Tafsir of Al-Hadeed 57:19

"And those who believe in Allah and His messengers" — the manner of their faith has already been explained at the conclusion of Surah Al-Baqarah. The relative pronoun (al-ladhina) is the first subject (mubtada’). His saying, Exalted is He, "Those" (ula’ika) is a second subject; it is a demonstrative referring to the relative pronoun, containing the meaning of distance for reasons previously mentioned multiple times. His saying, Glorified is He, "are" (hum) is a third subject. His saying, Almighty and Majestic is He, "the truthful" (al-siddiqun) "and the witnesses" (al-shuhada’) is the predicate of the third subject, and the sentence (the third subject and its predicate) is the predicate of the second subject, which—along with its predicate—is the predicate of the first. Or, "they" (hum) is a separator pronoun (damir fasl), and what follows it is the predicate of the second.

His saying, Exalted is He, "with their Lord" ('inda rabbihim) relates, according to some, to the state of "being" (al-thubut) which the sentence implies; meaning, "Those are, with their Lord—Almighty and Majestic is He—and in His judgment, Glorified is He, the truthful and the witnesses." The intent is that they are, in the judgment of Allah Almighty, in the position of the truthful and the witnesses who are renowned for the loftiness of their rank and the elevation of their status. These are those who preceded others in belief, became firmly rooted in it, and were martyred in the cause of Allah, Majestic is His Majesty.

He who is killed fighting in His cause—Exalted is He—is called a shahid (witness/martyr) because Allah—Glorified is He—and His angels—peace be upon them—are witnesses for him regarding Paradise. It is said: because he is alive and does not die, as if he is shahid, meaning present. It is said: because the angels of mercy witness him. It is said: because he witnesses what Allah—Exalted is He—has prepared for him in terms of honor. It is said other than that. Thus, it is either a fa'il form (active participle) meaning "one who witnesses," or a maf'ul form (passive participle) meaning "one who is witnessed," according to different interpretations.

His saying, Exalted is He, "they have their reward and their light" is a second predicate for the relative pronoun, on the basis that it is a sentence consisting of a subject and predicate; or, "for them" (lahum) is the predicate, and what follows is in the nominative case as the agent of that predicate. The pronoun in "for them" refers to the relative pronoun, and the latter two pronouns refer to the truthful and the witnesses. The purpose is to clarify the fruits of the attributes of perfection with which they are described; meaning, those people have a reward and light like that of the truthful and the witnesses, who are known for the pinnacle of perfection and the difficulty of attainment. The tool of comparison (adat al-tashbih) has been omitted to alert one to the strength of the similarity and its reaching the extent of unification, just as was done previously when it was said, "Those are the truthful and the witnesses." The comparison is not between what the first group has of reward and light and the entirety of what the latter two groups have, but rather between the totality of what the first has (of the core reward and the multiplication) and what the latter two have (of the core reward without the multiplication). Thus, the multiplication is what distinguishes the latter two groups from the first. Sometimes, no metaphorical comparison is considered in the speech at all, and it is left upon its literal meaning; in this case, all the pronouns refer to the relative pronoun, meaning: those are the ones who are excessive in truthfulness, as they believed and testified to all the news of Allah and the news of His messengers—peace be upon them—and they are the ones who uphold the testimony to Allah—Glorified is He—of His oneness and all other attributes of perfection, and they have, in a manner befitting them, the reward and the light promised to them.

Some have said: They are described as witnesses (shuhada’) because they are witnesses over the people, as expressed by His saying, Exalted is He, "And thus We have made you a middle nation so that you may be witnesses over the people." On this view, "with their Lord" relates to the witnesses, and the intent is "witnesses over the people on the Day of Resurrection." It is also permitted that it relates to the witnesses on the first interpretation, in the sense of "those who witnessed the increase of honor by being killed in the cause of Allah—Exalted is He—on the Day of Resurrection, or in the enclosure of His mercy—Almighty and Majestic is He—or the like."

Many narrations testify to the fact that "the witnesses" is conjoined to "the truthful." Ibn Jarir narrated from Al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: "Indeed, the believers of my nation are witnesses," then the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited: "And those who believe in Allah and His messengers—those are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord." Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Abu Hurairah that he said one day to people with him: "All of you are siddiq (truthful) and shahid (witness)." It was said to him: "What are you saying, O Abu Hurairah?" He said: "Read: 'And those who believe in Allah and His messengers' [the verse]." ‘Abd al-Razzaq and ‘Abd ibn Humayd narrated from Mujahid that he said: "Every believer is siddiq and shahid," then he recited the verse. A similar narration came from ‘Amr ibn Maymun. Ibn Hibban narrated from ‘Amr ibn Murrah al-Juhani that a man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you see if I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah, and I pray the five prayers, pay the zakah, fast Ramadan, and stand in prayer during its nights—who am I?" He said: "You are among the truthful and the witnesses."

It is appropriate to interpret "those who believe" as those who possess perfection in that belief, which is counted [as such], and this is not realized except by performing acts of obedience that are counted. Otherwise, it is remote that a believer immersed in desires and heedless of acts of obedience would be a siddiq and shahid. Support for this is found in what came from the hadith of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "What is the matter with you that when you see a man tearing into the honor of people, you do not blame him?" They said: "We fear his tongue." He said: "That makes it even more necessary that you not be witnesses." Ibn al-Athir said: Meaning, if you do not do that, you would not be among the assembly of witnesses who will bear witness on the Day of Resurrection against the nations that belied their prophets. The same applies to his saying (peace be upon him): "The constant cursers will not be witnesses," based on one of the two opinions regarding it.

In some reports, there is what appears to indicate a specific group of the elite among the believers. Ibn Mardawayh narrated from Abu al-Darda’ that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever flees with his religion from one land to another out of fear of trials for himself and his religion, he is written with Allah as a siddiq; and if he dies, Allah takes his soul as a shahid," then he recited this verse: "And those who believe in Allah and His messengers—those are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord," then said: "This is concerning them." Then he said: "Those who flee with their religion from land to land will be on the Day of Resurrection with ‘Isa ibn Maryam in his station in Paradise." It is permitted that the intent of his saying "this is concerning them" is that it is true of them and they are included in it primarily. It is said regarding his saying (peace be upon him): "With ‘Isa in his station," that the intent is with him in a station like his, and the comparison is oriented as previously mentioned. If the report is authentic, it supports the first view of the verse.

It is narrated from Al-Dahhak that it was revealed concerning twelve men who preceded the people of the earth in their time to Islam: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, Hamzah, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Sa‘d, and Zayd (may Allah be pleased with all of them). This does not harm the generality [of the verse], as is not hidden.

It is said: "The witnesses" is the subject and "with their Lord" is its predicate. It is also said: The predicate is "they have their reward." The speech on both accounts is completed at His saying, Exalted is He, "the truthful." Ibn Jarir narrated this from Ibn ‘Abbas and Al-Dahhak, who said: "And those who believe in Allah and His messengers—those are the truthful"—this is a separate clause; He named them truthful, then said: "And the witnesses with their Lord—they have their reward and their light." A group narrated from Masruq what conforms to this. They differed regarding the intent of "the witnesses" in this case; it is said: those who are witnesses in the cause of Allah. This is narrated from Muqatil ibn Sulayman. It is said: the prophets (peace be upon them) who testify against the nations. This is narrated from Masruq and Muqatil ibn Hayyan, and Al-Farra’ and Al-Zajjaj chose this. Abu Hayyan claimed that the apparent meaning is that "the witnesses" is a subject and what follows is the predicate. He who is fair knows it is not as he said, and that what the loftiness of the noble arrangement requires is what has preceded. As for the light, on all interpretations, it is upon its reality. From Mujahid and others, it is an expression for guidance, honor, and glad tidings.

"And those who disbelieved and denied Our signs"—meaning all of them, despite their various types; this refers to their disbelief in all the messengers (peace be upon them)—"those"—described with that ugly attribute—"are the companions of Hellfire," such that they shall never depart from it.