Bismillah.
فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
Why has there not been any town that might believe, so that its belief might benefit it, except the people of Yunus? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world, and We provided for them for a while.
(Sūrat Yūnus No. 10, Āyat 98)
As was mentioned in a previous reflection, Prophet Yūnus ‘alayhis-salām was a prophet from the Banū Israel mentioned in different chapters of the Quran. He had been sent to a large city called Nineveh but after 33 years of preaching to them, only two people accepted his message. Tired of this situation, he prayed to God: they have rejected me, and hardly any have believed in me. They have denied that I am your messenger and mocked me. Now they threaten me, and I fear they will kill me. I lack the patience to continue calling them for I see no hope for them. So, I beg you to send down your worst punishment upon them, for they are a hopeless people.
Eventually, Allah told Yūnus (a) that: their punishment will descend upon them on the middle Wednesday of the month of Shawwāl, just after sunrise. Go, and announce it to them. Pleased with this news, Yūnus (a) went to inform the two believers in the city. One of these two was a man named Rūbīl, and he advised Yūnus (a) to ask God to withhold His punishment. Yūnus (a) did not do so. He informed his community of the imminent punishment, only to be rebuked and mocked by them. Disgusted, Yūnus (a) left the city of Nineveh before receiving divine permission to do so.
After Yūnus (a) had left, the believer Rūbīl remained in Nineveh. As the punishment of Allah ‘azza wajall approached in the middle of the month of Shawwāl, he frantically warned his people. The verse quoted above indicates that for the first time in history, a people condemned by God, on the verge of utter destruction, repented and were forgiven. The black clouds of punishment were just over the people of Nineveh as they were raising their hands to the skies, crying in repentance to God. At the last moment, God accepted their repentance, and they were not destroyed.
In Q 11:64, a similar situation is described about Thamūd, the community of Prophet Sālih ‘alayhis-salām. They were informed of a punishment that would arrive in three days’ time, but they did not repent. Hence, they were indeed punished as had been promised. These stories teach us an important lesson, that God will undoubtedly remove His punishment from someone who sincerely repents and implores Him for forgiveness.
In Hadith literature, repentance has been described as a door of God’s mercy that has been opened for His sinful servants. Imam al-Sajjād (a) says in the Whispered Supplication of those Who Repent: My God, You are He who has opened a door to Your pardon and named it repentance. An important point to keep in mind however is that some sins require more than just remorse in one’s heart and a verbal supplication, for the sinner to be forgiven. When rights of other people have been usurped, they must be returned. Also, when acts of worship were not performed on time, they must be performed later (qadā). At times an additional penalty must also be offered (kaffāra). The details of this are found in books of Islamic jurisprudence.
We pray to Allah that He gives us the opportunity to repent sincerely to Him and make amends for our past mistakes.
Sources: Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Sīreh-ye Payambarān dar Qur’ān (Tafsīr-e Mawdu’ī, v. 7), Rizwan Arastu, God’s Emissaries Adam to Jesus.