His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "O Prophet, when the believing women come to you to pledge allegiance to you that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor will they steal, nor will they commit adultery, nor will they kill their children, nor will they bring forth slander they have invented between their hands and their feet, nor will they disobey you in what is good, then accept their pledge and ask forgiveness for them from Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." "O you who have believed, do not take a people as allies who have incurred the wrath of Allah. They have despaired of the Hereafter just as the disbelievers have despaired of those in the graves." This is the pledge of the women on the second day of the opening at Mount Safa. It was, in meaning, the pledge of the men before the obligation of fighting. And He, blessed and exalted, called them "the believing women" according to the apparent meaning of their matter. The rejection of associating is pure faith, and killing the children is out of fear of poverty, and the Arabs used to do that. Al-Hasan and Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "they will kill" with a dammah on the ya and a fatha on the qaf and a kasra on the shadda ta. And "bringing forth slander" means, according to most of the interpreters, to attribute to her husband a child that is not his. The wording is more general than this specification, for slander by saying about one of the people is indeed a great matter. And lying in what one is entrusted with regarding menstruation and pregnancy is also a slanderous accusation. Some are stronger than others. And this is because some people said: "between their hands" refers to the tongue in speech and the mouth in the direction of the qibla and similar to it, and "between their feet" refers to the private parts, and the child of attribution and similar matters. And the "good" in which disobedience is prohibited, Anas, Ibn Abbas, and Zayd ibn Aslam, may Allah be pleased with them, said: it is mourning, tearing the garments, tattooing the faces, joining the hair, and other than that from the commands of the Shari'ah that He has made obligatory and recommended.

It is narrated that a group of women, among them Hind bint ‘Utbah, pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and he recited the verse to them. When he confirmed to them that they should not associate partners with Allah, Hind said: "How can we hope that He will accept from us what He did not accept from the men?" This means that it is clear that it is obligatory. When he addressed the issue of theft, she said: "By Allah, I take from the wealth of Abu Sufyan, and I do not know what is lawful for me from that." Abu Sufyan, who was present, said: "That is lawful for you in what has passed and what remains." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to her: "Eat and give to your child in a good manner." This meaning has been repeated in another narration, her saying: "Indeed, Abu Sufyan is a miser." When he addressed the issue of adultery, she said: "O Messenger of Allah, can a free woman commit adultery?" The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to her: "No, a free woman does not commit adultery." This is because adultery among the Quraysh was mostly among the slave women, and in what is known by someone like Hind. Otherwise, the prostitutes were free women. When he addressed the issue of killing children, she said: "We raised them when they were small, and you killed them when they were grown at Badr." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, laughed. When he addressed the issue of disobedience in what is good, she said: "We did not sit in this gathering with the intention of disobeying you." It is narrated that a group of women pledged allegiance to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, we pledge allegiance to you regarding such and such verse." When they finished, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "In what you are able to do and what you have released, they said: 'Allah and His Messenger are more merciful to us than we are to ourselves.'

And His saying, exalted is He: "So pledge allegiance to them" means: proceed with them in the transaction of faith by giving them that from themselves and they will be granted Paradise in return. The forms of the pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, with women differed after the consensus that his noble hand did not touch the hand of a foreign woman. It is narrated from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and others that she said: "Indeed, he pledged with the tongue as a saying, and he said: 'My saying to a hundred women is like my saying to one woman.'" And Asma bint Yazid ibn al-Sakan said: "I was among the women who pledged allegiance, and I said: O Messenger of Allah, extend your hand so we can pledge allegiance to you. He, blessings and peace be upon him, said to me: 'I do not shake hands with women, but I take from them what Allah has taken from them.'" And Al-Naqqash mentioned a narration: "That the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, extended his honored hand from outside the house, and the women of the Ansar extended their hands from inside it and pledged allegiance." What I have presented is established. It is narrated from Al-Shabi that he, blessings and peace be upon him, wrapped a thick garment around his hand, and women came and touched his hand in that manner. It is narrated from Al-Kalbi that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, came and the women touched his hand while he was outside the house and they were inside it where they could not be seen. Al-Naqqash and others mentioned: "That the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, pledged allegiance to the women at al-Safa in Mecca while Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was shaking hands with them." It is narrated from the hadith of Amr ibn Shu'aib, from his father, from his grandfather, and Al-Naqqash raised it from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, and from Urwah ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi: "That he, blessings and peace be upon him, dipped his hand in a container of water, then handed it to the women to dip their hands in it."

Then He, blessed and exalted, commanded him to seek forgiveness for them and to assure them of His forgiveness and mercy by His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful﴾.

His saying, exalted is He: ﴿A people upon whom Allah has become angry﴾, Ibn Zayd, Al-Hasan, and Mundhir ibn Sa'id said: They are the Jews because the anger of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has become known to them. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: In this verse, they are the disbelievers of Quraysh; because every disbeliever is under the anger of Allah, exalted is He. This does not negate the established anger of Allah upon the Jews.

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

And especially among the strong ones, like the disbelievers of Quraysh, as their deeds are angering and not merely misguidance, but they contain intended opposition. In the discussion regarding the analogy in His saying, 'As the disbelievers have despaired,' the need for this disagreement becomes clear. This is because despair of the Hereafter can either be through denying it, and this is the despair of the disbelievers of Mecca, or it can be through despair of having a share in it and the blessings while believing in it, and this is the despair of the Jews. So, whoever says that the people referred to are the disbelievers of Mecca, he means by the saying of Allah, 'As the disbelievers have despaired': as the disbeliever despaired from the companion of the grave; because when he dies, he has a close relative who says, 'This is the last time I will see him; he will never be resurrected.' Thus, the meaning of the verse is that the belief of the people of Mecca in the Hereafter is like the belief of the disbeliever in resurrection and meeting his deceased. This is the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah regarding the meaning of His saying, 'As the disbelievers have despaired.' And whoever says that the people referred to are the Jews, he means by the saying of Allah, 'As the disbelievers have despaired': as the disbeliever despaired of mercy when he died and was a companion of the grave. This is because it is narrated that when the disbeliever is in his grave, his place in Paradise is shown to him as if he were a believer, then his place in the Fire to which he will go is shown to him. So, he is despairing of the mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, while knowing of it and being certain of it. This is the interpretation of Mujahid, Ibn Jubair, and Ibn Zayd regarding His saying, 'As the disbelievers have despaired.' So, the meaning of the verse is the despair of the Jews from the mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in the Hereafter while knowing of it, like the despair of that disbeliever in his grave. This is because their hearts have been sealed, and envy has driven them to abandon faith, and it has dominated their thoughts that they are to be punished. This was the characteristic of many of those contemporary to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

And 'from' in His saying, 'from the companions of the graves' is, according to the first saying, for the beginning of the limit, and in the second saying, it is for indicating the type or for partitive, both of which are applicable, and indicating the type is more apparent.

The interpretation of Surah [Al-Mumtahanah] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.