Arguments from the Quran

of scholars of tafsir, is that this testimony pertains to the Hereafter. This means that the previous nations who denied their prophets will find this Ummah presented as witnesses on behalf of the prophets. This interpretation of bearing witness is substantiated by narrations in Bukhari and other hadith collections. (AlBahr al-Muheet, Vol. 2, p. 12) However, there is more to understand about this verse. The accountability Allah will hold people responsible for on the Day of Judgment will clearly be based on the fact that the message of truth had reached them in this world, yet they chose not to accept it. In other words, the testimony given in the Hereafter about misguided nations will concern an event that already took place in this world. Therefore, the testimony in the Hereafter inherently means that a testimony of truth had been conveyed in this world earlier.6 In the past, the responsibility of delivering this testimony of truth was on the prophets, but after prophethood ended, it falls on the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad. Accordingly, some rare interpretations suggest a worldly aspect to this testimony. 6. The root meaning of shahada (testimony) is the act of informing about what one has witnessed. (Ibn Manzur, Lisan al Arab, Vol. 3, 240)