(Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves…) [4:97]. This verse was revealed about some people in Mecca who professed Islam but did not migrate; they showed faith outwardly but were hypocrites inwardly. At the Battle of Badr, they joined the idolaters in their fight against the Muslims and were killed therein. The angels struck their faces and backs and said to them that which Allah, exalted is He, has mentioned in this verse. Abu Bakr al-Harithi informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman> Ash'ath ibn Sawad> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who said with regard to the verse (Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves…) which he recited to the end: “They were Muslims who were in Mecca. They went out with the idolaters to fight and were killed with them, and so this verse was revealed”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
