[al-Aḥzāb is interpreted in four ways:]
1. By the term al-Aḥzāb, the Banū Umayya, Banū Mughīra, and Āl Abī Ṭalḥa are meant—all of whom are from the Quraysh; in the following verses, this is the intended meaning:
Those to whom We gave the Scripture (that is, the believers among the People of the Torah) rejoice at what has been revealed to you. But among the aḥzāb (that is, among the disbelievers of Banū Umayya, Banū Mughīra, and Āl Abī Ṭalḥa), there are those who deny part of it. (al-Raʿd 13:36)
These (that is, the believers among the People of the Torah) believe in it. But whoever among the aḥzāb (that is, among Banū Umayya, Banū Mughīra, and Āl Abī Ṭalḥa b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā) disbelieves in it... (Hūd 11:17)
A remnant of the aḥzāb (that is, Banū Umayya, Banū Mughīra, and Āl Abī Ṭalḥa b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā), a corrupt army... (Ṣād 38:11)
2. By al-Aḥzāb, the Nestorian and Mar Yaʿqūbī Christians are meant; as in the following verse:
The aḥzāb differed among themselves (in religion: that is, in Christianity). (Maryam 19:37)
For this reason, they split into factions regarding ʿĪsā (Jesus, peace be upon him): the Nestorians said, "ʿĪsā is the son of Allah"; the Mar Yaʿqūbīs said, "Allah is Himself the Messiah"; while the Melkānīs claimed, "Allah is the third of three," asserting that the first of the gods is Allah, the second is ʿĪsā, and the third is Maryam.
A similar statement is found in Sūrat al-Zukhruf.
3. By al-Aḥzāb, the disbelievers from the peoples of Nūḥ, ʿĀd, and Thamūd, up to the peoples of Shuʿayb and Firʿawn, are meant; as in the following verse:
Before them, the people of Nūḥ denied (their messenger), as did ʿĀd and Pharaoh, the owner of stakes, and Thamūd, the people of Lūṭ, and the companions of the thicket. Those are the aḥzāb. (Ṣād 38:12–13)
A similar statement is found in Sūrat al-Muʾmin, in the words of Ḥazqiyal/Ḥaz al-Qibṭī, a believing man from the family of Firʿawn:
Indeed, I fear for you a day like the Day of the aḥzāb (that is, that a punishment like that which befell those past communities will befall you as well). [Like] the fate that befell the people of Nūḥ, ʿĀd, Thamūd, and those after them (up to the people of Shuʿayb), who constituted those aḥzāb... (al-Muʾmin 40:30–31)
4. By al-Aḥzāb, Abū Sufyān and the Jews—who, along with some Arab tribes, formed a confederation against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Day of the Trench and fought in three positions—are meant. The following verse in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb refers to this:
When they came upon you from above (that is, from the upper side of the valley, from the direction of Yemen—meaning the group led by Mālik b. ʿAwfal-Naḍrī from Banū Naḍr and ʿUyayna b. Ḥiṣn al-Fazārī, along with 1,000 from Ghaṭafān, and with them Ṭalḥa b. Ḥuwaylid al-Qaʿnasī from Banū Asad, and from the Jews, Banū Qurayẓa and Ḥuyayy b. Akhṭab al-Yahūdī), and from below you (that is, from the west, from within the valley, from the lower side—meaning the Quraysh led by Abū Sufyān, and with them the Quraysh from the west led by Yazīd b. Ḥunayṣ)—they came. (al-Aḥzāb 33:10)
Abū al-ʿĀwir al-Sulamī, whose real name was ʿAmr b. Sufyān, also came from across the Trench. On that day, they formed confederate groups against the Prophet.
They [the hypocrites] thought that the aḥzāb (that is, those mentioned: the polytheist Arab tribes who besieged Madinah along with the Quraysh) had not yet departed. If the aḥzāb were to return (that is, if they were to come back to fight them)... (al-Aḥzāb 33:20)