Surah Al-Buruj (The Constellations): (10) Indeed, those who persecuted the believers...

It is known that after the Almighty mentioned the story of the People of the Ditch (Ashab al-Ukhdud), He followed it up with the rulings concerning reward and punishment, saying: {Indeed, those who persecuted the believers} (10).

Herein lie several issues:

It is possible that the intended meaning refers only to the People of the Ditch. However, it is more likely that it refers to everyone who commits such an act. This latter interpretation is preferable because the wording is general, and the ruling is general; thus, restricting it would be abandoning the apparent meaning without evidence.

The root of fitnah is trial and testing. This is because those disbelievers tested the believers, exposing them to fire and burning them. Some commentators stated that fitnah here means burning by fire. Ibn Abbas and Muqatil said: {persecuted the believers} means they burned them with fire. Al-Zajjaj said: It is said, fatantu al-shay’ (I tried the thing) meaning I burned it. Al-Fatan are black stones, as if they were burnt. From this is His saying, the Exalted: {The Day they will be tried over the Fire} (Adh-Dhariyat: 13).

His saying, the Exalted: {then they will have a great punishment} (implied continuation from the previous verse, referring to the punishment for those who did not repent), indicates that if they had repented, they would have been exempt from this severe warning. This proves definitively that Allah Almighty accepts repentance, and it indicates that the repentance of a deliberate murderer is accepted, contrary to what is narrated from Ibn Abbas.

Regarding His saying: {For them is the punishment of Hell, and for them is the punishment of the Burning} (12), there are two views:

The First View: Both punishments occur in the Hereafter. The punishment of Hell is the punishment resulting from their disbelief. The punishment of the Burning is an additional punishment due to their act of burning the believers. It is possible that the first punishment is a punishment of coldness, and the second is a punishment of burning. Or, perhaps the first is a punishment of burning, and the excess is also burning. However, the first punishment is perhaps not termed "burning" in comparison to the second, because the second punishment has fully encompassed the nature of burning, making it complete. Therefore, the first one is considered lesser and is not named "burning."

The Second View: His saying {For them is the punishment of Hell} refers to the punishment of the Hereafter. And {for them is the punishment of the Burning} refers to what we mentioned: those disbelievers were subjected to the fire of the Ditch and were burned by it (in this life).

{Indeed, those who believed and did righteous deeds—for them will be Gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great success.} (14)