Episode 5
Episode 5: The People of Yunus, the One Town That Believed in Time
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After he was restored, Allah returned Yunus to his people. And a wonder occurred that the Qur'an immortalizes as a distinction: the people who once denied him finally believed โ and they believed just before the punishment struck, so their faith saved them. Allah said, "Then has there not been a [single] town that believed so its faith benefited it except the people of Yunus? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in worldly life and gave them enjoyment for a time" (Qur'an 10:98). The Qur'an also stresses how great their number was: "And We sent him to [his people of] a hundred thousand or more. And they believed, so We gave them enjoyment for a time" (Qur'an 37:147-148). The people of Yunus became the only nation in history that, after being warned, believed all together before the punishment actually descended โ so their repentance was accepted and the punishment lifted. This is the opposite of earlier nations (like the people of Nuh or Pharaoh) who only believed when the punishment was already before their eyes, when faith no longer availed. Reflection: the door of repentance stays open as long as the punishment has not truly descended. The story of Yunus teaches two repentances at once โ the prophet's repentance in the belly of the fish, and the nation's repentance at the brink of punishment โ that Allah is the Acceptor of the repentance of His servants who return sincerely. Source & Note: evidence from the Qur'an โ 10:98 and 37:147-148. Yunus is also named among the prophets in 4:163 and 6:86. The number "a hundred thousand or more" is the text of the Qur'an itself; attempts in some tafsir to fix an exact figure come from reports and are not needed to understand the ayat.