Investigateislam in a video called ‘learn Arabic and soon you will leave Islam’ says the word Iqra used in Surah 96 does not mean recite, but it only means Read, like reading a book with your eyes. He says this proves the Prophet Muhammed was able to read & write & he also says this proves the Quran is a lie. The verse he is referring to is from Surah Alaaq (96), which says
Surah 96: 1 Read (Iqra): In the name of thy Lord Who createth,
Response
Firstly the word Iqra (I9ra2) إقرأ comes from the verb Qara’a قَرَأ , Investigateislam challenges anybody to put the word Iqra into a sentence to prove it means recite & he wants us to prove that Iqra means Recite from an 'Arabic dictionary’
Below is a modern, non-Muslim Arabic dictionary definition of the root verb qara’a. This is from Sakhr.com , this is one of the most popular lexicon/dictionary used in the Arab world.
قَرَأَ - [ق ر أ]. (ف: ثلا. متعد، م. بحرف). قَرَأْتُ، أَقْرَأُ، اِقْرَأْ، مص. قِرَاءةٌ، قُرْآنٌ. 1."قَرَأَ القَصِيدَةَ" : نَطَقَ بِكَلِمَاتِهَا الْمَكْتُوبَةِ. 2."قَرَأَ آيَاتٍ مِنَ القُرْآنِ" : نَطَقَ بِأَلْفَاظِهَا عَنْ نَظَرٍ أَوْ عَنْ حِفْظٍ. 3."يَقْرَأُ الكِتَابَ" : يَتَتَبَّعُ كَلِمَاتِهِ وَلاَ يَنْطِقُ بِهَا. 4."قَرَأَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمَ" : أَبْلَغَهُ إِيَّاهُ.
http://lexicons.sakhr.com/openme.asp?fileurl=/html/3074000.html
You can see the verb has different uses & meanings. Look at part 2 in the definition above, it says
"قَرَأَ آيَاتٍ مِنَ القُرْآنِ" : نَطَقَ بِأَلْفَاظِهَا عَنْ نَظَرٍ أَوْ عَنْ حِفْظٍ
This says ‘Qara’a ayat mina al Qu’ran’ which roughly means 'reading verses from the Qu’ran'. It then says from memory. So 'Qara’a' can refer to reading verses from your memory, it doesnt only mean you have to read from a book with your eyes.
Investigateislam challenged anybody to make a sentence in Arabic using the word Iqara as recite, or repeat. Look at part 4 which says
قَرَأَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمَ" : أَبْلَغَهُ إِيَّاهُ
This says ‘Qara’a alahe Salam’ which kind of means 'Say unto him peace' Obviously the person does not read it from a piece of paper, they say Salam from their mind. Also, if you say to a child or a blind person ‘Iqara Surah An-Nass’ it just means 'recite Surah An-Nass', the blind person doesn’t read it because he cant see. He will just say it from his memory.
Conclusion
Iqra means to recite as well as read. Other dictionaries such as Lane's Lexicon. N.Awde Arabic dictionary also sates that Qaar'a means repeat. Iqra can mean Reading i.e. looking at words in a book & reading them. In Arabic one word can mean different things, this is why the language is rich. So Iqra means recite, proclaim, repeat, declare aswell as Read. So In surah 96:1 Allah commands prophet Muhammed (pbuh) to say to others and declare that Allah is the Lord and Creator of man.