Lives of prophets- Yunus (A.S)
Prophet Yunus, also known as Jonah was sent as a prophet of Allah to northern Iraq. The population of that region was up to a hundred thousand citizens. He was raised among the people of Nineveh.
The prosperous region forgot the message of Allah. Therefore, the citizens were busy with idol worshipping and other deadly sins. Allah selected Yunus (A.S) as their prophet. Because he was born and raised among them. After receiving prophethood, Yunus (A.S) began to preach the teachings of religion to the citizens. However, the people rejected his message and imagination of Islam. Nonetheless, the prophet continued and reminded them of the outcome. The outcomes that many experienced before them for idol worshipping.
Upon his continual reminding them of the punishment. The people laughed at him and asked him to bring the punishment upon them. His persistent efforts did not do any good. Then he became disheartened. He decided to leave the place without conducting Allah. Prophet Yunus was hopeful to find a group of people who would accept his message.
The punishment of the people of prophet Yunus:
The skies of Nineveh turned their colour. It was a sign of Allah’s wrath. The citizens gathered to see what was happening as the skies turned red. It filled their hearts with fear. This reminded them of the people of Thamud, Ad, and Nuh. This opened their eyes and they began to pray for their mercy. Allah answered their prayers as their hearts filled with the love of Allah. Afterwards, the citizens began to pray for the return of Prophet Yunus.
The event of the whale:
Meanwhile, Yunus (A.S) left the town and joined a crew on a ship to travel far from his region. The ship traveled through the calm sea but suddenly as the night fell, a storm raged. This imbalanced the ship and rocked it in the sea.
To make their way easier, the crew captain ordered them to throw extra luggage in the water. This did not help. The ship continued to shake and sink because of the weight. He drew lots to choose a man. This was to sacrifice to calm the sea storm. The lots were drawn three times and it was Yunus’ (A.S) name each time. The prophet recognized that this was the wish of Allah so he jumped out into the water on pitch night.
The largest whale in the ocean swallowed the prophet as soon as he jumped. He protected before Allah when he woke up and began to realize his situation. The prayer was also heard by the sea creatures who moved close to the whale to join the praises of Allah alongside Yunus (A.S). Allah liked his act.
Then Allah commanded the whale to spit out the prophet at the nearest shore. His skin was damaged from the acids inside the whale’s system when he reached the shore. Allah commanded a tree to grow beside him. This was to protect him from the sun and provide food. After recovering, Prophet Yunus came back to his town.
There he was stunned to see the entire community. All of his people accepted Islam. He is the only prophet whose entire community accepted his teachings and invitation to Islam.
Prophet Yunus (A.S) mentioned in the Quran:
Prophet Yunus is mentioned four times in the Quran by his name. The tenth chapter in the Quran is also named after him.
Family tree of Yunus (A.S):
His family tree began with prophet Adam (A.S) to prophet Idris, to prophet Nuh to prophet Ibrahim to prophet Ishaq to prophet Yaqub to himself.
Tomb of Prophet Yunus:
The prophets rest where he spread of Allah in his town. He was 30 when he received prophethood and remained in the belly of the whale for three days and nights.
Read more interesting stories of prophets mentioned in the Quran here,
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