Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:65

"And it has been revealed to you and to those before you" (i.e., of the messengers, peace be upon them): "If you associate (with Allah, the Exalted, anything whatsoever), your work shall surely be nullified, and you shall surely be among the losers."

The apparent meaning is that the sentence "If you associate..." is the deputy agent (na’ib al-fa’il) of "revealed." However, there is an ellipsis in the speech. The original structure is: "It has been revealed to you: 'If you associate, your work shall be nullified,' and it has been revealed to those before you the like thereof."

It is also said that there is no ellipsis, and the singular address is with respect to each of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the messengers to whom it was revealed, for it was revealed to each of them: "If you associate..." in the singular. The Basrans maintained that sentences cannot act as agents or deputy agents; thus, in the Bahr, it is stated that "to you" is the deputy agent, and the meaning—as Muqatil said—is: "It has been revealed to you and to those before you to uphold monotheism." The saying of the Exalted, "If you associate...," is an inception (isti’naf) addressed specifically to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), though this is as you can see. In any case, it is speech by way of hypothesis to stir the protected, infallible addressee, to cause the disbelievers to despair, and to announce the extreme hideousness of polytheism and its ugliness, and that it is of such a nature that even one who would never commit it is warned against it, so how much more so for those other than him? Thus, using this verse to argue for the permissibility of the occurrence of major sins from the prophets (peace be upon them), as is done in al-Mawaqif, is baseless; for the possibility of occurrence as a hypothesis is sufficient for the conditional, though it should be known that the impossibility of its occurrence is religiously established.

The lam in "La-qad" and "La-in" are those of an oath, and the two lams that follow are for the response to the oath. In the failure to qualify the nullification with perseverance in polytheism until death, there is evidence for the Hanafis, who hold that apostasy nullifies previous works absolutely. Yes, they have said: Nothing is to be performed after returning to Islam except Hajj. The school of al-Shafi’i is that apostasy does not nullify work that preceded it, provided the apostate does not remain in disbelief until death. The qualification was omitted here in reliance upon its explicit mention in the saying of the Exalted: "And whoever among you turns back from his religion and dies while he is a disbeliever, those are they whose works have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, therein abiding eternally." This is a case of carrying the absolute over the qualified.

Some Hanafis answered that the aforementioned verse is distributive: "those are they whose works have become worthless" pertains to the apostasy from the religion, while "those are the companions of the Fire" pertains to dying in disbelief; thus, there is no qualification upon which to base the absolute. From this disagreement arose the dispute regarding the companion who apostatized then returned to Islam after the passing of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) or before it without having seen him: Is he called a companion or not? Those who go by the absolute say no, and those who go by the qualification say yes.

It is also said: It is possible that the nullification is absolute as a specific trait of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for his polytheism—may he be protected from it—would be most hideous. There is weakness in this, for the intent is to warn his nation; to depict the atrocity of disbelief as something specific to him, not extending from the Prophet to the nation, has no direction, especially since it has no support from tradition or reason. The loss (khusran) according to the Hanafis is what necessarily results from the nullification of work; thus the apparent meaning would be "you would be among the losers," but it was diverted to what is in the sublime arrangement to signify that nullification and loss are sufficient to deter polytheism. It is also said that it means eternity in the Fire, thus requiring the qualification of death, as is the view of al-Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him).

"Layuhbatan" (it shall surely be nullified) was recited from ahbata (to nullify) with the fatha on the ba, meaning: "Allah, the Exalted, or polytheism shall surely nullify your work." It was also recited with a nun (i.e., li-yuhbitanna), with "your work" also being in the accusative case.