my community, whose testimony against others is admissible.” He did not rule out the admissibility of testimony among followers of the same religion. Rather, his words imply that their testimony against one another is admissible. They also make clear that believers’ testimony against others is accepted, as Allah Most High says:

“Thus We have made you a just community, so that you may be witnesses over mankind.”

A similar statement occurs at the end of Sūrat al-Hajj. It is also established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, on the authority of Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Noah will be summoned on the Day of Resurrection and asked, ‘Did you convey the message?’ He will reply, ‘Yes.’ His people will then be summoned and asked, ‘Did he convey the message to you?’ They will reply, ‘No bearer of good tidings or warner came to us.’ Noah will then be asked, ‘Who will testify for you?’ He will reply, ‘Muhammad and his community.’ You will then be brought forward and testify that he conveyed the message.”

Likewise, the Sahīhs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim contain the hadith of Anas concerning their testimony about the two funeral processions: they spoke well of one deceased person and ill of the other. The Prophet said:

“You are Allah’s witnesses on His earth.”

The hadith continues.

For this reason, since the people of the Sunnah and the community have kept Islam pure, without mixing it with anything else, their testimony against all the other groups within the Muslim community is accepted. This is unlike the people of innovation and vain desires, such as the Khawārij and the Rāfidah: the enmity and injustice among them prevent them from fully embodying this quality that Allah has granted the people of the Sunnah. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said of them:

“The upright members of each succeeding generation will bear this knowledge, removing from it the distortions of extremists, the fabrications of those who promote falsehood, and the interpretations of the ignorant.”