Stories
Jonah and the whale
A prayer from inside the darkness
4 min, Intro
Jonah left his people in anger, before God's permission came. Thrown from a ship and swallowed by a great fish, he prayed in the darkness and was saved. And his people, alone among the nations in the Qur'an, turned back in time.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Jonah walks away from his people in anger, before God lets him go. Thrown from a ship and swallowed by a great fish, he prays from the darkness and is saved. He goes back. His people, alone among the towns warned, have believed in time.
Leaving in anger
Jonah (Yunus) was sent to a people (traditionally Nineveh). They refused to listen.
So he left them, in anger. But he left before God had permitted him to go. He boarded a fully laden ship.
وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَ ١٣٩ إِذۡ أَبَقَ إِلَى ٱلۡفُلۡكِ ٱلۡمَشۡحُونِ ١٤٠
139 Jonah was indeed one of the messengers.
140 When he fled to the fully laden ship,
Even a prophet, Jonah, could leave too soon.
Into the sea
The ship Jonah boarded was soon in danger. To decide who would be thrown overboard, the sailors cast lots. The lot fell on Jonah.
He was swallowed by a great fish. The Qur'an adds that had he not been one of those who glorify God, he would have stayed in its belly until the Day of Resurrection. Commentators describe him as being in three darknesses: the night, the sea and the belly of the fish.
Jonah was wrapped in three darknesses: the night, the sea and the fish.
The prayer in the darkness
What do you say from the belly of a fish? From inside the darkness, Jonah called out: "There is no god but You. Glory be to You. Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers."
God answered him and saved him from his distress. And God says He saves the believers in the same way.
This prayer admits fault and praises God at once. Muslims recite it in times of distress.
وَذَا ٱلنُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَٰضِبࣱا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقۡدِرَ عَلَيۡهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِي ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ أَن لَّآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ٨٧ فَٱسۡتَجَبۡنَا لَهُۥ وَنَجَّيۡنَٰهُ مِنَ ٱلۡغَمِّۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُـۨجِي ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ ٨٨
87 And [remember] the Man of the Whale [i.e., Jonah] when he departed in anger, thinking that We would not take him to task. Then he cried out in the depths of darkness, “None has the right to be worshiped except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done wrong”.
88 So We answered his prayer and rescued him from distress. This is how We rescue the believers.
Jonah's prayer did two things at once: it admitted his fault and praised God.
The people who turned back
The fish cast Jonah onto the shore, sick. A gourd plant grew over him for shade. Another surah adds that his Lord chose him, and made him one of the righteous.
Then he was sent back to his people, a hundred thousand or more. And they believed.
The Qur'an singles them out. Of all the towns that were warned, Jonah's people alone believed in time and were spared. The Bible's Book of Jonah tells the story too, ending with God's mercy on Nineveh.
فَلَوۡلَا كَانَتۡ قَرۡيَةٌ ءَامَنَتۡ فَنَفَعَهَآ إِيمَٰنُهَآ إِلَّا قَوۡمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ ءَامَنُواْ كَشَفۡنَا عَنۡهُمۡ عَذَابَ ٱلۡخِزۡيِ فِي ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَمَتَّعۡنَٰهُمۡ إِلَىٰ حِينࣲ ٩٨
98 There had never been any town that believed [after seeing the punishment] and benefited from its faith except the people of Jonah. When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world, and let them enjoy themselves for a while.
Of all the towns warned, only Jonah's people believed in time, and were spared.