Tafsir of Al-Mumtahanah 60:6

"There has certainly been for you in them," that is, in Ibrahim (upon him be peace) and those with him, "a good example," the discussion regarding this is similar to what has preceded. As for His, the Exalted’s, saying: "for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last Day," it means: for whoever hopes for His reward—the Exalted—or for meeting Him—glorified is He—and the bliss of the Hereafter, or the days of Allah—the Exalted—specifically, while the Last Day is general. Hope here may imply both aspiration and fear.

It [the phrase "for whoever"] is a connection to "a good example," or an attribute thereof. It has been permitted that it be a substitute (badal) for "for you" (lakum), based on what al-Akhfash held regarding the permissibility of substituting an explicit noun for a second-person pronoun, as well as for a first-person pronoun, by way of total substitution (badal al-kull min al-kull), just as it is permitted to substitute from a third-person pronoun, or to substitute a total from a part (badal al-kull min al-ba'd), or a substitute of comprehensiveness (badal al-ishtimal), or a substitute of error (badal al-ghalat). The permissibility of this substitution has also been reported from Sibawayh. However, the majority reject this, restricting the permissibility to the substitute of a part, comprehensiveness, and error.

Some eminent scholars have mentioned that there is no disagreement regarding the permissibility of substituting from a second-person pronoun by way of a total when it serves to provide comprehensiveness, as in His, the Exalted’s, saying: "may it be for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us." Some have categorized the instance here under this, though it contains some obscurity.

The sentence "There has certainly been..." is a repetition of what has preceded, intended for emphasis in urging the imitation of Ibrahim (upon him be peace) and those with him. For this reason, it begins with an oath. According to al-Khafaji, if one does not look to His, the Exalted’s, saying: "when they said," then it is a specific constraint; but if one looks to it, it is a generalization after a specification. This is derived from the words of al-Tibi in his investigation of the nature of this repetition.

The apparent meaning is that this is restricted by the likes of what has preceded, as if it were said: "There has certainly been for you in them a good example, when they said..." and so on. In His, the Exalted’s, saying: "for whoever hopes..." there is an indication that whoever hopes for Allah—the Exalted—and the Last Day will not abandon following them; and abandoning it is among the signs of not hoping for Allah—the Exalted—and the Last Day, which is the conduct of the disbelievers, or rather, it is something that portends disbelief, as is signaled by His, the Exalted’s, saying: "And whoever turns away—then indeed, Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy."

"For it is something with which the disbelievers are threatened."