The Prophet's knowledge of earlier news

Sha'rawi holds that the Prophet's knowledge of the news of earlier prophets, though he was unlettered, is one of the signs that his prophethood is true ^{1 2}.

He says the Prophet could not read or write and sat with no teacher, and that no one claimed he had learned from anyone on his trading journeys, since that never happened ^{1 2}.

He reports that some polytheists claimed the Prophet sat with a young man at al-Marwa who taught him. He answers that the tongue they point to is foreign while the Qur'an is in clear Arabic ².

He reads the verses that say "you were not there" (in al-Qasas, Al Imran, Hud and al-Shura) as presenting the news as witnessed, though it comes by revelation ^{2 3 4}.

This is Sha'rawi's reading of the argument from unlettered status. The sources that report the charge, the academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.