6. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, from Ahmad bin Muhammed bin Isa, from Abu Abdillah bin Khalid al-Barqi, from Ja’far bin Muhammed al-Sufi, that he said:

I asked Abu Ja’far, Muhammed bin Ali al-Rida, peace be upon them, so I said: O son of Allah’s Messenger, why was the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, named the Ummi [1]? Then he said: What do the people say? I said: They claim that he was named the Ummi becase he did not write. Then he, peace be upon him, said: They have lied, upon them is the curse of Allah, how could that be? When Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, says in the clear text of His Book: «It is He who sent among the Ummis a Messenger from themselves, reciting for them His signs, purifying them and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom.» (62:2) How could he have taught them what he does not know? By Allah, verily, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, used to read and write in seventy two – or he said, seventy three – tongues, and he was only named the Ummi because he was from the people of Mecca, and Mecca is the Mother of Towns. That is the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «That you may warn the Mother of Towns and those surrounding it.» (6:92)