Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:43

Allah and those who have Knowledge of the Scripture are Sufficient as Witness to the Message of the Prophet

Allah says, the disbelievers reject you and say,

(You are not a Messenger.) from Allah,

(Say: "Sufficient as a witness between me and you is Allah...") meaning, say, `Allah is sufficient for me and He is the witness over me and you. He is witness that I (Muhammad) have conveyed the Message from Him and over you, O rejecters, to the falsehood that you invent.' Allah said,

(and those too who have knowledge of the Scripture.) This refers to `Abdullah bin Salam, according to Mujahid. However, this opinion is not plausible, since this Ayah was revealed in Makkah and `Abdullah bin Salam embraced Islam soon after the Prophet emigrated to Al-Madinah. A more suitable explanation is that narrated by Al-`Awfi from Ibn `Abbas that this Ayah refers to Jews and Christians. Qatadah said that among them are, `Abdullah bin Salam, Salman (Al-Farisi) and Tamim Ad-Dari. The correct view is that this Ayah,

(and those too who have. ..), refers to the scholars of the People of the Scriptures who find the description of Muhammad in their Books and the good news of his advent that were conveyed to them by their Prophets. Allah said in other Ayat,

(And My mercy embraces all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who have Taqwa, and give Zakah; and those who believe in Our Ayat; Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write whom they find written with them in the Tawrah and the Injil.) 7:156-157 and,

(It is not a sign to them that the learned scholars of the Children of Israel knew it (as true))26:197 There are similar Ayat that affirm that the scholars of the Children of Israel know this fact from their divinely revealed Books. This is the end of Surat Ar-Ra`d, and all praise is due to Allah and all favors are from Him.

Ayat ini menunjukkan dialog antara orang-orang kafir Mekah dan Rasulullah, di mana mereka mengingkari kerasulannya dengan mengatakan, "Engkau bukanlah seorang yang dijadikan rasul." Untuk menghadapi pengingkaran mereka ini, Allah memerintahkan kepada Nabi Muhammad untuk menjawabnya dengan mengatakan, "Cukuplah Allah menjadi saksi dalam pertikaian yang terjadi antara kita seputar kerasulanku. Orang-orang yang mempunyai ilmu tentang Al-Kitab dari kalanganmu yang telah masuk Islam dapat menjadi saksi tentang kebenaran kerasulanku."

Sesuai dengan penegasan Allah dalam ayat yang lalu bahwa tugas pokok Nabi Muhammad adalah menyampaikan agama Islam kepada manusia. Beliau tidak perlu gelisah menghadapi sikap ingkar dari kaum kafir tersebut, sebab Allahlah yang mengangkat dan mengutusnya menjadi rasul.

Para ulama ahlul kitab memilih menganut agama Islam karena telah mengetahui bahwa dalam kitab Injil dan Taurat yang diwahyukan Allah kepada Nabi Isa dan Nabi Musa telah ada keterangan yang jelas tentang kedatangan nabi dan rasul terakhir, yaitu Muhammad saw. Oleh karena itu, mereka sama sekali tidak mengingkari kerasulan beliau.