Tafsir of Al Imran 3:18

(God bears witness that there is no god but Him) Al-Kalbi said: When the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) appeared in Medina, two of the learned men of the people of Syria came to him. When they saw Medina, one said to his companion: "How similar is this city to the description of the city of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) who shall emerge at the end of time." When they entered to see the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace), they recognized him by his description and attributes, and they said to him: "Are you Muhammad?" He said: "Yes." They said: "Are you Ahmad?" He said: "Yes." They said: "We will ask you about a testimony; if you inform us of it, we will believe in you and affirm your truthfulness." The Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said: "Ask me." They said: "Inform us of the greatest testimony in the Book of God Almighty." Then God Almighty revealed this verse, and they became Muslims. It is also said that it was revealed regarding the Christians of Najran when they argued about the matter of Jesus (peace be upon him), which is suggested by the traditions we alluded to earlier and toward which the speech of Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr leans. It is also said that it was revealed regarding the Jews and Christians when they abandoned the name of Islam and named themselves Jews and Christians; or it is said they claimed, "Our religion is better than yours," so it was revealed.

The majority recite shahida (bore witness) in the form of the past tense, and the hamza of annahu is vocalized with fatha (i.e., annahu), meaning bi-annahu (that He) or ala annahu (concerning that He). It is also recited as innahu with the hamza vocalized with kasra, either by treating shahida as equivalent to qala (said), or by considering the sentence an interruption (parenthetical), or by making the verb shahida act upon anna al-dina (that the religion...) according to the recitation of one who vocalizes the hamza with fatha, as you will see. The pronoun refers to Him, Exalted is He, and it is possible that it is a pronoun denoting the state of affairs (sha’n).

It is also recited as shuhada’a lillahi (witnesses for God), in the accusative and nominative cases, as the plural of shahid (witness), like zurafa’ (witty ones) is the plural of zarif (witty), or as a plural of shahid like shu’ara’ (poets) is the plural of sha’ir (poet). The accusative is either a state (hal) of those mentioned or for praise, and the nominative is as a predicate for an omitted subject, the implication being praise—i.e., "they are witnesses." The Majestic Name in both aspects is genitive due to the particle lam, connected to what is before it. It is also recited as shuhada’u Allahi in the nominative case with annexation (idafa).

In shahida being ascribed to God Almighty, there is a derivative metaphorical comparison (isti'ara tasrihiyya taba'iyya), because the intent is that He, Exalted is He, indicated His Oneness, and indeed all His perfections, through His specific acts which none other than Him is capable of, and through the constitutive signs He placed in the horizons and in their own selves, and through the verses He revealed that speak to that, such as Surat al-Ikhlas, the Verse of the Throne (Ayat al-Kursi), and others. He, Exalted is He, likened that clear indication to the testimony of a witness in clarity and revelation. Then the word for the object of comparison was borrowed for the subject of comparison, and then the metaphor spread from the source to the verb. It is also permissible that there is a derivative metonymy (majaz mursal taba'i) because the clarification is a necessary consequence of testimony, and the word indicating the necessitated thing was mentioned while the necessary consequence was intended. This interpretation is necessary according to the recitation of the majority, unlike the irregular recitation.

(And the angels and those of knowledge) is a conjunction to the Majestic Name. In that case, one must interpret the testimony with a metaphorical meaning that includes what is attributed to these two groups by way of a general metaphor—meaning the angels acknowledged this, and the scholars believed in it and argued for it. Some have estimated an omitted verb shahida for each of the two conjuncts, intending from each what is appropriate to be ascribed to what it is linked to. Perhaps the statement of a general metaphor is better than that.

It is said: By "those of knowledge" is meant the prophets (peace be upon them). Others say: The Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Helpers (Ansar). Others say: The learned among the believers of the People of the Book. Others say: All learned believers who have known His Oneness, Exalted is He, through decisive proofs and dazzling arguments. The angels were mentioned first because among them are those who are intermediaries in conveying knowledge to its possessors. It is also said: Because their knowledge is entirely necessary, unlike humans, whose knowledge is both necessary and acquired.

Furthermore, the elevation of these two nominative nouns, according to the irregular recitation, is based on being the subject of an implied predicate that is omitted due to the indication of the speech, i.e., "(And the angels and those of knowledge) are witnesses to that." It is also said to be by conjunction to the pronoun in shuhada’a, and this is valid due to the separation. An objection is raised that this, according to the recitation in the accusative as a state (hal), leads to restricting the state of those mentioned by the testimony of the angels and those of knowledge, and there is no great benefit in that, as is not hidden.

His saying, Exalted is He: (Standing with justice) is an explanation of His perfection, Exalted is He, in His acts, following the statement of His perfection in His Essence. Al-qist is justice, and the ba is for transitivity, meaning "He Who establishes justice." There are several views regarding the accusative of qa’iman:

1. That it is a necessary state from the subject of shahida. It is permissible to single out the conjoined noun with a state without the conjunction when there is an indication—be it semantic or lexical—that specifies it, such as in [the verse]: "And We gave him Isaac and Jacob as a supererogatory gift." The state was delayed after the two conjunctions to indicate the loftiness of their rank, the closeness of their station, and the haste toward establishing the witnesses of monotheism out of concern for its status. Perhaps this is the secret in placing it before the conjunctions, while also indicating the primacy of God Almighty in testifying to it.
2. That it is in the accusative for praise, and while this is known in definite nouns, it is also established in others.
3. That it is an adjective for the implicit la (in la ilaha), but this is considered remote because they only allow the separation between the described and the adjective with a separator that is not entirely extraneous, and the conjunction to the subject of shahida is extraneous to what is in the connection of anna in wording and meaning, and because it is occupied by the state. Therefore, according to this, it should be in the nominative, following the position of the name of la to avoid confusion.
4. That it is the object of knowledge, i.e., "and those of knowledge (know Him) standing with justice." This is evidently remote.
5. And perhaps the most appropriate is that it is a state from the pronoun, and the factor governing it is the meaning of the sentence—meaning "He is unique" or "He has realized it"—because it is a confirmatory state. The intervention of the two conjunctions does not harm here, unlike in the case of the adjective, because the confirmatory state in this category acts like an explanatory sentence of a kind of explanation, so it was appropriate that the two conjunctions precede it, as the testified matter is one, and it is a type of confirmation completed by the explanatory state.

On the supposition of it being a state from the subject, it is not included in the testified matter, and on the supposition of being in the accusative for praise, it is possible it is included or not. On the last two suppositions, it is included inevitably.

Abdullah recited al-qa’imu bi-al-qist (the Standing with justice) as a predicate for an omitted subject, and its being a substitute for huwa (He) is not free from issues. Abu Hanifa recited qayyman bi-al-qist. (There is no god but He) is a repetition of the testified matter for emphasis. In this, there is an indication of the increased care for knowing its proofs, because the establishment of a claim is only through proof, and care for it requires care for its proofs, so that the statement of God Almighty, (The Almighty, The Wise), may be built upon it.

So it is known that He is the One described by these two. It is also said: There is no repetition, because the first is the testimony of God Almighty alone, and the second is the testimony of the angels and those of knowledge. This is apparent to those who put the angels in the nominative due to an implied verb. The rationale for the order is the priority of knowledge regarding His power, which is understood by "The Almighty," over the knowledge of His wisdom, which is signaled by "The Wise." Some have made "The Almighty" look toward His saying, Exalted is He: "(There is no god but He)," and "The Wise" look toward His saying, Exalted is He: "(Standing with justice)." Giving them the nominative as a predicate for an omitted subject, or as a substitute for "He," or as an adjective for Him—based on what al-Sakkaki went toward regarding the permissibility of describing the absent—while making them an adjective for the subject of shahida is remote.

Traditions have been narrated regarding the merit of the verse. Al-Daylami narrated from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari in marfu' form: When "Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds," the Verse of the Throne, "God bears witness," and "Say: O God, Owner of Sovereignty" up to "without account" were revealed, they clung to the Throne and said: "Do You send us down to a people who commit sins against You?" Then He said: "By My Might, My Majesty, and the loftiness of My place, no servant recites you after the end of a prescribed prayer except that I forgive him what was in it, make him dwell in the Garden of Firdaws, look upon him seventy times every day, and fulfill for him seventy needs, the lowest of which is forgiveness."

Ibn 'Adi, al-Tabarani, al-Bayhaqi (who weakened it), al-Khatib, and Ibn al-Najjar narrated from Ghalib al-Qattan, who said: I came to Kufa and stayed near al-A'mash. When it was night and I intended to leave, he stood up and performed the night prayer. He passed by this verse (God bears witness, etc.), and he said: "And I bear witness to God with what God Almighty has borne witness, and I entrust this testimony to God, and it is a deposit for me with God Almighty." He said this repeatedly. I said: "He has heard something regarding it," and I asked him. He said: "Abu Wa'il ibn Abdullah narrated to me, saying: The Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said: 'The possessor of this will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and God Almighty will say: My servant has made a covenant with Me, and I am the most entitled to fulfill the covenant. Enter My servant into Paradise.'"

It is narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr that there were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka'ba, and when this noble verse was revealed, they fell prostrate toward the Ka'ba.