The story of Prophet Yunus

 Yunus ibn Matta, peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him, was one of Allah's Prophets. He was sent to guide the people of Ninawa, a city now located in modern-day Northern Iraq, to the straight path. The people of Ninawa had long forgotten the message of Allah and their city became a city full of polytheism and sin. Prophet Yunus was in fact born and raised as an ordinary man amongst the fellow citizens of Ninawa.

Prophet Yunus went on his mission to fulfill the wish of Allah. So, he invited his people to turn to Allah and shun the worship of the rock-cut statues and wooden idols. But the people of Ninawa rejected the words of Prophet Yunus. He was not deterred by their actions, and he continued to call them to worship Allah only. He reminded them of the terrible wrath of Allah that befell those people who came before them, such as the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud, whom had also rejected their Prophets. The residents of Ninawa, being the ignorants they were, stubbornly said, “We and our predecessors have worshipped these gods for many years, and no harm has come to us.”

Prophet Yunus wanted to help them and was persistent in his job. He did not even give up on his people; despite their stubbornness and harsh words, he continued to warn them of Allah's punishments. But the people did not listen. They said, “Let it happen,” and told him that they did not fear whatever threats the Prophet said. They laughed at his preaching and thought that he was mentally insane.

The Prophet was very disheartened after a while. He then gave up on helping his people. Without the permission of Allah, he decided to leave the city of Ninawa in hopes of finding a city or village that would accept him and enter the fold of Islam. He boarded a small passenger ship with the intention of travelling as far away from his people as possible.  Meanwhile, the calm skies over the region turned red with anger, preparing to unleash the wrath of Allah. The residents of Ninawa gathered above at the mountain tops watching the combat of the skies above them, with hearts filled with fear and terror.

Prophet Yunus was at a certain distance from Ninawa. The ship travelled slowly, through the calm waters during the day. But then, the night eventually closed in. A large, angry storm raged on, rocking the ship wildly. The crew and passengers began to fear for their lives as water gradually began flooding into the deck, slowly sinking the ship. The ship's captain ordered the men to throw out the luggages and all other excess load overboard to lighten the ship’s load. As instructed, the crew threw out the ship’s excess load; but, the ship continued to sink as it was still not light enough. The crew was forced to sacrifice the life of one man for everyone's safety. 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 the name of Prophet Yunus was selected. The crew knew that Yunus was a righteous, honest and a blessed man, so they refused to throw him out. They then agreed to draw lots again. But every time they did it, the name of the Prophet kept appearing. Prophet Yunus knew that this was the verdict of Allah, for he had left his people without the consent of Allah. So Yunus jumped out of the ship into the dark, angry waves in the middle of ocean.

Meanwhile, the people of Ninawa fell on their knees; with their hands stretched out, they began to beg for the forgiveness and mercy of Allah. They remembered the warnings of Prophet Yunus, and were very scared that they would be punished in the same way as the people of 'Ad and Thamud. Now, they were about to face the wrath of Allah. So they prayed. Moved by this display of sincere repentance, Allah lifted His punishments, forgave his subjects and showered his blessings upon them. As the skies cleared, the people prayed for the safe return of Prophet Yunus, so that he could guide them through the path of Allah.

As Allah had 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. He believed he was in his grave; but as he regained his senses, he realised that he was not in his grave, but was in fact in the stomach of a whale. Deep in the body of the whale, Prophet Yunus prostrated to Allah and said, “Oh Allah, I am prostrating to you in a place where no one has prostrated to you before, in the stomach of a fish.” He then called out to Allah, repeating, “None has the right to be worshipped but You. Glorified be You. Truly, I have been among the wrongdoers.” The species of marine life heard the invocations of Prophet Yunus. They all gathered around the whale to join along in the celebration of the praises of Allah.

Allah then commanded the whale to spit out the Prophet on a shore. The whale obeyed Allah's command and quickly swam to the nearest shore, ejecting Prophet Yunus afterwards. Allah forgave the Prophet and informed him that if it were not for his sincere invocations, he would continue to be in the stomach of the whale till Yawm al-Qiyamah. Once this was all done, Prophet Yunus got up to his feet and set on a journey back to his hometown. The weather had become all normal and was sunny again.

Upon his arrival in Ninawa, Yunus was stunned at what he was seeing. The entire population of Nineveh had accepted Islam, and were eagerly awaiting his arrival. Together with his people, Prophet Yunus prostrated to Allah and thanked Him for all of His blessings. In the end, Yunus was the only Prophet of Allah, whose entire community had accepted Islam.

Allah says in the Qur'an: “Was there any town community that believed after seeing the punishment, and its Faith at that moment, saved it from the punishment? (the answer is none) except the people of Yunus; when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the present world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while.” [Surah Yunus 10:98]

Source:

Qassas al-Anbiya by Imam Ibn Kathir, chapter on Prophet Yunus alayhis salaam