Verse:93 Commentary The second verse (93) brings the future of a people bulldozed in disgrace by the Pharaoh into sharp focus making it stand out against the evil end of the tyrant. It was said that Allah gave the Bani Isra'il a good place to live. They had the whole country of Egypt for themselves.

Then, they were given the holy lands of Jordan and Palestine which Allah Ta' ala had assigned to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and his progeny as their inheritance. A good place to live has been termed as: مُبَوَّأَ صِدْقٍ (translated as: ` a proper place to live' ) in the Qur'an. The word: صِدْقٍ (sidq) at this place means good and proper. The sense is that they were given a place to live that was suitable and proper for them in every way. Then it was said that Allah gave them their sustenance in the form of Halal and pure things so much so that they had the best of everything.

Towards the end of the verse, once again, their penchant for crookedness and evil doing has been mentioned. Among them too, there were many who, soon after having power, failed to appreciate the blessings of Allah and went about disobeying Him. They recited the Torah and they knew the signs and marks of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned there. This awareness demanded that they should have been the first to believe in him as soon as he came. But, how strange that these very people believed in the coming of the last prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم before he actually came. They would tell people about the signs he would have and the time he would come. They would even use the wasilah (medium) of the last prophet in their prayers. But, when the last prophet came with a whole array of evidences of his veracity, and the signs identified in the Torah, these people started disputing among themselves. Some of them believed while the rest refused to do so. In this verse, the coming of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to has been expressed by saying: جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ (knowledge came to them). Here, علم (` ilm) could also denote certitude. In that case, it would mean that once the causes of observation and certitude converged together, these people started disputing.

Some commentators have said that عِلم (ilm: knowledge) at this place denotes مَعلُوم (ma` lum: known), that is, when the blessed person who was already known through the prophesies of the Torah came before them face to face, they started disputing the truth.

At the end of the verse, it was said that Allah Ta'ala will give His verdict about what they used to dispute, on the day of Qiyamah. Truth will then become distinct from falsehood and the upholders of truth will be sent to Paradise while the practitioners of falsehood, to Hell. Verse:94 Commentary In the third verse (94), the address is obviously to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . But, it goes without saying that there is no probability of his doubting the revelation. Therefore, the purpose is to beam the message to the Muslim community through this address where he is not the intended recipient. Then, it is also possible that this address may be to human beings at large asking them if they had any doubts about the Divine revelation sent to them through Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم . If they had, let them ask those who recited the Torah and Injil before them. They would tell them that all past prophets and their Books have been announcing the glad tidings of the Last among Prophets. This will remove their scruples and suspicions.

According to Tafsir Mazhari, this verse tells us that anyone in doubt about some religious matter is duty-bound to have his doubts removed by asking genuine ` Ulama' (religious scholars whose learning, honesty and adherence to Qur'an, and Sunnah is well recognized, popularly referred to as ` Ulama' al-Haqq). To continue nursing such doubts is not a good thing to do. Verse:95 Commentary In the fourth (95), fifth (96) and sixth (97) verses, the same subject finds support and emphasis while carrying a warning to those who are heedless. Verse:96 Commentary - - - Verse:97 Commentary - - - Verse:98 Commentary In the seventh verse (98), the heedless deniers of truth have been admonished for their failure to make the optimum use of the time of life allowed to them. There was still time for them to leave denial and contumacy. Otherwise, an ominous time was due to come when they will make Taubah but their Taubah will not be accepted. They will say that they believed but their belief will not be welcome. And that time will be the time when the punishment of the Hereafter will appear right before their eyes at the time of death. It was in this connection that an event relating to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) and his people was mentioned - that has good counsels and great lessons in it.

It has been asked in this verse that the people who denied truth could have believed at a time when their believing would have been of benefit to them. It means that there was no use for it at the hour of death, or the punishment, or after being neck deep in it, or at the time Doomsday sets in for the doors of repentance will then be closed and no repentance or belief from anyone will be acceptable. Now that they still had the time, they could put their contumacy aside and become believers very much like the people of Prophet Yunus (علیہ السلام) did. When they, much before the worse happened, saw the Divine punishment coming, they lost no time, repented and believed. For this reason, Allah Ta` ala removed the painful punishment from them.

The gist of the tafsir given above is that the door of Taubah does not close even when the worldly punishment comes face to face. However, Taubah is not accepted at the time the punishment of the Hereafter comes face to face. As for the coming of the punishment of the Hereafter face to face, it would either be on the day of Qiyamah or at the time of death, whether it is natural death or death as a victim of some worldly punishment as was the case with the Pharaoh.

Therefore, the acceptance of the Taubah of the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) is not contrary to the Divine law. In fact, it falls under it because they, no doubt, made their Taubah when they saw the punishment coming, but they certainly did so before the punishment overtook them, and did it before death too. This is contrary to what the Pharaoh and others did. They did their Taubah only after the punishment had overtaken them, and did that at the time of the last rattle of death, saying that they believed. Therefore, their believing was not valid and trustworthy and the Taubah they made was not accepted.

A precedent of the event relating to the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) is the event relating to Bani Isra'il which finds mention in the Holy Qur'an itself. In this event, the mount of Tur was left dangling over their heads so that they were scared enough to repent. They repented and their Taubah was accepted. This appears in Surah al-Baqarah where it was said:

رَ‌فَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ الطُّورَ‌ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ

And raised high above you the (Mount on Tur: "Hold fast to what We have given to you" - 2:63

The reason was that they had, much before the punishment materialized and death overtook them, repented simply by noticing the imminent danger of punishment. Similarly, when the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) saw the punishment coming, they sincerely wept and wailed and repented details of which will appear a little later. So, the acceptance of this Taubah is not counter to the Divine law stated above. (Qurtubi)

At this stage, some contemporaries have made a grave error. They attribute shortcomings to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) in the discharge of his duties as a prophet. They declare that the cause of the removal of punishment from the people was the failing of the prophet and that this very failing was the cause of Divine displeasure which is mentioned in Surah al-Anbiya' and Surah As-Saffat. Their words are as given below:

قرآن کے اشارات اور صحیفہ یونس کی تفصیلات پر غور کرنے سے اتنی بات صاف معلوم ہو جاتی ہے کہ حضرت یونس (علیہ السلام) سے فریضہ رسالت ادا کرنے میں کچھ کو تاھیاں ہوگئی تھیں اور غالباً انہوں نے بےصبر ہو کر قبل از وقت اپنا مستقر چھوڑ دیا تھا، اس لٔے جب آثار عذاب دیکھ کر آشوریوں نے توبہ و استغفار کی تو اللہ تعالیٰ نے انہیں معاف کردیا، قرآن میں خدأی دستور کے جو اصول و کلیات بیان کیے گئے ہیں ان میں ایک مستقل دفعہ یہ بھی ہے کہ اللہ تعالیٰ کسی قوم کو اسوقت تک عذاب نہیں دیتا جن تک اس پر اپنی حجت پوری نہیں کردیتا، پس جب نبی ادأے رسالت میں کوتاہی کر گیا اور اللہ کے مقرر کردہ وقت سے پہلے قوم کو عذاب دینا گوارا نہ کیا۔ (تفہیم القرآن مولانا مودودی، ص 321، ج 2، طبع 1964)

` By considering the hints of the Qur'an and the details of the book of Jonah, at least this much becomes clear that some shortcomings had issued forth from Hadrat Yunus peace be on him, in the performance of his duty as a prophet. And, most probably, becoming impatient, he had abandoned his permanent station before time. Therefore, having seen the signs of punishment, the Assyrians repented and sought forgiveness, then Allah Ta` ala forgave them. Out of the principles and universals of Divine Law described in the Qur'an, there is this standing article as well - that Allah Ta` ala does not punish a people until He establishes His argument against them conclusively. So, when the prophet went about falling short in doing his duty as a prophet and, on his own, vacated his station (of duty) before the time determined by Allah, then, the justice of Allah Ta` ala did not bear by punishing those people." (Tafhimul-Qur'anl by Maulana Mawdudi, p. 321, volume 2, published 1964)2

1. Ordinary changes have been made, without any prior public announcement of withdrawal from these remarks, in the later editions of Tafhimul-Qur'an, that is, the words: فریضہ رسالت کی ادایٔگی میں کو تاھی : ` shortcomings in the performance of duty as a prophet,' are not there in the new text. But, the following observations are still there: جب نبی نے۔۔۔۔ پوری نہیں ہوتی تھیں : When the prophet did not continue the mission of giving good counsel to those people up to the last moment of the respite given to them and, before the time determined by Allah, he himself, in a self-serving way, migrated out and away, then, the justice of Allah Ta` ala did not bear by punishing his people, because the legal conditions of a conclusive argument against them had yet to be fulfilled." Thus, despite the change in the text of the Tafhimul-Qur'an, the comment of Ma'ariful-Qur'an stands as is. - Idaratul-Ma` arif, publishers, October/ 1991.

2. Apart from the religious aspects of the observations quoted above which have been dealt with in the Commentary of this Tafsir, the language used to convey these has contributed significantly in making the observations acidly vulnerable. For example, the use of verbs towards the end: کر گیا (kar gaya), ھٹ گیا (hat gaya) and گوارا نہ کیا (gawara na kiya) are hot action words in the present context. When used for a prophet, they are terrible. When attributed to God, like the last one, they are presumptuous. The liberty taken through language is difficult to transplant in translation. By ignoring it, the translator turns traitor. So, the translator has made the extra effort to stay within functional limits and render the text as it is. Since, the Urdu original has been reproduced here, discerning readers who read it should have no problem in making their independent judgment about the rendering - Tr.

The first thing to look at here is that the prophets, peace be upon them all, are protected from sins (ma` sum). This is an uncontested belief on which there is a consensus of the Muslim Ummah. In its details, some partial differences do exist, for instance, is this protection (` ismah) from all kinds of minor sins (saghirah), or from the major ones (kabirah) only, and whether or not this protection (` ismah) includes the period of time before being inducted as a prophet? But, no difference exists among any individuals or groups in the belief that the blessed prophets, all of them, can never fall short in carrying out their duty as prophets. The reason is that there could be no greater sin for prophets than that they themselves fall short in taking care of the mission for which Allah Ta` ala had chosen them. This is an open breach of trust in assigned duty, something beyond even ordinary nice people anywhere. If a prophet does not stand protected (ma` sum) even from this short-coming, then, there is no use for protection from other sins.

If there were something somewhere even in the Qur'an, and Hadith, seemingly contrary to the established principles of Qur'an, and Sunnah, and the collective Muslim belief in prophets being protected from sins, it would have been necessary to interpret it in a way that would not have left it discordant and different from the absolutely proven principles of Qur'an, and Hadith.

But, things are strange here. What the learned author has presented with reference to ` Qur'anic hints and details of the book of Jonah' may possibly be in the book of Jonah, and so be it, being something having no validity in the sight of the people of Islam. As for a ` Qur'anic hint, there is none, not just one. In fact, what has happened here is that this presumption has been forced out of a patched pattern of several premises. First of all, it was presumed that the removal of the punishment from the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) took place contrary to Divine law - which is totally contrary to the context of this very verse, and equally contrary to the explications of recognized authorities in the field of Tafsir. Along with it, it was also assumed that Divine law was broken on this occasion because the prophet himself had failed to fulfill his duty as a prophet. Again, along with that, it was also assumed that some particular time had been fixed by Allah Ta` ala when he was supposed to leave the place - and he, much before this supposedly fixed time, abandoned his duty of calling people to truth and ran for life!

If seen with the least deliberation and fairness, it will stand proved that no hint from the Qur'an, or Hadith points out to these assumed premises.

To consider what precedes in the verse of the Qur'an itself, let us look at the words of the verse:

فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْ‌يَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ

So, how is it that there never was a town which could have believed and its belief would have been of benefit to it, except the people of Yunus (Jonah) !

The sense, as already clear, is that of regret over the state of inertia prevailing among common residents of habitations around the world. It is in that spirit that it was said: How would they not become such as would have believed at a time when believing is acceptable and beneficial? In other words, they could have believed before being hit by punishment or death, in which case, their believing would have been accepted. But, the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) were an exception to this rule, for they, by seeing the signs of punishment, and much before being hit by the punishment, believed and their believing and repentance came to be accepted.

This evident sense of the verse is itself telling us that no Divine law has been broken here, in fact, exactly in accordance with Divine practice, their faith and repentance have been accepted.

Most commentators - Abu Hayyan, Al-Qurtubi, Al-Zamakhshari, Qadi Thana'ullah, ` Allamah Alusi and others - have given this very sense of the verse according to which the acceptance of repentance from the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) comes under the customary Divine law. The words of Al-Qurtubi appear as given below:

و قال ابن جُبَیرغشیھم العذاب کما یغشی الثوب القبر، فلما صحت توبتھم رفع اللہ عنھم العذاب، وقال اطبری : خص قوم یونس (علیہ السلام) من بین سایٔر الامم بان تیب علیکھم بعد معاینۃ العذاب، و ذکر ذلک عن جماعۃ من المفسرین۔ وقال الزجاج، انھم لم یقع بھم العذاب، وانمارأوا العلامۃ التی تدل علی العذاب ولورأوا عین العذاب لما نفعھم ایمانھم ۔ قلت قول الزجاج حسن، فان العاینۃ التی لا تنفع التوبۃ معھا ھی التلبس بالعذاب کقصۃ فرعون و لھذا جاء بقصہ قوم یونس علی اثر قصۃ فرعون، و یعضد ھذا قولہ (علیہ السلام) : ان اللہ یقبل توبۃ العبد مالم یغرغر والغرغرۃ، الحشرجۃ، وذلک ھو حال التلبس بالموت، وقد روی معنی ما قلناہ عن ابن مسعود ؓ (الی) و ھذا یدل علی ان توبتھم قبل رؤیۃ العذاب (الی) و علی ھذا فلا اشکال ولا تعارض ولا خصوص۔

"Ibn Jubayr says that the punishment had covered them up like the sheet of cloth on the grave. Then, as their Taubah turned out to be sound (being before the punishment materialized), Allah Ta` ala lifted the punishment from them. And At-Tabari says that the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) have been given a special place among all other peoples in that their Taubah was accepted after they had seen the punishment. And that has been mentioned by a large number of commentators. However, Az-Zajjaj says that the punishment had not yet fallen on those people. They had only seen the signs that proved the coming of the punishment. And if they had seen the very punishment falling upon them, their believing would have then been no good for them (and their Taubah too would have not been accepted). Al-Qurtubi says that the statement of Az-Zajjaj is better because the seeing of a punishment after which Taubah is not accepted means that in which one is seized - as it happened in the case of Pharaoh. Therefore, in this very Surah, the event of the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) has been taken up immediately after the event relating to the Pharaoh. (So that the difference becomes clear in that the belief of the Pharaoh came after having been seized by the punishment, contrary to the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) who came to believe before the punishment actually seized them). This is confirmed by a saying of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، Allah Ta` ala accepts the Taubah of the servant until he is rattled by death.' And ` al-ghargharah' (as in the Hadith) is the rattling sound that comes from the throat and that is what happens on being seized by death. And the same thing is evident from the riwayah of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ in which it has been said that the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) had repented before the actual falling of the pun-ishment. And Al-Qurtubi says, as based on this explanation, there remains no difficulty, or contradiction, or particularization (of the people of Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام).

As for At-Tabari and other commentators who have deemed this event to be special to the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) ، none of them have said that the reason of this special treatment was the ` shortcomings' of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . Instead, the honest repentance of those people and their sincere belief in Divine knowledge are the kind of reasons that they have given to that end.

And now, when we know that the removal of the punishment from the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was just not against the Divine law, in fact, was exactly in accordance with it, then, the very foundation of what has been postulated here stands demolished.

Similarly, there is no Qur'anic hint to prove that Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) once he had given the warning of punishment, broke away from his people without prior Divine permission. Instead, the context of verses and reports from Tafsir tell us that things happened here as they had happened with all past communities, that is, when the decision was made to send Divine punishment on a people, Allah Ta` ala would command his Messenger and his companions to leave that area. This has been clearly mentioned in the Qur'an in connection with the story of Sayyidna Lut Very similarly, here too, when this command of Allah was delivered to those people through Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام۔ that the punishment will come after three days - then, the departure of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) from that area has, obviously enough, taken place under Divine orders.

Of course, there was a slip from Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) in terms of the elegant prophetic station he was blessed with. Words of displeasure about it appear in Surah al-Anbiya' (21:87, 88) and Surah as-Saffat (37:139-148) and, as a result of which, came the event of his staying in the belly of a fish. But, this slip has nothing to do with the assumed assertion that he fell short in fulfilling his duty as a prophet. In fact, what actually happened is what has been stated earlier with reference to authentic Tafsirs. In brief, after Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) had delivered the warning to his people that the punishment will come after three days as willed by Allah, he left his place and went out. Later, it was proved that the punishment did not materialize. Now, Sayyidna Yunus was worried as to how he would go back to his people. If he did, they would charge him to be a liar. And the law of those people required that a proven liar must be killed. Now, this added the danger of the likely loss of life in returning to his people. Under such circumstances, he had no way out but to migrate from that very country. But, the customary practice of the blessed prophets is that they do not migrate simply on the authority of their personal opinion - unless the signal to migrate comes from Allah Ta` ala. So, the slip of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was no more than that he boarded a boat with the intention of migration, before came the permission of Allah. This was, though no sin in itself, but different from the customary practice of prophets it was. If we were to ponder over the words of the verse of the Qur'an, the slip of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) will not turn out to be a shortcoming in the fulfillment of his duty as a prophet. In fact, it would prove not to be anything else but migration before permission with the aim of staying safe against the oppression of his people. The verse of Surah as-Saffat is virtually explicit regarding this subject. It was said: إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ (when he ran away towards the laden boat - 37:140). Here, the act of boarding a boat with the intention of migration has been expressed through the word: أَبَقَ (abaqa) denoting displeasure. It means the running away or fleeing of a slave without the permission of his master. And in the verse of Surah al-Anbiya', it has been said: وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ‌ عَلَيْهِ (and the man of the fish, when he left in anger assuming that We shall not keep him tight - 21:87). Here the tenor of speech is that of displeasure over the act of migration that was resorted to because of natural apprehension and the desire to stay protected from a hostile people. It is worth keeping in mind that all this happened after the perfect fulfillment of the duties of prophethood, only when a return to his people posed a certain danger to his life. Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani has taken up this subject in the following words:

ای غضبان علی قومہ لشدۃ شکیمتھم وتمادی اصرارھم مع طول دعوتہ ایاھم، وکان ذھابہ ھذا سھم ھجرۃ عنھم، لکنہ لم یؤمر بہ

(Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام) left his people in anger against their bitter hostility and adamant infidelity despite that he had spent a long time as a prophet inviting them to faith. This journey of his was a kind of migration but he had not yet received the permission for it.

Here, it has been made clear that some shortcoming in carrying out the prophetic mission was not the cause of Divine displeasure, in-stead, it was migration before permission that did become its cause - which, by itself, was no sin. But, because of being contrary to the customary practice of blessed prophets, it was received with displeasure. When some ` Ulama sounded the learned contemporary about this error, he chose to report the sayings of many commentators relating to the Tafsir of Surah as-Saffat, in support of his stand.

Among these - with the exception of some Israelite reports of Wahb ibn Munabbih and others - not a single report proves his stand, that shortcomings were committed (God forbid) by Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) in the fulfillment of his duty as a prophet, as correct.

And it is not hidden from the people of knowledge that commentators generally include Israelite reports in their Tafsirs about which all of them agree that these are not authentic and trustworthy. No Islamic legal ruling can be based on them. It is only through the crutches of these Israelite reports, whether they appear in the books of Muslim commentators or in the book of Jonah, that this grave accusation can be leveled against Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) that ` he had committed shortcomings in the fulfillment of his duties as a prophet.' No commentator of Islam has ever approved of it.

وَاللہُ سُبحانَہ و تعالیٰ اَعلَمُ ، وَبِہ استغیث ان یعصمنا من الخطایا والزلالت

And Allah, He is Pure and High and the Most Knowledgeable and before Him is our plaint that He protects us from all errors and lapses.

Details of the Event relating to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام)

Part of the details of the event relating to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) has been mentioned in the Qur'an while some of it has its proof in reports of Hadith and history. According to these sources, the people of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) lived in the well-known place, Nineveh near Mousel, Iraq. Their number has been given as more than one hundred thousand in the Holy Qur'an. It was for their guidance that Allah Ta` ala sent Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . They refused to believe. Allah Ta` ala asked Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) to warn these people that Divine punishment was going to overtake them within three days. Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) made the announcement before his people. When they went in consultation with each other, they agreed that they had never found Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) lying, therefore, this thing from him was not to be ignored. Finally, they devised a plan to see whether or not Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) stays among them at his place during the night. If he did, they were to understand that nothing would happen. And if he went somewhere else from there, then, they should be certain that the punishment would descend upon them the next morning. Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) moved out of his dwelling place during the night as Divinely commanded. When morning came, the Divine punishment, in the form of a cloud-like black smoke started hovering over their heads tending to be descending down closer to them. They then became certain that they all were going to be destroyed. Seeing this, they looked for Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) so that they could confess to their past denial, repent and believe with him as the witness. But, when they did not find him, they took it upon themselves to come up with repentance and prayers for forgiveness in the best spirit of sincerity at their command. To do that, they left homes, came out on open grounds, women, children and animals all huddled there. Wearing rags, weeping and wailing, repenting and begging refuge from Divine punishment, they made the whole area resound with a massive collective plaint. Allah Ta` ala accepted their repentance and removed the punishment from them - as mentioned in this verse. Reports indicate that this was 'Ashura, that is, the day of the tenth of Muharram.

On the other side, Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was waiting outside the township expecting that the Divine punishment will be about to hit the people there. He knew nothing about how they had repented and sought forgiveness. When the punishment stood removed, he started worrying about himself for his people would now declare him to be a liar - because he had announced that the punishment would strike within three days. According to the law of those people, if a person whose lying was known did not produce a witness in his support, he would be killed. Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was concerned apprehending that he would be declared a liar and killed.

The noble prophets are protected from every act of sin and disobedience, but are not set apart from others in terms of human nature and temperament. At that time, Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) naturally grieved that he had made the announcement as Divinely commanded and now it was because of the announcement he made he would be declared a liar. How could he go back to his place under these circumstances and take the risk of being killed in accordance with the law of his people? Deep in this anxiety, he started off with the intention of getting out of that town until he reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. There he saw a boat being boarded by people. They recognized Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) and let him board gratis. The boat sailed. But, when it reached off shore, it stopped suddenly. It refused to move any further, neither forward, nor backward. The boat people made an announcement. They said that Allah had made their boat special. When an oppressive sinner or a slave in flight boards it, the boat stops on its own. So, they said, let that person show himself up so that others do not suffer because of one person.

Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) spoke out that he was the sinner and the fleeing slave. As the act of leaving his town and boarding the boat was prompted by a natural apprehension and not by Divine permission, the dignified bearing of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) as a prophet had no hesitation in declaring this act, of coming towards the boat without that permission, a sin. The rule was that no movement of a prophet should have been without Divine permission. So he said, ` Throw me into the sea and be spared of the punishment.' The people of the boat would not do that. They drew lots so that the person thus named could be thrown into the sea. By chance, the lot drawn had the name of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) on it. They were intrigued. They drew lots again and again. But, as Divine decree would have it, the name that kept appearing repeatedly was that of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . The Holy Qur'an mentions this drawing of lots and the incidence of the name of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) being drawn therein (to be the one to be thrown overboard): فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُدْحَضِينَ ﴿141﴾ (and he drew lots and was among the losers - 37:141).

This dealing of Allah Ta` ala with Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was in view of his special status as a prophet. He had done no contravention of any Divine command that could be called sin or disobedience - for that matter, there exists no possibility of these issuing forth from any prophet because they are ma'sum مَعصُوم (Divinely protected). But, it was not appropriate to the high station of a prophet that he would transfer to another place without Divine permission simply on the basis of natural apprehension. It was this contra-dignity conduct which brought displeasure and resultant action.

On the one hand, names were being drawn in lots. The named was waiting to be thrown overboard. On the other hand, a large fish under Divine orders was lurking by the boat with her mouth agape, waiting for the incumbent to be thrown into the sea and right into her belly. Allah Ta` ala had already commanded the fish that the body of Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام that was to be deposited in her belly was no food for her, instead, was his home for a while. When Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) was lowered into the sea, the fish received him. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said that Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) lived in the belly of the fish for forty days. It would take him down to the sea bed and to nautical journeys far and wide. The period of his stay in the belly of the fish has also been reported as, five, and one day and few hours. (Mazhari). Only Allah Ta'-al-a knows the truth about it. Living in that state, Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) made the following du` a:

لَّا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِين

There is no god but You. Pure are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers - 21: 87.

Allah Ta'-al-a accepted this prayer and Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام was put on the shore alive and unharmed.

But, the heat in the belly of the fish had left no hair on his body. Allah Ta' ala caused a gourd vine to grow near him. Even the shade provided by the leaves on it became a blessing for Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) .

And signaled by Allah Ta` ala, a wild goat would come every morning and evening, stand near him and he would have milk to drink.

Thus, Sayyidna Yunus علیہ السلام was alerted to that slip, and later on, his people too came to know the whole story.

In this story, as for parts that have been mentioned in the Qur'an, or stand proved from authentic narratives of Hadith, they are certain. The rest of them come from historical reports - and no ruling of Islamic law can be based on them. Verse:99 Commentary - - - Verse:100 Commentary - - - Verse:101 Commentary - - - Verse:102 Commentary - - - Verse:103 Commentary - - -