Prophet's Story
THE STORY OF THE PROPHET JONAH
In Mosul, Iraq, there is a village called Ninawa whose inhabitants turn away from the straight path of Allah and instead worship statues and idols. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala wanted to give directions to them and return them to the straight path, so He sent the prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam to invite them to believe and leave a deity other than Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla.
But they refused to believe in Allah and still chose to worship statues and idols. They prefer disbelief and heresy over faith and guidance, they belied the Prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam, mocked and insulted him. So the prophet Jonah was angry with his people and no longer wished for their faith.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala also revealed to Jonah to tell his people, that Allah will punish them for their attitude after three days have passed. Then the prophet Jonah told his people about the punishment and threatened his people with the punishment of Allah, and he left them.
At that time, the people of Jonah knew that the prophet Jonah had left them so that they were sure the punishment would come down and that Jonah was a prophet, so they immediately repented to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, returned to Him, and regretted their attitude.
At that time, men, women, and children were weeping for fear of the punishment upon them, and they prayed aloud to Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla that the torment be lifted from them. When God saw their repentance, He removed the torment from them and kept it away. Allah Ta’ala says,
“And why is there not (population) a city of faith, and then his faith is beneficial to him besides the people of Jonah? When they (of Jonah) believed, We removed from them a humiliating punishment in the life of the world, and We gave them pleasure until a certain time.” (QS. Jonah: 98)
After this, Jonah left his village angry that God had not permitted him, so Jonah went to the sea and boarded the ship. By the time Jonah was on board, the waves of the sea became violent, the wind became strong and made the ship turn to sea until it almost sank[1].
Therefore, the ship carrying heavy goods, then some of them were thrown into the sea to ease the burden. But apparently, the ship was still almost sinking, so the passengers were deliberating to lighten the load of the ship by throwing someone into the sea, so they raffled and it turned out that the lottery had fallen to Jonah, but they did not want Jonah to plunge into the sea, so the lottery was repeated again, and it fell to Jonah again, until the draw is done three times and the result remains the same. So Jonah got up and took off his clothes, and threw himself into the sea.
At the same time, God had sent a big fish to him and inspired him to swallow Jonah by not tearing his flesh or breaking his bones, so the fish did. He swallowed the prophet Jonah into his stomach without breaking bones and tearing his flesh, and Jonah stayed in the belly of the fish for some time and was carried across the sea by the fish. When Jonah heard the prayer from the pebbles under the sea, Jonah prayed in the darkness, “There is no God but You. Glory be to You, I am among the unjust.” Jonah was in the three darkness; the darkness of the fish's belly, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the night. This is as Allah Ta’ala said,
“And (remember the story) Dzun Nun (Yunus), when he left in a state of anger, then he thought that We would not narrow it down (difficulty it), so he called in a very dark state, so he said, “That there is no god but You. Most Holy of You, I am among the unjust.”–Then We have permitted his prayer and saved him from sorrow. Thus do We save those who believe.” (QS. Al Anbiyaa’: 87-88)
The scholars are at odds about how long the Prophet Jonah stayed in the belly of the fish. According to Qatadah, three days. According to Abu Ja’far ash-Shaadiq, seven days, while according to Abu Malik, forty days. Mujahid said from asy-Sya’bi, “Ia swallowed in the duha time and spewed in the afternoon.”
Wallahu a’lam.
Then God commanded the fish to spit Jonah out on the shore, then Allah planted there a pumpkin-like tree that had thick leaves that could shade Jonah and guard him from the hot sun. Allah Ta’ala says,
“Then We threw him into a barren area, while he was in a state of pain.– And We grew for him a tree of the type of pumpkin.” (QS. ash-Shaaffaat: 145-146)
Furthermore, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala ordered Jonah to return to his people to tell them, that Allah Ta’ala had accepted their repentance and had been pleased with them. So the prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam carried out the commandment, he went to his people and told them the revelation he received from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
His people believed and Allah gave blessings to their property and their children, as Allah explained in His word,
“And We sent him to a hundred thousand people or more.–Then they believed, therefore We bestowed the pleasures of life upon them up to a certain time.” (QS. ash-Shaaffaat: 147-148)
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala praised the Prophet Jonah ‘ailaihissalam in the Quran, He said, saying,
“And Ismail, Alyasa’, Jonah, and Luth. Each of us is above the people (in his time).” (QS. Al An’aam: 86)
Prophet Muhammad shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam also praised the Prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam in his words,
لاَ يَنْبَغِي لِعَبْدٍ أَنْ يَقُولَ: أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ مَتَّى
“It is not feasible for a servant to say, “I (Prophet Muhammad shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) is better than Yunus bin Mata.” (Muttafaq ‘alaih)
He said so because of his tawadhan. Some argue that he said so because he did not previously know that he was superior to other prophets. There are also those who argue, that he said so to avoid the attitude of fools who demeaned the dignity of the Prophet Jonah because of the story mentioned in the Quran, wallahu a’lam.
And about the prayer of the Prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam, Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda,
دَعْوَةُ ذِي النُّونِ إِذْ دَعَا وَهُوَ فِي بَطْنِ الحُوتِ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ، فَإِنَّهُ لَمْ يَدْعُ بِهَا رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ فِي شَيْءٍ قَطُّ إِلَّا اسْتَجَابَ اللَّهُ لَهُ
“Doa Dzunnun (Prophet Jonah ‘alaihissalam) when in the belly of the fish is “No god has the right to be worshipped other than You. Verily I am of the wrongdoers.” Verily not a Muslim prays with him in a matter, but Allah will grant his prayer (CHR. Tirmidhi, and is set aside by Shaykh Al albani)
