They are those who do not give welfare tax, and they are the disbelievers in the Hereafter.
At the time of revealing the above verse, Mushriks—those who associate others in the dominion of Allah—were the Meccan pagans who prided themselves as scholars. But today, Mushriks are the Arabic Quran reading Fujjar, including the hypocrites and their blind followers, as explained in verses 1: 7; 9: 67-68; 33: 72-73; 48: 6; and 98: 6. These worst creatures, by not considering the soul and the Hereafter, have become more concerned with bodily and worldly life, and thus they are rejecting the Hereafter. From these hypocritical transgressors, any deed such as welfare tax, charity, prayer, fasting, Hajj, Umra, etc., will not be accepted as explained in verses 2: 186 and 9: 53-55. See explanation 9: 5, 28, 123; 33: 1, 48; 40: 47-50.