9:106 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

أي‏:‏ ‏{‏وَآخَرُونَ‏}‏ من المخلفين مؤخرون ‏{‏لِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ إِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُمْ وَإِمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ‏}‏ ففي هذا التخويف الشديد للمتخلفين، والحث لهم على التوبة والندم‏.‏ ‏{‏وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ‏}‏ بأحوال العباد ونياتهم ‏{‏حَكِيمٌ‏}‏ يضع الأشياء مواضعها، وينزلها منازلها، فإن اقتضت حكمته أن يغفر لهم ويتوب عليهم غفر لهم وتاب عليهم، وإن اقتضت حكمته أن يخذلهم ولا يوفقهم للتوبة، فعل ذلك‏.‏

قال ابن عباس ومجاهد وعكرمة والضحاك وغير واحد: هم الثلاثة الذين خلفوا أي عن التوبة وهم مرارة بن الربيع وكعب بن مالك وهلال بن أمية قعدوا عن غزوة تبوك في جملة من قعد كسلا وميلا إلى الدعة والحفظ وطيب الثمار والظلال لا شكا ونفاقا فكانت منهم طائفة ربطوا أنفسهم بالسواري كما فعل أبو لبابة وأصحابه وطائفة لم يفعلوا ذلك وهم هؤلاء الثلاثة المذكورون فنزلت توبة أولئك قبل هؤلاء وأرجى هؤلاء عن التوبة حتى نزلت الآية الآتية وهي قوله " لقد تاب الله على النبي والمهاجرين والأنصار " الآية " وعلى الثلاثة الذين خلفوا حتى إذا ضاقت عليهم الأرض بما رحبت " الآية كما سيأتي في حديث كعب بن مالك وقوله " إما يعذبهم وإما يتوب عليهم " أي هم تحت عفو الله إن شاء فعل بهم هذا وإن شاء فعل بهم ذاك ولكن رحمته تغلب غضبه " والله عليم حكيم " أي عليم بمن يستحق العفو " ممن يستحق العفو حكيم في أفعاله وأقواله لا إله إلا هو ولا رب سواه.

Delaying the Decision about the Three Companions Who stayed away from the Battle of Tabuk

Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak and several others said that those mentioned in the Ayah are the three who were made to wait to know if their repentance was accepted; Mararah bin Ar-Rabi`, Ka`b bin Malik and Hilal bin Umayyah. Some Companions stayed behind from the battle of Tabuk due to laziness, preferring comfort, ease, ripe fruits and shade. They did not lag behind because of hypocrisy or doubts. Some of them tied themselves to the pillars (of the Masjid) like Abu Lubabah and several of his friends did. Some of them did not do that, and they are the three mentioned here. Those who tied themselves received their pardon before these three men whose pardon was delayed, until this Ayah was revealed,

لَقَدْ تَابَ الله عَلَى النَّبِىِّ وَالْمُهَـجِرِينَ وَالاٌّنصَـرِ

(Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajirin and the Ansar...)

وَعَلَى الثَّلَـثَةِ الَّذِينَ خُلِّفُواْ حَتَّى إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ

(And the three who stayed behind, until for them the earth, vast as it is, was straitened...) We will mention the Hadith about this story from Ka`b bin Malik. Allah said,

إِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُمْ وَإِمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ

(whether He will punish them or will forgive them. ) meaning, they are at Allah's mercy, if He wills, He pardons them or punishes them. However, Allah's mercy comes before His anger,

وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

(And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) 9:106 Allah knows those who deserve the punishment and those who deserve the pardon. He is All-Wise in His actions and statements, there is no deity worthy of worship nor Lord besides Him.

And there are others from among those who stayed behind who are deferred read murja’ūna or murjawna whose repentance is delayed to God’s command concerning them according to His will whether He chastises them by causing them to die without their having made any repentance or relents to them; and God is Knower of His creatures Wise in what He does with them. These others mentioned are the three who will be mentioned afterwards Murāra b. al-Rabī‘ Ka‘b b. Mālik and Hilāl b. Umayya. They stayed behind out of laziness and their inclination for peace and quiet not out of hypocrisy. Unlike the others however they did not excuse themselves before the Prophet s and so the matter regarding them was suspended for fifty days during which time people avoided them until it was later revealed that God had relented to them.

Let us now turn to the statement: وَآخَرُ‌ونَ مُرْ‌جَوْنَ لِأَمْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ (And there are others whose matter is deferred till the command of Allah - 106). We already know that seven of the ten believers, who had missed the battle of Tabuk without a valid excuse, had demonstrated their heartfelt remorse by tying themselves up to the pillars of the Prophet's Mosque. The injunction which covers them appeared in the first verse (102): آخَرُ‌ونَ اعْتَرَ‌فُوا (And there are others who admitted their sins). Verse 106 is now referring to the other three gentlemen who had not done what the group of seven had done in the Masjid. Thus, they had not admitted their misconduct openly. In their case, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ordered his Companions ؓ to see that Muslims boycott them by not talking to them. When things reached those limits, they learnt their lesson, confessed to their misconduct and repented sincerely, following which orders were given for their pardon. (Sahib a1-Bukhari and Muslim)

And others who are made to hope for God's command; either He will chastise them or He will turn toward them. And God is knowing, wise. In these verses the Generous Lord, the lovingly kind, the able, the pure-knowing knower, the one and unique in name and mark, divides MuḤammad's community into three groups according to the degrees of their faith, the disparity of their acts, and the difference of their character traits. This is the same classification that He provided in detail elsewhere: " Among them are wrongdoers to themselves, among them are moderate, and among them are preceders in good deeds " [35:32]. There He mentioned them together and here apart, but the classification and the ranking in terms of virtue are the same. First are the preceders, the first, and they are the preceders. Second are others who have acknowledged their sins, and they are the moderate. Third are others made to hope for God's command, and they are the wrongdoers. He begins with the preceders. In the beginningless they have the precedence of solicitude and the bounty of guidance from God. They are the first chieftains and the forebears of this commu- nity, the best of creation, the lamps of guidance, the signposts of the religion, the treasurers of the Real, the pillars of the submission, the masters of this world, the interceders of the next world, the chosen of mortal man, the boast of Adam's children. They are the Companions of MuṣṬafā and the chosen of God, the leaders of the submission and the Sunnah, the first in the religion and recogni- tion. They were the first to hear the Real's message and they were the first to accept the message- bringer and to welcome the Real. One group are the Emigrants. They left behind their homes and families and lost their means and homeland for God's sake. Another group are the Helpers, who accepted MuṣṬafā with heart and spirit and gave his companions refuge. As a bird nurtures its chick, they nurtured the submission. They made their bodies and spirits shields for the religion of the submission. They took this world as lowly and they placed their love in the religion. Another group are the Followers who came later: and those who followed them in beautiful doing.