Another Look into the Holy Prophet's (p.b.u.h.)Being Ommi

The present article deals with the holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) being ommi and the meaning of ommi. There is no doubt that the Quran has explicitly denied his uninterrupted reading and writing prior to his prophetic mission. There is also no disagreement about the holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) being ommi. But does the word ommi really denote illiteracy?Examining the root of the word ommi, Quranic verses, some narrations and historical texts, this study concludes that most commentators’ assertion that ommi as a trait of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) denotes "inability to read and write" or "illiteracy" cannot be accepted and, at least, the Quran does not call the holy Prophet ommi meaning that he was "unable to read and write", rather what ommi denotes in the Quran is "a resident of ommol-qora’ or Mecca".