Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:137

They are a people from whom apostasy occurred repeatedly, who persisted in disbelief, and who increased in their persistence in deviation. According to Mujahid and Ibn Zayd, they are a group of hypocrites who manifested faith, then apostatized, then manifested it again, then apostatized, and then died in their disbelief. Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them—considered this general, applying to every hypocrite in the era of the Prophet (may Allah grant him blessings and peace), whether on land or sea.

According to Al-Hasan, they are a faction from the People of the Scripture who intended to cast doubt into the hearts of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him blessings and peace). They would manifest faith in their presence, then say, "A doubt has occurred to us," and thus disbelieve. Then they would manifest faith again and say, "Another doubt has occurred to us," and disbelieve, continuing in this state of disbelief until death. This is the meaning of the Almighty's saying: "And a faction of the People of the Scripture say, 'Believe in that which was revealed to those who believe at the beginning of the day and reject it at its end, that perhaps they will return [to disbelief]'" (3:72).

It has been said: They are the Jews, who believed in Moses—peace be upon him—then disbelieved by worshipping the Calf when he was absent from them, then believed when he returned to them, then disbelieved in Jesus—peace be upon him—and then increased in disbelief regarding Muhammad (may Allah grant him blessings and peace). This is narrated from Qatadah. Al-Zajjaj and Al-Farra said: They believed in Moses—peace be upon him—then disbelieved after him, then believed in Ezra, then disbelieved in Jesus—peace be upon him, then increased in disbelief regarding our Prophet—peace be upon him and blessings. This has been criticized, as those who increased in disbelief regarding Muhammad (may Allah grant him blessings and peace) were not necessarily the same people who believed in Moses and then disbelieved by worshipping the Calf or otherwise, nor were they the ones who believed upon his return or in Ezra, and then disbelieved in Jesus; rather, they were either believers in Moses and others, or were disbelievers due to their rejection of Jesus and the Gospel.

It has been answered that this does not refer to specific individuals but to the category (the genus). The condemnation of the Jews present at the time occurs on the basis that what emanated from some of them is as if it emanated from all of them. The view that the heart inclines toward is that it refers to a people from whom apostasy occurred repeatedly, regardless of whether they were hypocrites or otherwise. This is supported by what Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Ali—may Allah be pleased with his countenance—who said regarding the apostate: "If I were he, I would seek his repentance three times," then he recited this verse. Some of the Imams followed the view of the Commander—may Allah be pleased with his countenance—stating that the apostate is to be killed upon the fourth [instance] and is not to be asked to repent. It is as if he meant that there is no benefit in seeking repentance, as there is no utility in it.

According to this, the meaning of His saying, "{Allah would not forgive them, nor would He guide them to a way}", is that He, the Almighty, will not do that at all, even if they repent. According to the famous view held by the majority, the negation of forgiveness and guidance refers to the negation of what they necessitate, which is true, firmly established faith. The meaning of its negation is to convey the improbability of its occurrence; for those from whom apostasy, an increase in disbelief, and persistence in it have recurred have reached a state where their hearts have been struck with disbelief and have become practiced in apostasy. Faith has become the most insignificant and trivial thing to them, such that they do not draw even an inch near to it to become eligible for forgiveness and guidance to the path of Paradise—not that if they were to sincerely embrace faith, it would not be accepted from them and they would not be forgiven.

Some have specified the refusal of repentance to the one who trifles and acts mockingly when evidence of that is established.

The predicate of kana (would not be) in such contexts is omitted, and to it the lam (the 'la' in 'li-yaghfira') is attached, as the Basrans held. That is: Allah was not intending to forgive them. Negating the intent of an action is more emphatic than negating the action itself.

The Kufans held that the lam is an addition and the predicate is the verb itself. This has been weakened by the fact that what follows it is in the accusative (nasb). If the accusative is by the lam itself, then it is not an addition. If it is by an (a hidden 'that'), then it is flawed due to the informing about the Essence (Allah) through the verbal noun (masdar). It was answered by choosing the first part: that there is no obstacle to [the particle] functioning while it is also an addition, just as in the additive prepositions. And by choosing the second part: the prohibition of informing about the Essence through the verbal noun is because it does not indicate by its form a doer or a specific time, whereas the verb and the masdar (when preceded by an) indicate both, so informing by it is permissible even if informing by the verbal noun is not. The flaw in this is clear, for the informing in this case is by the verb, not the verbal noun; and if one interprets the verbal noun as an active participle, it is also not by it. So understand.

A group chose regarding these people what Mujahid chose, and supported it with the Almighty's saying...