Ash-Shahid — The Witness
Ash-Shahid is the One present to all things and witnessing them, whose testimony is decisive and cannot be contested. Nothing occurs outside His witness, and on the Day of Judgement no denial stands against it. The Quran uses the name to settle disputes by appeal to the only witness who saw everything: 'sufficient is Allah as Witness' (4:79). Classical scholars connect it to sincerity — a deed done for people has one witness who matters, and He knows what it was really for.
Updated July 16, 2026
Name 50 of 99
الشَّهِيدُ
Ash-Shahid
The Witness
Where Ash-Shahid appears in the Quran
مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنۡ حَسَنَةٖ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِۖ وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٖ فَمِن نَّفۡسِكَۚ وَأَرۡسَلۡنَٰكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولٗاۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدٗا
Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. We have sent thee (Muhammad) as a messenger unto mankind and Allah is sufficient as Witness
Arabic text: Tanzil Uthmani (public domain). English translation: Marmaduke Pickthall, “The Meaning of the Glorious Koran” (1930) — public domain.
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