is the cure for pleurisy.
The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the status of the stomach saying, “The son of Sayyidina Adam has not filled any container worse than his stomach. If it has to be filled, then one third should be for food, another third for beverage and the remaining third for breath.”[7]
He was asked if Sabi was a person or a country whereupon he replied, “He was the father of ten children, six in Yemen and four in Syria.”[8]
The Arabs were preoccupied with matters relating to their lineage and would come to ask the Prophet ﷺ and their questions would be answered. Sayyidina Qada’a inquired about matters relating to his lineage and his inquiry was satisfied.
The Prophet ﷺ spoke of time, saying, “Time revolves in a circle which was its form on the day that Allah created the heavens and the earth.”[9]
He spoke of the Pool of Al Kawthar, and described it saying, “Its corners form a square.”[10]
As for the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) the Prophet ﷺ gave the good news, “A good deed has ten more like it, therefore, one hundred and fifty on the tongue is equal to fifteen hundred on the Scales.”[11]
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed his Companions that everywhere between the east and the west is a direction of prayer (qibla).
The Prophet ﷺ advised his scribe to put his pen behind his ear because it would be easy for him to remember where he had placed it.
Allah said that the Prophet ﷺ was illiterate. He was not educated by literate persons, nor yet raised in the company of knowledgeable people, however he was extremely knowledgeable. There are many transmissions that speak of the way in which he said letters should be correctly written, for example he said, “Do not extend the (Arabic) letter “seen” in Bismillah.” One day, Sayyidina Mu’awiyah was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when he advised Sayyidina Mu’awiyah to put some cotton in the inkwell and to cut his quill obliquely. As for writing letters he told him to make the letter “ba” straight, the letter “seen” distinct and not to misshape the letter “meem”. He told him to write the Name “Allah” well, and to extend in both writing and reading the “Alif” equal to “aa” in the attribute “Al Rahmaan” and said the same applies to “Al Raheem” with the extension of “ee”.
The Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge of the aspects of language was not limited to Arabic. His knowledge enabled him to speak in many languages. If a person were to spend his life studying languages he would only be able to accomplish some of his goal. Allah says of His Prophet ﷺ “And you were not reading any Book before it, nor writing with your right hand…”[12]
There is no room for even an unbeliever to refuse what we have just mentioned, nor yet for a rejecter to bring something contrary to it, claiming, “These are stories of the former people…”,[13] or “This Qur’an is being taught by some other man…”[14] because in the same verse Allah, Himself proves the falsity of their argument saying, “…the one they refer to speaks a foreign language, whereas this is clear Arabic!.” The claim of the unbelievers that the Prophet ﷺ was tutored by Sayyidina Salman from Persia, or a Greek captive is rendered void. The Prophet ﷺ first met Sayyidina Salman after his migration to Madinah by which time many of the verses of the Qu’ran had already be sent down. As for the Greek, his name is not clear, but we what we know is that he embraced Islam and that they would sit together at Marwa.
The tongue of both Sayyidina Salman and the Greek was foreign, whereas the Quraysh who spoke clear Arabic were fluent and eloquent, yet despite their capabilities none were able to produce a single verse, let alone a chapter comparable to the Qu’ran. If the most eloquent of Arabs rich in the art of the composition of poetry and language were unable to meet the challenge, it is mind-blowing that persons whose mother tongue is other than Arabic would be capable of doing so.
It was rare for the Prophet ﷺ to visit the countries of the “People of the Book”, yet his enemies claimed that he sought their help. His youth was spent in the company of Arabs during which time, he like prophets before him, shepherded sheep. Only once or twice, in the company of fellow Arabs who spoke only Arabic, did he visit non-Arab lands and even then his stay was short and there would have been insufficient time for him to acquire even a fraction of their language. He neither sought the company of rabbis, priests, astronomers or soothsayers in Makkah or Madinah, or for that matter elsewhere, his knowledge was gifted to him by Allah.
[1] Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P197.
[2] Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[3] Bukhari. Muslim. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[4] Ad-Daraqutni. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[5] At-Tabarani. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[6] Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[7] Ibn Hanbal. At-Tirmidhi. Ibn Majah. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[8] At-Tirmidhi. Ibn Hanbal. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[9] Bukhari. Muslim. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[10] Bukhari. Muslim. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[11] Abu Dawud. Ibn Majah. Ash-Shifa, Part One, Chapter Four, Miracles of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam), section 26. P199.
[12] Surah No: 29. Verse No: 48
[13] Surah No: 25. Verse No: 5
[14] Surah No: 16. Verse No: 103