Translation
How is it that there has not been a community [town] that did believe so that their belief (and resultant goodness) would have profited them, except the followers of Jonah? Once they have attained faith (and goodness) We [God] removed their suffering and disgrace in this life and gave them freedom [provision] to carry out their term of existence. If your Sustainer God had willed, people on earth would have accepted faith and goodness, all of them. Will you then force people to become believers (take away their God-given choices)? 485
It is not for a soul to accept faith (and goodness) except as God wills. He [God]lets disbelief and evils to take hold [rizsa] on those who exerts not to understand and reason. Say: Take lessons from what is in the universe and on this earth. Those who lack faith will not benefit from such expositions, narratives and admonitions. What are they waiting for, their wait (for clarity) being no different than their previous generations? Say: Wait then; I too wait with you. We [God] then deliver those who believe and our Messengers, as always. It is binding on Us [God] to deliver the people of faith and goodness.486
Interpretation
485 Various prophets have come to many different communities and towns to deliver God’s guidance, and not every community accepted such faith, with few exceptions. Jonah has been mentioned in the Qur’an in several places, such as 6:86, 21:87, 37:139–148, and 68:48–50, as examples of his struggle to guide his people and to maintain his patience with them and his eventual success in transforming his people. This was a reminder to the Prophet and his followers that success would come in due time if they were patient and persistent in their belief and goodness. Forcing people to believe against their will or to push them before they are ready is against the way God operates with his creation, especially human beings, who are given the freedom to make choices and to be accountable for the choices they make. It is also important to refer back to 2:256, which categorically says that there can be no force or compulsion in the matter of belief in God—people need to reflect, reason, and come to their own understanding through dialogue, education, and observation of the way life and the natural world operate.
486 In making choices for belief, God aids in such endeavors when people genuinely wish to know, reflect, seek out facts, and take lessons from life and the natural world. Without such sincere desire and humility, no amount of narrative, exposition, and even adversity will be sufficient, as has happened in the past and in our current generation. Just as people are made to face consequences of their disbelief and lack of justice in their conduct and abuse of the gifts that God made to us, God is also committed to protect and prosper those who attain faith and do not compromise such faith with injustice and evils. In the context we should also refer to 6:82 (see Volume 3), which makes it explicit that faith and goodness make the real recipe for success and true security.
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REFLECTION
Faith and goodness are the fundamental tenets of life that God inspires us to and then guides us through revelations and prophets. Such belief and goodness need to come from within and not be forced from outside, as freedom of choice is a fundamental right gifted to human beings by God that should not be violated.
ACTION
Genuine belief should lead to truth and justice in society, and unless we can combine faith and goodness as inseparable, our claim to faith will be flawed, and our true and complete success will be unattainable.