However...

However, when the nation of Jonah witnessed the early signs of the Punishment they started to believe, and Allah relieved them from it, and allowed them to enjoy their lives until the end of their lifetimes, and reap the fruits of His blessings.

The verse says: " Why was there not a township which believed, so that their belief should have profited them, except the people of Jonah(Yunus)When they believed, We removed from them the Penalty of Ignominy in the life of the world, and gave them enjoyment for a while. " According to Had rat Sadiq(a.s.), Had rat Jonah(a.s.)had been preaching for 33 years, starting at the age of 03 until the age of 36. However, he only was successful in converting two people to the religion of monotheism.

He then cursed the people for their recalcitrance. One of these two believers was a sage and philosopher. When he noticed the prophet's cursing the people and his departure, he went up to them and warned them in a loud voice. The people who were impressed, under his guidance, left the town distancing themselves from their children, and they cried and repented before Allah until they were forgiven. On his return, Jonah(a.s.)had noticed that township had not been annihilated.

Will thou then compel the people till they become believers " Commentary : Man is free and faith is based upon one's voluntary choice; it is not to be accepted under compulsion or by imposition. Allah is Omnipotent and Omniscient, employing His power in such a way that it does not run contrary to His Knowledge. And as His omniscience requires mankind to be free, He never compels them to accept faith by force.

The Prophet(p.b.u.h.) has compassionately insisted that people accept the faith on the basis of voluntary acceptance and not through compulsion. The verse says: " And if your Lord had willed, whoever is on the earth would have believed, all of them, all together.