their upright men bore witness for him, so the denial that comes from lying, stubborn unbelievers carries no weight thereafter. Allah the Exalted says: “Those who disbelieve say, ‘You are not a messenger.’ Say, ‘Sufficient is Allah as Witness between me and you—and so is whoever possesses knowledge of the Scripture.’” ⦗13:43⦘

He also says: “Say, ‘Tell me: if this Qur’an is from Allah and you reject it while a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar and then believed, yet you wax arrogant—surely Allah does not guide a wrongdoing people.’” ⦗46:10⦘

And He says: “Among the People of the Scripture are those who truly believe in Allah, in what has been sent down to you, and in what was sent down to them. They humble themselves before Allah and do not barter the revelations of Allah for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord; truly, Allah is swift in reckoning.” ⦗3:199⦘

He, the Exalted, also says: “That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. When they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they recognize. They say, ‘Our Lord, we believe, so write us down among the witnesses.’” ⦗5:82–83⦘

And He says: “Those to whom We gave the Scripture before this believe in it. When it is recited to them they say, ‘We believe in it; it is the truth from our Lord. Even before it, we were already Muslims in submission.’ Such people will be given their reward twice, because they have been patient; they repel evil with good, and out of what We have provided them they give.” ⦗28:52–54⦘

If even one of these people bears witness, his testimony outweighs an earth-ful of unbelievers; his attestation is not offset by the denial of a world’s fill of disbelievers. How much more, then, when those who affirm him among the scholars of the People of the Scripture are many times the number of those among them who deny him!

Nor is everyone whose words are echoed by the donkey-like imitators(1)—worshippers of the cross—and the nation