for him. Such a person, too, is called unlettered; someone else who has been granted knowledge of the Quran and acts upon it is superior to him and more accomplished.

As for the distinguishing qualities that are themselves virtues and perfections, lacking them means lacking something individually obligatory, collectively obligatory, or recommended. These qualities are attributed without qualification to Allah and His prophets. For Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise, possessing knowledge, beneficial speech—both directives and statements—and will. His prophets likewise possess these qualities, and our Prophet is the foremost of the learned and the wise.

As for distinguishing skills that serve as means and avenues to virtue, but which can be dispensed with through other means, these include writing and arithmetic. If someone lacks them while his own excellence cannot be attained without them, their absence is a deficiency. If he acquires them and uses them to advance his perfection and excellence—as when someone learns to read and write, then reads the Quran and beneficial scholarly books, or writes things that benefit people—this constitutes a virtue and a perfection for him.

But if he uses these skills to acquire something harmful to himself or others—as when someone reads books of misguidance or writes things that harm people, such as forging the handwriting of rulers, judges, and witnesses—this is harmful to him, a misdeed, and a deficiency. For this reason, Umar forbade teaching women to write.