Allah has said, "Is it not sufficient as regarding your Lord that He is Witness over all
things?" (Qura'n, 41:53).
According to Mujam maqayees al lugha by Ibn Faris, the topic of the verb shahida, saw, witnessed, or testified, indicates, linguistically, presence, knowledge, and the dissemination of such knowledge. The attribute "al-Shaheed" is derived from shuhood, [eye] witnesses, and it requires knowledge by observation: Allah is al-Shaheed because He is present and observes all beings whom He has created and whom He will create at any time and in any place, and He is fully aware of such beings; "... and He is with you wherever you may be." Al-Shaheed is a superlative of al-Shahid, the Witness. In his work Taj al-Aroos, al-Zubaidi has indicated that al-Shaheed is one of Allah's Attributes meaning: "the One Who is faithful in His witness and from Whose knowledge nothing at all escapes." His knowledge is the very ultimate regarding all apparent matters, all things to observe and to witness. The Holy Qura'n states the following in Surat Ali-Imran: "Allah bears witness that there is no god but He" (Qura'n,
3:18). Al-Shahid knows and manifests the knowledge of what He knows to a select group
from among His most sincere and loyal servants. Allah has proven His being One through all
what He has created. Al-Shaheed is ever-present; from His kingdom nothing at all can be
absent; everything is included within the realm of His kingdom.
Addressing the Messenger, Allah says the following in Surat al-Nisa': "... and We have sent
you (O Muhammed!) to mankind as an Prophet, and Allah suffices as Witness (to
that)" (Qura'n, 4:79). That is, Allah suffices as Witness to all people regarding the truth of
your message: He testifies that you are His Messenger who does not have full control over
His servants. In Surat al-Ana`m, He says, "Say: What is the weightiest in testimony? Say:
Allah is Witness between you and me" (Qura'n, 6:19), that is, were we to paraphrase it, "Ask
them: What is the greatest witness? Say: Allah testifies with regard to you and to me." Allah
ordered His Messenger to ask the disbelievers, "Whose testimony is the greatest and the most
accurate?" Then He ordered him to tell them that the greatest is the testimony of the One
Whose statement does not permit any room for lying or erring. The testimony, that is,
shahada, of the Almighty is of three types: 1) His own telling people in His Book that He has
sent the Prophet as His Messenger; 2) His own support for His Messenger in numerous ways
the greatest of which is the Holy Qura'n, which is the everlasting scholarly and rational
miracle. It has been practically proven that all people put together are incapable of producing
a chapter or a verse like it; 3) the testimony of previously revealed divine books and the fact
that messengers before him had already brought the glad tidings of his Prophethood.
In Surat Younus, the Great Qura'n says, "Allah, therefore, suffices as Witness between us and
you that we were quite unaware of your worship (of us)" (Qura'n, 10:29). It may be
paraphrased thus: Allah suffices as Witness, O polytheists, and as Judge between us and you,
for He is fully knowledgeable of our condition and yours, and we were not happy with your
own associating partners with Him. In Surat al-Tawbah, the Almighty says, "... Allah and His
Prophet will witness your deeds, then you shall be brought back to the One Who knows the