"Allah bears witness that there is no god but He - and (so do) the angels and the men of knowledge - being the One who maintains equity. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. [18]

Truly, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who have been given the Book did not differ (among themselves) except after the knowledge had come to them, (and all this) due to envy against each other. And whoever denies the verses of Allah, then, Allah is swift at reckoning.[19]" (3:18-19)

The subject of Tauhid (Oneness of Allah) which began with the opening of Surah 'Al-'Imran reappears in the first verse in a very special manner. Out of the three witnesses mentioned here, the evidence of Allah Almighty is in a figurative sense. It means that the being and the attributes of Allah and the manifestations of His power and creativity all over are open signs of His Oneness. Then there are the Messengers and Books sent by Allah, all confirming that truth. The second testimony mentioned is that of angels who are close to Allah. They carry out His instructions and bear testimony (knowing and seeing) that Allah alone is worthy of worship.

The third witness is that of the men of knowledge. This expression, ulul-'ilm, means the blessed prophets and men who have the knowledge of Islam. Imam al-Ghazali (ra) and Ibn Katheer (ra) find this a matter of great honour for 'Ulama for Allah has mentioned their witness along with His, and that of angels. It is also possible that the term, ulul-'ilm (the men of knowledge) may, in an absolute sense, be referring to those who, by conducting an inquiry based on sound intellectual principles, or by deliberating into this universe, could acquire the knowledge of the unity of Allah Almighty - even if they are not 'alim or 'men of knowledge' in the traditional sense, whose knowledge is acquired under a formal discipline from Islam's own original sources. The next verse (19) clearly settles that the only faith (din) acceptable to Allah is Islam. Thus, totally excluding any other faith or religion as acceptable to Allah, the verse completes the subject of Allah's Oneness, any opposition to which is doomed.

Related Considerations: Merits of the Verse meaning "Allah Bears Witness"

The verse beginning with: 'shahidal-lahu' has a special elegance. Imam al-Baghawi (ra), the renowned mufassir reports that two leading Jewish scholars came to Madinah from Syria. With the township of Madinah before them, they started talking to each other about the looks of the place which matched the prophecy in Torah that the last of the prophets would be living here. Later, they came to know that someone very pious lives here and whom people refer to as the prophet. They went to see the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. Their very first sight of him reminded them of all attributes which Torah had predicted he would have. They presented themselves before him and said: "You are Muhammad?" He said: "Yes." Again, they said: "You are Ahmad?" He said: "Yes, I am Muhammad, and Ahmad." Then they said: "We are going to ask you a question. If you answer it correctly, we shall embrace Islam." He said: "Go ahead and ask." They asked: "Which is the greatest witness in the Book of Allah?" This verse of 'shahadah' (witness) was revealed as an answer to this question. He recited it for them. Both of them embraced Islam immediately.

According to a hadeeth in the Musnad of Ahmad, when the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him recited this verse in 'Arafat, he said right after that: And to that, O my Lord, I too am a witness. (Ibn Kathir)

And a narration from Imam al-A'mash (ra) says: 'Whoever recites this verse and then says: (And to that, O my Lord, I too am a witness), Allah Almighty will say to the angels on the Last Day: 'My servant has made a promise while I am the Foremost to keep a promise when I make it, so let my servant be admitted into Paradise.' (Ibn Kathir)

Another hadith from Sayyidna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him narrates that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him said: 'Whoever recites Ayah al-Kursi (2:255) and the Ayah: Shahidal-lahu (3:18) and : Qulil-lahumma malik al-mulki upto bighairi hisab (3:26,27), Allah Almighty will forgive all his sins, admit him to Paradise and take care of seventy (i.e. plenty) of his needs, the simplest of these being his forgiveness.' (Ruh al-Ma'ani with reference to Dailami)

Deen and Islaam: An Explanation of the Two Words

The word, Deen has more than one meaning in the Arabic language, one of them being 'the way'. In the terminology of the Qur'an, the word, Din is used to stand for principles and injunctions which are common to all prophets from Sayyidna Adam (A.S) to the last of the prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. The words, 'shari'ah' or 'al-minhaj' or the word, 'madhhab' from among the later-day terms, are used to cover subsidiary injunctions, which have been different during different ages and different communities. The Holy Qur'an says: Allah made you follow the same religion with which He bound Nuh (and other prophets) - 42:13.

This tells us that the din of all our blessed prophets was one and the same, that is, belief in the most perfect Being and Attributes of Allah, in His being free of all shortcomings and that He alone is worthy of worship, believing in this from the depth of one's heart and confirming it verbally; belief in the Day of Judgement, in the final reckoning of deeds, the reward and the punishment and in Paradise and Hell and in every prophet and messenger sent by Him and in all commandments and injunctions brought by them, believing all this in one's heart and confirming such belief verbally as well.

Now the real meaning of the word, Islam is to submit oneself to Allah and be obedient to His commands. Given this meaning, those who believed in the prophets and messengers of their time and were obedient to the commands of Allah they brought to them, were all entitled to be called Muslims, and their religion was Islam. It was in this sense of the word that Sayyidna Nuh said: (I have been commanded that I be from among the Muslims - 10:72) and there­fore, Sayyidna Ibrahim (A.S) described himself and his community as Muslims when he said: (Our Lord, make us Muslims, the submitting ones to Thee, and from our progeny a community of Muslims submitting to Thee - 2:128). And it was in this very sense of the word that the disciples of Sayyidna 'Isa (A.S) said: (And bear witness that we are Muslims - 3:52)

Sometimes this word is applied particularly to the deen and shari'ah, the religion and the law brought finally by the last among the prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. This law abrogated all previous ways in religion and this shall sustain right through the Day of Judgment. Given this meaning of the word Islam, it becomes particular to the religion brought by the prophet of Islam and to the large community of his followers. In a well-known hadeeth of Jibra'il (A.S), the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has explained Islam in this very manner.

The word, 'Al-Islam' as it appears in the verse here carries the likelihood of both meanings. If the first meaning is taken, it would mean that the only religion acceptable with Allah is Islam, that is, becoming obedient in complete submission to the commands of Allah, believing in all prophets of all times and in whatever commandments they brought, by acting accordingly. Although, the religion brought by Hadhrat Muhammad Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has not been specially identified here, yet, in persuance of the general rule, once the last among the line of prophets had been sent, the belief and practice of all injunctions he brought becomes binding, and inclusive under this rule. As such, the outcome will be that the religion acceptable during the period of Sayyidna Nuh was what he brought; during the period of Sayyidna Ibrahim, what he brought. Similarly, the Islam of the period of Sayyidna Musa was what came in the form of the tablets of Tor ah and the teachings of Moses and the Islam of the period of Sayyidna 'Isa was what came as Injil and the teachings of Jesus (A.S). At the end of this chain of prophets, the Islam of the period of Sayyidna Muhammad Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, the last among the prophets, shall be what took shape on the pattern given by the Qur'an and Sunnah.

Now if we take the second meaning of Islam, that is, the Shari'ah the way and law brought by the last of the prophets Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him , the verse would come to mean that in this period of time only that religion of Islam which is true to the teachings of the noble prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him is the one acceptable. No doubt, previous religions too, during their age of currency, were known as Islam, but they are now abrogated. So, the end-result is the same both ways, that is, during the age of every prophet, the religion acceptable in the sight of Allah is that particular Islam which conforms to the revelation and teachings credited to that prophet. No religion, other than this, even if it be a previously abrogated one, is acceptable and certainly not deserving of being called "Islam" at a later stage. The Shari'ah of Sayyidna Ibrahim was the Islam of his times. When the time of Sayyidna Musa came, the abrogated laws of that code did not remain the Islam of his time.

Similarly, any laws of Moses abrogated during the time of Sayyidna 'Isa were not to be labelled as Islam any more. It is exactly like this when laws and injunctions of previous religious codes were abrogated during the time of the Last of the prophets Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him , they no more remained valid as Islam. Therefore, whatever meaning of Islam is taken, general or particular, in relation to the community being addressed by the Holy Qur'an, the outcome of both is nothing but that, following the appearance of the noble Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, the only religion which shall be deserving of the name, Islam, will be the one that conforms to the Qur'an and the teachings of the blessed recepient of revelations and that alone shall be acceptable in the sight of Allah. Since no other religion is acceptable to Allah, it cannot become a source of salvation either. This subject has appeared in the Holy Qur'an in many verses separately. The exact words used in one such verse are: whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him (and what is done under its dictates shall be wasted).

Salvation in Our Times Depends on Islam: Even Good Deeds and Morals from a Non-Muslim are Not Acceptable

These verses have very clearly hit at the root of the atheistic approach which endeavours to bracket Islam and disbelief (kufr) on the same footing in the name of tolerance preached by Islam, thereby claiming that every faith of the world - Judaism, Christianity, even paganism - can each become the source of salvation, on condition that its followers perform good deeds and observe good morals. This, in reality is a veiled attempt to demolish a principle of Islam and to prove that Islam is nothing of substance. It is something limpid and imaginary which could be moulded to fit into whatever religion one chooses, even if it is kufr or disbelief! The verses of the Holy Qur'an, those appearing here and a large number of others, have very explicitly stressed that the light and darkness cannot be the same. Similarly, it is grossly absurd and impossible that Allah would like disobedience to and rebellion against Him just as He likes obedience and submission. Whoever denies even one basic principle of Islam, he is, without any shadow of doubt, a rebel to Allah and the enemy of His Messengers, no matter how impressing he may appear in his other deeds and formal morality. Salvation in the Hereafter depends, first of all, on obedience to Allah and His Messenger. Whoever remains deprived of it, not one of his deeds is credible. The Holy Qur'an says for such people: 'We shall not assign weight to their deeds on the Day of Judgement.' - 18:105.

In verse 19: after declaring that 'the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam', the text moves on to explain why the people of the Book went about disputing the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and challenging Islam as false. They did this, not because they had any doubts in this connection for they knew the truth of the matter through their own scriptures, but because they were scared of losing their ground against Muslims. So, it was their malice towards Muslims, their love for power and influence and their arrogant self-image as traditional leaders which drove them to these altercations.

Finally, it was said: 'whoever denies the verses of Allah (as the people of the Book did), then, Allah is swift at reckoning'. The swiftness of this reckoning can be well imagined as it starts initially soon after death when man passes into the state known as 'barzakh'. But the detailed accounting for one's deeds shall take place on the Day of Judgement when he will have to account for his doings in the minutest detail. Then, the penchant for disputing truth will be exposed. The people who denied the truth will discover their worth and the punishment it calls for shall become known to them. [Ma'ariful Qur'an, Volume 2]

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 30th October 2011

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