Jonah Yunus (Jonah) was sent as a prophet to Nineveh, an ancient city of Iraq in the eighth century B.C. At that time, Nineveh’s population was just over one hundred thousand. For a long time, he invited the community to accept the unity of God and the Hereafter, but they were not ready to do so. Now, if any community remains adamant about their denial of a prophet, even after having had the divine message conveyed to them to the fullest possible extent, then God’s way is to ask the prophet to leave the town and thereafter the community is subjected to punishment (in the shape of some disaster). But Jonah himself felt that the time had come for him to go. He went away, leaving his community without waiting for God’s command to do so.

He left the city and, reaching the sea coast, he boarded a boat. After setting sail, the boat started sinking. People thought that some slave who had fled from his master was on the boat. According to an old tradition, the solution to this problem was to discover the slave and cast him out. When lots were drawn, the name of Jonah came up and he was thrown overboard. Then, at God’s behest, at that moment a big fish (probably a sperm whale) appeared and swallowed him. The fish kept him in its stomach, then at God’s command, ejected him and cast him up on the coast. There he recovered his health and returned to his community. Jonah had left his people before time, in this way God ordained him to return to his people. And when Prophet Jonah went back and started preaching once again, with the result that all the one hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants of the area became believers.

The lesson from the life of Prophet Jonah is that it is absolutely essential for a preacher to have patience, even at a time when his community becomes hostile towards him.

While leaving Nineveh, Prophet Jonah had told his people that they would face God’s retribution. After the departure of Jonah, the preliminary signs of retribution appeared. At that time his community did not behave as the community of Hud had done. On seeing the clouds of retribution gather, the community of Hud had said, ‘This cloud is coming to bring rain for us.’ Unlike this, the community of Jonah immediately experienced an awakening. All its members, along with their cattle, women, and children, assembled on a stretch of open ground and started praying to God in all humility. Thereafter the punishment was averted. This shows that the acceptance of Faith just prior to the meting out of punishment is also acceptable provided it is as perfect as that of the community of Jonah.