وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَسْتَ مُرْسَلاً قُلْ كَفَى بِاللّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِندَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَاب
And those who disbelieve say: “You have not been sent as a Messenger”. Say: “Sufficient as a Witness between me and you is Allah and those too who have the knowledge of the Book.”
The subject of the study
This verse is one of the proofs used to show that Ali ibn Abi Talib was an imam. The Messenger of Allah (S) refers to two witnesses to the truth of his prophecy: Allah and “he who has knowledge of the Book.” We will explore the meaning of this testimony and who “the one who has knowledge of the Book” is.
Testimony of the prophecy
“The disbelievers say, ‘You are not a messenger.'” This is the opinion of the unbelievers. Therefore, the Messenger (S) has the duty to prove his prophecy and provide evidence for it. Then Allah says: “Say: ‘It is sufficient that Allaah and He who has the Knowledge of the Book are witnesses between me and you.'”
Here, the Prophet (S) refers to two witnesses: Allah and “he who has knowledge of the Book.” This refers to a certain person who has knowledge of the entire Book, not just a part of it. The testimony of these two witnesses is sufficient for anyone seeking the truth.
What does the testimony of Allah mean?
A question arises: if Allah is hidden from view and no one can see Him, how is His testimony about the truth of the prophecy of Muhammad (S) possible?
Answer: Allah’s testimony about the truth of the prophecy of Muhammad (S) is demonstrated through the miracles He has granted him. It is impossible for God to allow a liar who is not a prophet to perform hundreds of miracles.
Who is the one “who has knowledge of the Book”?
There are several theories about this:
1. “He who has knowledge of the Book” refers to Allah Himself. In other words, this quality is added here as an additional attribute of Allah, and the witness of the prophecy is actually only one — the Most High. However, this view is not accurate because after the conjunction “and,” there is an addition. The reason for understanding such an addition is that there is someone else who was not mentioned before this conjunction.
2. “One who has knowledge of the Book” refers to “people of the Book” who have converted to Islam, such as Abdullah ibn Salam. This man was a scholar of the Jews, but when he read about the signs of prophecy in the Torah and applied them to Muhammad, he believed in him. Therefore, this person is “the one who has the knowledge of the Book.” Because he saw the signs of prophecy in the books of the Jews and recognized them. So Allah brought him as a witness. However, this perspective is also incorrect. For Surah Thunder is from Mecca, and Abdullah ibn Salam converted to Islam in Madinah. Therefore, there are many years between the revelation of this verse and his acceptance of Islam.
3. “He who has knowledge of the Book” refers to Imam Ali (A). This is the correct interpretation of this verse.
Abu Sa’id Khidri, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who is respected by both Shia and Sunni Muslims, said:
“I asked the Messenger of Allah (S) about this verse: ‘… and he who had knowledge from the Book’ (27: 40) — who is this? He said, ‘This is the governor of my brother Sulayman ibn Dawud.’ Then I asked him about the words of Allah: ‘It is sufficient that the witness between me and you is Allah and He who has the Knowledge of the Book.’ He said, ‘This is my brother Ali ibn Abi Talib'” (“Yanabiu l-mawadda”, p. 102).
In addition to Sa’id Khidri, this hadith was also narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas, Salman, Sa’id ibn Jubeir, Muhammad ibn Hanafiyah, Zayd ibn Ali, and others. Among the Sunni authors, it was cited by Kurtubi (Tafsir, volume 9, p. 336), Suyuti (Tafsir, volume 1, p. 13), Tirmizi (Manaqib, p. 49), and others.
How does Imam Ali bear witness to the prophecy?
For us, it turned out that by “one who has knowledge of the Book” is meant Imam Ali (A). However, another question arises: how could he have testified to the prophecy?
To answer this question, we will mention two examples:
1. If a person comes to an unknown city where he does not have a single familiar person and wants to take part in a collective prayer in a mosque, how can he determine whether the imam for whom he should perform prayer is fair, that is, one for whom it is possible to perform prayer? How would he find out? According to fiqh, it is sufficient for this purpose only that worthy and knowledgeable people perform prayer for this imam. If a person sees that pious people are praying behind the imam, then this alone is enough for him to also perform prayer behind this imam.
2. If a person who is known for his knowledge goes to another person as his teacher to receive lessons from him, then from this we understand that that teacher has great knowledge, although we may not have any information about him in himself. For example, if we saw Sheikh Ansari or Allama Hilli receiving lessons from some teacher we don’t know anything about, then of course we would understand that this teacher is a great person, a bearer of great knowledge.
Now we can answer the question above.
If we look at the personality of Imam Ali (A), we will see that he possessed all the sublime qualities — knowledge, morality, courage, wisdom. Anyone who reads Nahjul-balagha understands that the sermons and sayings collected in it could not have been the result of an ordinary person’s experience or reflection, and that these words are “lower than the words of the Creator, but higher than the words of creation.”
Imam Ali (A) with his amazing judgment, deciding the most delicate and complex issues, defending the rights of any oppressed person… Imam Ali (A) with his worship and piety, not noticing anything other than Allah during prayer, so that an arrow was taken out of his leg, and he did not even notice it… Imam Ali (A) with his amazing courage and bravery, never losing in battle and never turning his back on the enemy…
Imam Ali (A) with all these qualities embodied the model of a perfect man. So this man devotes his entire life to serving the Messenger of Allah (S) and his religion. Does this not reveal to us the truth of his prophecy?
That is why Imam Ali (A) is the second witness to the truth of the prophecy, after Allah.
Comparison of Asif ibn Barhiyah and Ali ibn Abi Talib (A)
Asif ibn Barhiyah was the viceroy of the Prophet Sulayman (A). It is mentioned in Surah Ants:
He said, “O nobles, who of you will come to me with her throne before they come to me submissive?” An Ifrit of the jinn said, “I will come to you with it before you get up from your seat.” The One who had the knowledge of the Book said, “I will come to you with it before your eyes return to you.” But when he saw him established in himself, he said, “This is out of the mercy of my Lord, to test me whether I will be grateful or unfaithful. Whoever is grateful is grateful for himself, but whoever is unfaithful — my Lord is rich and Merciful.” (27: 38-40). In this verse, we are talking about the throne of the Queen of Yemen. The person who had “knowledge from the Book,” that is, knowledge of a part of the Book, said that he would bring it in the blink of an eye. This was Asif ibn Barhiyah, the governor of Sulayman. And so, before Suleiman could blink an eye, this throne stood before him.
Thus, the knowledge of a small part of the Book of Heaven allowed Asif ibn Barhiyah to perform such an act that amazes the minds of people.
On the other hand, in the same verse, Imam Ali (A) is called “one who has knowledge of the Book” — that is, the whole Book, and not part of it. So is it possible to compare the abilities of Imam Ali (A) and Asif ibn Barhiyah?
From this, we can establish wilayah taqwini for Imams (A), that is, their ability to control the universe according to the will of Allah.