Fāʾ al-ittiṣāl may mark a consequence or a clause closely proceeding from an earlier statement. Its function is not always reducible to chronological “then”; the precise link depends on the surrounding argument.
«إِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ غَرَّ هَٰؤُلَاءِ دِينُهُمْ»
“When the hypocrites and those with diseased hearts were saying, ‘Their religion has deceived these people.’” (al-Anfāl 8:49, excerpt)
This quotation illustrates how a clause belongs to an extended battle scene and how two described groups are linked; it does not itself contain a fāʾ particle. It should therefore not be mistaken for a literal occurrence of fāʾ. Grammatical labels must follow the actual wording, not replace it.