Good discussion, and a very nice phrasing of what the verse communicates. Now here is the pointed question. What exactly is in this wording that says that Muslims are no longer under whatever obligation that they were under per 58:12? They were forgiven for having violated it, yes, but where in the wording is the promise of forgiveness if they were to do the violation again?
Nowhere! 58:13 does not annul the imperative in 58:12. It simply says that for those who elect not to offer the charity that they
had better establish the prayer, pay the alms and obey God and His Messenger!
I say "elect" because those who cannot afford it have been excused in 58:12. That leaves people who can afford it but choose not to.
BTW, I think the role of 58:12 was to reduce the load on the Prophet (PBUH) which was getting out of control. People probably approached the Prophet less after 58:12, either because they didn't want to give charity or because they weren't comfortable using the hardship clause. The end result was the intended one, to put the brakes on a work load that was going out of control.
Exactly! I was listening to Chapter 58 this afternoon and noticed immediately that the preceding verse, 58:11, is teaching Muslims etiquette.
Part of that etiquette is to leave when asked to leave. Now, one gets the picture of people who imposed themselves on the Prophet (PBUH) who may not even have had important questions to ask him. That's the context of revealing 58:12-13. It filtered out those time wasters. Like
I said earlier, it also stopped some people with legitimate questions, so 58:13 came to assure them that they can go ahead and see the Prophet (PBUH) privately for their concerns and they don't have to offer a charity if they can't afford it.