Prophet Yunus (also known as Jonah, peace be upon him) was frustrated
by his people’s belligerence to their Lord’s message. He wanted to run from
them as far as possible despite his conscience’s prompt to stay and continue to
deliver Allah’s messages. Well, he ended up thrown off a ship into the sea. A
whale found him floating on the waves and instantly swallowed him behind it’s ivory
teeth as if they were white bolts locking the doors of a prison. The whale
dived deep to the abyss of darkness in the bottom of the sea.
Yunus was enveloped by three layers of darkness. The darkness of
the whale's stomach, the darkness of the bottom of the sea, the darkness of the
night. Yunus realised he was still alive for a reason. He repented saying: “La ilaha illa
Anta. Subhaanaka, innikuntu mina Zaalimeen” “There is no god
˹worthy of worship˺ except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done wrong.” (Qur’an 21:87)
All the creatures around in the depth of the sea heard the voice
of Yunus praying from the whale's stomach. All these creatures gathered around
the whale and began to celebrate the praises of Allah in their turn, each in
its own way and in its own language. The whale also participated in the service
of praises as it knew it had swallowed a repented slave of Allah. Allah’s
acceptance of Yunus’ penitence meant the whale had to do the needful. It safely
delivered Yunus to the land he fled from. Therefore, repentance was the reason Yunus
lived again to spread the light of Allah’s message. We all can have a new life,
we all can repent.
Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an: “And ˹remember˺
when the Man of the Whale stormed off ˹from his city˺ in a rage, thinking We
would not restrain him. Then in the ˹veils of˺ darkness he cried out, “There is
no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done
wrong.” So We answered his prayer and rescued him from anguish. And so do We
save the ˹true˺ believers.” (Q21:87-88)
- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK. 2021
Email: MuslimMessage@gmail.com
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