Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:150

(Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers), meaning according to what their doctrine leads to and what their opinions necessitate, not that they explicitly declare it, as indicated by the saying of the Exalted: (And wish to make distinction between Allah and His messengers), in faith, by believing in Him—the Mighty and Majestic—and disbelieving in His messengers—peace and blessings be upon them. However, they do not explicitly declare belief in Him, the Exalted, and disbelief in them collectively; rather, it is by way of implication, as suggested by His saying: (And they say, "We believe in some and disbelieve in some"), meaning: We believe in some prophets—peace and blessings be upon them—and disbelieve in others, just as the People of the Scripture did. This is nothing but disbelief in Allah, the Exalted, and a distinction between Allah, the Exalted, and His messengers, because He—the Mighty and Majestic—has commanded them to believe in all the prophets—peace and blessings be upon them. There is no prophet who has not informed his people of the veracity of the religion of our Prophet (may the blessings of Allah be upon him). Thus, whoever disbelieves in one of them has disbelieved in all of them, and in Allah, the Exalted, as well, without realizing it.

(And they wish) by this statement (to adopt between that), meaning between belief and disbelief, (a way), meaning a path to follow, even though there is absolutely no intermediate state between them, for truth does not differ, and what is there after the truth except error? This is what some have adopted in the interpretation of the verse, and it is what the reports support. Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn Jarir narrated from Qatadah that he said regarding it: "Those are the enemies of Allah, the Exalted; the Jews and the Christians. The Jews believed in the Torah and Moses, and disbelieved in the Gospel and Jesus—peace be upon him. The Christians believed in the Gospel and Jesus—peace be upon him—and disbelieved in the Quran and Muhammad (may the blessings of Allah be upon him). So they adopted Judaism and Christianity, which are innovations not from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and they abandoned Islam, which is the religion of Allah, the Exalted, with which He sent His messengers." Ibn Jarir also narrated the like from As-Suddi and Ibn Jurayj.

Some have said: Those who disbelieve in Allah, the Exalted, and His messengers—peace and blessings be upon them—are those whose disbelief is purely directed at all of them, such as those who negate the Creator or deny prophethood. Those who distinguish between Him, the Exalted, and His messengers—peace and blessings be upon them—are those who believed in Allah, the Exalted, and disbelieved in His messengers—peace and blessings be upon them—not the reverse; although it is argued that it is conceivable in the case of the Christians due to their belief in Jesus—peace be upon him—and their disbelief in Allah, the Exalted, in that they claimed He is the third of three. Disbelief in Allah—glory be to Him—encompasses both polytheism and denial, and that which is in it is not hidden. And those who believe in some and disbelieve in some are those who believed in some prophets—peace be upon them—and disbelieved in others, like the Jews. These are contradictory categories; the apparent usage would have been to conjoin them with 'or', but the 'and' (wa) was used in its place, so it carries its meaning.

It is said that the relative pronoun is implicit, based on the permissibility of its omission while its connective remains. It is also said that His saying—the Exalted—(And they wish to make distinction, etc.) is an explanatory conjunction for His saying—glory be to Him—(disbelieve), because this intent is the very essence of disbelief in Allah, the Exalted, for whoever disbelieves in the messengers of Allah—glory be to Him—has disbelieved in Allah, the Exalted, like the Brahmins. As for His saying—the Majestic and Exalted—(And they say, "We believe in some, etc."), it is a conjunction to the relative clause, and the 'and' (wa) carries the meaning of 'or' (for categorization). The former group distinguished between belief in Allah, the Exalted, and His messengers, while the latter group distinguished between the messengers of Allah, the Exalted—peace be upon them—believing in some and disbelieving in others, like the Jews. Based on this, the predicate of "Indeed" (Inna) is His saying...