His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy, and there is [a medium] between that." "And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty." "The punishment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated." "Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful."

The interpreters have differed regarding this verse about spending. The majority of them state that the one who is not extravagant is the one who spends in obedience, even if he exceeds, and the extravagant is the one who spends in disobedience, even if his spending is little. The one who is stingy is the one who withholds what is rightfully due upon him. This is the saying of Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Zayd. Awn ibn Abdullah ibn Atabah said: "Extravagance is to spend the wealth of others." And there are other statements that are not related to the wording of the verse. Mixing obedience and disobedience with extravagance and stinginess in this context is questionable. The correct view is to say that spending in disobedience is something that the Shari'ah has prohibited, whether it is little or much. Likewise, transgressing against the wealth of others. Those described are free from that. The discipline in this verse is regarding spending on acts of obedience in permissible matters. The discipline of the Shari'ah in this is that a person should not neglect to the extent that he neglects another's right or dependents, and likewise, he should not be stingy to the point of starving his dependents or excessively hoarding. The good in this is moderation, meaning: justice. And moderation for each person is according to his dependents and his condition, and the lightness of his burden, and his patience and endurance in earning, or the opposite of these qualities. The best of affairs is the middle of them. For this reason, "the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, left Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, to give all his wealth in charity"; because that was a middle ground in relation to his endurance and patience in religion, and it prevented others from doing so. And how good is what Ibrahim al-Nakha'i said: "He is the one who does not starve nor expose [others], nor spends a spending that people say: 'He has been extravagant.'" And Yazid ibn Abi Habib said: "They are those who do not wear clothes for adornment, nor eat food for pleasure." And Abdul Malik ibn Marwan said to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him, when he married his daughter Fatimah: "What is your spending?" He said to him: "The good is between two evils," then he recited this verse. And Yazid ibn Habib also said regarding this verse: "Those are the companions of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. They did not eat food for enjoyment and pleasure, nor did they wear clothes for adornment, but they sought from food what would suffice them from hunger and strengthen them for the worship of their Lord, and from clothing what would cover their nakedness and protect them from heat and cold." And Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "It is enough for a man to be extravagant if he desires something and buys it and eats it." And in the Sunan of Ibn Majah, it is said that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, among extravagance is to eat what you desire." And the poet said:

And do not be excessive in anything of the matter and be moderate in both ends of the pursuit of affairs is blameworthy.

Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, Abu Bakr, Mujahid, and Hafs from 'Asim read: "yaqtiru" with a فتح (fath) on the ياء (ya) and a كسر (kasr) on the تاء (ta). Hamzah and Al-Kisai read with a فتح (fath) on the ياء (ya) and a ضم (dham) on the تاء (ta), which is the reading of Al-Hasan and Al-A'mash - and 'Asim with a difference. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman read with a ضم (dham) on the ياء (ya) and a فتح (fath) on the تاء (ta).

Abu 'Amr and the people read: "qawama" with a فتح (fath) on the قاف (qaf), meaning: moderate. Hassan ibn 'Abd al-Rahman read with a كسر (kasr) on the قاف (qaf), meaning: conveying, and rectifying, and the balance of a state. And "qawama" is the خبر (news) of "kana" and its اسم (name) is implied, meaning: the spending, and Al-Farra' permitted that its اسم (name) could be his saying: "between that."

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity﴾, is an exclusion of His believing servants from the attributes of the disbelievers in: their worship of idols, and their killing of the soul by burying daughters alive, and other than that from oppression, treachery, and raids, and from the fornication which was permissible among them. And concerning this verse, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "One day I said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: Which sin is the greatest? He said: To set up a rival to Allah while He created you. I said: Then what? He said: To kill your child for fear that he may eat with you. I said: Then what? He said: To commit fornication with your neighbor's wife. Then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And with killing and fornication, the sinners from the believers enter into this verse, and they have from the warning according to that. And the right which the soul is killed for is killing the soul, and disbelief after faith, and fornication after chastity, and disbelief which has not preceded by faith among the belligerents.

And "al-atham" in the speech of the Arabs is: punishment, and with it Ibn Zayd interpreted this verse, and from it is the saying of the poet:

May Allah reward Ibn 'Urwah where he has settled, Disobedience, and disobedience has punishment for him.

Meaning: reward and punishment. And 'Ikrimah, and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, and Mujahid said: Indeed, "athaman" is a valley in Hell, this is its name, and Allah, the Exalted, has made it a punishment for the disbelievers.

Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "yudaa'afu" and "yakhlud" in the indicative mood. Ibn Kathir, Abu Ja'far, Al-Hasan, and Ibn 'Amir read: "yudaa'af" with a شدة (shadda) on the عَيْن (ayn) and dropping the ألف (alif), and in the indicative mood in "yudaa'af", "wa yakhlud". Talhah ibn Sulayman read: "nudaa'if" with a ضم (dham) on the نُون (noon) and a كسر (kasr) on the عَيْن (ayn) that is emphasized, "al-'adhab" in the accusative case, "wa yakhlud" in the indicative mood, and this is the reading of Abu Ja'far. Talhah ibn Sulayman read: "wa takhlud" with the تاء (ta), meaning addressing the disbeliever with that. And it was narrated from Abu 'Amr: "wa yukhlad" with a ضم (dham) on the ياء (ya) from below, and a فتح (fath) on the لام (lam). Abu Ali said: And this is an error from the narration, and "yudaa'afu" in the indicative mood is a substitute for "yalqa", Sibawayh said: The doubling of the punishment is the meeting of the atham. The poet said:

When will you come to us, gathering us in our dwellings, You will find abundant firewood and a blazing fire.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Except for the one who repents﴾, there is no disagreement among the scholars that the exception applies to the disbeliever and the fornicator. They differed regarding the murderer among the Muslims. The majority of scholars said: He has repentance. This group based their rule on His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills﴾ [An-Nisa: 48]. Thus, the murderer is included in the will of Allah like all other repentants from sins. They interpret the eternity mentioned in the verse about killing in Surah An-Nisa as meaning a duration like the eternity of nations and similar to it. Abu Huraira narrated a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding the one who kills. It is said that this verse was revealed concerning Wahshi, the killer of Hamza, may Allah be pleased with him, as stated by Said ibn Jubair. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and others said: There is no repentance for the murderer. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: This verse intended repentance for the polytheists. This is because when it was revealed, some groups of polytheists said: How can we enter into Islam while we have done all this? Then the verse ﴿Except for the one who repents﴾ was revealed, and the verse ﴿Say, O My servants who have believed, do not despair of the mercy of Allah﴾ [Az-Zumar: 53] was revealed. I have not seen the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, happier with anything than he was with this and with Surah Al-Fath. Others besides Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said that there is no repentance for the murderer, stated that this verse has been abrogated by the verse in Surah An-Nisa. This was said by Zaid ibn Thabit, and it was also narrated by Said ibn Jubair from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them. Abu Al-Jawza said: I accompanied Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, for thirteen years, and I did not see anything from the Qur'an except that I asked him about it. I never heard him say: Indeed, Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says about a sin: I will not forgive it.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Allah will replace their evil deeds with good﴾. Its meaning is: He makes their deeds instead of their previous sins acts of obedience, and this becomes a cause for the mercy of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, upon them. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubair, Ibn Zaid, and Al-Hasan. They refuted those who said: It is on the Day of Resurrection for whom He wills to forgive among the monotheists, replacing the evil deeds with good deeds. This is the interpretation of Ibn Al-Musayyab regarding this verse.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And it is a meaning of the generosity of pardon.

Ibn Abi Abla read: "He replaces" with the letter ب (ba) being silent and the د (dal) being softened.