Tafsir of An-Naml 27:3

(Those who establish prayer and give Zakat): This is a laudatory description of the believers. The establishment of prayer and the giving of Zakat are metonymically used to refer to righteous deeds in general, and specified because they are—as it is said—the bodily and financial acts of worship. The apparent meaning is that Zakat here refers to the obligatory Zakat.

This has been challenged by the observation that the Surah is Meccan, while Zakat was only made obligatory in Medina. It has been said, however, that there was an obligatory Zakat in Mecca, although it was not like the Zakat prescribed in Medina, so the verse should be interpreted accordingly. It has also been said that "Zakat" here refers to purity from vices and adherence to noble character traits, but this contradicts the famous interpretation of Zakat when conjoined with prayer, and is rendered unlikely by the fact that the verb "giving" (ita') is attached to it.

And His saying, the Exalted: (And of the Hereafter they are certain):

It is possible that this is conjoined to the relative clause (silah). It is also possible that it is in the position of a state (hal) pertaining to the pronoun of the relative noun (al-mawsul). Furthermore, it is possible that it is an inception (isti'naf) brought forth for the purpose of emphasizing what the believers have been described with, since certainty in the Hereafter necessitates fear, which in turn necessitates enduring the hardships of religious obligation; thus, the establishment of prayer and the giving of Zakat are inevitable. The pronoun here has been placed in the stead of a demonstrative noun, which serves to denote the acquisition of worthiness for the ruling based on prior conditions. It is as if it were said: "And these—those who believe and do righteous deeds such as establishing prayer and giving Zakat—are the ones who are certain of the Hereafter."

Al-Zamakhshari termed this inception an "interjection" (i'tirad), and the view that it must occur only between two things that are related to each other—like a subject and predicate—is not accepted by him. He chose this possibility and said: "It is the [preferred] interpretation, and it is evidenced by the fact that he structured the speech as an inaugural sentence and repeated the subject, which is 'they' (hum), until its meaning became: 'None are certain of the Hereafter with true certainty except these people who combine faith and righteous deeds, for the fear of the final outcome drives them to endure hardships.'" (End quote).

Ibn al-Munir denied that this structure implies exclusivity, claiming that the repetition of the pronoun is merely for refreshing the speech due to the separation of the two pronouns by the prepositional phrase (jar wa majrur). The truth is that it does imply exclusivity, as they have explicitly stated regarding expressions like "He is the one who recognized..." (huwa 'arafa), and it also provides emphasis due to the repetition of the pronoun.

Abu Hayyan claimed that there is a Mu'tazilite intrigue in what Al-Zamakhshari mentioned. It is not hidden that there is nothing in his words beyond an indication that the disobedient believer is not certain of the Hereafter with true certainty. Perhaps labeling this an "intrigue" is based on the fact that he founded this interpretation upon his school of thought regarding those who commit major sins and his doctrine of the "station between the two stations." You know that the view he chose regarding the verse does not depend on the aforementioned doctrine. Changing the noble structure for the first two possibilities is for reasons not hidden [to the scholar]. The precedence of "the Hereafter" (bil-akhirah) in all perspectives is for the sake of observing the rhyme (fasilah). It is also permissible that it is for relative restriction (al-hasr al-idafi), as mentioned in the Hashiyah of Al-Shihab.