Allah ﷻ says in His Book,

نٓ ۚ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ

“Nũn. By the pen and what they write!” [Surah al-Qalam, v. 1]

Oaths from Allah can only be followed by the honorable of what He has created, and from His creations, the favor. Allah has sworn by the Book and its instrument, the pen, which is one of His signs and the first of His creations.

Furthermore, Allah ﷻ says,

ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ

“Who taught by the pen—” [Surah al-Alaq, v. 4]

He called to the pen and writing through an illiterate prophet. His (ﷺ) illiteracy was never a discredit in his message or in his prophecy. No, rather it is praise and a revelation because behind it there is profound wisdom—a response and an argument against the stubborn atheists, as they would have attributed it to quoting from the books of the ancients, as Allah told us when He said: (( And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Then [i.e., otherwise] the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt. ))

Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله), says:

“Teaching with the pen is one of His greatest blessings upon His servants, as through it knowledge is immortalised and rights are established.”

Were it not for writing, news of some times would have been cut off from others, the Sunnahs would have faded away, rulings would have been confused, and the successors would not have known the doctrine of the Salaf.

Muslims in general are in dire need of the honest pen, the trustworthy pen, the inspiring pen that spreads the truth, revives the Sunnah, and directs people to what is best for their religion and their world.

Many rhetoricians have bragged about the pen to the point of equating it with the sword. How could they not, when Allah has sworn by it? The pen affects the terror of the enemy at a distance, unlike the sword, which only affects him up close.

Whoever seeks to write should not take it as a tool for competition, nor as a refuge for competition, and he is never safe from slipping and being vulnerable to error, and as it was said: “Whoever writes has been targeted.”

In ancient times, it was said: “Whoever writes, it is as if he has presented his mind to people on a plate.”

Allah ﷻ says in His Book,

وَلَا يَأْبَ كَاتِبٌ أَن يَكْتُبَ كَمَا عَلَّمَهُ ٱللَّهُ ۚ فَلْيَكْتُبْ

“Let no scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him. So let him write…” [Surah al-Baqarah, part of v. 282]

End quote.

Translated from a Khutbah by Sheikh Saud Al Shuraim dated 28 Dhul Hijjah 1421 (2001).