How did Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him) end up in the belly of a fish?
The story of Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him)
A series of author’s publications by the Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan Kamil Hazrat Samigullin entitled “Instructions for those who reflect” contains instructive stories for all Muslims, drawn from the stories of the Venerable Koran and outstanding biographies of our great prophets and co-religionists. Examples from their lives, filled with love for the Almighty and dedicated to sincere service to the Creator, will make everyone who ponders think...
Beginning: Instructions for the Contemplative
Fifth instruction. "YUNUS (alayhi salam)"
Yunus (alaihi salam) was born and raised in the city of Nineveh - the capital of the Assyrian state, located on the banks of the Tigris, on the site of modern Mosul. He was highly respected among his fellow tribesmen due to the fact that he was a reliable, honest, highly moral and sympathetic person. However, he became famous for being swallowed by a fish, for which he later became known as “Zunnun” and “Sahibul-Khut”.
At the age of 30, Yunus (alayhi salam) was sent as a prophet to his idolatrous people. For 33 years, he tirelessly called on his fellow tribesmen to believe in Allah Almighty, but the Ninevites mocked and did not heed the words of the prophet, continuing to remain in disobedience. Only two people followed Yunus (alayhi salam).
“Expect the punishment that will befall you within three days,” he told his people about the divine news. “The sign of this will be that your faces will turn yellow, and after this will come punishment from Allah.”
Having warned about this, Yunus (alayhi salam) hastened to leave his city, fearing that the punishment would affect him too and without waiting for the Creator’s permission.
Soon, the inhabitants of Nineveh, as predicted by Yunus (alayhi salam), were gripped by horror: they began to turn yellow, and the sky over the city was covered with black smoke. The truth that the prophet warned them about became obvious to them, as did the promised punishment. Realizing the impending destruction, the Ninevites rushed to look for Yunus (alayhi salam), but in vain. He was no longer in the city.
General repentance of the inhabitants of Nineveh
The Almighty inspired repentance into the hearts of the inhabitants of Nineveh, who found themselves in a hopeless and desperate situation. And so, there were still two days left before the promised punishment, when the people of Yunus (alaihi salam) decided to gather in one place, repent and turn to Allah with a prayer for deliverance from retribution. And so they did. On a high hill, the Ninevites believed in the Creator and His prophet - Yunus (alaihi salam). Then they all asked each other for forgiveness for the insults caused and violated rights. Then, dressed in clothes made of coarse wool, men and women, old people and children, all together began to cry out to the Lord and begged him with tears in their eyes for forgiveness. At that moment they repented of all the evil and sins they had committed.
Allah is Most Merciful and All-Forgiving. He also had mercy on the Ninevites, who found themselves without a shepherd - the prophet left them, and the Almighty delivered them from the coming punishment. The people of Yunus (alaihi salam) are the only tribe in the history of mankind that repented and escaped death. The Almighty says in the Koran:
News Please contact us ِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
“Were there any villages whose inhabitants believed and faith helped them, except for the people of Yunus? When they believed, We delivered them from the humiliating punishment of earthly life and allowed them to enjoy earthly blessings until a certain period (until their death)” (Yunus 10:98).
Sins attract disasters, while repentance delivers from disasters. For example, in one of the hadiths it is reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “As long as a slave asks Allah for forgiveness, he can be sure that he will not be punished.”
There is not a single disaster or adversity that could not be eliminated through sincere repentance and dua with tears in the eyes. However, if disasters are general and collective in nature, then repentance must be general.
The lot fell on Yunus (alayhi salam)
Yunus (alayhi salam), having left his people, reached the seashore. There he took a ship out to the open sea. Having sailed some distance, the ship suddenly stopped, a strong wind rose, and a storm began. It seemed as if the ship was about to sink. The sailors, who were unable to set the ship in motion, considered this a bad omen and decided that a criminal was among them.
The sailors gathered all the passengers on the ship and said: “Among you there is a slave who has run away from his master. Let him come forward." Since none of the passengers gave themselves away, it was decided to cast lots. In those days, sailors had a custom: the person on whom the lot fell was thrown overboard so that the ship could continue its journey.
The die was cast. And he fell on Yunus (alayhi salam). “Such a pious man cannot be a slave,” the sailors decided and, apologizing, cast lots again. But both this and the third time the lot pointed to Yunus (alaihi salam). The Koran says this:
الْمُدْحَضِينَ
“He cast lots (along with the others), and the lot fell to him” (al-Saffat 37:141).
Seeing how the lot cast three times fell on him, Yunus (alayhi salam) realized that this was a divine test and said: “It is I who ran away from my master,” after which he threw himself into the sea.
Yunus (alayhi salam) in the belly of the fish
When Yunus (alayhi salam) threw himself into the sea in a state of tawakkul, by the will of the Almighty he was immediately swallowed by a huge fish. At that moment, Allah Almighty inspired the fish to swallow Yunus (alayhi salam) without harming him or breaking his bones. The fish, having swallowed Yunus (alayhi salam), disappeared into the depths of the sea.
الْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ
“He was swallowed by a fish (whale) when he already regretted (having left the house)” (as-Saffat 37:142).
Yunus (alayhi salam) was in the belly of the fish, unharmed and fully conscious. It was obvious to him: everything that happened to him was a divine warning for leaving his people without permission. Realizing his mistake, in the pitch darkness - in the belly of the fish - he began to remember Allah:
… َكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“...He turned (to Us) while in the darkness (of the belly of the fish): “There is no god (worthy of worship) except You! Most pure are You (from any shortcomings)! Truly, I acted unjustly (and wrongly by leaving my people without Your permission)!” (al-Anbiya 21:87).
The Quran also reports that this dua of Yunus (alayhi salam) was accepted by the Almighty and that He forgave him:
فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ ۚ وَكَذَٰلكَ نُ نجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And We answered his prayer and saved him from sorrow. In the same way (as We saved him) We save the believers (who turn to Us for help)” (al-Anbiya 21:88).
This tasbih was taken to heaven. The angels heard a voice familiar to them, since Yunus (alayhi salam) was one of those who remembered Allah greatly. Each of his dhikrs ascended to heaven! The angels said: “Oh, Lord! Isn't this the voice of Yunus (alayhi salam)? You have always shown mercy to him, so won’t you save him from this disaster too?
Surprisingly: none of the inhabitants of the earth could help Yunus (alaihi salam), because they did not know about his whereabouts, but the inhabitants of heaven stood up for him! And Allah saved him by ordering the fish to land Yunus (alaihi salam) on the shore. This episode contains the greatest wisdom of the Creator: the prophet was saved by dhikr, which he pronounced many times during the days of his prosperity. Constant sincere remembrance of Allah with gratitude to Him, one’s love and devotion can save a person from many difficulties and troubles in the future.
Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِه ِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
“If he had not exalted (Allah by saying tasbih), he would certainly have remained in her belly until the day when they were resurrected (the belly of the whale would have become his grave)” (al-Saffat 37:143-144).
This verse clearly indicates that whoever remembers Allah in prosperity during difficult days will certainly be helped.
According to different narrations, Yunus (alayhi salam) was in the belly of the fish for three, seven or forty days. He was released from the belly of the fish on the tenth day of the month of Muharram (day of Ashura). When the fish threw Yunus (alayhi salam) ashore, he began to offer endless praise to the Almighty for his salvation.
The Honorable Qur'an says the following about the salvation of Yunus (alaihi salam):
فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ وَأَنبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِّن يَقْطِينٍ
“And We threw him out into the open, and he was sick. And We grew a pumpkin near it” (as-Saffat 37:145-146).
When Yunus (alayhi salam) was rescued from the belly of the fish, he was very thin, tired, weak and in need of help. Next to Yunus (alayhi salam), the Almighty grew a plant with large and wide leaves, which sheltered it from the scorching sun and protected it from insects.
One of the narrations reports that this plant secreted milk, which Yunus (alayhi salam) ate. Another narration says that Allah subjugated Yunus (alayhi salam) a mountain goat, which came to him morning and evening and gave him its milk. Having recovered from weakness and gained strength, Yunus (alayhi salam) began to worship. He turned to the Lord with the following prayer:
“Oh, Lord! All commands and decisions come only from You. But I really hope to return to Nineveh and see my believing people. But along with this, I will be pleased with any of Your decisions and arrangements.”
And Allah again entrusted him with the responsibility of calling his people to the truth, which he had left without permission. In the narration transmitted from Abdullah ibn Abbas (radiyallahu anhu) it is reported that Yunus (alayhi salam) was sent as a prophet to a people whose number was one hundred and twenty thousand people. The number of this people is also stated in the Koran:
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ فَآمَنُوا ف َمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
“And We sent him to a hundred thousand or more (he became a messenger to a large people). They believed, and We gave them the enjoyment of (earthly) blessings until a certain time (of their death)” (al-Saffat 37:147-148).
Yunus (alaihi salam) found his people repenting of their sins, believing in Allah and awaiting the return of their prophet. Remaining with them, he taught them the commandments and prohibitions of the Almighty and led them along the true path. His fellow tribesmen steadily followed him and fulfilled all religious instructions in the best possible way.
And after Yunus (alaihi salam), the Almighty granted numerous benefits to the people of Nineveh as long as they adhered to the straight path. For many years they lived in prosperity and prosperity.
The wisdom of this instruction lies in the fact that brothers who call for truth should be patient with people considering them liars, persisting in their error and causing them suffering. Everyone has encountered this. And only through patience and perseverance do paths open that lead to the hearts of other people. After all, effort is from us, and success is from Allah. Who knows how the Almighty, who imprisoned Yunus (alayhi salam) in the belly of a fish, will punish those who, having lost hope, give up the call to faith and stop condemning abominations?.. May Allah protect us!
Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan Kamil hazrat Samigullin
WHO SWALLOWED THE PROPHET JONAH?
The Bible contains the story of the prophet Jonah and how he was swallowed by a “great whale”: “And the Lord commanded the great whale to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the whale... And the Lord spoke to the whale, and it cast Jonah out onto dry land” (Jonah 2:1, 2, 11). Some people claim that such a story is an outright fairy tale, since it is known that the whale's throat is so narrow that it can only eat small crustaceans and fish, and in this regard, the story of Jonah being swallowed sounds like a made-up story.
As an argument in favor of the reliability of the Bible, we present a message from the largest German zoologist Alfred Brehm regarding the biology of cetacean marine mammals, with the goal of finding among them the whale of the prophet Jonah. He determined what requirements this whale must satisfy: it must be an inhabitant of the Mediterranean Sea; swim close to the surface of the water; absorb prey entirely without damaging the teeth; he should have a very wide throat and a spacious stomach with normal air pressure, without digestive acids. Having studied 43 species of whales, the scientist came to the following conclusions: 1. Toothless whales are very large, 20 m long, but their throats are extremely narrow. For this reason, they feed exclusively on crustaceans and small fish. Giant whales live exclusively in the open oceans of the northern hemisphere. Conclusion: not a single toothless (baleen) whale could swallow the prophet Jonah. 2. Sperm whale, the largest species of toothed whale, 20 - 30 meters long. It lives in all open warm oceans and seas, where it finds in abundance its favorite food: octopus and squid. But it feeds at a depth of 200 - 300 meters. 3. Studying further the extensive suborder of toothed whale dolphins, we find a representative of this group: the killer whale dolphin, or orca. Nowadays it lives in the northern regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, migrating to the shores of England and France. According to ancient Roman scientists, in ancient times these marine predators lived in the Mediterranean Sea. They, like dolphins, willingly accompanied ships and absorbed everything thrown into the sea. Although the killer whale dolphin has a lot of sharp teeth (up to 240 pieces), it never crushes its prey with its teeth, but swallows it whole. The length of this dolphin reaches 10 meters. Its throat is so wide that it can swallow not only a person, but also a seal or other dolphin weighing up to 300 kilograms. Its stomach has three independent compartments: the first chamber of the stomach is a real “warehouse” for food. Its walls are covered with a thick horny layer of skin. There are no digestive glands, no acids, and the walls don't move. This chamber is filled with normal pressure air. After filling the “warehouse”, the second compartment of the stomach opens, which can be called a “mill-crusher”. From here the coarse mixture moves into the third compartment, the “laboratory”, where the chemical processing of food into a thick liquid continues. Based on these data, we can conclude that, in all likelihood, the killer whale is the “big whale” that meets all the requirements for the prophet Jonah to be saved.
Source: Nedelka. 1998. 2(6). Publishing house: Bible for everyone.
Share
+Rescue
If not for Jonah's preaching, Nineveh would have been destroyed. The Ninevites repented after hearing the word of God from Jonah.
10 And God saw their deeds, that they turned from their evil way, and God regretted the calamity which He had said He would bring upon them, but did not bring it. (John 3:10)
Today people are saved by the preaching of the gospel.
15 And he said to them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15,16)
46 And he said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to this. 49 And I will send the promise of My Father upon you; But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:46-49)
13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how can we call on [Him] in whom we have not believed? how to believe [in] [Him] of whom you have not heard? How to hear without a preacher? 15 And how can we preach if they are not sent? as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of peace! 16 But not everyone obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says: Lord! who believed what they heard from us? 17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom.10:13-17)
21 For when the world through [its] wisdom did not know God in the wisdom of God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believed. (1 Cor. 1:21)
Just as Nineveh would have been destroyed if it had not heeded Jonah’s preaching, so people today remain spiritually lost; Eternal destruction will befall those who refuse to heed and obey the gospel of Christ.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for [it] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, [then] to the Greek. (Rom.1:16)
6 For it is right in the sight of God to repay those who insult you with tribulation, 7 and you who are insulted with joy together with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Christ, 9 who will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thess. 1:6-9)
28 [If] one who rejects the law of Moses, in the presence of two or three witnesses, is without mercy [punished] with death, 29 then how much more severe punishment do you think he will be subject to, who tramples on the Son of God and does not consider as holy the Blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and the Spirit grace offends? 30 We know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And one more thing: The Lord will judge His people. 31 It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God! (Heb. 10:28-31)
25 Be careful that you do not turn away from him who speaks. If they did not escape [punishment] by not listening to him who spoke on earth, much less will we [escape] if we turn away from [He who speaks] from heaven (Heb. 12:25)
9 The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness; but he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
+The Gospel is not a dead letter, but a word to which we must heed and obey.
Prayers
Troparion, tone 2
We commemorate Your prophet Jonah, O Lord, in celebration, / hereby we pray to You: save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 2
The prophet appeared marvelously, / God’s command was received in the image of the three-day Resurrection. / He was in the whale of three days, unharmed from the beast / and the preacher of Nineveh, the great gra, appeared to the light I do./ For this reason we joyfully honor you, Jono, // as a herald of God’s love for mankind.
