Arabic word al-ḥaqq, which has been translated as the ‘Truth’, is used in the Qur’ān in a number of ways: justification, moral or legal (2: 61); right, as against wrong (13: 17); right and due (2: 180, 17: 26, 3: 102); purpose and meaning (6: 73, 44: 39); certain, real and true (6: 62, 7: 8, 31: 30, 45: 32).
Obviously, God is the ultimate and most certain reality and truth (24: 25, 10: 32); indeed, in a sense, only He is Real and True, because all else exist only because of Him. Therefore His guidance, too, by which He guides man – and only He can so guide (10: 35) – to Himself and to the true knowledge of right and wrong in every respect is the Truth. Hence, the Truth means the Divine guidance in this pervasive sense, as given by God through His Messengers and Books, and, finally, through the Qur’ān and the Last Prophet, Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him. This last guidance confirms and includes, not controverts and excludes, all previous guidance.
All mankind were one single community; [then they began to differ] so God sent forth the Prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth, that it might decide between the people with regard to all in which they differed (al-Baqarah 2: 213).
God – there is no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting [by whom all subsist]; He has sent down upon you the Book with the truth, confirming what came before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime, all as guidance unto mankind; and it is He who has sent down the Criterion [by which to discern the true from the false] (Āl ‘Imrān 3: 2–4).
And what We have revealed to you in the Book, that is the truth, confirming what came before it; surely God is aware of and sees His servants (al-Fāṭir 35: 31).
With the truth We have sent it down, and with the truth it has come down; and We have sent you but as a herald of glad tidings and a world (al-Isrā’ 17: 105).
These are the verses of the Book; and that which has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, but most people do not believe (al-Ra‘d 13: 1).
Thus, the very simple truths to which Muslims witness – that there is no god but the One God and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger – do in fact encompass the whole Truth, all that is true and right and real, all knowledge that is trustworthy. The Shahadah to God is the proclamation of, and commitment to, His lordship over everything in the heavens and on earth; more specifically, over all human life. Shahadah to Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, is no parochial call to an exclusive or tribal faith and way of life, for he confirms and enfolds every Truth before him. Witness to him, therefore, is witness to every Messenger of God, to the profound reality of the continuing act of Divine guidance.
Witnessing, according to the Qur’ān, is indeed a Divine act: God Himself witnesses to the Truth, so do His Angels, and all those who possess knowledge. Thus, in witnessing to the Truth, the Muslim in fact becomes a party to the Divine testimony. And, on the Day of Judgement, man’s ears, eyes, hands, feet, and body, too, will become witnesses as to how truthful was his witness during his life on earth.
God bears witness that there is no god but He – and the Angels, and all those possessing knowledge – upholding justice, there is no god but He, the All-mighty, the All-wise (Āl ‘Imrān 3: 18).
But, God [Himself] bears witness to [the truth of] what He has sent down to you; He has sent down that with His knowledge, and the Angels also bear witness; and God is sufficient as a witness (al-Nisā’ 4: 166).
Say: What could most weightily bear witness [to the Truth]? Say: God is witness between me and you, and this Qur’ān has been revealed to me so that I may warn you thereby, and whomsoever it may reach. Do you indeed bear witness that there are other gods with God? Say: I bear no [such] witness. Say: He is the One God; and I am quit of what you associate (al-An‘ām 6: 19).
Till, when they come to it [the Fire], their hearing, and their sights, and their skins will bear witness against them, speaking of what they were doing. And they will say to their skins: Why did you bear witness against us? They shall say: God has given speech to us, as He gives speech to everything (Fuṣṣilat 41: 20–1).
Truth, of whatever nature and form and wherever it is, by the compulsive logic inherent in its nature, requires to be manifest, to be known. That is the primary reason why God witnesses to the truth about Him, to the truth of His guidance. That is why everything that He has created, too, manifests not only its own true nature but also witnesses to God, and witnesses to every truth. It is only a creation possessing free will, such as man, who may conceal the truth of its own nature, the truth it may possess, or the truth about its Creator.
The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and whatever is in them; and there is not a single thing but which glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Surely He is All-forbearing, All-forgiving (al-Isrā’ 17: 44).
Have you not seen that before God prostrate themselves all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth – the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the beasts? And many of mankind; but many [others, having denied Him] will merit punishment (al-Ḥajj 22: 18).
Thus, those who have been given the Truth, too, are under pledge – by the logic of truth itself, by the logic of having Divine guidance, and by the logic of their human nature, of their particular history, of their explicit and implicit covenant with God – to bear witness to it, to make it manifest. This argument runs like a thread through all the Quranic discourses which urge upon man, in general, and upon certain groups and communities, in particular, to fulfil their pledge, by reminding them of His bounties and favours, of their history, and of the fact of having been given His guidance.
And when God made covenant with those who had been given the Book: you shall make it known to mankind, and not conceal it (Āl ‘Imrān 3: 187).
Children of Israel, remember My blessing with which I blessed you, and fulfil [your] covenant with Me and I shall fulfil [My] covenant with you (al-Baqarah 2: 40; also 5: 12 and 7: 169).
[Believers], remember God’s blessing upon you, and your covenant [with Him] which He made with you, when you said: We have heard, and we obey (al-Mā’idah 5: 7).
Those who conceal the clear messages and the guidance that We have sent down, after We have made them clear for mankind in the Book – they shall be cursed by God and the cursers; except such as repent, and put themselves right, and make [the Book] known … (al-Baqarah 2: 159–60).
This last passage clearly states that the whole rationale for the duty of witness is inherent in the fact of having the Book: it has been given by God, it is a clear guidance, it has been given and made clear for mankind. Therefore, those who possess the Book must make it clear before mankind. Otherwise, they deserve to be cursed by God and all those who are deprived of the guidance, unless they repent and present its message clearly.
This witness to the Truth is most critical for human destiny. Truth must be manifest and known, not only because of its inherent logic, but more importantly because human beings can neither fulfil the meaning and purpose in their lives nor can they achieve the glory that is their destiny without receiving the Truth. The Quranic discourse in this regard is very important and should be clearly understood.
Firstly,
