Surah Yunus ayat 98 Tafsir Quran 10:98

﴿فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ﴾
[ يونس: 98]

10:98 Then has there not been a [single] city that believed so its faith benefited it except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in worldly life and gave them enjoyment for a time.

If only there had been one town — meaning its inhabitants — that believed before chastisement befell it and profited by its belief — except for the people of Jonah when they believed after seeing a portent of the chastisement for they did not wait to believe until it came to pass We removed from upon them the chastisement of degradation in the life of this world and We gave them comfort for a while until the conclusion of their terms of life.

Wherefore Had any town conformed to Allahs will, inducing the people to piety profiting by it, but they did not, except the people of Yunus who no sooner did they conform to Allahs will than they were the recipients of His mercy. We cancelled their misfortunes which drew upon them worldly disgrace and shame and had greatly injured their name. And We granted them comfort and enjoyment and all that advantaged them of Allahs blessings in life, up to a predetermined point of time

Belief at the Time of Punishment did not help except with the People of Yunus Allah asked, `did any town from the previous nations, believe in its entirety when they received the Messengers All of the Messengers that We sent before you, O Muhammad, were denied by their people or the majority of their people.' Allah said, يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ ( Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him. )( 36:30 ) كَذَلِكَ مَآ أَتَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ قَالُواْ سَـحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ ( Likewise, no Messenger came to those before them but they said: "A sorcerer or a madman!" )( 51:52 ) and وَكَذَلِكَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ إِلاَّ قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَآ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى ءَاثَـرِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ ( And similarly, We sent not a warner before you to any town (people ) but the luxurious ones among them said: "We found our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we will indeed follow their footsteps.")( 43:23 ) As found in the authentic Hadith,
«عُرِضَ عَلَيَّ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ فَجَعَلَ النَّبِيُّ يَمُرُّ وَمَعَهُ الْفِئَامُ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَالنَّبِيُّ يَمُرُّ مَعَهُ الرَّجُلُ، وَالنَّبِيُّ مَعَهُ الرَّجُلَانِ، وَالنَّبِيُّ لَيْسَ مَعَهُ أَحَد»
( The Prophets were displayed before me.
There was a Prophet who passed with a group of people, and a Prophet who passed with only one man, a Prophet with two men, and a Prophet with no one. ) Then he mentioned the mulititude of followers that Musa had, peace be upon him, then that he saw his nation of people filling from the west to the east.
The point is that between Musa and Yunus, there was no nation, in its entirety, that believed except the people of Yunus, the people of Naynawa ( Nineveh ).
And they only believed because they feared that the torment from which their Messenger warned them, might strike them.
They actually witnessed its signs.
So they cried to Allah and asked for help.
They engaged in humility in invoking Him.
They brought their children and cattle and asked Allah to lift the torment from which their Prophet had warned them.
As a result, Allah sent His mercy and removed the scourge from them and gave them respite.
Allah said: إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ ءَامَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْىِ فِى الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ( Except the people of Yunus; when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while. ) In interpreting this Ayah, Qatadah said: "No town has denied the truth and then believed when they saw the scourge, and then their belief benefited them, with the exception of the people of Yunus.
When they lost their Prophet and they thought that the scourge was close upon them, Allah sent through their hearts the desire to repent.
So they wore woolen fabrics and they separated each animal from its offspring.
They then cried out to Allah for forty nights.
When Allah saw the truth in their hearts and that they were sincere in their repentance and regrets, He removed the scourge from them." Qatadah said: "It was mentioned that the people of Yunus were in Naynawa, the land of Mosul." This was also reported from Ibn Mas`ud, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr and others from the Salaf.

(10:98) Did it ever happen that the people of a town believed on seeing God's chastisement and its believing profited them? (There is no such instance) except of the people of Yunus. *98 When they believed We granted them reprieve from humiliating chastisement in this world, *99 and We let them enjoy themselves for a while. *100

Then has there not been a [single] meaning

*98).
Even though the Prophet Yunus, called Jonah in the Bible ( 860-784 BC ).
was of Israeli descent, he was sent to Iraq in order to guide the Assyrians.
The Assyrians are, therefore, called here 'the people of Yunus'.
Ninevah.
the famous ancient town, was their capital, a great many ruins of which are still to be found on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite the present city of Mosul.
One of the mounds in this area is still named after the Prophet Jonah.
The splendour of the Assyrians may be gauged from the fact that their capital, Ninevah.
spread over a radius of sixty miles.

*99).
Although there are allusions to this incident in three places in the Qur'an, there is no mention of any detail.
( See al-Anbiya', 21: 87-8; al-Saffat 37: 139-48; and al-Qalam 68: 48-50. ) In view of the above, it cannot be stated with confidence why the Assyrians were singled out for being spared God's punishment even though God's Law is that if a people decide to believe after God has decided to punish them, their believing afterwards does not profit them.

The 'Book of Jonah' in the Bible contains some material relevant to the matter, but unfortunately that information is barely reliable.
For, the 'Book of Jonah' is in no sense a heavenly revelation, nor was it even authored by the Prophet Jonah ( peace be on him ).
What actually happened is that some four or five hundred years after Jonah's death some anonymous person produced the 'Book of Jonah' and had it incorporated into the Bible.
Moreover, some of the contents of the 'Book of Jonah' are too absurd to be acceptable.
However, were one to reflect on the allusions to the people of Yunus in the Qur'an and on the information provided by the 'Book of Jonah', one is inclined to support the view of the Qur'an-commentators, namely that since the Prophet Jonah ( peace be on him ) had left his station without obtaining God's permission to do so and since the Assyrians repented and sought pardon from God as soon as they saw the signs of God's impending punishment, God pardoned them.

One of the basic principles mentioned in the Qur'an concerning God's punishment of the world's nations is that He does not punish any nation until God's Message has been fully conveyed to them so that the people are left with no justification to claim that they were not aware of His Message.
( See the Qur'an.
al-Nisa' 4: 165 in conjunction with al-Isra' 17: 15-Ed. ) Now in this case, as we can see, the admonition of the Assyrians did nor continue till the very end of the period granted to them by God because Prophet Yunus ( peace be on him ) migrated from his station.
It is presumably for this reason that God in His justice decided not to punish them since all the requisite conditions of punishment had not been fulfilled.
( For details see al-Saffat 37, n.
85. )
*100).
When the Assyrians embraced the true faith, they were granted a fresh lease of life.
However, they once again became wayward both in matters of belief and conduct.
Though the Prophet Nahum ( 720-698 BC ) warned them, it still had no effect on them.
The final warning was delivered to them by the Prophet Zephaniah ( 709-640 BC ) but that too was of no avail.
Ultimately, God sent the Medes against them in 612 BC.
The king of the Medes, with the assistance of the Babylonians, invaded Assyria, The Assyrian army was routed and besieged within the walls of Ninevah.
Although they put up some resistance for a time, the flooded Tigris swept away the city walls, enabling the invaders to break through the defences and capture the city.
Subsequently they set fire to the whole city and its environs.
The Assyrian king set his own palace ablaze and was himself burnt to death.
This brought to an end the Assyrian empire and civilization.
However, recent excavations in the area have brought to light many traces of massive conflagration.

 

Belief at the Time of Punishment did not help except with the People of Yunus Allah asked, `did any town from the previous nations, believe in its entirety when they received the Messengers All of the Messengers that We sent before you, O Muhammad, were denied by their people or the majority of their people.' Allah said, يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ ( Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him. )( 36:30 ) كَذَلِكَ مَآ أَتَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ قَالُواْ سَـحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ ( Likewise, no Messenger came to those before them but they said: "A sorcerer or a madman!" )( 51:52 ) and وَكَذَلِكَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ إِلاَّ قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَآ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى ءَاثَـرِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ ( And similarly, We sent not a warner before you to any town (people ) but the luxurious ones among them said: "We found our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we will indeed follow their footsteps.")( 43:23 ) As found in the authentic Hadith, «عُرِضَ عَلَيَّ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ فَجَعَلَ النَّبِيُّ يَمُرُّ وَمَعَهُ الْفِئَامُ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَالنَّبِيُّ يَمُرُّ مَعَهُ الرَّجُلُ، وَالنَّبِيُّ مَعَهُ الرَّجُلَانِ، وَالنَّبِيُّ لَيْسَ مَعَهُ أَحَد» ( The Prophets were displayed before me.
There was a Prophet who passed with a group of people, and a Prophet who passed with only one man, a Prophet with two men, and a Prophet with no one. ) Then he mentioned the mulititude of followers that Musa had, peace be upon him, then that he saw his nation of people filling from the west to the east.
The point is that between Musa and Yunus, there was no nation, in its entirety, that believed except the people of Yunus, the people of Naynawa ( Nineveh ).
And they only believed because they feared that the torment from which their Messenger warned them, might strike them.
They actually witnessed its signs.
So they cried to Allah and asked for help.
They engaged in humility in invoking Him.
They brought their children and cattle and asked Allah to lift the torment from which their Prophet had warned them.
As a result, Allah sent His mercy and removed the scourge from them and gave them respite.
Allah said: إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ ءَامَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْىِ فِى الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ( Except the people of Yunus; when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while. ) In interpreting this Ayah, Qatadah said: "No town has denied the truth and then believed when they saw the scourge, and then their belief benefited them, with the exception of the people of Yunus.
When they lost their Prophet and they thought that the scourge was close upon them, Allah sent through their hearts the desire to repent.
So they wore woolen fabrics and they separated each animal from its offspring.
They then cried out to Allah for forty nights.
When Allah saw the truth in their hearts and that they were sincere in their repentance and regrets, He removed the scourge from them." Qatadah said: "It was mentioned that the people of Yunus were in Naynawa, the land of Mosul." This was also reported from Ibn Mas`ud, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr and others from the Salaf.

( If only there had been a community (of all those that were destroyed of old ) that believed) if only the people of a township believed when the punishment befell them ( and profited by its belief ) He says: their faith did not benefit them upon the descent of punishment ( as did the folk of Jonah ) except the folk of Jonah who benefited from their belief. ( When they believed We drew off ) We diverted ( from them the torment of disgrace ) the severe punishment ( in the life of the world and gave them comfort for a while ) We left them without punishment until they died.

Was there any town (community) that believed (after seeing the punishment), and its Faith (at that moment) saved it (from the punishment)? (The answer is none,) - except the people of Yunus (Jonah); when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the (present) world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while.

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