21:56
Some use the following verse to claim that bearing witness (shahad) can be done to what one was not present to see.
[21:56] He said, "Your only Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them. This is the testimony to which I bear witness.
قَالَ بَل رَّبُّكُمْ رَبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَهُنَّ وَأَنَا۠ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكُم مِّنَ ٱلشَّـٰهِدِينَ
Below is a word-by-word breakdown:
1
qāla
قَالَ
He said,
2
bal
بَل
"Nay,
3
rabbukum
رَّبُّكُمْ
your Lord (is)
4
rabbu
رَبُّ
(the) Lord (of)
5
l-samāwāti
ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ
the heavens
6
wal-arḍi
وَٱلْأَرْضِ
and the earth,
7
alladhī
ٱلَّذِى
the One who
8
faṭarahunna
فَطَرَهُنَّ
He created/initiated them
9
wa-anā
وَأَنَا۠
and I am
10
ʿalā
عَلَىٰ
to
11
dhālikum
ذَٰلِكُم
that
12
mina
مِّنَ
of
13
l-shāhidīna
ٱلشَّـٰهِدِينَ
the witnesses.
These individuals claim that in the above statement from Abraham, he is claiming to be a shahid (witness) to God initiating the Heavens and the Earth. And since Abraham was not there to witness God initiating the heavens and the earth, they claim one can bear witness to something they did not see with their own eyes. In short, they are attempting to conflate bearing witness with belief.
Except, this is an inaccurate representation of what is being stated. A simple reading of the verse shows Abraham is just bearing witness that their Lord is the initiator of the heavens and the earth, not that he is a shahid to God initiating the heavens and the earth.
As a rebuttal, some argue that the use of the word "dhālikum" (ذَٰلِكُم), which is the plural form of "that," indicates that Abraham was witnessing to at least three things in his statement. They claim this supports the narrative that Abraham was a witness to events he was not present for. However, this interpretation stems from a grammatical misunderstanding of the word "dhālikum."
The plural form "dhālikum" does not refer to the number of things being witnessed but rather to the number of individuals being addressed. In Classical Arabic, "dhālikum" is used when speaking to a group of people, regardless of whether the subject is singular, dual, or plural. Therefore, Abraham's use of "dhālikum" simply reflects that he was addressing multiple individuals, not that he was testifying to multiple events.
Below is an excerpt from an online Arabic source explainng this concept as well.
The 2nd person pronominal suffix will, in fact, inflect for gender and plurality – causing the demonstrative pronoun to vary, as in “ذلكما”, “ذلكم” and so forth. The inflection of this suffix is based on the gender and plurality of the audience and not the entity being pointed at. Thus, speaking to a group of men, for example, one would say “ذلكم الكتاب”. Notice that the pronominal suffix has changed based on the audience, not based on the plurality and gender of the word كتاب.
If we just look at the previous verse, we see this is exactly the case.
[21:51] Before that, we granted Abraham his guidance and understanding, for we were fully aware of him.
[21:52] He said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are devoting yourselves?"
[21:53] They said, "We found our parents worshiping them." [21:54] He said, "Indeed, you and your parents have gone totally astray."
[21:54] He said, "Indeed, you and your parents have gone totally astray."
[21:55] They said, "Are you telling us the truth, or are you playing?"
[21:56] He said, "Your only Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them. That is the testimony to which I bear witness. وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ رُشْدَهُۥ مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا بِهِۦ عَـٰلِمِينَ
إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِۦ مَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلتَّمَاثِيلُ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـٰكِفُونَ
قَالُوا۟ وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا لَهَا عَـٰبِدِينَ
قَالَ لَقَدْ كُنتُمْ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُمْ فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ
قَالُوٓا۟ أَجِئْتَنَا بِٱلْحَقِّ أَمْ أَنتَ مِنَ ٱللَّـٰعِبِينَ
قَالَ بَل رَّبُّكُمْ رَبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَهُنَّ وَأَنَا۠ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكُم مِّنَ ٱلشَّـٰهِدِينَ
This clarification shows that the argument based on the use of "dhālikum" is flawed and does not provide evidence that Abraham was a witness to events beyond his presence.
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