Overview (Verse 19)

A Testimony to Settle All Issues
 
Now comes the climax of this passage, which employs a profound rhythm so as to re-emphasise the right attitude of a believer. The final verse of the passage serves as a clear statement of position, a warning and a move away from everything that has an element of setting partners with God. The style here is both strong and decisive: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony? Say: God is witness between me and you. This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach. Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
This verse is made up of a series of short statements which follow each other in very quick succession. This, to give us quick images of the different attitudes which can be held in relation to the central issue. Nevertheless, the painting is so vivid that we can see all expressions on the faces of the characters drawn and we can even penetrate their thoughts. What we see first is a command given by God to His Messenger. This is immediately followed by a scene wherein God’s Messenger confronts the unbelievers who are associating partners with God and who want him, i.e. the Prophet, to endorse their falsehood before they accept his message. They imagine that such an exchange is feasible and that Islam and idolatry can exist side by side in someone’s heart. It is sad to say that some people still think that this is possible. They argue that a person can submit himself to God while he conducts his life on the basis of teachings he receives from other sources and while he acknowledges the authority of other powers and seeks the help and patronage of other beings.
 
Thus, God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) confronts the unbelievers. He makes it clear to them that he and they follow two separate roads that cannot meet. He outlines the difference between what he advocates of believing in God’s oneness and submitting to Him and their beliefs and practices which associate partners with God. He  tells  them  that  the  starting  points  of  both  camps  are  so  wide  apart  that  no compromise between them can be worked out unless they abandon their beliefs and accept His faith.
 
This confrontation is depicted in a public scene calling for an open testimony: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony?” (Verse 19) Who is the best witness in the whole universe? Who is the One whose testimony refutes every other argument? Who has the final word? In order to make the generalisation total so that nothing in the whole universe is discounted as a possible witness, the question is asked in this manner: “What is weightiest in testimony?” (Verse 19)
 
The Prophet is ordered to put the question, and he is also ordered to provide the answer. The addressees themselves acknowledge that there is no other answer to give: “Say: God.” (Verse 19) Yes, indeed. God — limitless is He in His glory — is the One who provides the weightiest testimony. He tells the truth and He is the best to provide the final answer to all issues and questions. When He has made His testimony, all matters are settled.
 
Having declared this indisputable fact, that God’s testimony is strongest and weightiest, the Prophet declares that God Almighty is the witness between them and Him in this central issue: “God is witness between me and you.” (Verse 19) The Arabic text admits a break in this statement, making it more in line with the general scene and giving it a more powerful and dramatic effect. In the first instance, the sentence is given in the same way as it is rendered in the translation: “Say: ‘God is witness between me and you.” (Verse 19) If we break it up, it reads as follows: “Say: ‘What is weightiest in testimony? Say: ‘God. is witness between me and you.’” (Verse 19)
 
When the principle of referring to God for arbitration in this central issue has been established, the Prophet declares to the unbelievers that God’s testimony is included in the Qur’ān which He has revealed to him to warn them as well as everyone who comes to know of the Qur’ān during the Prophet’s lifetime or subsequently. Thus, the Qur’ān is taken in evidence against them and against all those whom it reaches, because it contains God’s testimony in this central issue which provides the basis of human existence and universal existence as a whole. “This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach.” (Verse 19)
 
Thus, every human being who becomes aware of the Qur’ān and what it contains in a language he understands has been duly warned. He incurs God’s punishment if he rejects the message of Islam after it has been conveyed to him. A person who does not know the language of the Qur’ān and, therefore, cannot understand its message is not held accountable in the same way. However, Muslims are deemed to be at fault for not conveying the message of the Qur’ān to others in a language which they know well enough to understand the true meaning of this testimony.
 
Having made it clear to them that God’s testimony is included in the Qur’ān, the Prophet goes on to sum up this testimony in a challenging way which discards the unbelievers’ own testimony, since it is fundamentally at variance with God’s own. The Prophet also declares to them that he totally rejects their assertions and believes them to be false. He further declares that he firmly believes in the oneness of God, the Supreme Lord of the universe. As such, he parts company with them at the outset and dissociates himself most emphatically from their polytheism: “Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
With such powerful rhythm and short, emphatic sentences, the Qur’ānic text touches people’s hearts in a way no other style can do. I, therefore, do not wish to make any comment which could affect its flow and powerful impact.
 
A Perfectly Clear Attitude
 
However, I wish to discuss the central question in this passage, namely that of faith and its fundamental principle: God’s oneness and the break with unbelievers. Those of us today who belong to the Muslim community should reflect very deeply on this passage and the way it tackles this central issue. The small community of true believers today are faced with well entrenched jāhiliyyah throughout the world, in the same way as the first generation of Muslims were when these verses were revealed. In the light of these verses, the proper attitude to be adopted by the Muslim community must be defined now as it was defined then.
 
The situation of mankind today is in many ways identical to what it was at the time when the Qur’ān was revealed to the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him). At that time, Islam, as a faith and a code of living was established on a central principle which required people to declare their acceptance that `there is no deity other than God’. It is a declaration which has a special meaning as outlined by Rab`ī ibn `Āmir, a messenger sent by a Muslim army commander to Rustom, the Persian commander, before the two armies fought a decisive battle. The latter asked him what brought the Muslims out of their land. He answered: “It is God who ordered us to march out so that we may help to free those who are willing to be freed from the worship of creatures to the worship of God alone, and from the restrictions of this present life to the expanse of its universal link with the life to come, and from the oppression exercised by other religions to the justice of Islam.” That Muslim messenger was keenly aware that Rustom and his people did not consider their emperor, Khusraw, as the lord who created the universe, nor did they offer worship rituals to him. They simply acknowledged him as the sovereign who enacted laws for them. As such, they made themselves subservient to him in the particular sense that is diametrically opposed to Islam. Thus, the Muslim messenger informed the Persian commander that the Muslims were fulfilling God’s orders to help free people from situations where one group of them worship another. They do so by attributing to rulers an essential quality of Godhead, i.e. sovereignty and what it imparts of authority to legislate, and implementing their legislation in practice, which is a form of religion. The mission of the Muslim armies was to free people so that they would worship God alone and enjoy the justice of Islam.
 
We are today in a situation similar to that which prevailed when the religion of Islam declared to mankind that ‘there is no deity other than God’. Human beings have reverted to the worship of other creatures and accepted the oppression of different forms of religion and abandoned the principle of God’s oneness in its true sense. It is true that some groups of people still make the declaration on mosque minarets that `there is no deity other than God’, but they hardly know its true sense, and as such, they do not mean it. Nor do they reject the claims of others to sovereignty, which is synonymous with Godhead. It does not matter whether individuals, legislative councils or nations claim the authority. For none of these is a god to exercise that authority. It is only the relapse of humanity into jāhiliyyah that assigns to such creatures the attributes of Godhead. As such, humanity no longer manifests a firm belief in God’s oneness or total devotion to Him alone.
 
This applies to all mankind, including those everywhere in the world, who repeat the declaration of God’s oneness from minarets without giving it its true meaning or putting it into practice. These incur a bigger sin, one which is more severely punishable on the Day of Judgement, because they have sunk back into the worship of creatures after they have received proper guidance and embraced the true faith.

Anyone who faces ignorance, its tyranny, might, deviousness, arrogance, corruption and wickedness needs to keep these facts in mind and preserve these feelings in his heart as a precaution against falling into sin as also to ward off the terrible punishment which awaits sinners. This will enhance his conviction that the only one who can benefit or harm him is God, who holds sway over all His servants and whose judgement cannot be overturned. The task of establishing Islam anew in the face of the overwhelming opposition posed by jāhiliyyah is hard indeed, requiring a long and enduring struggle. It cannot be undertaken by anyone who does not keep the above facts in mind and who does not nurture the aforementioned feelings.
 
When the advocates of Islam have made certain what their present task is, they need to adopt the same decisive attitude of dissociating themselves totally from the type of idolatry practised by societies that are deep in jāhiliyyah, and to seek the right witnesses for their stand. They should say what God’s Messenger was commanded to say in this position, and to confront jāhiliyyah with it in the same way as the Prophet did in fulfilment of what he was bidden by God: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony? Say: God is witness between me and you. This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach. Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
This is the word of truth which must be stated loudly, decisively and without ambiguity. When the advocates of Islam have declared it in this way, they must turn to God in full realisation that He has power over all things. Even the mightiest of tyrants are weaker than flies, for they cannot retrieve anything a fly takes away from them. With all their might, they cannot harm or benefit anyone unless God lets them. God always prevails in whatever be His purpose. Most people, however, do not know this fact.
 
The advocates of Islam must also be certain that they will not triumph or enjoy the fruits of God’s promise to grant them power or establish them in the land, unless they part company with jāhiliyyah at the outset. They must first confront tyranny and jāhiliyyah in the clearest of terms.
 
The Qur’ān was not revealed to confront a single situation at a particular moment in history. It is an approach which cannot be restricted by the limitations of time and place. Whenever the Muslim community finds itself in a situation similar to that which  prevailed  at  the  time  of  the  revelation  of  the  Qur’ān,  it  must  adopt  this approach.  As  we  have  already  said,  we  face  today  the  same  situation  which prevailed at the time the Qur’ān was revealed. Therefore, an unshakeable certainty of the truth of this religion, a complete awareness of God’s absolute power and a categorical  rejection  of  falsehood  and  its  advocates  must  constitute  part  of  the strength of the Muslim community. “God is the best guardian and of those who show mercy He is the most merciful.” (12: 64)

Overview (Verse 19)

A Testimony to Settle All Issues
 
Now comes the climax of this passage, which employs a profound rhythm so as to re-emphasise the right attitude of a believer. The final verse of the passage serves as a clear statement of position, a warning and a move away from everything that has an element of setting partners with God. The style here is both strong and decisive: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony? Say: God is witness between me and you. This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach. Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
This verse is made up of a series of short statements which follow each other in very quick succession. This, to give us quick images of the different attitudes which can be held in relation to the central issue. Nevertheless, the painting is so vivid that we can see all expressions on the faces of the characters drawn and we can even penetrate their thoughts. What we see first is a command given by God to His Messenger. This is immediately followed by a scene wherein God’s Messenger confronts the unbelievers who are associating partners with God and who want him, i.e. the Prophet, to endorse their falsehood before they accept his message. They imagine that such an exchange is feasible and that Islam and idolatry can exist side by side in someone’s heart. It is sad to say that some people still think that this is possible. They argue that a person can submit himself to God while he conducts his life on the basis of teachings he receives from other sources and while he acknowledges the authority of other powers and seeks the help and patronage of other beings.
 
Thus, God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) confronts the unbelievers. He makes it clear to them that he and they follow two separate roads that cannot meet. He outlines the difference between what he advocates of believing in God’s oneness and submitting to Him and their beliefs and practices which associate partners with God. He  tells  them  that  the  starting  points  of  both  camps  are  so  wide  apart  that  no compromise between them can be worked out unless they abandon their beliefs and accept His faith.
 
This confrontation is depicted in a public scene calling for an open testimony: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony?” (Verse 19) Who is the best witness in the whole universe? Who is the One whose testimony refutes every other argument? Who has the final word? In order to make the generalisation total so that nothing in the whole universe is discounted as a possible witness, the question is asked in this manner: “What is weightiest in testimony?” (Verse 19)
 
The Prophet is ordered to put the question, and he is also ordered to provide the answer. The addressees themselves acknowledge that there is no other answer to give: “Say: God.” (Verse 19) Yes, indeed. God — limitless is He in His glory — is the One who provides the weightiest testimony. He tells the truth and He is the best to provide the final answer to all issues and questions. When He has made His testimony, all matters are settled.
 
Having declared this indisputable fact, that God’s testimony is strongest and weightiest, the Prophet declares that God Almighty is the witness between them and Him in this central issue: “God is witness between me and you.” (Verse 19) The Arabic text admits a break in this statement, making it more in line with the general scene and giving it a more powerful and dramatic effect. In the first instance, the sentence is given in the same way as it is rendered in the translation: “Say: ‘God is witness between me and you.” (Verse 19) If we break it up, it reads as follows: “Say: ‘What is weightiest in testimony? Say: ‘God. is witness between me and you.’” (Verse 19)
 
When the principle of referring to God for arbitration in this central issue has been established, the Prophet declares to the unbelievers that God’s testimony is included in the Qur’ān which He has revealed to him to warn them as well as everyone who comes to know of the Qur’ān during the Prophet’s lifetime or subsequently. Thus, the Qur’ān is taken in evidence against them and against all those whom it reaches, because it contains God’s testimony in this central issue which provides the basis of human existence and universal existence as a whole. “This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach.” (Verse 19)
 
Thus, every human being who becomes aware of the Qur’ān and what it contains in a language he understands has been duly warned. He incurs God’s punishment if he rejects the message of Islam after it has been conveyed to him. A person who does not know the language of the Qur’ān and, therefore, cannot understand its message is not held accountable in the same way. However, Muslims are deemed to be at fault for not conveying the message of the Qur’ān to others in a language which they know well enough to understand the true meaning of this testimony.
 
Having made it clear to them that God’s testimony is included in the Qur’ān, the Prophet goes on to sum up this testimony in a challenging way which discards the unbelievers’ own testimony, since it is fundamentally at variance with God’s own. The Prophet also declares to them that he totally rejects their assertions and believes them to be false. He further declares that he firmly believes in the oneness of God, the Supreme Lord of the universe. As such, he parts company with them at the outset and dissociates himself most emphatically from their polytheism: “Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
With such powerful rhythm and short, emphatic sentences, the Qur’ānic text touches people’s hearts in a way no other style can do. I, therefore, do not wish to make any comment which could affect its flow and powerful impact.
 
A Perfectly Clear Attitude
 
However, I wish to discuss the central question in this passage, namely that of faith and its fundamental principle: God’s oneness and the break with unbelievers. Those of us today who belong to the Muslim community should reflect very deeply on this passage and the way it tackles this central issue. The small community of true believers today are faced with well entrenched jāhiliyyah throughout the world, in the same way as the first generation of Muslims were when these verses were revealed. In the light of these verses, the proper attitude to be adopted by the Muslim community must be defined now as it was defined then.
 
The situation of mankind today is in many ways identical to what it was at the time when the Qur’ān was revealed to the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him). At that time, Islam, as a faith and a code of living was established on a central principle which required people to declare their acceptance that `there is no deity other than God’. It is a declaration which has a special meaning as outlined by Rab`ī ibn `Āmir, a messenger sent by a Muslim army commander to Rustom, the Persian commander, before the two armies fought a decisive battle. The latter asked him what brought the Muslims out of their land. He answered: “It is God who ordered us to march out so that we may help to free those who are willing to be freed from the worship of creatures to the worship of God alone, and from the restrictions of this present life to the expanse of its universal link with the life to come, and from the oppression exercised by other religions to the justice of Islam.” That Muslim messenger was keenly aware that Rustom and his people did not consider their emperor, Khusraw, as the lord who created the universe, nor did they offer worship rituals to him. They simply acknowledged him as the sovereign who enacted laws for them. As such, they made themselves subservient to him in the particular sense that is diametrically opposed to Islam. Thus, the Muslim messenger informed the Persian commander that the Muslims were fulfilling God’s orders to help free people from situations where one group of them worship another. They do so by attributing to rulers an essential quality of Godhead, i.e. sovereignty and what it imparts of authority to legislate, and implementing their legislation in practice, which is a form of religion. The mission of the Muslim armies was to free people so that they would worship God alone and enjoy the justice of Islam.
 
We are today in a situation similar to that which prevailed when the religion of Islam declared to mankind that ‘there is no deity other than God’. Human beings have reverted to the worship of other creatures and accepted the oppression of different forms of religion and abandoned the principle of God’s oneness in its true sense. It is true that some groups of people still make the declaration on mosque minarets that `there is no deity other than God’, but they hardly know its true sense, and as such, they do not mean it. Nor do they reject the claims of others to sovereignty, which is synonymous with Godhead. It does not matter whether individuals, legislative councils or nations claim the authority. For none of these is a god to exercise that authority. It is only the relapse of humanity into jāhiliyyah that assigns to such creatures the attributes of Godhead. As such, humanity no longer manifests a firm belief in God’s oneness or total devotion to Him alone.
 
This applies to all mankind, including those everywhere in the world, who repeat the declaration of God’s oneness from minarets without giving it its true meaning or putting it into practice. These incur a bigger sin, one which is more severely punishable on the Day of Judgement, because they have sunk back into the worship of creatures after they have received proper guidance and embraced the true faith.

Anyone who faces ignorance, its tyranny, might, deviousness, arrogance, corruption and wickedness needs to keep these facts in mind and preserve these feelings in his heart as a precaution against falling into sin as also to ward off the terrible punishment which awaits sinners. This will enhance his conviction that the only one who can benefit or harm him is God, who holds sway over all His servants and whose judgement cannot be overturned. The task of establishing Islam anew in the face of the overwhelming opposition posed by jāhiliyyah is hard indeed, requiring a long and enduring struggle. It cannot be undertaken by anyone who does not keep the above facts in mind and who does not nurture the aforementioned feelings.
 
When the advocates of Islam have made certain what their present task is, they need to adopt the same decisive attitude of dissociating themselves totally from the type of idolatry practised by societies that are deep in jāhiliyyah, and to seek the right witnesses for their stand. They should say what God’s Messenger was commanded to say in this position, and to confront jāhiliyyah with it in the same way as the Prophet did in fulfilment of what he was bidden by God: “Say: What is weightiest in testimony? Say: God is witness between me and you. This Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may thereby warn you and all whom it may reach. Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.” (Verse 19)
 
This is the word of truth which must be stated loudly, decisively and without ambiguity. When the advocates of Islam have declared it in this way, they must turn to God in full realisation that He has power over all things. Even the mightiest of tyrants are weaker than flies, for they cannot retrieve anything a fly takes away from them. With all their might, they cannot harm or benefit anyone unless God lets them. God always prevails in whatever be His purpose. Most people, however, do not know this fact.
 
The advocates of Islam must also be certain that they will not triumph or enjoy the fruits of God’s promise to grant them power or establish them in the land, unless they part company with jāhiliyyah at the outset. They must first confront tyranny and jāhiliyyah in the clearest of terms.
 
The Qur’ān was not revealed to confront a single situation at a particular moment in history. It is an approach which cannot be restricted by the limitations of time and place. Whenever the Muslim community finds itself in a situation similar to that which  prevailed  at  the  time  of  the  revelation  of  the  Qur’ān,  it  must  adopt  this approach.  As  we  have  already  said,  we  face  today  the  same  situation  which prevailed at the time the Qur’ān was revealed. Therefore, an unshakeable certainty of the truth of this religion, a complete awareness of God’s absolute power and a categorical  rejection  of  falsehood  and  its  advocates  must  constitute  part  of  the strength of the Muslim community. “God is the best guardian and of those who show mercy He is the most merciful.” (12: 64)