Yunus; A Prophet Who Judged Prematurely
Yunus (AS), the son of Matta (Amittai) was a prophet of Bani Isra’il who was appointed to prophethood after Solomon (AS). Some historians say he was a descendant of Abraham (AS) while others believe he was a descendant of Yaqub (AS). Yet some other historians say he was a descendant of Hud (AS) and his mother was from Bani Isra’il. He lived in the 8th century BC in Nineveh, Iraq.
At the order of God, he invited the people of Nineveh to monotheism but they rejected his call. Thus, God informed him of an imminent punishment. Seeing red clouds in the sky, which were the sign of coming of punishment, Yunus left the city.
The king of Nineveh gathered men, women and children to tell Yunus that they want to repent and have faith in God. But Yunus had already left.
Yunus was angry to see that the people wanted to have faith only at the last moment and after seeing the signs of punishment. He went to the sea so that people would not find him. He vowed never to return to the city.
The people also left the city. The king prayed to God to lift the punishment, saying, “If your messenger abandoned us, you don’t abandon us. Even though we have lost hope in your prophet, we will not lose hope in you.”
The king and people cries and prayed to God for four days until God accepted their repentance and lifted the punishment.
It has been said that if God wants to punish a people, He will not lift the punishment even if they repent at the last moment, but the case of the people of Yunus was an exception.
At the sea, Yunus boarded a ship. One day, a storm raged on rocking the ship wildly to and fro. The crew and passengers began to fear for their lives as the sea water gradually began flooding into the deck, slowly sinking the ship. The crew threw out the ship’s excess load; but, the ship continued to sink as it was still too heavy. The captain was left with no choice—he had to sacrifice the life of one man if he wished to save the lives of his crew and passengers. As it was a common practice among men during those times, the captain decided to draw lots to choose the passenger to be sacrificed.
The lots were cast and Prophet Yunus’s name was selected. The men knew that Yunus was a young, righteous, honest and a blessed man, so they refused to throw him out and agreed to draw lots again. So the lots were cast, and Yunus’s name appeared again. The men refused to throw him. So they drew lots for the third time, and Yunus’s named appeared yet again! The men were baffled, but Prophet Yunus knew that this was the verdict of Allah for he had left his people without his Lord’s consent. So Yunus jumped out of the ship into the dark, angry waves in the middle of ocean.
As God commanded, the largest whale in the ocean swallowed Yunus just as he hit the water. Yunus, who was unconscious, awoke to find himself enveloped by sheer darkness.
Yunus was in the whale’s stomach for 40 days, praying to Allah until his prayers were answered and the whale swam to the nearest shore and ejected Yunus.
After recovering, Yunus was tasked to return to Nineveh and guide the people.
The name of Prophet Yunus (AS) has been mentioned in the Quran four times. The tenth Surah of the Holy Book has also been named after him.
