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In the Name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

And bless be upon Muhammad and his pure Household, and may Allah's curse be on his enemies from now until the Day of Resurrection! And there is no power or strength except for the Lofty Glorious Allah.

The Wise Allah has stated in His Glorious Book:

 أَفَمَن كَانَ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ وَيَتْلُوهُ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْهُ وَمِن قَبْلِهِ كِتَابُ مُوسَى إَمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً أُوْلَئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ مِنَ الأَحْزَابِ فَالنَّارُ مَوْعِدُهُ فَلاَ تَكُ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِّنْهُ إِنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ.

‘… so what of him who stands upon a clear explanation from his Lord and to whom is a witness from [His kingship], and Moses’ Book lying before him as a token and a mercy; (is he similar to one who thinks different)? Those [who search for the truth] believe in it. Anyone from the factions who disbelieve in it will have the Fire for his appoint­ment, so do not be in any quandary about it; it is the Truth from your Lord, though most people do not believe it, (Qur’an: 11/17).’^[1]

In this auspicious verse, the meaning of ‘who stands upon a clear explanation’ is the generous Messenger, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, and the meaning of ‘who is a witness’ refers to the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace. Regarding to this verse, there are many narratives from the Sunnite and Shiite, and the narratives that the Sunnite have related by their own documents are even more than the narratives of the Shiite.

Al‘lāma Mohaddith Bahrani has mentioned twenty-three narratives from the Sunnite and eleven from the Shiite.^[2]

Now, before beginning our discussion and also explaining the narratives, it is necessary to comment on this verse.

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A brief view on the Blissful Verse of Hood (hüd)

This verse belongs to the chapter 17^th, Hood, and it is sent down in Mecca. The chapter begins with: 

الَر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ

‘… A, L, R, (ălïf, lām, rā): [This is] a Book that its Verses are decisive, and have been elaborated by the Aware Sovereign.’

As we see, it begins explaining the highest degree Qur’an, the decisive Qur’an, and the detailed Qur’an, or in other word, the Qur’an that in the highest worlds is the unique fact, and in this world, it appears as the chapters, verses, commands, verity of knowledge, different events separated from each other. And the following verses include: inviting [the people] to worship Allah, asking for His Holiness repentance and the statement how to refer to Him. In the fifth verse, it explains the Quraish and the disbelievers’ rejecting  the invitation; then, the following verses inform us of the Self-existence of the Creator and His creation, and also the Resurrection and how the creatures will be returned to him. The verses also discuss about the rejecters and the conditions and persistence of the believers and their other situations: fear, cheerfulness, doubts, despair,  ingratitude proud and out of place happiness.

It goes on up to the verse 11^th where He states:     

O Messenger! So be careful you [in announcing] of what is revealed unto you, [for their avoiding it], you may leave it and become upset because of their saying: ‘Why has not a treasure been revealed to him, or an angel has not come along with him?’ (Do not be hopeless of their objections), you are only a forewarning and Allah is Protector over everything.

Or they say, ‘He has forged this [Qur'an]!’ Say, ‘Well then [you too] bring ten Su:răs made up like it if you are so truthful, and [then] appeal to anyone you are able to instead of Allah.’

But if they do not respond to you, then know that it has only been revealed by the Knowledge of Allah; and that there is no deity except Him, so now will you surrender?

And then in two successive verses He states the conditions of the worldly people that:

أَفَمَن كَانَ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ وَيَتْلُوهُ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْهُ وَمِن قَبْلِهِ كِتَابُ مُوسَى إَمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً أُوْلَئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ...

What about one who stands upon a clear explanation from his Lord and to whom is a witness from [His kingship], and Moses’ Book lying before him as a token and a mercy? They believe in it.

These intelligent people, who are expert in the Book of Allah, believe … and you doubt not in the rightfulness of the Qur’an.

As the previous verses were debating on the rightfulness of the Qur’an against the disbelievers, this verse oversees those verses by reasoning and proof necessary for the belief in the Glorious Qur’an – and it is negative question.  

Here, we must investigate to see what ‘the clear explanation’ is, and what the meanings of يَتْلُو and شَاهِدٌ are.

In some verses of the Qur’an, the word بَيِّنَةٍ means ‘proof,’ such as:

ليهلك من هلك عن بينة ^[3]

And somewhere it means ‘sign and miracle’, as: 

قد جاءتكم بينة من ربكم هذه ناقة الله لكم ^[4]

And sometimes it is translated as ‘specific insight and special light’ given to the messengers, as the statement of Noah, Upon Him be Peace:  

يا قوم ا رايتم ان كنت على بينة من ربى و آتانى رحمة من عنده  ليكن‏ يا قوم ا رايتم ان كنت على بينة من ربى و آتانى رحمة من عنده. ^[5]

However, sometimes بَيِّنَةٍ means the Divine insight and the inward light, as the statement of the Exalted Allah:

أَفَمَن كَانَ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ كَمَن زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءهُمْ. ^[6]

Is one who has an evident insight from his Lord like someone whose evil action seems attractive, and they have followed their own desires?

Our aim of discussing on the word of بَيِّنَةٍ is the latter one in here; it is also followed in the plural case, as stated: اولئِك يؤمِنون بهِ ‘They believe in the Qur’an’.

And it is clear that not all the believers possess the specific insight of the prophet-hood, though it looks apparent that the aim of بَيِّنَةٍ here means the Messenger of Allah, but this sentence is the start for the next one, as it says:فلا تك فى مرية منه  ‘[O Messenger], do not doubt about the Qur’an.’

Thus, the meaning of  بَيِّنَة is the very Divine insight that has been given to the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants – it does not mean the Qur’an because it does not go with this following clause:  

‘فلا تك فى مرية ’

It is benefitted from this subject that the statement of some people who have said: the purpose of evidence in this verse that is specified for the Messenger is not correct, it is because the sentence is followed in plural ‘اولئِك يؤمِنون بهِ’ and this plural form has been taken from the very

 من كان على بينه من ربه

And also the statements of some people who have said: ‘Here the purpose is the companions of the Messenger of Allah’ is still wrong because the Messenger himself used to be evidence – not according to the occasion but according to the use of the verse. Allah wants to state him: you that own the divine evidence and the external witness, and the Book of Moses has also already confirmed you, then you must believe in the Qur’an and never doubt about it. Let the demands of the Quraish disbelievers, who ask you for treasures and the angels descend, not worn you out, and be steady in your mission, propagating Islam and guiding the people.

And the statement of some who mean: ‘The purpose of evidence is the Qur’an or the proof of the wisdom,’ is not perfect, because this step is for inviting [people] to the Qur’an and taking hold of it. That is, one who possesses insight and the Divine light he surely believes in the Qur’an; now, O Messenger, you too that have such evidence, do not doubt about the Qur’an.

There is no sense in it, how can you command one who owns the Qur’an, to believe in it, and telling him not to doubt about it!

And the wisdom proof that as the evidence is with the Messenger is stronger, therefore, this is already with the generous Messenger and there is no reason to allocate him another wisdom proof. And the meaning of يَتْلُو is coming to terms, but not its apparent meaning: reciting; because it is not right to say: that witness was reciting the Messenger, the light of Allah, and we said that the evidence does not mean the Qur’an to be recited.

However, the meaning of witness is clear that it stands for witnessing but not bearing it, because bearing does not mean the proof to the disbelievers. It is but the phrase of ‘bearing a witness’ that means proof for them and so is the reinforcement for the Messenger and confirming the Divine insight and light. Thus, the purpose of witness is one who confesses the prophetic mission of the Messenger; he confirms it and believes in it. It is because the witness of a determined person wipes out any doubts on the way, it takes away the fear of being lonely; for when he feels to be lonely and not one comes to his help he becomes weak and hopeless when encountering the difficulties. It is quite opposite to one who receives the supports of the others and always feels strong. 

Here too, against the attack of their disbelievers and their harsh objections, Allah states: “O Messenger, one who owns the Divine Evidence and also have external witness, aid and the supporters, believes in the Qur’an. He is never in dilemma nor does he doubt. Such a man, without doubt, is Ali bin Abī Tālib, who from the beginning of the messenger-hood embraced the Islam and in the difficulties helped the Highness Messenger. He, by this verse:^[7] وَ أَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الاقْرَبِين accepted the invitation of the Messenger of Allah and in the clan narrative, he stood up single handed and bore the heavy duty and responsibility of the messenger-hood and became the aid, supporter and the Minister of the Messenger. Therefore, whatever is said so far is that the verse is specified and refers to the blissful being, the Holiness, Upon Him be Peace.

Abu-al-Fat‘h Razi has a fair statement in restricting the evidence to Ali bin Abī Tālib and repelling the other probabilities. As in the beginning he has explained the probabilities and statements in the evidence, and then very gently he has repelled it, we too first explain the statements and then mention his points in repelling them.

He says: There is no difference among the commentators that the owner of the evidence is the Messenger of Allah himself, but the difference is in the meaning of the evidence.

Abdullah, Alghama, Ibrahim, Mojahid, Abu Salih, Abu al-Aaleia and Ekrama have said the main meaning of the evidence is Gabriel. And Hassan Basri and Ghatada have said: It means the tongue of the Messenger of Allah.

However, some have said: It means the feature of the Messenger of Allah; (it is because the face of the blissful Messenger was in a way that whoever looked at him on the face, accepted him).

And Hussein bin Fazl has said: The purpose of the evidence is the Holy Qur’an, and the strange order and surprising method, and its miracles are the best evidence and document for the messenger-hood.

And ibn Joraij and Mojahid have said: The aim of the evidence is the same angel who always protected and strengthened the Messenger.

And some others have said: The aim is the Messenger of Allah himself.^[8]

Although they have ascribed these probabilities and statement to the commentators but they look unpleasant and hesitant, because every one of them is opposite to the appearance of the verse, and it is because the clause: و يتلوه شاهِد مِنه  is formed of three words, the first one is يتلوه which means: side, beside and following; the second one is شاهِد and it means the witness, and the third one is the word مِنه which is a pronoun and its reference is the Messenger who is the very owner of the evidence. By taking these three words into consideration it becomes clear that all the probabilities of the commentators are wrong.

However, he who has said: The meaning of the evidence is Gabriel or the appointed angel to the Holiness Messenger of Allah, is totally wrong because of the word مِنه for the Angel and Gabriel are not of the quality of the Messenger of Allah – they are of the angels and the Messenger of Allah has the quality of human being. But in the word مِنه  the pronoun ‘ه’after the proposition مِن means that evidence is of the quality of the Messenger.

But he who has said: ‘The purpose of the evidence is the Qur’an,’ this theory is also wrong because of the word يتلوه and مِنه , because the Qur’an is not on the side, beside and behind the Messenger of Allah, besides it is neither of the quality of the Holiness.

However, he who has said: ‘The purpose is the tongue of the Messenger of Allah,’ has also made a mistake because of the words يتلوه and شاهِد, because the tongue of the Messenger does not trail him, above all, no one’s tongue stands as a witness for the righteousness of one’s clam.

However, he who says: ‘The purpose is the Holiness Messenger himself,’ his claim is totally baseless, because it is inconsistent with the words يتلوه, شاهِد and مِنه, because the Messenger of Allah is not [standing] behind his own back, he is not a witness to himself. And as all these probabilities and statements are invalid the certainty is that the purpose of evidence must be the same one that the opponent and ally have related from the Messenger of Allah, and the occasion of revelation of this verse is about him. And he none except the Commander of the believers, Ali bin Abī Tālib, Upon Him be Peace, who agrees and goes with these words: مِنه, شاهِد,  يتلوه.

It is because the Holiness Ali was always beside and behind the Messenger of Allah, and he was a constant witness for the prophecy of that Holiness, and above all, he was of the human quality and was from the Messenger himself. ^[9]

Anyhow, the closest verse, in the point of view of meaning and reference to the commented verse, is the chapter 46, ăl-ăh’ghāf, verses 10-12:

 قل ارايتم ان كان من عند الله و كفرتم به و شهد شاهد من بنى اسرائيل على مثله فآمن و استكبرتم ان الله لا يهدى القوم الظالمين و قال الذين كفروا للذين آمنوا لو كان خيرا ما سبقونا اليه و اذ لم يهتدوا به فسيقولون هذا افك قديم و من قبله كتاب موسى اماما و رحمة و هذا كتاب مصدق لسانا عربيا لينذر الذين ظلموا و بشرى للمحسني.

Say, ‘Have you considered if this [Book] is from Allah, and you disbelieve in it, then a witness from among the Children of Israel testifies its likeness [with Torah], and believes in it, while you grow proud, [are you not yet wrongdoers]?’ In fact, Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.

And those who disbelieve said about the believers: ‘If this [Qur’an] were good we would have gotten far ahead of them on the way toward it’ But, since they are not guided by it, they certainly say, ‘This is an ancient tale!’

 [However,] before this, the Book of Moses was a guide and mercy, and this [Qur’an] is a Book which confirms it in Arabic language, so that to warn those who do wrong and it is good news for the good-doers.

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The meaning of “شاهِدٌ” in the Verse of  و شهِد شاهِدٌ علي مِثلِهِ

First of all, by considering these two sets of verses and then comparing them with each other, it becomes clear that each one of them is the Divine Evident Proof, which the disbelievers reject, and it is stated in the negative question case.

And secondly, in both groups, He introduces the Torah, which is the Book of guidance and mercy and was sent down before the Qur’an to furnish the course for the Book of Allah, the Glorious Qur’an. And the Qur’an is the confirmer of it; moreover, the Qur’an is not a modern book that the disbelievers reject it. It is like Torah which was sent down before that, the morale subjects of the Qur’an are similar to Torah and there is no excuse for them to reject it.

It is so that He has stated in verse 9: قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعًا مِّنْ الرُّسُلِ

‘… Say, ‘I am not an occurrence among the messengers.’

Thirdly, as in the previous explained verse the purpose of: و يتلوه شاهِد مِنه  is the successor of the Messenger of Allah, the Commander of the believers , Upon Him be Peace, who is the genuine document of the messenger-hood and a witness to the Messenger of Allah. Similar to that among the Children of Israel the successor of Moses, Joshua bin Noun was the document of the messenger-hood of Moses and a witness over his messenger-hood – he believed in Moses, therefore, it is stated:

 وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ

‘… and a witness from among the Children of Israel testified alike that [Qur’an which is the same as Torah].  ^[10]

It is benefitted from the valuable statement of the Messenger of Allah that: Whatever has happened to the last nations will happen exactly the same to my nation,’ means that the testimony of Ali bin Abī Tālib, Upon Him be Peace, concerning the messenger-hood of the Messenger of Allah is similar to the successor of Moses about the messenger-hood of the Holiness Moses. 

Therefore, by comparing the verses in two foregoing chapters: 11, Hood and 46, al-Ah‘ghaf, it becomes clear that a witness among Children of Israel who had given evidence on a thing like the Qur’an, the Torah, is similar to the witness of one giving evidence to the Messenger of Allah – that means, he has given evidence of the integrity of the messenger-hood of the Messenger himself. A good witness to our claim is a narrative by Siyu:ti who has put it in his commentary saying: Saeed nin Mansour, ibn Jarir and ibn Masrooq, may Allah be well-pleased with him, have extracted it from the statement of the Exalted Allah: 

 و شهد شاهد من بنى اسرائيل على مثله قال: موسى مثل محمد، و التوراة مثل القرآن فآمن هذا بكتابه و نبيه و كفرتم يا اهل مكة . ^[11]

‘[He says in] the comment of: شهد شاهد على مثلهthat: ‘Moses is like Muhammad and the Torah is like the Qur’an,’ so that man among the children of Israel believed in his Book, the Torah, and his messenger; but you, o people of Mecca, denied the Book of your Messenger, the Qur’an, as well his messenger-hood!’

It is strange that almost all the commentators, even the Shiite commentators, have taken the word شاهد in و شهد شاهد من بنى اسرائيل على مثله for Abdullah bin Salam – though the Late Tabarsi, Feiz Kashani,^[12] and our great Master, Al‘lāma Tabatabaee^[13] have stipulated this the correct meaning of it.

And concerning this, Siyu:ti has narrated that: Abu Ya‘li and ibn Jarir, Tabrani and Hakim have taken it from Auf bin Malik Ash‘jaee saying that: It was the Festival Day of the Jews and the Holy Messenger went to their synagogue in Medina, and I was following the Holiness; but the people inside were upset seeing us enter the synagogue. The Messenger of Allah told them: ‘Single out twelve men of yours to say:لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله  so that Allah may take His wrath away from every Jew under the copious heavens.’ All of them kept quiet and none answered the Messenger of Allah. For the second time the Messenger repeated his question but also not anyone answered him; he even said the same thing for the third time but there came no answer from anyone.

The Holiness said: ‘You restrained yourselves accepting it, but by Allah, I am free from blame whether you believe in me or reject me.’ Then, the Holiness was to leave the synagogue when suddenly a man stood up and approached him saying: ‘O Muhammad, we know that you are what you claim you are, then he turned to the Jews and said: ‘O the company of the Jews, what kind of a man do you think I am?’ They said: By Allah, we know no one to be more learned on the Book of Allah, Torah and more jurisprudent than you, your father and your grandfather in our tribe.

Then, the man said: ‘I call Allah to witness that Muhammad is the same Messenger that you are reading about in the Torah and Bible.’

They all shouted: ‘You the liars, bad guy,’ and they rejected him.

In that case, the Messenger of Allah stated: ‘O the community of the Jews, it is you who are lying, your objection is void and it is not acceptable.’

Auf bin Malik says: We three, the Messenger of Allah, Abdullah bi Salam and I were to leave the synagogue when Allah sent down this verse:

قلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِن كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُم بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ.

[O Messenger,] Say [to these company of the Jews] ‘Have you considered if this [Book] is from Allah, and you disbelieve in it, then a witness from among the Children of Israel testifies its likeness [with Torah], and believes in it, while you grow proud, [are you not yet wrongdoers]?’ In fact, Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.^[14]

However, as we already mentioned, the evidence in the verse means just a man from the Children of Israel who had witnessed the Torah at the time of Moses, and he can be none except the successor of the Holiness Moses, Joshua bin Noun – therefore, this verse is far away from Abdullah bin Salam.

But first of all, the chapter of al-Ah‘ghaf has been revealed in Mecca, and Abdullah bin Salam’s embracing Islam was in Medina. So it does not sense that the Messenger of Allah to accept the testimony of a man who has not yet believed in Islam, he is not present, he will embrace Islam several years later, at present he is only somewhere in between, he is witnessing the truthfulness of himself against the disbelievers of the Quraish and the deniers of the Qur’an.

And secondly, in the blessed verse He makes it clear that this eyewitness has given his witness to something as the Qur’an, but not the Qur’an itself – that is the Torah. Therefore, what is the use of the Torah for the disbelievers? It is against His statement: ويتلوه شاهِد مِنه that the Commander of the believers has witnessed the messenger-hood. But the witnessing of that man among the Children of Israel to his messenger-hood or the Torah was useful and it was a document for his prophetic mission.

Thirdly, Abdullah bin Salam was in Medina when the Messenger of Allah migrated there, but not after his migration and the Festival Day of the Jews. Ibn Abdul Birr, when translating Abdullah bin Salam, says: In the beginning, Abdullah bin Salam, the son of Harith, was a Jew and then he became a Christian. His nickname is Abu Yusuf and he is of the offspring of the Holiness Jacob. He is united with the ANSAR; and it is said that he was also united with Gho‘wafila (a group from the ANSAR), who are from the Bani Auf bin Khazarj. At the era of the Ignorance, his name was Hasin and after embracing Islam, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, re-named him as Abdullah. In the year 43 anno Hejira, at the time of Mua‘wiyah he died in Medina. He was one of the scholars of the Jews and on the Messenger of Allah’s arrival in Medina he embraced Islam.

Abdullah bin Salam has said: On the arrival of the Messenger of Allah in Medina, a group of the people of Medina and I went to the out skirt of the town to watch him. I watched the Holiness attentively; I kept watching on his bright feature and gathered that he was not a liar. The first sentence I heard him say was that:

ايها الناس افشوا السلام، و اطعموا الطعام، و صلوا الارحام، و صلوا بالليل و الناس نيام، تدخلوا الجنة.

‘O people, greet and candidly offer peace upon each other, feed the people from your own food, observe the bonds of relationship and at night, when the people are asleep, perform prayers, in this way, you will enter paradise.’^[15]

The fourth is: the style of the sentence:

 قل ارايتم ان كان مِن عِندِ اللهِ و كفرتم بِهِ و شهِد شاهد مِن بنى اِسرائيل على مِثلِهِ.

Which, in this sentence, refers to that: the statement of the Messenger of Allah was not to the Children of Israel.

The fifth is that the Bible is not of the Book of the Jews, the Jews never believe in the Bible; they even disgrace the Holy Mary and call Jesus a bastard! In this case, and according to this narrative, how can Abdullah bin Salam say to the Jews: ‘I call Allah to witness that Muhammad is the same Messenger that you are seeing and reciting his signs in the Torah and Bible?!’

The whole these subjects mean that this narrative is fake. And apart from these, there are many narratives from the Sunnite saying that there has been revealed not a verse concerning Abdullah bin Salam, or this verse is not about him. Siyu:ti says: ‘Ibn Monzar has extracted a narrative from Sh‘bi saying:

ما نزل فى عبد الله بن سلام شى‏ء من القرآن. ^[16]

‘Concerning Abdullah bin Salam, nothing has been sent down in the Qur’an.’

And also he says: Abdullah bin Hamid and ibn Monzar have extracted it from Ekrama saying:

و شهِد شاهِد من بنى اِسرائيل على مثله، قال: ليس بعبد الله بن سلام، هذه الآية مكية فيقول من آمن من بنى اسرائيل كمن آمن بالنبى صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم ^[17]

‘[Ekrama has said: this verse has been sent down in Mecca, and it is not about Abdullah bin Salam; the meaning of the verse is] and he who from among the Children of Israel has believed in the Torah and the Holiness Moses is like one who, among this nation, has believed in the Qur’an and the Messenger of Allah.’

And similarly, ibn Jarir and ibn Abi Hatam have related that Masrough saying:

 قوله: و شهد شاهد من بنى اسرائيل على مثله. قال: و الله ما نزلت فى عبد الله بن سلام، ما نزلت الا بمكة و انما كان اسلام ابن سلام بالمدينة، و انما كانت خصومة خاصم بها محمد صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم. ^[18]

‘[Masrough has said: By Allah, that] the verse شهد شاهد has not been revealed concerning Abdullah bin Salam; this verse has been sent down in Mecca while Abdullah’s embracing the Islam was in Medina. However, a separate case of Salam was his dispute in Medina that the Messenger of Allah had interfered in it.’

Anyhow, the revelation of the verse for Abdullah bin Salam is so rare that some have tried to correct it by saying that: ‘The verse was sent down in Mecca and Abdullah bin Salam was in Medina.’

Siyu:ti says: Hassan bin Moslim has investigated the narratives and announced it that:

نزلت هذه الآية بمكة و عبد الله بن سلام بالمدينة.^[19]

‘This verse has been revealed in Mecca and Abdullah bin Salam was in Medina.’

And also he says: Ibn Sa‘d and ibn Asakar have extracted the narrative of Hassan Basri saying:

نزلت حم و عبد الله بالمدينة مسلم.^[20]

‘When the chapter of al-Ah‘ghaf was revealed, Abdullah was a Muslim in Medina.’

Neither of these two narratives is correct, because we said: At the time that the chapter of al-Ah‘ghaf was revealed, Abdullah bin Salam was not a Muslim. And as in the commentary of the verse

و من عنده علم الكتاب we said, only Abdullah bin Salam, his son as well his grandson claim it but no one has related it.

However, as in the verseو من عنده علم الكتاب  the occasions of revelation is the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, the scholars of the Shiite, may good pleasure of Allah be upon them, have insisted on it and proved it that the verse is not about Abdullah bin Salam. However, as in the phrasal verse و شهد شاهد the occasions of revelation does not concern that Holiness, they have not cared about it. They have passed through it with brief remark, and according to some learned of the Sunnite, they have also said the verse is about Abdullah bin Salam – though the verse is about Joshua bin Noun, the successor of Moses, similar to Ali bin Abī Tālib, the successor of Muhammad, Bless be to Him and his Descendants. And it does not make any differences whether the occasions of revelation of these two phrasal verses: the علم الكتاب and شهد شاهد are for Abdullah bin Salam or not; and both verse have been sent down in Mecca. If it is permissible in one it can be the same in the next, but if it not permissible in one of them the next is not permissible either.

And apart from all these, what is the esteem of Abdullah bin Salam with the Messenger of Allah, while is considered of unknown disposition by some, and after Othman, he did not swear allegiance with the Caliphate of the Commander of the believers, to be taken as the witness against the disbelievers; and above all, to compare him with the Torah which is the Book of mercy and guidance?!

Anyhow, all these are the investigations that we made concerning the verse:

 و شهد شاهد من بنى اسرائيل على مثله.

Now, let’s go on our subject at hand verse: «و يتلوه شاهد منه».

There are enough narratives from the Shiite and the Sunnite that this verse is about the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, and we are to mention some of them which have been related with different subject-matters.

The first, there are some narratives that have been related by ibn Abbas. He has related of Mowaf‘fagh bin Ahmad Kharazmi:

افمن كان على بينة من ربه و يتلوه شاهد منه. قال ابن عباس: هو على يشهد للنبى و هو منه.^[21]

What about one who stands upon a clear explanation from his Lord and to whom is a witness

‘Concerning this noble verse, ibn Abbas has said: the meaning of شاهد is Ali who bears witness about the prophet-hood of the Messenger, and he is the same quality of the Messenger.’

And Al‘lāma Taba‘tabaee has also related this narrative in “Tafsir Borhan” from Kharazmi.^[22]

And also Ibrahim bin Muhammad Hamwini, who is of the scholars of the Sunnite, by means of his documents from ibn Abbas, has related this in “al-Faraeed al-Semtain” that:

«افمن كان على بينة» رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم «و يتلوه شاهد منه» على عليه السّلام خاصة. ^[23]

[Ibn Abbas has said]: 'Here, the purpose of saying 'The Witness' is only Ali bin Abī Tālib.' And Hakim Haskani has related the same narrative.^[24] And Tha'labi has also put it in his commentary, with the same style and phrases from ibn Abbas.^[25] And Allama Tabatabai has related it from Tha'labi ^[26] and also Ali bin Isa Arbeli has mentioned it in “Kashf-ul-Ghama” from ibn Abbas . ^[27]

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According to the narrative of ‘Anas’, شاهِدٌ is the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace

The second are the narratives which are related from Anas bin Malik. Ham'mad bin Salama who has quoted Thabit Anas, as: افمن كان على بينة من ربه‏؟

He replies:

 هو رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم «و يتلوه شاهد منه» هو على بن أبى طالب عليه السّلام، كان و الله لسان رسول الله‏^[28]

‘Anas has said to Malik, in this verse, the meaning of: و يتلوه شاهد منه is Ali bin Abī Tālib, and by Allah, he was the same speech of the Messenger of Allah.’ And, by his own documents, he has related this narrative from Anas Hakim haskani, and he has added this sentence to it:

 كان و الله لسان رسول الله الى اهل مكة فى نقض عهدهم مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم.^[29]

 ‘By Allah, Ali bin Abī Tālib was the very dialect of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, to the people of Mecca who cut their covenant with the Messenger.’

The third are the narratives that have been related by the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants. Ibn Moghazeli Shafiee says:

قوله تعالى: افمن كان على بينة من ربه و يتلوه شاهد منه. قال رسول الله: انا على بينة من ربه و على الشاهد. ^[30]

‘It is related from the Messenger of Allah say: I am the real meaning of the evidence in this verse and the meaning of the witness is Ali.’

And also Hakim Haskani by means of two documents: one by Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Muhammad Mofid,^[31] and another one by ibn Abbas, has related this narrative from the Messenger of Allah. ^[32] And also Siyu:ti, has mentioned this narrative with little differences.^[33]

The fourth are the narratives related from the Holiness Imam Muhammad Bāqir, Upon Him be Peace. Ali bin Ibrahim, by means of his documents from Abu Basir ans Fazil, has related that:

عن ابى جعفر عليه السّلام قال قال: انما نزلت: افمن كان على بينة من ربه يعنى رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم و يتلوه شاهد منه، اماما و رحمة.^[34]

‘Concerning this verse, the Holiness has stated: The meaning of على بينة is the Messenger of Allah, and  شاهد is the Commander of the believers; and the attributes of Imam as well as mercy are specified to the Holiness but not the Torah – it has been replaced so that the attribute to alter to Torah.

The fifth are the narratives that have been related by the Holiness Musa bin Ja‘far, Upon Him be Peace. Muhammad bin Ya‘qūb Kolaini, by his documents from Ahmad bin Omar Hallal, has quoted him saying:

سالت ابا الحسن عليه السّلام عن قول الله عز و جل: افمن كان على بينة من ربه و يتلوه شاهد منه فقال: امير المؤمنين عليه السّلام الشاهد من رسول الله على بينة من ربه.^[35]

 ‘[Hallah reports concerning the comment of this noble verse by saying I asked the Holiness Musa bin Ja‘far, Upon Him be Peace, and he answered: “The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, is the witness of the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah is the evidence by the Creator.”

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