Tafsir

The next verse mentions some details of the punishment to be faced by the aforementioned sinners. In the context of these verses it is certain that this chastisement will be exclusive to those who were infidels and also indulged in adultery or homicide. In the first place the phrase يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ (The punishment will be doubled for him - 69) cannot be applied on Muslim sinners because they are told both in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah that they will get only one punishment against a sin. Any increase in the intensity of chastisement will not be in the case of believers. Doubling of chastisement will be exclusive to infidels i.e. the first chastisement will be for infidelity and in case they have also committed sins the chastisement will be doubled. Secondly, it is also mentioned about this chastisement that it will be perpetual وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا - 25:69) i.e. the punished will be placed there forever after being disgraced and condemned. On the other hand no believer will be condemned for ever in the Jahannam, no matter how big a sin he has committed.

Muslims will be taken out of the Jahannam when they have completed their term there. In brief, those infidels who reject monotheism and also commit adultery and homicide will be awarded doubled chastisement which will increase in intensity and will last forever. In the next verse there is a solace for the above type of sinners in that if they seek Allah's forgiveness and act righteously, then Allah Ta’ ala is expected to change their sins into righteous deeds. In other words, once they have repented on their past sins and accepted Islam, their past sins will be taken away from their record and all that will be left in the record would be nothing but righteous deeds. It is because Allah Ta'ala has promised that when an infidel accepts Islam, all sins he might have committed during infidelity are pardoned. Hence their previous record which was full of sins and evil deeds will be forgiven and scraped, and will be replaced with a fresh record of good and righteous deeds which they would perform after submitting to Islam.

This explanation of conversion of sins into virtues is given by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، Hasan al-Basri, Said Ibn Jubair and Mujahid رحمۃ اللہ علیہم (Mazhari).

Ibn Kathir has given another explanation for conversion of sins into virtues. He says that when they will remember all those sins which they had committed during the period of their infidelity, they will repent and seek Allah's forgiveness. This act of repentance will replace their sins into virtues. In support of this explanation some traditions have also been quoted.