Tafsir of Al Imran 3:16

{Those who say: "Our Lord, indeed we have believed"}—it is permissible for it to be in the nominative case (raf') as the predicate of an omitted subject, as if it were said: "Who are those righteous?" and the response was: "They are those who..." etc. It may also be in the accusative case (nasb) as an expression of praise (madh), or in the genitive case (jarr) as a follower of {those who are righteous} (alladhina ittaqaw), either as an adjective (na't) or an appositive (badal), or [as a follower of] {the servants}.

The view that it is an adjective for "the servants" has been objected to on the grounds that it restricts the [description of] vision/insight to only some of the servants. However, the response to this is that such a restriction does not imply exclusivity, given the clarity of the matter; rather, it highlights the importance of their affair and the loftiness of their station.

It has also been objected that it being a follower of {the righteous} is very distant—especially if the [prepositional phrase] beginning with the letter lam is connected to "better" (khayr)—due to the large number of separators between the follower and the followed. The response to this is that there is no harm in this separation, just as there is no harm in separating the one praised from the praise itself, since an adjective of praise that is grammatically detached (maqtu') remains a follower in meaning. For this reason, it is necessary to omit the [implied] verb of praise or the [implied] subject, so that the speech does not lose its character of being a follower.

The distinction between this and other followers regarding the ugliness or acceptability of separation is obscure and requires a noble proof. In this, there is the fact that drawing an analogy between dependency in wording and meaning, and dependency in meaning alone, is something that should not be done by an ignorant person, let alone a virtuous scholar. Furthermore, the commitment to omitting the [implied] verb or subject in the case of cutting off for praise or blame is something that may be said to be for the sake of averting the illusion of a report (ikhbar), whereas the intent is an initiation (insha'), not [to prevent] the speech from losing the form of dependency.

The emphasis of the sentence is to demonstrate that their belief stems from an abundance of desire and the perfection of vigor. The arrangement of the request for forgiveness in His saying, the Exalted: {So forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire}, following mere belief, is evidence that belief alone is sufficient for the entitlement to forgiveness and protection from the Fire, without being contingent upon [additional] acts of obedience. The intended meaning of "sins" here encompasses both major and minor sins.