This must definitely be regarded as the most veracious form...

This must definitely be regarded as the most veracious form of testimony possible; it closes off before the offender any defense, deception or flight from chastisement, and strips him of denial and sophistry. No crime remain unproven, and the sinners will be overtaken by shame and humiliation. The Qur'an says: “On the day of resurrection they will find whatever they have done confronting them.” (18:49) .

Or again: “There will be a day on which everyone who has done a good deed will find it confronting him, and those who have done evil will wish that it were kept far distant from them. God warns you against His punishment for He is in truth compassionate toward His servants” (3:30).

Since it is impossible for deeds to disappear in the hereafter, the most that sinners can hope for is that a distance be maintained between them and their deeds, a clear expression of their disgust with what they them selves have done. In addition to all the forgoing, and still more important than it, God describes Himself as the witness to all the deeds of men: “Why do they not believe in the signs of God? He is a witness to all that you do.” (3:98) .

The Qur'an also mentions the prophets and those who have drawn close to God as witnesses to man's deeds: “The earth will shine with the light of its Lord. The record of men's deeds will be brought forth and the prophets and the martyrs shall be summoned to bear witness and judge among men so that none shall be wronged.” (39:69) . It should be borne in mind that such witness and testimony will not be restricted to the outer aspect of men's deeds.

What is meant is rather testimony to the quality of deeds with respect to their good or their evil, and whether they represented obedience or sin: in short, the inner aspect of deeds.

The giving of witness on the day of resurrection is a sign of honor and respect for those who are called upon, but it also indicates that while in this world they had a certain awareness of men's inner beings, that they were able to observe them just like their outer beings and thus to record their deeds with precision and inerrancy.

It is obvious that conventional knowledge and sense perception are quite inadequate for testimony of this kind; it depends on a more profound mode of awareness that is able to embrace the inner dimensions of man, an awareness that transcends our normal capacities and permits an unfailing distinction to be made between the pure and the impure.