Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:43
And those who have disbelieved say, "You are not a messenger." Say, [O Muhammad], "Sufficient is Allah as Witness between me and you, and [the witness of] whoever has knowledge of the Scripture."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: and those who disbelieve in Allah from your people say, O Muḥammad, "you are not a messenger!" — as a denial of you and a rejection of your prophethood. Then say to them when they say that: كَفَى بِاللَّهِ — He says: Allah suffices for me — شَهِيدًا — that is to say: as a witness — بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ — concerning me and concerning you — for my truthfulness and your mendacity. وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ (and whoever has with him knowledge of the Book).
"Man," if it is read thus, is in the position of the genitive, as a conjoined apposition to the name of Allah. And so the reciters of the great cities read it, with the meaning: and those with whom is knowledge of the Books that were sent down before the Qurʾān, such as the Torah and the Gospel. And on the basis of this reading the exegetes have explained it.
Mention of the narration concerning that:
20535 — ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: Abū Muḥayyāt Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of the nephew of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām said: Concerning me was sent down: كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ.
20536 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī related to us, saying: Shuʿayb ibn Ṣafwān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr related to us, that Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām said: Concerning me was sent down: قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ.
20537 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — those with whom is knowledge of the Book: they are the People of the Book among the Jews and the Christians.
20538 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Al-Ashjāʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — he said: he is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
20539 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym informed us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid informed us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — he said: a man from the people, and he did not name him.
20540 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — he is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
20541 — … he said: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ.
20542 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلاً — he said: these are the words of the polytheists of Quraysh. قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — folk of the People of the Book who testified to the truth and acknowledged it, and knew that Muḥammad is the Prophet ﷺ, the messenger of Allah — as it is narrated that among them was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
20543 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — he said: among them were ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, Salmān al-Fārisī, and Tamīm al-Dārī.
20544 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — he said: he is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām.
It has also been narrated from a group of the early scholars that they read it as "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — with the meaning: from Allah the Book is known.
Mention of those from whom that was narrated:
20545 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭāʾ related to us, on the authority of Hārūn, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Waḥshiyya, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he says: from Allah the Book is known.
20546 — Ibn al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah.
20547 — … he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah the Book is known. And Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related this account to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: he is Allah. Thus Al-Ḥasan read it: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu".
20548 — … he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn Zādhān, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan — the same.
20549 — He said: ʿAlī — that is, Ibn al-Jaʿd — related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn Zādhān, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: Allah. Shuʿba said: I mentioned that to Al-Ḥakam, and he said: Mujāhid said the same.
20550 — Ibn al-Muthanā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Manṣūr ibn Zādhān narrate on the authority of Al-Ḥasan concerning this verse: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah.
20551 — … he said: Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Hawdha related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah the Book is known.
20552 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah is the knowledge of the Book. Thus Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā said it.
20553 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: he said: Al-Ḥasan read it as "qul kafā bi-llāhi shahīdan baynī wa-baynakum wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he says: from Allah the Book is known, and its entirety. Abū Jaʿfar said: thus it was narrated to us by Bishr: "ʿulima al-kitābu" — but I think that he erred in it, and that it is: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — because his word "wa-jumlatuhu" is a noun, and a noun cannot be conjoined to a past participle.
20554 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, on the authority of Hārūn: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he says: from Allah the Book is known.
20555 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, who said: I said to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — is it ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām? He said: this sūrah is a Meccan sūrah — how then can it be ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām! And he read it as "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he says: from Allah.
20556 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, who said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about the word of Allah وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — is it ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām? He said: how so, when this sūrah is a Meccan sūrah? And Saʿīd read it as "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu".
20557 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbbād related to me, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan and Juwaybir, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim — the two of them said: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — he said: from Allah.
Abū Jaʿfar said: And there has been narrated from the Prophet ﷺ a report that confirms this reading and this interpretation — but in its chain of transmission (isnād) there is doubt, and it is:
20558 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to me, on the authority of Hārūn al-Aʿwar, on the authority of Al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of his father, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ that he read: "wa-min ʿindihi ʿulima al-kitābu" — with Allah the Book is known.
Abū Jaʿfar said: And this is a report that has no basis among the reliable transmitters of Al-Zuhrī. And since that is so, and the reciters of the great cities — the people of Ḥijāz, Sham, and Iraq — adhere to the other reading, namely: وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ — then the interpretation that accords with the meaning to which the reciters of the great cities adhere is the most correct over what contradicts it, because the reading upon which they are agreed is more likely to be correct.
