Ibn Kathir (2/257), al-Zaffaf (104), and Battah (42) are well-known and reliable (thiqat). See also al-Irwa' (4/343, 344) and al-Da'ifah (416). Ibn Kathir said: This is a good (jayyid) chain of narration, for this Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim was mentioned by al-Khatib in his "History" and he authenticated him; the rest of its narrators are reliable, and al-Tirmidhi frequently authenticates with a chain like this.

: 8451: and disobedience: 2: Tafsir Mujahid: (1/248).

1600: 8456: fear (Allah): 1: The majority of the exegetes (mufassirin) said: The Children of Israel split into three groups, which is the apparent meaning from the pronouns in the verse: A group that disobeyed and fished, and they were about seventy thousand. A group that forbade and withdrew, and they were twelve thousand. And a group that withdrew and neither forbade nor disobeyed. This latter group said to those who forbade: "Why do you preach to a people"—meaning the disobedient ones—"whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with a severe punishment," based on the preponderance of probability and what was known of Allah, the Exalted's practice at that time regarding disobedient nations. The forbidding group replied: "A message of excuse to your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him." Had they been two groups, the forbidding group would have said to the disobedient group: "And perhaps you (plural) may fear Him" (using the second-person pronoun "kum"). Thereafter, they differed; one group said that the group which neither forbade nor disobeyed perished along with the disobedient group as a punishment for abandoning the act of forbidding. Ibn Abbas stated this.

1601: 8457: the punishment: 1: See, Tafsir al-Qurtubi: (4/2743).

1602: 8463: for the righteous: 1: Surah al-Baqarah, verse 66.

: 8464: severe and painful: 2: Tafsir Mujahid: (1/248).

: 8464: and grievous: 3: Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq: (1/225).