Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:30

(O wives of the Prophet): This is a shift in address and a turning toward them to demonstrate the importance of counseling them and calling upon them here and hereafter by attributing them to him, peace be upon him. This is because he is the axis upon which the rulings pertaining to them revolve. Considering them as "wives" in both instances is more eloquent than considering them "spouses," as is not hidden from the contemplative.

(Whoever among you commits): With the ya (masculine prefix), based on the word man (whoever). Zayd ibn Ali, al-Jahdari, Amr ibn Qa’id al-Aswari, and Ya’qub read it with the ta (feminine prefix), based on its meaning.

(An evident immorality): An "evident" (mubayyan) one, meaning one of manifest ugliness, from bayana, meaning to become clear. Ibn Kathir and Abu Bakr read it as mubayyinan with a fathah on the ya. It is intended—as has been said—to mean every major sin that is committed. Al-Bayhaqi recorded in his Sunan from Muqatil ibn Sulayman that it is disobedience to the Prophet, peace be upon him. It is also said that it refers to that, or to their demanding from him that which burdens him, or that which causes him distress and grief.

In al-Bahr, the interpretation that it refers to adultery is prevented. He said: "This is because the Prophet, peace be upon him, is protected from his wives committing such a thing, and because fahisha (immorality) is described as 'evident,' while adultery is something that is concealed." The implication of this is a prohibition against intending a general meaning. He then said: "It is appropriate to interpret fahisha as disobedience to the husband and corruption of companionship." His discourse is not without criticism. The Imam interpreted it as such and placed the conditional statement in the category of, "If you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless" (39:65), in the sense that while such a thing is possible to occur in initial contemplation, it does not occur definitively, for Allah has protected the wives of the Prophets from that. Some discussion regarding this issue has already passed in Surat al-Nur, and a portion related to both will come, Allah willing.

(The punishment will be doubled for her): On the Day of Resurrection, according to what is narrated from Muqatil, or in both this life and the next, according to what is narrated from Qatada.

(Twice over): Meaning they will be punished twice the punishment of others; that is, double. For if the stay of others who commit an evident immorality in the Fire is one day, for example, their stay would be two days if they committed the like of what was committed. And if a penalty for an immorality is mandatory for others, two penalties would be mandatory for them if they committed the like of it. Abu Amr and Abu Ubaydah said—in what al-Tabari narrated from them—that "twice over" means to make one into three, so that they would have three penalties or three times the punishment of others; this is not considered strong.

The reason for the doubling of the punishment is that the sin is uglier when coming from them, for the increase in its ugliness follows the increase in the merit of the sinner and the blessings upon them, and that is manifest in them. For this reason, the penalty for a free person was made double the penalty for a slave, and the Prophets, peace be upon them, were admonished in a way that nations are not admonished; such is the state of the scholar in relation to the ignorant—for he who knows is not like he who does not know.

It is narrated from Zayn al-Abidin, may Allah be pleased with him, that a man said to him: "You are a household for whom there is forgiveness." He became angry and said: "We are more deserving that there should occur upon us what Allah, the Exalted, ordained for the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him, than that we should be as you say. We see for our doer of good two portions of reward, and for our sinner two portions of punishment." He then recited this verse and the one following it.

Al-Hasan, Isa, and Abu Amr read yuḍ‘af with the ya in the passive voice without an alif. Al-Jahdari, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn Amir read nuḍ‘if with the nun in the active voice without an alif. Zayd ibn Ali, Ibn Muhaysin, and Kharijah from Abu Amr read nuḍā‘if with the nun and alif in the active voice. A group read yuḍā‘if with the ya and alif in the active voice. Those who read in the passive voice read al-‘adhāb in the nominative case, and those who read in the active voice read it in the accusative case.

(And that is easy for Allah): That is, the doubling of the punishment upon them is simple, and His Majesty is not prevented from it by the fact that they are the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him; rather, it is a cause for it.