Surah Al-Ankabut (29:48-51). The Quran informs us that one component of the seerah that is often-overlooked is that the prophet (S) never read, and never wrote. Yet he went on to produce a civilization that read and wrote. The prophet (S) is the mu'jizah manifesting Allah's ability to create something from nothing. In this lecture: rationale for the unlettered prophet; the subtle irony in being the people of the book; wahy as the basis for prophethood; 'ulama as inheritors of the prophets; the piety of an 'aalim lies in his learning and his dispensation of knowledge; reading precedes understanding. The need of the hour is for Muslims to distinguish between the hukm and the hikmah.