Tafsir of Al Imran 3:21

"Indeed, those who disbelieve..."

Qira'at (Readings):

• Al-Hasan read: yaqtulūna al-nabiyyīna (they kill the prophets).
• Hamza read: wa yuqātilūna alladhīna ya'murūna (and they fight those who enjoin...).
• 'Abdullah read: wa qātalū (and they fought).
• Ubayy read: yaqtulūna al-nabiyyīna (they kill the prophets).

Tafsir: "And those who enjoin" refers to the People of the Scripture. Their ancestors killed the prophets and killed their followers while they were pleased with what they had done. They intended to kill the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the believers, had it not been for the protection of Allah.

Hadith: On the authority of Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, which of the people will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection?" He replied, "A man who killed a prophet, or a man who enjoined good and forbade evil."

He then recited this verse and said, "O Abu 'Ubaydah, the Children of Israel killed forty-three prophets at the beginning of the day in a single hour. Then, one hundred and twelve men from the worshippers of the Children of Israel stood up and enjoined them to do good and forbade them from evil, so they were all killed at the end of the day."

"In this world and the Hereafter" Because they have the curse and disgrace in this world, and the punishment in the Hereafter.

Grammatical Note: If you ask: "Why did the fa (ف) enter into the predicate of inna (إن)?" I say: Because its subject contains the meaning of a conditional (jaza'). It is as if it were said: "Whoever disbelieves, then give them glad tidings..." Inna does not change the meaning of the initial subject (ibtida'), so its entry is as if it were not there. If it were layta (I wish) or la'alla (perhaps) in its place, the entry of the fa would be forbidden because the meaning of the initial subject would have changed.

"Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They are invited to the Book of Allah that it should judge between them; then a party of them turns away, while they are refusing. That is because they say, 'The Fire will not touch us except for a numbered number of days,' and they were deluded in their religion by what they used to invent. So how [will it be] when We assemble them for a Day about which there is no doubt? And each soul will be compensated [in full for] what it earned, and they will not be wronged." (23-25)