His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the foremost, the first of the emigrants and the helpers, and those who followed them with good conduct, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. And He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the great success." "And among those around you are the Bedouins who are hypocrites, and among the people of the city are those who have persisted in hypocrisy. You do not know them; we know them. We will punish them twice, then they will be returned to a great punishment." Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Ibn al-Musayyib, Ibn Sirin, and Qatadah said: "The foremost, the first ones": those who prayed towards the two qiblahs. And 'Ata said: "The foremost, the first ones": those who witnessed Badr. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The qiblah was changed two months before Badr. And 'Amir ibn Sharahil al-Sha'bi said: "The foremost, the first ones": those who witnessed the Pledge of Ridwan. "And those who followed them with good conduct" refers to all the companions, and this term includes the followers and the rest of the Ummah, but with the condition of good conduct. This name has been established for the generation that saw whoever saw the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. If someone were to say that the foremost, the first ones are all those who migrated until migration ceased, that would be a statement that the wording implies, and "from" would be for indicating the type, and "those who" in this verse is an addition to his saying: "And the foremost." Umar ibn al-Khattab, al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Qatadah, Salam, and Sa'id, and Ya'qub ibn Talhah, and 'Isa al-Kufi read: "And the foremost, the first ones among the emigrants and the helpers" with the raising of the letter 'ra' in conjunction with "and the foremost." Likewise, his saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And those who followed them with good conduct" is in conjunction with both readings. Al-Tabari narrated that Zayd ibn Thabit heard it and rejected it. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, sent to Ubayy ibn Ka'b and asked him. Ubayy ibn Ka'b said: "And the foremost, the first ones among the emigrants and the helpers and those who followed them with good conduct." Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: We did not think that we had been raised to a rank that no one could attain with us. Ubayy said: Indeed, the proof of this is in the Book of Allah at the beginning of Surah al-Jumu'ah: "And others among them who have not yet joined them" [al-Jumu'ah: 3], and in Surah al-Hashr: "And those who came after them say: Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith" [al-Hashr: 10], and in Surah al-Anfal in His saying: "And those who believed afterward and migrated and strove with you, they are of you" [al-Anfal: 75]. So Umar returned to the saying of Ubayy, and this verse alerted about the followers, who are those who reached the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, as indicated by his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "O Allah, have mercy on the helpers and the children of the helpers and the children of the children of the helpers." So reflect on this.

Ibn Kathir read: "From beneath it are rivers," and the others read: "Beneath it" by omitting "from." The meaning of this verse is the ruling of being pleased with them by admitting them to Paradise and forgiving their sins. It is the ruling of their being pleased with Him in their gratitude and praise for His blessings and their faith in Him and their obedience to Him. May Allah make us among those who are successful by His mercy and grace.

And His saying: "And among those around you are the Bedouins" is addressed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and he shares in some of it with his nation. The reference in His saying: "And among those around you are the Bedouins" is to Juhaynah, Muzaynah, Aslam, Ghifar, 'Ushayyah, Lihyan, and others from the tribes neighboring Medina. Allah informed about their hypocrites, and the meaning of the verse is: "And among the people of Medina are a group or hypocrites." This is the best interpretation that the wording carries. And "they rebelled" means, according to Abu 'Ubaydah, that they persisted in it and were obstinate in it. It is said otherwise that it is something close to that. Ibn Zayd said: They remained upon it and did not repent as the others repented. The apparent meaning of the wording is that rebellion in something or being rebellious towards it is indeed obstinacy and mockery of it and defiance against the admonisher and being headstrong in that. It is used in evil, not in good. From that is their saying: a rebellious devil and a rebellious one. For this reason, it was named Murad because it rebelled. Some people say: "The man rebelled in such a matter" if he became devoted to it. This is from their saying: "A tree that is bare" if it has no leaves, and from it: "A structure that is bare" [An-Naml: 44]. And from this is their saying: "The rebellious one has prevailed, and the white one has triumphed," and from this is the beardless one who has no beard. So the meaning of "they rebelled" in this verse is that they persisted in it and mocked it and were defiant against their admonisher.

Then He, the Exalted and Majestic, negated the knowledge of His Prophet about them specifically. Al-Tabari narrated from Qatadah regarding His saying, the Exalted: "You do not know them; We know them." He said: So what is with some people who strive to know the affairs of others? So-and-so is in Paradise, so-and-so is in Hell. If you ask one of them about himself, he says: I do not know. You, by my life, know better than yourself about the deeds of people. Indeed, you have taken upon yourself something that the messengers do not take upon themselves. The Prophet of Allah, Nuh, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "And what knowledge do I have of what they were doing?" [Ash-Shu'ara: 112]. And the Prophet of Allah, Shu'ayb, said: "The remaining of Allah is better for you if you are believers, and I am not a guardian over you" [Hud: 86]. And the Blessed and Exalted said to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "You do not know them; We know them."

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

'And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿We will punish them twice, then they will be returned to a great punishment﴾. In the Mushaf of Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him: 'He will punish them' with a ya, and the speech - according to both readings - is a warning. The wording necessitates three instances of punishment. There is no disagreement among the interpreters that the great punishment to which they will be returned is the punishment of the Hereafter. Most people believe that the intermediate punishment is the punishment of the grave. There is a difference regarding the punishment of the first instance. Mujahid and others said: It is their punishment by killing and hunger, and this is unlikely because some of them did not experience this. Ibn Abbas also said: Their punishment is the enforcement of the legal limits upon them despite their aversion to it. Ibn Ishaq said: Their punishment is their concern about the emergence of Islam and the elevation of its word. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them - and this is the most famous view attributed to him - said: Their punishment is their disgrace and being branded with hypocrisy. It has been narrated in this interpretation that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, delivered a sermon on a Friday and denounced the hypocrites, stating clearly: 'Get out, O so-and-so, from the mosque, for you are a hypocrite, and you, O so-and-so, get out, and you, O so-and-so, get out,' until he expelled a group of them. Umar saw them leaving the mosque while he was approaching the Friday prayer, so he thought that the people had dispersed and that he had missed the Friday prayer, and he hid from them out of shame. Then he reached the mosque and saw that the prayer had not been concluded and understood the matter.' (p-395) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The action of the Prophet ﷺ with them is for the purpose of discipline, an effort on his part regarding them. This did not remove them from Islam; rather, it is like the way sinners and those accused are treated. There is no greater punishment than this. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ often spoke about them in general terms without specifying individuals. This is also part of the punishment. Qatadah and others said: The first punishment consists of ailments and diseases that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, informed His Prophet ﷺ that He would afflict them with. Al-Tabari narrated from Qatadah that he said: 'It was mentioned to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ confided to Hudhayfah about twelve men from the hypocrites, and he said: