Allah the Exalted said: (And Allah was not going to punish them while they were seeking forgiveness). Does the pronoun refer to the polytheists?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: In the words of Allah the Exalted[Al-Anfal 8:33], does the pronoun in "while they were seeking forgiveness" refer to the polytheists?
The Shaykh:
Yes. If the polytheists had sought forgiveness, if they had sought forgiveness, Allah would have accepted their repentance. If they had turned away from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and sought forgiveness from Allah, Allah would have accepted their repentance. So the punishment is prevented for two reasons: the first is the presence of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the second is seeking forgiveness. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: Allah the Exalted mentioned regarding...
The Shaykh:
That Allah does not punish a community in which the Prophet is present until he leaves. The nations that Allah destroyed, Allah commanded their prophets to leave them. They left, and after their departure, Allah the Exalted destroyed them.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: In the words of Allah the Exalted
But Allah would not punish them while you, [O Muhammad], are among them, and Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness.
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَThe Shaykh:
Yes. If the polytheists had sought forgiveness, if they had sought forgiveness, Allah would have accepted their repentance. If they had turned away from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and sought forgiveness from Allah, Allah would have accepted their repentance. So the punishment is prevented for two reasons: the first is the presence of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the second is seeking forgiveness. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: Allah the Exalted mentioned regarding...
The Shaykh:
That Allah does not punish a community in which the Prophet is present until he leaves. The nations that Allah destroyed, Allah commanded their prophets to leave them. They left, and after their departure, Allah the Exalted destroyed them.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1934- 4717] قال الله تعالى:(وما كان الله معذبهم وهم يستغفرون﴾ هل الضمير يعود إلى المشركين؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.