106

And [there are] others, from among those who stayed behind, who are deferred (read murja'ūna or murjawna), whose repentance is delayed, to Allah’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 Allahu ta’ālā 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 "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , and so the matter regarding them was suspended for fifty days, during which time people avoided them, until it was later revealed that Allahu ta’ālā had relented to them.