Published date: Mar 13 2023

Journal Title: KnE Social Sciences

Issue title: Third International Conference on Human Sciences

Pages: 517–550

DOI: 10.18502/kss.v8i6.13129

Omar Ali AL Dulaimidr.omar.ali@uofallujah.edu.iqArabic Language Department/ Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Fallujah

Ancient and modern Muslims unanimously agree that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the most eloquent of the Arabs. The clearest in articulation, the most virtuous in speech, the most rhetorical in dialect, and the most upright in debate to the extent that he knew all Arabs' dialects as he spoke to each tribe by its dialects. But the question is, from where did he acquire all this eloquence? And was his unique eloquence before or after the Qur'an revelation? Scholars have contradicted the origin of his eloquence and its basis in divisions. First, they attributed it to his origin and lineage from Quraish claiming that Quraish is the most eloquent of the Arabs. Second, they attributed it to his growing up in Bani Sa'd as they are the most eloquent Arabs as well. Third, they linked it to his origins from Quraish and growing up in Bani Sa'd, and thus Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, he combined the abundance of the words of the desert and the splendor of the present speech. Fourth, some of them timidly claimed that his eloquence, lineage, and growing up were divinely inspired without explaining that it was before or after the revelation of the Qur'an. In the fifth division, which they did not mention, and which I have clarified, highlighted, and preferred: His high eloquence was exclusively after Islam with divine inspiration and support, to match his eloquence with the eloquence of the Qur'an, or close to it. In this regard, Allah distinguished him from all the Arabs by having a clear Arabic tongue, so he gave him the gist of the words, shortened the speech for him, and gave him the Qur'an and the same of it with him. Thus, his eloquence would be a sign and a miracle that would silence the Arabs, who were distinguished by the virtue of language, eloquence, and the art of speech, such as poetry and rhetoric, and they were submissive to their owners. Before the prophethood and the revelation of the Qur'an, he was neither the most eloquent of the Arabs nor the most eloquent of the Quraish. Rather, he was not distinguished in his eloquence from his peers, especially from the Quraishites who grew up like him in the Bani Sa'd, but his normal, natural eloquence before the revelation of the Qur'an was the evidence of his prophethood and the inimitability of the Qur'an. As he was unable to read or write and did not know poetry so that disbelievers would not be suspicious, he was also not different from his peers in his eloquence so that the disbelievers would not be suspicious, and then they claim that he was distinguished in the arts of speech, so he brought a new system and attributed it to Allah. One of the prerequisites for prophecy, communication, explanation, and understanding of the Noble Qur'an was that he be the most eloquent of the Arabs, and the most knowledgeable of them with God's revealed words in the official literary language of the Arabs. Also, it is not correct for the Arabs to be more eloquent or more understanding than him in the language of the Qur'an and in the words of the Arabs. Without the prophecy, he would not have been the most eloquent of Arabs; because he spent forty years before that he was not distinguished from his peers by his rare eloquence, nor has his people prevailed in his eloquence, so how can he prevail with this natural eloquence of all Arabs? In addition to explaining the secrets of his eloquence and its causes, we have reached new conclusions in explaining the sayings of the scholars and their differences with evidence, rationale, and transmission arguments, which are significant additions to his biography and distinguished eloquence.

Keywords: Prophetic, eloquence, eloquent of the Arabs, Quraish