إِنَّ الَّذينَ لا يُؤمِنونَ بِالآخِرَةِ لَيُسَمّونَ المَلائِكَةَ تَسمِيَةَ الأُنثىٰ
Indeed, those who do not believe in the hereafter give female names to the angels.
EXPOSITION
Indeed, those who do not believe in the hereafter: the Arab polytheists in general disagreed with the possibility of resurrection and a day of judgement. Although it has been pointed out that certain verses of the Quran allude to some of the idolaters entertaining a possibility of resurrection, such as I do not think the hour will ever set in, and in case I am returned to my Lord, I will indeed have the best [reward] with Him (42:50), in which case not believing in the hour could mean that they had a false belief about it. More likely though, the verse is speaking of some agnostics; people had different views, with the prevalent view being that there was no hereafter.
As we explained earlier, the polytheists thought of their idols as being the daughters of God. The question remains as to what is the connection between not believing in the hereafter and giving female names to the angels? It seems again that God wishes to highlight the contradictory nature of their beliefs, like the example discussed in verse 21, of them wishing sons for themselves and attributing daughters to God. Similarly, those who do not believe in a hereafter, who deny God sending messengers who inform them of their duty, and that they will be taken to task for their actions, simultaneously claim to have knowledge of metaphysical and spiritual matters – note the connection to the main theme of the surah – but the reality is that they have no knowledge of these things.
[1] Razi, 28/257.