Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:98

{Except for the oppressed among the men, women, and children who cannot devise a plan and are not guided to a way.}

"Except for the oppressed" is a disconnected exception (istithna’ munqati’), because the relative pronoun, its pronouns, and the demonstrative pointing to them—in "those whom the angels take in death while they are wronging themselves"—are the categories from which the aforementioned oppressed are being distinguished. It has been said that it is a connected exception (muttasil), and the entity from which the exception is made is [contained in the implied subject of] "their refuge is Hell," but this is not sound.

Meaning: Except for those who were unable to emigrate and were weak, "among the men"—such as ‘Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi‘ah, Salamah ibn Hisham, and al-Walid ibn al-Walid—"and the women"—such as Umm al-Fadl Lubabah bint al-Harith (the mother of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas) and others—"and the children"—such as the aforementioned ‘Abdullah and others, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with them.

"Among" (min) is an adverbial state (hal) of the oppressed, or [it refers] to the pronoun hidden within it; that is, being of these [groups]. The mention of children is to emphasize the obligation of and command for emigration, to the extent that it is as if even the young were tasked with it. Or, it may be said that their being tasked refers to the tasking of their guardians to remove them from the lands of disbelief, or that those meant are the adolescents, or those whose childhood is recent, used metaphorically as in [the case of] the orphans. Or, the intent is to treat these groups equally regarding the absence of sin and the [imposition of] religious obligation, or that the [level of] incapacity should be [comparable] to the incapacity of children, or that the intent by them is male and female slaves.

"Who cannot devise a plan"—that is, they do not find the means or the initial requirements for emigration.

"And are not guided to a way"—that is, they do not know the path to the place to which one must emigrate, neither on their own nor through a guide. This sentence is an adjective for "those" (ma) following "among" (min) or for the "oppressed," because the intent here is the genus, whether the definite article (al-) is relative or a definite article of classification, as it functions in meaning like an indefinite noun. It could also be a state (hal) of them or of the pronoun hidden within them. It is also permitted that it be an initiatory sentence (musta’nafa) explaining the meaning of the oppression intended here.