Appearance
The Witness of His Own
أَفَمَن كَانَ عَلَىٰ بَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ وَيَتْلُوهُ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْهُ وَمِن قَبْلِهِۦ كِتَـٰبُ مُوسَىٰٓ إِمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ ۚ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلْأَحْزَابِ فَٱلنَّارُ مَوْعِدُهُۥ ۚ فَلَا تَكُ فِى مِرْيَةٍ مِّنْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
(11:17) Is he who stands on a manifest proof from his Lord, and whom a witness of his own [family] follows? And before him there was the Book of Moses, a guide and mercy. It is they who have faith in it, and whoever defies him from among the factions, the Fire is their tryst. So do not be in doubt about it; it is the truth from your Lord, but most people do not have faith.
The question
“Is he who stands on a manifest proof from his Lord, and whom a witness of his own follows…” — what is the manifest proof, and who is the witness?
Views answered: the exegetes' other readings (the Qur'an, Gabriel, the Prophet himself), Tafsīr al-Manār
Al-Mizan's argument
Al-Mizan takes the “manifest proof” to be the divine insight given to the Prophet, not the Qur'an or rational argument, and the verse to describe anyone who stands on such insight, not the Prophet exclusively. The “witness” is one who is certain of the truth of the Qur'an through the same insight and testifies to it, and who follows the Prophet. On this reading, the reports in both Shīʿa and Sunnī ḥadīth books that the witness is ʿAlī make sense: the general principle of the verse applies to him, not that the wording names him alone. Al-Mizan sets aside the other readings — that “follows” means “recites”, or that the witness is the Qur'an, Gabriel or the Prophet himself — as not fitting the context. In the narrations it gathers the reports from ʿAlī and Ibn ʿAbbās and answers al-Manār, which calls it a Shīʿa report and puts it on a level with the claim that the witness is Abū Bakr: in fact the report is more widely narrated in Sunnī sources than Shīʿī ones, and the reading of al-Mizan shows how it fits the verse while the other does not.
Reading guide
Each part opens the commentary at that point.
- What “manifest proof” (bayyinah) means
- The proof is the Prophet's divine insight
- Not the Prophet exclusively, nor the Qur'an
- Who the “witness” is
- Why the reports that it is ʿAlī make sense
- Other readings, and why they do not fit
- Narrations: the Imams and the witness
- ʿAlī: “the verse revealed about me”
- Reports in Sunnī sources
- Al-Manār's view, answered