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Scribes of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: Importance of the Pen 🖊️

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Daily Nurture
November 27, 2024

Salaamun ‘Alaykum,

Welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Nurture. Firstly, apologies for the radio silence in recent weeks and months. I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life which has kept me away from the newsletter. insha Allah we should be back on track to our consistent schedule.

This edition continues on from the the previous edition looking at the Scribes of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Even in the era of ignorance preceding Islam, the Arabs realised the importance of the pen; according to Ibn Sa’d, it was one of the three pillars, along with swimming and archery, which signified the maturity of a man and honoured him with the title of ‘al-kamil’ (the complete).

But this pillar was not a fixture in the lives of most Arabs, nor did they make much of an effort to learn the art, probably because writing appeared useless to them in their daily routines. As a consequence, those who could read and write were extremely few. Some reports suggest that, at the time of Islam’s first appearance, only 17 people from the entire tribe of Quraysh possessed this skill.

Al-Baladhuri1 narrates this with a chain extending to Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Jahm Al-’Adawi:

“Islam appeared at at time when seventeen men in Quraysh were literate:

1 Futuh al-Buldan

  1. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab

  2. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

  3. ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan

  4. Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah

  5. Talhah ibn Abi Sufyan

  6. Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan

  7. Abu Hudhayfah ibn ‘Utbah ibn Rabi’ah

  8. Hatib ibn ‘Amr (the brother of Suhayl ivn ‘Amr al-’Amiri)

  9. Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Asad al-Makhzumi

  10. Aban ibn Sa’id ibn al'-’As ibn Umayyah

  11. Khalid ibn Sa’id ibn al'-’As ibn Umayyah

  12. ‘Abdullah ibn Sa’d ibn Abi as-Sarh al-'Amiri

  13. Huwaytib ibn ‘Abd al-’Uzza al-’Amiri

  14. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayyah

  15. Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan

  16. Juhaym ibn as-Salt ibn Makhramah ibn al-Muttalib ibn ‘Abd Manaf

  17. al-’Ala ibn al-Hadrami (from the allies of the Quraysh)