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Yunus
(AS) Jonah:
Peace and Blessings be upon our Master, the most
noble Prophet Muhammad. We praise Allah, thank Him, and seek His help,
guidance, and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil in our souls
and the sinfulness of our deeds. "He whom Allah guides, he is the
rightly-guided; but he whom He sends astray will find no guiding advocate"
(TMQ, Al-Isra’: 97).
The Issue of
Patience
I will start
again from where I ended in the previous episode by mentioning some of the significant meanings in the story of Yunus (AS)
(Jonah). Then, I will move on to the
story of Ayyub (AS) and talk about
enduring hardship, as our topic today is patience.
In brief, Yunus
Ibn-Matta was also known as Dhun-Nun and was associated with the whale in the
Holy Qur'an. The Almighty sent Yunus to a town called Naynuna (Nineveh). Narrated in one
of his Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
met a young boy named Adas [outside of Ta’if].
The Prophet asked the boy where he came from and he said from
Naynuna. The Prophet then said that
Naynuna is the country of the righteous man Yunus Ibn-Matta. The boy questioned
how he knew of Yunus. The Prophet replied, "He is my brother. He was a
Messenger and I am a Messenger."
Naynuna was a
wealthy community whose population surpassed a hundred thousand inhabitants. However, its people worshipped idols and were
disobedient and sinful. Hence, Allah gave Yunus the responsibility of preaching
His religion to them. The significance
of this is that whomever Allah guides to the right path should not only fast
and pray but should also be responsible for those around him. On the Day of Judgment, Allah will question
you about why you did not preach His religion to the people around you.
Yunus preached
to the villagers but they did not respond to what he said. Allah told Yunus that a punishment would
befall them in three days and that he must stay amongst them. Yunus conveyed the message to them but they
refused to listen to him. So, he became
angry and decided to leave the village even though Allah did not order him to
do so.
From this point
I direct the following Qur'anic verse to each of you: " You (Muslims)
are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma‘rûf (righteous
actions) and forbid Al-Munkar (evil actions), and you believe in
Allâh…" (TMQ,
Al-Imran: 110). Observe how believing in Allah came after
doing good and forbidding evil. This is so that none of you assumes that he is
only required to do good and forbid evil after he feels that his faith is
complete. On the contrary, you must do
good and forbid evil while trying to complete your faith because you need to
continue righteous acts in order to complete your faith. For example, if you advised your friend to
lower his glance while you don't, you will become ashamed of yourself and will
then lower your gaze.
Some say this
is forbidden because in another verse Allah says what can be translated as, "Enjoin
you Al-Birr (piety, righteousness and every act of obedience to Allâh)
on the people and you forget (to practice it) yourselves" (TMQ, Al-Baqarah: 44). I respond by saying that you can do good if you don't practice it
as long as you have the intention to practice it and, therefore, that will help
you reform yourself. The issue of
preaching the religion of Allah should be every Muslim's main concern.
"And
(remember) Dhun-Nûn (Jonah), when he went off in anger, and imagined that We
shall not punish him." (TMQ, Al-Anbiya:
87). The previous verse means that Yunus thought
that Allah would not trouble him because he was a faithful believer and they
were the sinners. Considering this
story, I warn you never to humiliate an immoral person about his immoral acts.
Al-Tirmidhy
narrates that the Prophet (PBUH)
said, "Whoever humiliates his brother for a misdeed might lead the brother
to leave it and he might then practice it". This is possible only when your intention is
to express truth and justice; but if your intention is to poke fun, then do not
do it.
A dark cloud
began to form around the village and the people saw it. They said this is what Yunus promised them
and this is what happened to the people of Lut (Lot)
and Saleh. This is why when the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) saw changes in the
weather he recalled these stories and prayed to Allah for things to turn out
well.
We tend to
assume that Allah will not afflict us with anything but we must fear His anger
when something of the sort occurs.
The village
then began to repent and to witness that there is no God but Allah. So, the cloud eventually disappeared and
everyone became a believer but Yunus was gone.
The Almighty says what can be translated as, "Then he (agreed
to) cast lots, and he was among the losers. Then a (big)
fish swallowed him as he had done an act worthy of blame." (TMQ, As-Saffat:
141-142).
They began to throw
their belongings from the ship and Yunus thought that someone amongst them must
have angered Allah without realizing that it was actually him who did so. It is possible for any of us to sin without
realizing it, such as not preaching Islam to people.
Think of how
the whale is a worshipper of Allah while you sin, and of how Yunus was thrown
into the darkness.
This reminds us
of Adam's story when he ate from the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge
and did not know about repentance. This is mentioned in the following verse
that can be translated as, "Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And
his Lord pardoned him. Verily, He is the One Who forgives, the Most
Merciful." (TMQ, Al-Baqarah: 37). Allah taught him to say certain words so that he could redeem his
deeds. Adam said those words and he was
forgiven.
When Allah
tests you in moments of difficulty, He sends down the solution as well because
He loves you. However, sometimes you do not see it. Allah sends down difficult trials with mercy
but the devil blinds you from seeing Allah's mercy by making you concentrate on
the problem itself. In order to see clearly, you need to have had a good
relationship with Allah prior to the occurrence of your problem or obstacle.
"But he
cried through the darkness (saying): None has the right to be worshipped but
You (O, Allâh), Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers. So We answered his call, and delivered him from the distress.
And thus We do deliver the believers." (TMQ, Al-Anbiya: 87-88). If he did not admit his mistake, Allah would not have saved him.
Those who say
the dua’a, “None has the right to be worshipped but You (O, Allâh),
Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers. So We answered his
call, and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the
believers" are always
answered and saved from depression to the point that some scholars say those
who pray using God's greatest names get their prayers answered. If you make your
plea with it you will be answered and I greatly advise you to do so.
Hence we do not
attend those lectures [just] take pills when we have problems. Instead, we want
to build a generation that is truly close to Allah.
I will repeat
the method once again. Wake up 15
minutes before Fajr prayer, pray 2 rak'as (a two-units
prayer). Finish 5 minutes before Fajr
prayer. Sit and ask Allah for
forgiveness by making dua'a, then pray Fajr, say the morning Dhikr,
and then go back to sleep. This
validates your day and you will not extra forms of worship except for praying
in congregation or praying on time.
Follow these guidelines and you will change for the better even if it is
only by 10%.
Yunus's skin
began to peel as he prayed to the Almighty [inside the whale]. Allah says what can be translated as, "But
We cast him forth on the naked shore while he was sick. And We caused a gourd plant to grow over
him." (TMQ, As-Saffat: 145-146). This reveals Allah's love for
Yunus for providing a gourd plant, since it has many leaves and prevents the
flies from landing on it. So, it can be
eaten raw.
Yunus began to
assume that he was getting better. Yet,
when the plant withered he cried and Allah revealed to him that He was
questioning how he could cry for the plant and not cry for the misguidance of a
hundred thousand people or even more.
What would you
say if Allah said that to you on the Day of Judgment?
Yunus returned
to the one hundred thousand people and they all submitted to Allah. Consequently, this story of Yunus teaches us
not to lose hope when preaching Islam to people.
However, there
are some other points that must be taken into consideration. Consider the
difference between Musa (AS) (Moses) and Yunus. How many mistakes did Musa
make? The answer is many. When he found that his people were worshipping the
calf, he threw and broke the tablet that Allah wrote. He grabbed the hand of a prophet [Harun
(Aaron)] and dragged him by his beard despite the fact that he was his brother.
He killed someone in a moment of anger even though it is wrong, nevertheless,
Allah loves him and honors him and He placed him in an extremely high
rank. Allah says to him what can be
translated as, "O Mûsâ I have chosen you above men by My Messages, and
by My speaking (to you). So hold that which I have given you and be of the
grateful." (TMQ, Al-A'raf: 144).
In contrast,
Yunus disobeyed Allah only once and was thrown into the whale's stomach. Does
this mean that Allah prefers one prophet over the other? Of course not; because
Allah is the Most Just.
If you have a
great number of good deeds and your erred six or seven times then Allah will
erase what you previously gained. Musa stood in front of the Pharaoh all alone
and he faced the desert on his own.
Therefore, his mistakes were like a black dot on a white piece of
paper. On the other hand, Yunus did not
have as much as Musa. Also, if Yunus did not have enough good deeds he would
not have been taken out of the whale's stomach.
Allah says what can be translated as, "Had he not been of them
who glorify Allâh. He would have indeed remained
inside its belly (the fish) until the Day of Resurrection." (TMQ, As-Saffat:
143-144).
However,
Pharaoh did not have a history of good deeds so when he drowned and said that
he believed that there is no God but Allah, the One in whom the people of
Israel believed, Allah says what can be translated as, " Now (you believe) while you refused
to believe before and you were one of the Mufsidûn (evil-doers, the
corrupters)." (TMQ, Yunus: 91).
It is therefore
important to have a large amount of good deeds. Even if you did not sin, or
maybe you slipped up only once or many times, you would still have a history of
the honorable things that you did.
Whoever remembers Allah in moments of comfort Allah will remember him in
moments of difficulty. No one knows when he will sin.
For example,
how did the three people who were locked in a cave make it out? They got out
because each of them remembered a good deed that they solely and wholeheartedly
did for the sake of Allah.
A question
still remains: did the rank of Yunus decrease after his mistake? Does the one
who sins and repents return to his previous rank, the one in which he was
before he sinned? Scholars have differed in this issue. Those who say that he returns to the same
rank used the evidence that repentance is amongst the greatest acts of
righteousness and Allah is very pleased with those who repent. Those who disagree with that opinion say that
it is impossible for two people who are walking together to be in the same
level if one of them stops.
Nevertheless,
this controversy depends on the level of your repentance because some commit a
sin but do not return to the same rank because their repentance was weak. Others might have a stronger feeling of
repentance and will therefore return to the previous rank. There are many
examples of sinners who repent and become much better than those who always
obey. This only goes to prove that this
is certainly a great religion. With
strong repentance your status becomes closer to Allah to the extent that you
advance over someone that never repented.
One of the
reasons that Allah takes into account the sins of His worshippers is that they
are able to taste the sweetness of repentance as an act of worship. Even the messengers made mistakes; but they
were not sins because Allah protects them from sinning to make them as examples
for the people to follow. However, it depends on the order of importance. For example, Yunus was going to preach Islam
to others but he abandoned that main priority when he gave up. Why didn’t Allah
stop him from doing that? The reason is to allow him to taste the sweetness of
his repentance. Repentance is an act of
worship that is dear to Allah because it is followed by a broken and humble
heart.
After all, if
you did not make a mistake and seek Allah's forgiveness, how could Allah be the
Most Forgiving? In a Hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said, "One should
not claim to be better than Yunus Ibn Matta." (Bukhari).
Dawud (AS)
(David asked Allah once “Where can I find you?” Allah, be He exalted, replied,
“You will find me at those whose hearts are broken and humbled for me”.
It is said that
a worshipper kept on circulating the Ka'ba asking Allah to keep him away
from sinning. He then went to sleep and
saw someone telling him: "You have
asked what all of the believers also wish for but if I did keep you away from
sinning then who will I give My mercy and forgiveness to? For I am the most
Merciful and Forgiving."
It is said that
after Adam ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge he kept crying even
after he repented. Allah, be He exalted,
told him what means; “Oh Adam I examined you because I like to show My mercy,
forgiveness and bounties. Oh Adam you used to come by My door as a king meeting
a King but after your mistake you come by My door as a slave facing his King
and this is far more close to My heart.
Oh Adam do not fear from My saying leave the heaven, for in it I created
you but descend to the earth and labor for My covenant till you miss Me come to
Me I will open the gates of heaven for you. Oh Adam a mistake by which you are
humbled to Me is far close to My heart than a worship you brag about. Oh Adam
the sorrow of the repentant is more close to My heart than the worship of the
boasters. Oh Adam if I abstain you and your sons and daughters from sins for
whom then shall I bestow My mercy, forgiveness and bounties. It is Me the Forgiving and the Gracious. Oh
Adam If you are ever to ask and pray for Me I will never withhold you from My
Forgiveness for whatever you might have done even if your sins were to reach
the heavens. Oh Adam if you are ever to
approached My door with the earth’s worth of sins, worshipping no one but Me I
will come to you with an earth’s worth of forgiveness”.
The significant
point is that Yunus, with his repentance and regret, reached a higher rank than
before committing that mistake.
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