his Lord. Thus, when he testifies, he is a witness from Allah.

As for his testimony concerning their faith, their acceptance of the truth, and other matters, it is as in His words:

“How will it be, then, when We bring a witness from every nation and bring you as a witness over these?”

“And the Messenger will be a witness over you.”

Yet whoever holds this view may mean the Quran by “clear evidence,” for the believer follows the Quran, and Muhammad is a witness from Allah who recites it, just as Gabriel recited it.

Whoever says that the witness is Muhammad’s tongue intends by this statement recitation: that is, Muhammad’s tongue recites the Quran and is a witness “from him,” meaning from his own person, since his tongue is part of him. This view and others like it are weak. And Allah knows best. This is assuming that the statement is established as coming from the person to whom it is attributed, for both this view and its opposite are reported from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib.

A group of ignorant Shī‘ah thought that ‘Alī was the witness “from him,” meaning from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as he said to him:

“You are of me, and I am of you.”

But he also said this of others. It is established in the two Sahīh collections that he said:

“The Ash‘arīs are of me, and I am of them.”

And he said of Julaybīb:

“This man is of me, and I am of him.”