Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:62

(The way of Allah regarding those who have passed on before): An infinitive used for emphasis; meaning: Allah the Exalted has established that—regarding the past nations—as a way (Sunnah), which is: fighting those who strive to cause corruption among people, expelling them from their homelands, and subduing them wherever they are found, provided they are characterized by that [corruption].

(And you will never find): O Prophet, or anyone to whom the address of discovery applies, ever (in the way of Allah): in His, the Almighty’s, continuous custom (any change): because it is built upon the foundation of wisdom; therefore, He, the Exalted in Majesty, does not change it. And how far—how very far—it is for anyone other than Him, the Glorified, to be able to change it! Whoever examines the accounts of those who came before will pause at a profound matter regarding the severity of their treatment of the corruptors among them; it is as if human temperaments are inherently disposed toward treating them harshly and subduing them. In the exegesis of al-Fakhr: "(And you will never find in the way of Allah any change)"—meaning, this way is not like a legal ruling that changes or is abrogated, for abrogation occurs in rulings, whereas actions and reports are not abrogated. Al-Suddi has a strange statement regarding the verse which I do not think anyone else has adopted.

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from him that he said regarding it: Hypocrisy was of three types:

1. Hypocrisy like that of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul and his peers; they were prominent figures among the Ansar, and they were ashamed to commit adultery, thereby protecting themselves; these are the hypocrites [intended] in the verse.
2. Hypocrisy of those in whose hearts is a disease; they are hypocrites who, if adultery is made easy for them, they commit it; if it is not made easy, they do not pursue it nor concern themselves with it.
3. Hypocrisy of the alarmists (al-murjifun); these are hypocrites who overpower women, following their tracks and overcoming them to commit adultery with them. These are the ones who overpower women—(We will surely incite you against them)—meaning, the Almighty says: We will surely make you aware of them. Then the Almighty said: (Accursed), then the verse detailed: (Wherever they are found) doing this act of overpowering women, (they shall be seized and killed with a [thorough] killing).

Then al-Suddi said: This is a ruling in the Quran that is not being acted upon. If a man—and those beyond him—were to track a woman and overcome her to commit adultery with her, the ruling in her case would transcend lashing and stoning; it is that they are to be seized and their necks struck. "(The way of Allah regarding those who have passed on before...)"—this is how it was done with the nations who passed away, "(And you will never find in the way of Allah any change)." Thus, whoever overpowers a woman and defeats her, then is killed, there is no blood-money (diyah) for his killer because he is an aggressor.

The apparent meaning is that the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease ceased what was intended by the prohibition, namely the harm that their state entailed. However, this did not occur from the alarmists (the Jews), so fighting and expulsion were carried out against them.

In al-Bahr, the apparent meaning is that the hypocrites—meaning everyone mentioned in the verse—ceased the harm they were inflicting upon the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the believers; they hid their true selves and desisted out of fear that what was promised would befall them—namely, incitement [of the Prophet against them], expulsion, and killing. This was reported from al-Jubba'i. According to Abu Muslim, they did not cease, and the incitement was realized by the Almighty's saying: (Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites). The objection to this is that expulsion and killing did not occur against the hypocrites, and the Jihad in the verse is [to be understood as] verbal. It is also said that they did not abandon what they were upon, nor were they prohibited from it entirely, nor was the threat fully executed against them. Do you not see their expulsion from the mosque, and the Almighty's prohibition against praying over them, and what was revealed in Surah Bara'ah? Some claimed that none of those mentioned ceased at all, and the threat was not executed against them; in this is evidence for the invalidity of the claim regarding the necessity of the execution of a threat in the Hereafter, and that such a threat is conditional upon the will [of Allah]. This [argument] holds a degree of remoteness that is evident.