Yunus
a.s. was the son of Mata (Mathew), from the descendents of Ibrahim a.s. Allah s.w.t. him as a Prophet and Messenger
in a great village called Nainawa located in northern Iraq around Al-Mawsil
(Mosal). They were all polytheists and
worshipped idols. Yunus
a.s. preached among them for many years but they continued their worshipped of
idols. He warned them of an oncoming
punishment. They were given three days
to repent and mend their ways. After
conveying to his people of this warning, he left them in an angry mood. Allah s.w.t. did not ask him to leave his
people, only to warn them.
After
Yunus’s a.s. departure, the early signs of punishment from Allah s.w.t.
descended upon Nainawa. A huge black
cloud covered the whole village.
Lightning started to appear from the cloud. The people of Nainawa gradually became
convinced that the warning would soon become reality. That realization grew and spread throughout
the village of Nainawa. Soon everyone of
them believed in Allah s.w.t. They cry
and beg for Allah’s s.w.t. forgiveness. Prophet
Yunus a.s. did not know of these developments.
After deserting his people, he headed towards the sea and boarded a
ship. After sailing for some time, the
sea became rough and the ship began to rock.
They decide to relieve the ship of some loads. When the ship was still heavy, they decided that
people should abandon the ship. They
cast lots to see who should go. The lots
were drawn three times and still Yunus a.s. was singled out. They realize then
that it was his destiny.
As
soon as he jumped into the water, the sea became calm. A big fish came and swallow him. He remained alive inside the big fish. Yunus a.s. immediately realize his
guilt. He remained inside the big fish
for 40 days (some says 7 days, and some say 3 days). Yunus
a.s. continuously repeated the solemn phrase of sincere repentance. Allah s.w.t. then ordered the big fish to cast
him to shore on a barren land. He could
not move foe being too long inside the fish.
Allah s.w.t. took care and protected him. A tree grew over him providing protection
from winds and shade from the sun. the
leaves covered and nursed his exposed flesh.
The scent from the tree kept the insects and other creatures at
bay. Allah s.w.t. also sent him a female
ibex, a kind of big deer, who nourished him with her milk.
When
he was strong and healthy, he was sent back to his people who was now in faith and
believed in Allah s.w.t.
STORIES OF THE PROPHETS IN AL-QURAN
(Lessons
that we can extract, lessons that we can apply)
(Teaser
extraction from the book)
To be continued…
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