An illiterate nine-three-year-old Morisco woman wielded great authority in Koranic knowledge

Evidence

I remained with this Mora until the twelfth of the month of Rabi II, and I later regretted not staying a year, because talking to her was an education for any Arabic scholar. Her way of expressing herself was not very elegant, her sayings were rustic and somewhat down to earth, but insofar as the substance of what she said was concerned, there was not her equal in all the harmony of scholars. This Mora used to rubricate all the missives of the kings of Granada, and the scholars used to call to greet her on the great religious festivals and on special days. What made her great was the affection she showed to everyone, and this must not have been a matter of natural inclination, but of divine providence. She no longer kept the fast of Ramadan, nor did she perform her prayers except sitting down, and she never left home for any reason. As times were so bad for Muslims, this Mora withdrew into the shade of her poverty, and wept for the fall of the Muslims. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 874 (#expands, via linked claim)

It seems unlikely that the merchant Muhammad was in fact illiterate; early Hadîth describe him drawing up legal documents. For Goldfield, the Koranic ummiyyûn (plural of ummi) refers to those peoples who have not yet received divine scriptures; Muhammad was ummi, therefore, because he belonged to a people who had benefited from no previous revelation of scripture. However, from the third Muslim century onward, the predominant Muslim tradition is that ummi means illiterate. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1462 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early Koranic teaching rejects sensory asceticism and fuses the earthly and divine cities; Clandestine Moriscos knew Koranic criticism despite owning few copies; An illiterate-seeming elderly Muslim woman held authority over Granada’s scholars and kings — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 874 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• An illiterate-seeming elderly Muslim woman held authority over Granada’s scholars and kings #expands (0.93) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 874
• The Koranic ummi was transformed into a claim of illiteracy centuries later #complicates (0.82) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1462