Once in its belly, Yunus descends to the bottom of the sea, filled with total despair. Allah sends a great fish, some describe it as a whale, to swallow Yunus whole. Once in the water, something extraordinary happens. This happens not once but three times, and the terrified crew throw him overboard thinking that in doing so they will be protecting themselves and their ship. They draw the lot indicating that Yunus should be thrown overboard. These pagan sailors feel that the gods of the sea must be displeased with them, so they draw lots to throw one man overboard to calm the storm. Once at sea, though, a storm grows up and the crew are terrified. He has had enough and he sets sail far away from the scene of his failure. Having left the city behind, Yunus boards a ship. Some people even take it upon themselves to punish them. On a spiritual level, we see lots of wickedness in the world and think we know how the evildoers should be treated. We can identify with Yunus here, can’t we? On a human level, we often give up too soon, and we often stomp off when we don’t get what we want. He even felt that he knew what these people deserved. Even though he was a prophet, Yunus was still a man and he stormed off out of the city when he didn’t achieve what he had hoped. This is the first very human touch in the story of Yunus. But they wouldn’t listen to him and so Yunus left them. Yunus went to the people there and told them to give up their bad ways and to turn, instead, to Allah. Nineveh was a great city, the capital of Assyria, and it had become a very wicked place. The mission of Prophet Yunus is a timeless story that tells us there is a way out, if only we have faith.Īlmighty Allah called Yunus to preach to the people of Nineveh. Have you ever felt as though things are just too much for you, that you are in a situation you see no way of getting out of? Do you look at problems in our world today and wonder how they can ever be solved? All this, and more, is the story of Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him).
0 kommentar(er)
