Where Did Story of Prophet Yunus Happen?
The story of Yunus (AS) staying alive in the belly of a whale has wondered people for centuries. What is the story of this miracle and where did it happen?
The Quran says in Verses 87 and 88 of Surah Al-Anbiya:
“And ThulNun (Prophet Jonah), he went away in anger thinking We had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried: ‘There is no god except You. Exaltations to You! I was among the harmdoers.’ We heard his prayer and saved him from grief. As such We shall save the believers.”
At the order of God, Yunus (AS) invited his people to monotheism but they rejected his call and he asked God to send a punishment. Thus, God informed him of an imminent punishment. Seeing red clouds in the sky, which were the sign of coming of punishment, Yunus left the city.
One of the believers gathered men, women and children to repent and after their repentance, the punishment was cancelled.
According to some Hadiths, Yunus (AS) left the city after the punishment was canceled as he feared they would call him a liar. He angrily moved toward the sea and did not return to his people.
He went to the sea so that people would not find him.
At the sea, Yunus boarded a ship. One day, a storm raged on rocking the ship wildly to and fro. The crew and passengers began to fear for their lives as the sea water gradually began flooding into the deck, slowly sinking the ship. The crew threw out the ship’s excess load; but, the ship continued to sink as it was still too heavy. The captain was left with no choice—he had to sacrifice the life of one man if he wished to save the lives of his crew and passengers. As it was a common practice among men during those times, the captain decided to draw lots to choose the passenger to be sacrificed.
The lots were cast and Prophet Yunus’s name was selected. The men knew that Yunus was a young, righteous, honest and a blessed man, so they refused to throw him out and agreed to draw lots again. So the lots were cast, and Yunus’s name appeared again. The men refused to throw him. So they drew lots for the third time, and Yunus’s named appeared yet again! The men were baffled, but Prophet Yunus knew that this was the verdict of Allah for he had left his people without his Lord’s consent. So Yunus jumped out of the ship into the dark, angry waves in the middle of ocean.
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As God commanded, the largest whale in the ocean swallowed Yunus just as he hit the water. Yunus, who was unconscious, awoke to find himself enveloped by sheer darkness.
Yunus was in the whale’s stomach for 3 or 7 or 40 days, praying to Allah until his prayers were answered and the whale swam to the nearest shore and ejected Yunus.
Where did Yunus board the ship and where did he go after he was ejected?
Yunus boarded a ship at the port town of Yafa in Palestine. The ship was moving to Tarshish. In some Arabic books and poems, Tarshish is said to have been in Tunisia.
After the whale ejected him, Yunus returned to his people in Nineveh (near the Tigris River in today’s Iraq).
