God sent Yunus, peace be upon him, to the people of Nineveh, and he called them to God Almighty, but they rejected him, rebelled, and insisted on their disbelief and stubbornness. When the affairs of Yunus’ people lasted for a long time, their affairs became difficult for him. Yunus left among them and left their village, promising them that the torment from their Lord would come to them after three days.

When he came out from among them, God cast repentance into their hearts, so they turned to God Almighty and cried out and supplicated to Him, and men and women wept, so God removed from them the torment that had befallen their heads. It did not happen that an entire nation believed and God lifted the torment from them except the people of Yunus, peace be upon him.

The story of Nous and the whale

As for Yunus, when he went away angry because of his people, he boarded a ship in the sea to go away from his people. The ship became turbulent and became heavy with those on it, and the ship almost sank with those on it. So its passengers consulted among themselves to cast lots, and for whomever the lot fell, they would be thrown from the ship. When they cast their votes, the lot fell on the Prophet of God, Yunus. Peace be upon him. “They did not allow him to be thrown into the sea, so they returned it a second time, and it also fell on him. They did not allow him to be thrown into the sea again, then they returned it a third time, and it also fell on him.”

When lots fell on him time after time, they saw that it was inevitable that they would do what they had decided to do, which was to throw him into the sea. It was a sign from God Almighty that he chose this matter because God wanted something great through him, so they threw him into the sea and submitted to God Almighty’s choice for him.

So God Almighty sent from the sea a great whale, which swallowed it. God Almighty commanded the whale not to eat the flesh of our Master Yunus and not to break his bones. As for our Master Yunus, when he settled in the belly of the whale, he thought that he was dead, so he moved your limbs and they moved, and he was alive. Yunus, peace be upon him, thanked his Lord and praised Him, then He prostrated to God, and when the whale began to roam the seas, Yunus, peace be upon him, glorified his Lord, Glory be to Him, and said: {There is no god but You, Glory be to You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers} So God Almighty saved him, and the whale brought him out onto the shore, and he was saved from the distress, and he returned to his people who believed, and God Almighty saved them from The torment.