Surah As-Saffat, Ayah 148

The Story of Yunus

We have already discussed the story of Yunus, peace be upon him, in Surat Al-Anbiya' (21:87-88). In the Two Sahihs it is reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَا يَنْبَغِي لِعَبْدٍ أَنْ يَقُولَ: أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ مَتَّى»

(It is not right for any person to say I am better than Yunus bin Matta.)

إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ

(When he ran to the laden ship.) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "It was filled with cargo.

فَسَـهَمَ

(Then he (agreed to) cast lots,) means, to draw lots."

فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُدْحَضِينَ

(and he was among the losers.) means among those who have been overcome. This was because the ship was being pounded by the waves on all sides, and they were at risk of drowning, so they drew lots, and whoever lost would be thrown overboard so as to lighten the load. The Prophet of Allah Yunus, peace be upon him, lost the draw three times, but they did not want to throw him overboard. He took off his garment so that he could throw himself into the sea, and they tried to stop him. Then Allah commanded a large fish from the Green Sea (i.e., Mediterranian Sea) to cleave the oceans and come and swallow Yunus, peace be upon him, without cutting his flesh or breaking his bones. The fish came and Yunus, peace be upon him, threw himself overboard, and the fish swallowed him and took him away, traveling through all the seas with him. When Yunus had stayed for some time in the fish's belly, he thought that he had died; then he moved his head and legs and arms, and saw that he was alive. He prayed in the belly of the fish, and one of the things he said in his main prayer was: "O Lord, I have taken as a place of worship to You a place which no other person has reached." They differed as to how long he spent in the belly of the fish. Some said three days; this was the view of Qatadah. Some said seven days; this was the view of Ja`far As-Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him. Some said forty days; this was the view of Abu Malik. Mujahid said, narrating from Ash-Sha`bi, "It swallowed him in the morning and cast him forth in the evening." And Allah knows best how long exactly was. Allah says,

The expression: إِلَىٰ حِينٍ (ila hin: for a time) in: فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ ([ 147] So, they believed, then, We let them enjoy for a time.- 148) means that as long as they did not revert to their kufr and shirk, no punishment visited them.

Exposing the fraud of the Qadyani imposter

It has already been demonstrated in the Tafsir of Surah Yunus (علیہ السلام) (Ma’ ariful-Qur’ an, English, Volume IV), and it is clear from this verse too, that the reason why the punishment due to visit the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was averted was that his people had started believing on time - before it actually materialized. This puts the fraudulent claim of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (the false pretender to prophethood from Qadian located in Punjab, now called Haryana in India) when he had challenged his adversaries that, should they continue to oppose him, it stood decreed that Divine punishment would descend upon them by such and such time. But, quite conversely, the adversaries became stronger and more vocal, yet the punishment never came. At that time, iii order to salvage himself out from the disgrace of failure, the Qadiani imposter started saying that since his adversaries were really scared in their hearts, therefore, this punishment stood removed from them - as it had stood removed from the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . But, this verse of the noble Qur'an declares this interpretation to be false and rejected. The reason is that the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) had stayed safe from the punishment because of their 'iman, belief and faith. Contrary to this was the case of the adversaries of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian - not only that they did not believe in him, in fact, their struggle against him gained more strength and momentum.

Jonah (Yunus) lived in the eighth century B.C. and was sent as a prophet to the ancient city of Nineveh in Iraq. After performing his dawah mission for a certain period of time, he came to the conclusion that his people were not going to embrace the true faith, and left the city. To proceed with his journey, he boarded a boat, perhaps on the bank of the River Tigris. The boat was overloaded; and halfway to its destination it was feared that it would sink. In order to lighten the burden of the boat, lots were drawn to decide who should be thrown out of the boat. The name of Jonah was drawn and so the sea-men threw him over-board. Then, at God’s behest, a huge fish swallowed him, took him to the river bank and cast him ashore. Jonah had left his people before time, in this way God ordained him to return to his people. He went back and started preaching once again, with the result that all the one hundred and twenty five thousand inhabitants of the area became believers. This incident shows that it is absolutely essential for a preacher to have patience, even at a time when his community becomes hostile towards him.