Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:18
Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (3:18) ("Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and likewise the angels and those who possess knowledge, while He upholds justice. There is no god but He, the Almighty, the All-Wise.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means thereby: Allah has borne witness that there is no god but He, and the angels have borne witness, and those who possess knowledge.
Thus "the angels" are, by means of them, conjoined to the name "Allah," and "annahu" (that He) is in the naṣb form (fatḥa) on account of the verb "shahida" (He bore witness).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: Some of the scholars of Basra explained His statement "Allah bears witness" (shahida Allāh) as meaning "Allah has decreed" (qaḍā Allāh), and they read "the angels" in the rafʿ form (nominative), with the meaning: and the angels are witnesses, and likewise those who possess knowledge.
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And thus the reciters of the people of Islam have read it, with fatḥa on the alif of "annahu," in accordance with what I have mentioned concerning making "shahida" govern the first "annahu," and with kasra on the alif of the second "inna," with which a new sentence begins. Except that some of the later scholars of the Arabic language read all of this with fatḥa on both alifs, with the meaning: Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and that the religion with Allah is Islam — conjoining "anna al-dīn" (that the religion) to the first "annahu," and then dropping the "wāw" of conjunction, though it is nonetheless intended in the sentence. He adduced as an argument for this that Ibn ʿAbbās read it as follows: شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ ("Allah bears witness that there is no god but He") — the entire āya — and then said: إِنَّ الدِّينَ ("Verily, the religion") with kasra on the first "inna" and fatḥa on the second "anna," with "shahida" governing it, and treating the first "anna" as a parenthetical insertion within the sentence which "shahida" does not govern. And that Ibn Masʿūd read: "Allah bears witness that there is no god but He" with fatḥa on "anna" and kasra on "inna" of: "Verily, the religion with Allah is Islam" — with the meaning that the "witnessing" governs the first "anna," while the second "anna" forms the beginning of a new sentence. He claimed that by his reading of both with fatḥa he wished to combine the reading of Ibn ʿAbbās and that of Ibn Masʿūd. Thus he diverged by his reading — as I have described — from all the reciters of the people of Islam, both the earlier among them and the later, on the basis of a supposed interpretation which he attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn Masʿūd, claiming that they said this and recited thus. But what he attributed to them is unknown, on the basis of any narration — neither a sound one nor a weak one. And as a witness against the invalidity of his reading, its divergence from the reading of the people of Islam suffices.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view, since the matter regarding the reading of this is as we have described, is: fatḥa on the alif of the first "annahu," and kasra on the alif of the second "inna" — I mean of His statement: إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الإِسْلامُ ("Verily, the religion with Allah is Islam"), as the beginning of a new sentence.
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From al-Suddī there is transmitted, in the explanation of this, a statement which as it were points to the correctness of what the one whose statement we have mentioned among the language scholars read, regarding the fatḥa on "anna" in His statement "anna al-dīn" (that the religion), and that is the following:
6760 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and likewise the angels" up to "there is no god but He, the Almighty, the All-Wise." He said: Allah bears witness — He, and the angels, and the learned among mankind — that the religion with Allah is Islam.
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This explanation indicates that the "witnessing" governs the second "anna" which is found in His statement: "that the religion with Allah is Islam." On the basis of this explanation, there are for the first "anna" two possible modes of interpretation:
First: that the first is in the naṣb form as a kind of ground/cause, with the meaning: Allah bears witness because He is One — so that it is with fatḥa, with the meaning of the khafḍ (genitive) according to the school of some language scholars, and with the meaning of the naṣb according to the school of others — while the "witnessing" governs the second "anna," as if you said: Allah bears witness that the religion with Allah is Islam, because He is One; then one places "because He is One" forward, and then one vocalizes it with fatḥa according to that interpretation.
Second: that the first "inna" is with kasra as the beginning of a sentence, because it is a parenthetical insertion, and the "witnessing" falls upon the second "anna." Then the meaning of the sentence is: Allah bears witness — for there is no god but He — and likewise the angels, that the religion with Allah is Islam, as one would say: "I bear witness — for I am in the right — that you are free of that with which you are slandered." Thus the first "inna" is with kasra, because it is a parenthetical insertion, and the "witnessing" falls upon the second "anna."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: As for His statement "while He upholds justice" (qāʾiman bi-l-qisṭ), it has the meaning that it is He who attends to equity among His creatures.
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"Al-qisṭ" is equity, derived from their expression: "he is just (muqsiṭ)" and "he has acted justly (aqsaṭa)," when he is just.
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And "qāʾiman" is in the naṣb form on the basis of al-qaṭʿ (the circumstantial qualifier, ḥāl).
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Some of the grammarians of the people of Basra claimed that it is a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) of the "He" (huwa) found in "there is no god but He."
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And some of the grammarians of Kufa claimed that it is a circumstantial qualifier of the name "Allah" found in His statement "Allah bears witness," so that the meaning is: Allah, who upholds justice, bears witness that there is no god but He. And it has been mentioned that in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it runs thus: وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ الْقَائِمُ بِالْقِسْطِ ("and those who possess knowledge — the One who upholds justice"). Then the "alif and lām" of "al-qāʾim" were dropped, so that it became indefinite while it is a qualification of a definite word, and therefore it came to be in the naṣb form.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the two statements concerning this is, in my view, the statement of the one who takes it as qaṭʿ (circumstantial qualifier), on the basis that it belongs to the qualifications of Allah — exalted is His praise — because "the angels and those who possess knowledge" are conjoined thereto. Thus it is correct that His statement "qāʾiman" is a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) of Him.
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As for the explanation of His statement "there is no god but He, the Almighty, the All-Wise": thereby He has denied that there is anything that deserves worship (ʿubūda) apart from the One, who has no partner in His sovereignty.
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And by "the Almighty (al-ʿAzīz)" He means: the One for whom nothing He wills is impossible, and whom no one can resist when He punishes him or takes vengeance upon him — "the All-Wise (al-Ḥakīm)" in His disposing, so that no defect creeps into it.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah — exalted is His praise — intended by this āya only the denial of what the Christians, who disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning ʿĪsā, ascribed to Him of sonship, and of what all the rest of the polytheists (mushrikīn) ascribed to Him, namely that He has a partner, and their taking lords apart from Him. Thus Allah informed them about Himself that He is the Creator of everything apart from Him, and that He is the Lord of everything which every disbeliever (kāfir) and every polytheist has taken as a lord besides Him, and that this belongs to that of which He Himself bears witness, as well as His angels and those of His creatures who have knowledge of it. Thus He — exalted is His praise — began with Himself, in glorification of Himself and in declaring Himself holy above that which the polytheists whose case we have mentioned ascribed to Him — that which they ascribed to Him —, just as He has prescribed for His servants as a custom that in their affairs they begin with the remembrance of Him before the remembrance of anything else, by which He instructs His creatures.
And the aim of the statement is the report concerning the witnessing of those of His creatures whom He has chosen and who declared Him holy: namely His angels and the learned among His servants. Thus He informed them that His angels — whom the polytheists who worship others than Him glorify, and whom many of them worship — and the learned among them, reject that to which they cling of their disbelief and their statement about ʿĪsā, and the statement of whoever among the rest of the creatures has taken a lord besides Him. Therefore He said: the angels and those who possess knowledge have borne witness that there is no god but He, and that everyone who has taken a lord besides Allah is a liar — as an argument from Him in favor of His prophet, peace be upon him, against those of the delegation of Najrān who disputed with him concerning ʿĪsā.
And He inserted the mention of Allah and His qualification as a parenthetical clause, as I have set forth, just as He — exalted is His praise — said: وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُ [Surah Al-Anfāl: 41] ("And know that of whatever you acquire as spoils of war, a fifth is for Allah"), where the statement is opened with His name. Thus He likewise opened with His name and with the praise of Himself the witnessing with that which we have described: the denial of godhood to anything other than Him, and the giving of the lie to the polytheists.
As for what the one whose statement we have described said, namely that by His statement "shahida" (He bore witness) He meant "qaḍā" (He decreed) — that belongs to that which is known neither in the language of the Arabs nor in that of the non-Arabs, for the "witnessing" is a particular meaning, and "the decreeing" is something other than it.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the statement about it is transmitted from some of the earlier ones.
6761 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and likewise the angels and those who possess knowledge" — contrary to what they said, that is: contrary to what the delegation of Najrān of the Christians said — "while He upholds justice," that is: with equity.
6762 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "bi-l-qisṭ," with equity.