The theme of witness:
[4.41] How will it be, then, when We bring from every people a
witness and bring you as a
witness against these?
[16.84] And on the day when We will raise up a
witness out of every people, then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor
[40:51] Most surely We help Our messengers, and those who believe, in this world’s life and on the day when the
witnesses shall stand.
[16:89] And on the day when We will raise up in every people a
witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these.
[5:117] And I was a
witness over them while I lived among them
[39:69] And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the prophets and the
witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged.
[4:69] And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the
witnesses and the good, and a goodly company are they!
[11:17] Is he then who has with him clear proof from his Lord, and a witness from him recites it and before it (is) the Book of Musa, a guide and a mercy? These believe in it; and whoever of the (different) parties disbelieves in it, the Fire will be their promised meeting-place. Be not then in doubt thereon: surely it is the truth from your Lord, but most men do not believe.
[Shakir 11:18] And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? These shall be brought before their Lord, and
the witnesses shall say: These are they who lied against their Lord. Now surely the curse of Allah is on the unjust.
As we see there is a heavy emphasis on witnesses in Quran. These witnesses will know who lied against God for example. Jesus however was only a witness so long as he was among the people.
We see this even a role that the Nabi is emphasized to have:
[33:45] O Prophet! surely We have sent you as a
witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner,
They know who forged lies but how? This is such an important subject in Quran that has been repeated over and over again with respect many topics in Surahs.
There is verses that show the witness is a leader.
[17:71] The day when We will call every people with their leader so whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly.
And that is linked to:
[50:21] And every soul shall come, with it a driver and a witness.
The word driver and witness is linked:
[11:41] And he said: Embark in it for by the name of God is its sailing and its anchoring; most surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.
Which is interlinked with:
[5:12] And certainly Allah made a covenant with the children of Israel, and We raised up from them twelve
captains; and God said: Surely I am with you; if you keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and believe in My messengers and assist them and offer to God a goodly gift, I will most certainly cover your evil deeds, and I will most certainly cause you to enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, but whoever disbelieves from among you after that, he indeed shall lose the right way.
The drivers and captains of the ships of salvation is linked to many verses that talk about the history of humanity that talk about how God is worshiped sincerely in tribulations when on the ship but when the ship brings them to a land of safety people begin to rebel against the favor of God and associate with him.
Before getting into that theme, let us also connect the issue with something else:
[21:73] And We made them
leaders who guided (people) by Our
command, and We revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and Us (alone) did they worship/serve;
The command of God and name of God is not two different things, and so this unites with:
And thus have We revealed to/inspired in you a Spirit of Our command. You knew not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith but rather We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants and indeed you guide unto a straight path.And said:
[58:22] You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the latter day befriending those who act in opposition to Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their (own) fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk; these are they into whose hearts He has impressed faith, and whom He has strengthened with
a spirit from Him: and He will cause them to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; Allah is well-pleased with them and they are well-pleased with Him these are Allah's party: now surely the party of Allah are the successful ones.
يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ ۚ إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِنْهُ ۖ فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۖ وَلَا تَقُولُوا ثَلَاثَةٌ ۚ انْتَهُوا خَيْرًا لَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا اللَّهُ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ سُبْحَانَهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ ۘ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا {171}
[4:171] O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only a messenger of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and
a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His messengers, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one Allah; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector.
And what does it mean to be a leader but to be the spirit that he aides believers by which links with whole theme of Wali/helper/guide role of the witness, which I will get into later.
Now before getting into this, let us go back to the issue of leader who in the essence is God's Command and Name:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا {85}
[17:85] And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you are not given aught of knowledge but a little.
So we see the leader is the holder of the station of the name of God, and holds the Spirit of God's command that by which God helps and aides believers by, and is the witness of the people of time.
This is clear so far, what we have also see something to do with Twelve of these leaders who succeeded a founding driver and captain, mainly Moses.
Now aside from this, is how it links with the issue of "way/course".
Abraham is emphasized to be a way/
course:
إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً قَانِتًا لِلَّهِ حَنِيفًا وَلَمْ يَكُ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
[16:120] Surely Ibrahim was a course, obedient to Allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists.
And we see the course people were on was a crash course from following their forefathers:
[42:22]Nay! they say: We found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps.
[42:23]And thus, We did not send before you any warner in a town, but those who led easy lives in it said: Surely we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are followers of their footsteps.
And there is emphasis that all the Prophets were one course:
[23:51] And surely this is your course one course and I am your Lord, therefore be careful (of your duty) to Me.
But then we see that from the people Moses was a course:
[7:159] And from the people of Moses was a way whom guided by the truth and by it they established justice.
[7:160]And We divided them into twelve
asbat, ways; and We revealed to Moses when his people asked him for water: Strike the rock with your staff, so sprang from it twelve springs; each tribe knew its drinking place; and We made the clouds to give shade over them and We sent to them manna and quails: Eat of the good things We have given you. And they did not do Us any harm, but they did injustice to their own souls.
So although they are all one way from one angle, the successors are also different ways because they succeeded different founders, and individual each of them is a way, and we split them into twelve descendants, ways.
Next is the link with Asbat, from a Sunni site:
Narrated by Ya’la Ibn Murrah (Radi Allahu Anhu), The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “Husain is from me, and I am from Husain. Allah loves whosoever loves Husain. Husain is a Sibt among the Asbat.”[Sibt first means Grandson and Asbat here will refer to many tribes i.e. he will have many offspring].
Reference: Jami At-Tirmidhi in Merits of Al-Hassan and Hussain, Hadith 4144. This Hadith has been declared Hasan (fair).
Link:
https://weeklykhutbah.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/prophet-saw-s-love-for-hasan-rah-and-hussain-rah/Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn. Allah loves him who loves Husayn. Husayn is one of the al-Asbat.
Mustadrak, Vol. 3, p. 177
Both al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi have declared it sahih.
Now we see Quran also emphasize:
Sahih International: Say, "We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him."
Verse 3:84.
The word descendants is important because Quran shows they in fact root back:
[3:33-34] God chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran over the worlds. Offspring, some of it from some, indeed he is hearing knowing.
So what does exactly mean to descend, although Prophets had physical offspring, what was really meant was their spiritual descendants:
[37:77] And We made his offspring those who remain.
And we know it's the face of God that remains, and everything else disappears.
Thus the true Asbat, where those who descended from the light of Abraham, Lut, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, like Joseph.
Likewise, although descendants can be translated and it can be they rooted back to a single grandfather, that would be superfluous as all of Bani-Israel linked back to Yaqoub (a single grandfather), what it really is pointing to is they were inheriting the blessings and guidance of Moses, who was their root, even though Aaron is referred to as his bother.
Will get into more detail of the themes of Ahlulbayts, ships, the days of God, etc..