Let's Read, This is the Complete Story of Prophet Yunus/Jonah AS
There is not much that the Al-Quran tells about Prophet Yunus as it has been told about the prophets Moses, Yusuf and others. And as far as historians and commentators can record and tell about Prophet Yunus is that his name is Yunus bin Matta. He was sent by God to preach to the people of a place called "Ninawa" who were not his people and had no blood ties with them. He was a foreigner coming in the midst of the people of Nineveh. He found them in darkness, ignorance and disbelief, they worshiped idols associating partners with God.
Yunus brought the teachings of monotheism and faith to them, invited them to worship God who created them and created the universe, leaving their offerings to the idols they made themselves from stone and idols that could not bring them benefit or harm . He warned them that they, as human beings, the main creatures of God who gained superiority over other creatures, should not humble themselves by bowing their foreheads and faces to worship the dead stones that they deified, even though it was all their own creation that sometimes and can be destroyed and transformed and modeled. He invites them to think about God's creation in themselves,
The teachings of Prophet Yunus for the people of Nineveh were something new that they had never heard before. Because of that they could not accept it to replace the teachings and beliefs that had been passed down by their ancestors which had become their custom from generation to generation. Moreover, the religious leader is a foreigner who is not related to them.
They said to Prophet Yunus: "What are the words that you speak and what lies do you suggest to us about your new religion? These are our true gods that we worship and our ancestors worshiped long ago. What is the reason that allow us to leave our religion inherited from our ancestors and replace it with your new religion? You are one among us who came to destroy our customs and change our religion and what is your advantage over us that gives you reason to nurture and teach us Stop your actions and invitations in our area.Believe that you will not get followers among us and that your teachings will not find a market among the people of Ninawa who are very steadfast in defending the traditions and customs of our elders."
Barkata Prophet Yunus replied: "I only invite you to believe and believe in monotheism according to the religion that I bring as a mandate from God that I must convey to you. I am only a messenger assigned by God to lift you from the valley of error and darkness to guide you to the right path and straight conveying to you a religion that is pure and clean from the seeds of disbelief and shirk that degrades human dignity that is solely for your own good and the good of your grandchildren in the future. I never expect any reward or reward from you nor do I want rank or position I cannot force you to follow me and implement my teachings. I only remind you that if you continue to oppose and ignore my invitation, continue to reject the religion of God that I bring,continue to defend your faith and your false and misguided religion, surely Allah will show you the signs of the truth of my message by bringing down His punishment on you as has been experienced by the previous people, namely the people of Noah, Aad and Thamud before you.
They responded to the warning of Prophet Yunus with resistance, saying: "We still refuse your invitation and will not submit to your orders or follow your will and sometimes we will not be afraid of all your threats. Try to bring what you threaten to us if you are true in your words- you said and did not lie to us."
Prophet Yunus could not bear to stay any longer among the people of Nineveh who were stubborn and blind to his teachings and preaching. He then left Ninawa with a feeling of irritation and anger while begging God to punish those who were in opposition and stubborn.
After the death of Prophet Yunus, the people of Ninawa began to see alarming signs as if the threat of Prophet Yunus to them would come true and God's punishment would really fall on them bringing destruction and destruction as had been experienced by the idol worshipers before them. They saw that the air around Ninawa was getting darker, their domestic animals looked restless and agitated, their faces were unconsciously pale and bloodless and the wind was blowing from all directions with its fierceness bringing a terrifying rumbling sound.
In a state of panic and fear, they realized that Jonah was not lying in his words and that what was threatening them was not an empty threat of his own making, but a threat from God. Immediately they expressed repentance and begged for forgiveness for all their actions, expressed faith and believed in the truth of the preaching of Prophet Yunus while feeling sorry for their behavior and rude attitude that made him angry and left the area.
To atone for their sins, they left the city and went in droves to the hills and the desert, while crying for God's forgiveness and mercy to be spared from the disaster of His punishment and torture. The mother of their pet animals was separated from her children until the screams of the animals separated from their mothers were heard as if they were begging for safety from the disaster that was threatening to befall them.
God Who Knows that His servants are honest in their repentance and remorse and that they are true and that their hearts have returned to faith and from their hearts they are begging to be spared from His torment, is willing to send down His mercy and grant forgiveness- His to His servants who sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness for all their sins. The dark air that covered Ninawa became bright, the pale faces turned red and radiant and the restless animals calmed down, then the people returned to their cities and homes with full of joy and gratitude to God who has accepted their prayers and requests.
They said in their hearts after feeling calm, peaceful and safe from the calamity that almost befell them: "Where is Jonah now? Why have we succumbed to the whispers of the devil and followed our lusts, making him leave us with anger and irritation because of our attitude that opposes and is hostile to him. How happy we are if he is still in our midst guiding and teaching us things that bring us happiness in this world and in the hereafter. He is truly the messenger and prophet of God that we have wasted -wasted. May God forgive our sins."
As for the situation of the Prophet Yunus who had suddenly left the city of Ninawa, he wandered up and down the mountain on foot without a destination. Unknowingly, he was suddenly on a beach seeing a group of people hurrying to get on a ship. He asked the owner of the ship to be allowed to participate with other passengers. The ship immediately let go of the anchor and slid at full speed into the middle of a calm sea. The calm of the sea could not last long, because suddenly the ship was shaken and rocked by a large wave that came suddenly followed by a strong windstorm, so that the helmsman of the ship and all the passengers were in a state of panic fear seeing the ship's condition that was not stable. balance can be controlled.
The passengers and the helmsman saw no way to save the situation if the weather conditions continued to heat up and did not subside, except by lightening the heavy load at the expense of one of the passengers. A draw was then held to determine which of the passengers should be sacrificed. At the first drag, the name of Yunus, a passenger they respected and loved the most, so that they all found it hard to throw him into the sea to become a prey for fish.
Then a second draw was held with each passenger hoping that the name Jonah they loved would not come out again, but their hopes missed and the name Jonah came out again in the second lot. Thus it is for the draw for the third time that it is agreed that it is the last and that determines the name Jonah who appears who must be sacrificed to save the ship and the other passengers.
Prophet Yunus who carefully observed when the lot was cast felt that the result of the lot was the will of God that he could not reject and that might contain wisdom that he had not yet been able to understand. Yunus also realized at that moment that he had committed a sin by leaving Nineveh before gaining God's approval, so perhaps the result of the draw was as an atonement for the sin he had committed. Then he begged to calm down for a moment and without hesitation immediately threw himself into the sea which was immediately received by the folds of waves that were furiously raging under the dark sky.
While Prophet Yunus was fighting against the waves that were swinging him, God revealed to a whale to swallow him whole and dislodge him in his stomach as God's mandate that he should return intact and unharmed when the time comes.
Prophet Yunus who was in the belly of the whale that took him to break the rising waves and sink to the bottom of the sea felt tight in his chest and saddened while begging God for forgiveness for his sins and wrong actions that he did in haste. He cried out in the darkness of the whale's belly: "O my Lord, indeed there is no God but You, You are holy and indeed I have sinned and become one of the unjust."
After completing God's punishment, for a certain period of time, Prophet Yunus was spilled by the whale that was carrying him and threw him to the land. He was thrown from the fish's mouth to the beach in a state of emaciation and pain. However, God with His mercy grew a pumpkin tree where he was stranded that could shade Yunus with its leaves and enjoy the fruit.
Prophet Yunus after recovering and becoming fresh again was ordered by God to go back to visit Ninawa where more than a hundred thousand people longed for his arrival to lead them and give further guidance to perfect their faith and belief. And how surprised Prophet Yunus was when he entered Ninawa and did not see a single idol standing. On the other hand, he found people who were stubborn against him and rejected his teachings and now have become believers, pious and worshipers, praising Allah swt
The main story about Yunus explained above is narrated by the Al-Quran in Surah Yunus verse 98, Surah Al-Anbiaa' verses 87, 88 and Surah Ash-Shaffaat verse 139 to verse 148.
Lessons to be learned from the story of Prophet Jonah.
His understanding is that a person who is on duty as a da'i - preacher should have patience and should not be quick to get angry and give up if his da'wah does not get the response it deserves or is not immediately accepted by the people he preaches to. In such a situation, he must patiently control his emotions and continue his da'wah by being wise and gentle, as God's word in surah An-Nahl verse 125 means: "Call, preach to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching and oppose them with the kind { polite and gentle } ."
In the person of Prophet Yunus, Allah has given an example of how he regretted his hasty actions due to losing patience, leaving the people of Nineveh, even though they could still be awakened to accept his invitation if he did not rush to anger and leave them without first consulting with God sent him.
For transgressions that have been committed unknowingly, God has punished Prophet Yunus in the form of imprisonment in the belly of a whale as a warning and lesson so that it does not happen again after he is forgiven and told to return to Ninawa to continue his preaching.