Tafsir of An-Nur 24:47

This is an initiation of the exposition concerning the states of some of those whom Allah, the Exalted, did not will to guide to a straight path; they are among the disbelievers whose deeds have already been described.

Ibn al-Mundhir and others narrated from Qatadah that it was revealed concerning the hypocrites, and a similar report is narrated from al-Hasan. It is said that it was revealed concerning Bishr the hypocrite, who was invited by a Jew—with whom he had a dispute—to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He, in turn, invited the Jew to Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf. Then, they took their dispute to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who ruled in favor of the Jew. The hypocrite was not pleased with his judgment (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "Let us take the matter to Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)." When they went to him, the Jew said, "The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) judged for me, but he [Bishr] was not satisfied with his judgment." Umar said to the hypocrite, "Is that so?" He replied, "Yes." Umar said, "Stay where you are until I come out to you." He (may Allah be pleased with him) entered his house, came out with his sword, and struck the neck of that hypocrite until he grew cold. He said, "This is how I judge for one who is not pleased with the judgment of Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." Thereupon, this was revealed. Gabriel (peace be upon him) said, "Indeed, Umar distinguished between truth and falsehood," and because of this, he was named al-Faruq (The Distinguisher). This is also narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Al-Dahhak said: It was revealed concerning al-Mughirah ibn Wa'il. He had a dispute with Ali (may Allah honor his face) regarding a piece of land, so they divided it. The portion that fell to Ali was land that water could not reach except with great difficulty. Al-Mughirah said, "I mean your land," so he sold it to him, and they took possession from one another. It was said to al-Mughirah, "You have taken salt-marsh land that water does not reach." He said to Ali (may Allah honor his face), "Take back your land, for I only bought it if I were satisfied with it, but I am not satisfied, for water does not reach it." Ali said, "I have bought it, am satisfied with it, and have taken possession of it, and you know its condition; I will not take it back from you." He invited him to take the dispute to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Al-Mughirah said, "As for Muhammad, I will not go to him, for he hates me, and I fear he will be unfair to me." Thereupon, this was revealed.

According to this view, and the preceding one, the plural pronoun is used either for the generality of the ruling, or because the speaker has with him a group that assists and supports him in that statement—as in the saying, "The sons of so-and-so killed a man," while the killer is one. The repetition of the ba (in "bi-Allah" and "bi-al-Rasul") is for emphasis in claiming belief, as is the expression referring to him (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) by the title of "The Messenger."

Their saying along with that: ( ...and we obey )—meaning, and we obey Allah, the Exalted, and the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in command and prohibition.

( Then a party of them turns away after that )—meaning, they turn away from what this statement entails of accepting the religious judgment upon them.

( ...after that )—meaning, after what proceeded from them of claiming belief in Allah, the Exalted, and in the Messenger, and obedience to them both. The use of "that" (denoting distance) is to signal that it is a matter to be counted and one that is obligatory to observe.

( And those are not )—This points to the speakers ("We have believed," etc.), who are the hypocrites entirely, not just the group that turned away. The use of "those" (denoting distance) is to signal the remoteness of their status in disbelief and corruption. That is, those who claim belief and obedience, then some of them turn away—those who share with them in the covenant and the deed—are not:

( ...believers )—Meaning, not believers in reality, as is indicated by the lam (in al-mu'minin). That is, they are not the believers known for sincerity and steadfastness in it. Negating belief in this sense from them necessitates its negation from the party in the most eloquent and emphatic way; therefore, it was chosen that the pointing be towards them.

It is also permitted that the pointing be to the party [that turned away], on the basis that the intended meaning is a hypocritical party, while the pronoun in "they say" refers to the believers in general. The judgment against that party with the negation of belief is due to the manifest sign of rejection, which is their turning away. The "then" (in thumma), according to this view—as established by al-Tayyibi—is for the sake of expressing remoteness (implausibility). It is as if it were said: How can they enter into the ranks of the believers who say, "We have believed in Allah and the Messenger and we obey," then turn away and deviate from the believing party and desire to abstain from that statement? This is remote from a rational, discerning person. According to the first view, as he also established, it is for the sake of sequence in rank, signaling that the degree of disbelief of the party that turned away is higher than the low degree of the others.

In al-Kashf, it is stated that the difficulty, under the assumption that the reference is to the speakers and not solely the party that turned away, is like an istidrak (a corrective clause), and it contains proof of the party that turned away being deeply immersed in disbelief, and the root of disbelief encompasses both groups. As for the assumption that the reference is specifically to the one who turned away, the benefit of "then" is to express the implausibility of turning away after that statement. The benefit of the report is to show that they did not remain steadfast in their claim; it is as if it were said: They say this, then there is found in them that which contradicts it. Thus, there is no implication in the dalil al-khitab (implied meaning) that others are believers. This is the end of the quote. According to this, the pronoun "they say" belongs to the hypocrites, who encompass the party that turned away, not to the believers in general, in either of the two ways. So reflect.