The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-Ḥadīd – Verse 19

وَالَّذينَ آمَنوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُولٰئِكَ هُمُ الصِّدّيقونَ ۖ وَالشُّهَداءُ عِندَ رَبِّهِم لَهُم أَجرُهُم وَنورُهُم ۖ وَالَّذينَ كَفَروا وَكَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا أُولٰئِكَ أَصحابُ الجَحيمِ

Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles – it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord; they shall have their reward and their light. But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell.

EXEGESIS

Faith in His apostles (rusulihi) is now given in the plural, unlike the start of the surah where only His Apostle (verse 7). This is perhaps because the People of the Book were mentioned a few verses before, and now, besides cautioning the faithful not to succumb to hard-heartedness over time as did their predecessors (verse 16), the faithful are urged not to reject some of God’s apostles and believe in only some. One who has faith in God must also have faith in all His apostles. This is a hallmark of the Muslims that they do not accept Prophet Moses (a) and reject Prophet Jesus (a), or accept Prophet Jesus (a) and reject Prophet Muhammad (a). Instead, the Apostle himself and the faithful, Each [of them] has faith in Allah, His angels, His scriptures, and His apostles. [They declare:] ‘We make no distinction between any of His apostles.’ (2:285). In keeping with this dialogue, verses to follow in this surah (verses 21 and 25) will also mention apostles until at the end (verse 28), when once again faith in His Apostle alone is mentioned, as the surah reverts to addressing the Muslim faithful, contrasting them with the People of the Book (verse 29).

Most exegetes seem to agree that the opening words, Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles, refer to an elite and foremost group amongst the faithful; it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord.

The Quran reserves the quality of being truthful (ṣiddīqūn) as a special honour and lofty status that it attributes to very special individuals, such as Prophet Abraham (a) (19:41), Prophet Idrīs (a) (19:56), and Lady Mary, the mother of Prophet Jesus (a) (45:75). The only other verse that bestows this title on the elite amongst the faithful is: Whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle – they are with those whom Allah has blessed, including the prophets and the truthful (ṣiddīqīn), the martyrs and the righteous, and excellent companions are they! (4:69).

Ṣiddīqīn (truthful) (sing. ṣiddīq) stems from the same root as ṣidq (truthfulness). Generally, one who is truthful is called ṣādiq. Ṣiddīq is its emphatic or intensive form to mean an extremely truthful one, one ‘who fervently affirms the truth, and who is utterly honest and sincere’.[1] Makārim Shīrāzī defines ṣiddīq as one whose entire being is encompassed by truthfulness, in thought, word, and action.[2] And Tabatabai and others have also said ṣiddīq is one whose words matches his actions,[3] having the same virtues inwardly and outwardly. And therefore Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles here refers to those with a pure faith that is never tainted with disobedience to God.[4]

Shuhadāʾ (sing. shāhid) are witnesses. Some exegetes have suggested the term to mean martyrs (sing. shahīd), but the Quran never uses the term with this meaning, and the association of martyrs to shuhadāʾ came about later, after the Prophet and the Quran’s revelation. Even when the Quran uses the term shahīd for God Himself (4:33, 4:79, 10:29, 17:96, 48:27), the Prophet (4:41, 22:78), or others (28:75), it is always with the meaning of witness and as an intensive form and hyperbole of shāhid. For more on this, see the Review of Tafsīr Literature section.

Their reward and their light are given together. And because God bestows the faithful with a light in this world that guides him (39:22) and that he walks by (verse 28) as well as a light on the Day of Judgement moving swiftly before them and on their right (verse 12), we can assume the reward as well is both in this world and the hereafter. The reward in this world, besides material blessings that everyone receives, may, more valuably, be the reward of faith, conviction, and guidance, just as the reward of the hereafter is both corporeal, as paradise and its blessings, and spiritual, as proximity to God.

As is the Quran’s practice, the very best are usually contrasted with the worst of people: But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell. They are called inmates (aṣḥāb) of hell to suggest they shall not leave it but will abide in it forever. This contrasting of the good with the evil also serves as a balance of hope and fear, and God’s promise and admonition at once.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. From Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib: ‘I heard the Prophet (s) saying: “The faithful of my nation are shuhadāʾ,” and then he recited, Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles – it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord.’[5]
  2. Imam Ali (a) said in a sermon: ‘Stick to the earth [meaning lie low], be patient in trials, do not move your hands and swords after the liking of your tongues, and do not make haste in matters in which God has not asked for haste, because any one of you who dies in his bed with knowledge of the rights of God and the rights of His Apostle and members of his household, dies a martyr (shahīd). His reward lies with God. He is also eligible for the recompense of what good acts he intended to do since his intention takes the place of the drawing of his sword.’[6]
  3. The Apostle of God said: ‘One who dies on the love of the progeny (āl) of Muhammad, dies a martyr.’[7]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes such Ibn Kathīr, Ṭabarī, and Rāzī have suggested that shuhadāʾ in this verse may mean martyrs instead of witnesses, and that the and before shuhadāʾ may not be a conjunction particle but the start of a new statement. In other words, they make a distinction between the opening statement in the verse, Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles – it is they who are the truthful, as being the elite amongst the faithful, and thereafter, and the martyrs (shuhadāʾ) with their Lord; they shall have their reward and their light, would be another, fresh statement.[8]

Others have said the and before shuhadāʾ is a conjunction particle and the verse continues to extol the very special amongst the faithful. So the shuhadāʾ are witnesses, and in particular, those who shall bear witness on the Day of Judgement to the actions of others. This is because, firstly, the word shuhadāʾ is followed by ‘before their Lord’ or with their Lord (ʿinda rabbihim). Secondly, it agrees with other verses such as, so that the Apostle may be a witness to you, and that you may be witnesses (shuhadāʾ) over mankind (22:78), which does not refer to the entire Muslim nation but only to the foremost amongst them.[9]

Tabatabai argues that the Quran never uses the term shuhadāʾ for martyrs and it is exclusively used to mean witnesses (see Review of Tafsīr Literature for 3:140). He believes when the Quran refers to a martyr, it always does so with the words ‘one who is killed in the way of God (man yuqtalu fi sabīl li-llāh)’ (2:154, 4:74, 9:111). He does acknowledge, however, that the term shuhadāʾ is used to mean martyrs in hadith, implying it came to later usage with this meaning, over time, and after the Prophet and the Quran’s revelation.[10]

And yet others, using the support of traditions, have preferred not to restrict the meaning of shuhadāʾ and have argued that the witnesses and martyrs are the same. The martyrs are also witnesses to the truth in giving their lives for the truth. Conversely, one who bears witness to the truth and is willing to die for it is a martyr even if he dies a natural death. In a tradition, Minhāl al-Qaṣṣāb, for example, is said to have asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Pray to God to grant me martyrdom,’ and the Imam replied: ‘A faithful (muʾmin) is a martyr,’ and the Imam recited this verse as proof.[11] See Insights from Hadith for more examples.

Noteworthy as well is that this verse bears a very close semblance to 4:69 and therefore, quite likely, the same meaning for shuhadāʾ would apply to both verses since they both seem to speak of the same group from the faithful.

[1] Nasr, pp. 1336-1337.
[2] Nemuneh, 23/349.
[3] Mizan, 19/163.
[4] Mizan, 19/162.
[5] Tabari, 27/133.
[6] Nahj, sermon 190.
[7] Zamakhshari, 4/220; Thalabi, 8/314; Yanabi, 3/140; Qurtubi, 16/23.
[8] Ibn Kathir, 8/55; Razi, 29/463; Tabari, 27/133.
[9] See also the Review of Tafsīr Literature for 2:143 on the meaning of ummah in the Quran.
[10] For details, see his views under 3:140.
[11] Nur, 5/244.