Transliteration:( Wa aakharoona murjawna li amril laahi immaa yu'azzibuhum wa immaa yatoobu 'alaihim; wallaahu 'Aleemun Hakeem )
This verse refers to a third category of people who absented themselves from the Battle of Tabuk. There were three distinct groups among those who stayed behind:
Hypocrites, who made false excuses and had no intention of participating.
Sincere believers, who immediately sought repentance after missing the battle.
Those whose repentance came later, and who were left awaiting Allah’s command.
This verse addresses the third group — sincere believers who delayed repentance and were thus kept in suspense, awaiting whether Allah would punish them or accept their repentance.
The phrase “not accepting their repentance” here means not granting them immediate guidance to offer true and heartfelt repentance. This teaches that, like du'a (supplication), repentance too may take time to be accepted due to reasons based on Divine wisdom.
An example of this is the famous case of Hazrat Ka'b bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) and his companions, whose repentance was accepted only after a significant delay. This shows that even sincere repentance may go through a period of trial and waiting, reminding believers of the importance of patience, sincerity, and trust in Allah’s wisdom.
106. And others are made to await for Allah’s Decree, whether He will punish them or will forgive them. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
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,
(Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajirin and the Ansar…)
(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,
(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,
(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.
(9:106) There are others in whose regard Allah’s decree is awaited: whether He will chastise them or relent towards them. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.[101]
101. The case of these people had been deferred because it could not yet be legally decided whether they were sinners or hypocrites, and not because their case was doubtful in the sight of Allah. This was because the symptoms of their diseases had not as yet come to the surface to indicate clearly which of the two they were. For Islam teaches the Muslims not to pass judgment on a person or a party unless they possess definite knowledge based on conscious reasoning and not on intuition and the like to support it.
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