إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَرْ‌مُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْغَافِلَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ لُعِنُوا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَ‌ةِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Surely, those who level a false charge against the chaste, naive and believing women are cursed in this world and the Hereafter, and for them there is a mighty punishment - 24:23.
On the face of it the same subject has been repeated in this verse which has already appeared in the verses of
وَالَّذِينَ يَرْ‌مُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْ‌بَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا ۚ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ﴿4﴾ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا مِن بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ ﴿5﴾
And those who accuse the chaste women (of fornication), but they do not produce four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes and do not accept their any evidence any more, and they are the sinners, [ 4] except those who repent afterwards and mend their ways; then, Allah is All-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. (24:4-5)
But in fact there is a big difference between the two, because at the end of verses on punishment of false accusation (24:4-5), those who repent are exempted and promised forgiveness. There is no such thing in this verse, and instead it announces the curse in this world and in the Hereafter, without any exception.
Therefore, it is obvious that this verse (24:23) is aimed at those who were involved in slandering Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ and did not repent, so much so that even after the revelation of her exoneration in the Qur'an they adhered to their malicious accusation and kept on propagating it. It is but obvious that no Muslim could do such a thing. If a Muslim disregards a categorical Qur'anic injunction, he cannot remain a Muslim. Hence, this reference relates to those hypocrites who did not stop their slander-mongering campaign against Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ even after the exoneration was reveled in her favour. There is no doubt that they were hypocrites and disbelievers. Therefore, those who had felt remorse on their doing they were granted pardon in the two worlds by Allah's mercy, and those who did not repent are declared in this verse as cursed, both in this world and the Hereafter. Those who felt remorse were given the glad tiding of deliverance from punishment, and those who did not feel remorse were warned of severe punishment. Those who repented were given the good news in إِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ (Allah is Most-forgiving Very-Merciful) and those who did not repent were warned of punishment in the next verse by saying يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ (On the Day their tongues, their hands and their legs will testify against them). (Bayan al-Qur’ an).
An important Warning
The few Muslims who got involved in the episode in connection with the slander on Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ did so at a time when verses regarding her exoneration were not revealed. After the revelation of verses of exoneration whoever makes an insinuation on her character is indeed a disbeliever and a denier of the Qur'an, like the few groups of Shi'ities and some other individuals, who are involved in the shameful practice. There is not the slightest doubt that they are disbelievers. They are regarded disbelievers by the consensus of entire Ummah.