Yunus (surah)

Quran
History Wahy First revelation Asbāb al-Nuzūl Historicity Manuscripts Samarkand Kufic Quran Sanaa manuscript Topkapi manuscript Birmingham manuscript
Divisions Surah List Meccan Medinan Āyah Juz' Muqatta'at
Content Prophets Women Animals Legends Miracles Parables Science Eschatology God
Reading Qāriʾ Hifz Tajwid Tarteel Ahruf
Translations List English Ahmadiyya
Exegesis List Hermeneutics Esotericism Abrogation Biblical parallels Related persons Mentioned by name
Characteristics I'jaz Inerrancy
Related Criticism Quran and Sunnah Quranism Shi’a view
Category Islam portal Wikipedia book

Yunus (Arabic: يونس‎, Yūnus; Arabic synonym of "Jonas" or "Jonah"), is the 10th chapter (surah) of the Quran with 109 verses (ayat). Yunus is named after the prophet Yunus (Jonah). According to tafsir chronology (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is believed to have been revealed before the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina (Hijra), as such, it is known as a Meccan surah.

Quran 10 is the first of six surahs which open with the tri-letters alif, lam and ra'.

Summary

Jonah and the giant fish in the Jami' al-tawarikh (c. 1400), Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Jonah and the fish Jeremiah in wilderness Uzeyr awakened after the destruction of Jerusalem.JPG

Jonah (top-right) in a 16th-century Ottoman Turkish illustration. The surah is named after Jonah (Yunus) and contains the story of his people.

The initial verses of the chapter (1–70) present an argumentative dialogue between Islam and its unbelievers. The remaining verses contain the stories of Noah, Moses and Jonah, all considered prophets in Islam.

• 1-2 The Makkans accuse their Prophet of sorcery because he is a man from among them
• 3 The Creator and Ruler of the universe is the only true God
• 4 Believers are rewarded at death for good deeds
• 4 Unbelievers are punished after death
• 5-6 God's works are signs for all people
• 7-11 Rewards and punishments of the faithful and the unbelieving
• 12 God's purpose in prospering the wicked
• 13 Men pray to God in affliction, but forget Him when prosperity returns
• 14-15 The people of Makkah are warned by the example of former generations
• 16-18 The Quraish desire a different Quran — Muhammad protests his inability to alter it
• 19 Idolaters trust intercessors who can neither benefit nor harm them
• 20 All people originally professed one religion
• 21 The people demand of Muhammad a sign
• 22 When people despise God's judgments, He threatens greater suffering
• 23-24 Unbelievers remember God in distress by land and sea, but forget Him when delivered
• 25 Life is likened to water that sustains vegetable life
• 26-28 Paradise for Muslims and hell for the infidels
• 29-31 Idolaters will be forsaken by their gods on the Day of Judgment
• 32-37 Idolaters are exhorted to worship the one whom they recognize as their Creator, Preserver, and Governor
• 38 The Quran is not a forgery; it confirms the former scriptures
• 39-40 Those who accuse Muhammad of imposture are challenged to produce a similar chapter
• 41 Some believe in the Quran, others reject it
• 42-47 The unbelieving Quraish are declared to be reprobate
• 48 An apostle is sent to every nation
• 49 Unbelievers mock the threatenings of their prophet
• 50 Every nation has its fixed period of existence
• 51-55 Infidels will believe when their punishment comes upon them
• 56-57 God is the Author of life and death
• 58-59 The Quran is an admonition and guidance for the unbelievers
• 60-61 Lawful food should not be prohibited
• 62 Muhammad is always under divine guidance
• 63-65 The blessedness of those who believe and fear God
• 66-68 Unbelievers cannot harm the Prophet
• 69-71 Those rebuked who say that God has begotten children
• 72-75 Muhammad is likened to Noah and other prophets
• 76 Moses and Aaron were sent to Pharaoh and his princes
• 77-82 They are rejected as sorcerers and perverters of the national religion
• 83 Only a few of the people believe in them
• 84-86 Moses and Aaron, with the believers, put their trust in God
• 87 The Israelites are commanded to be constant in prayer to God
• 88-89 Moses's prayer, that God would destroy the Egyptians, is heard
• 90 Pharaoh and his people were drowned in the sea
• 90-92 He repents and is raised out of the sea as a sign to the people
• 93 The Israelites are provided with a dwelling place and blessing
• 94-95 Jews and Christians are appealed to in confirmation of the Quran's statements
• 96-98 No kind of miracle will make the reprobate believe
• 99-103 Infidels do not believe in Muhammad because God does not permit them to
• 104-107 The people of Makkah are exhorted to accept the true faith
• 108 Muhammad is not responsible for the faith or unbelief of the people
• 109 The Prophet is exhorted to be patient

The chapter presents the Meccan pagans' objections to the Quran, and responds to them. The pagans claimed that Muhammad was a "manifest sorcerer" and that he fabricated the Quran. They also challenged Muhammad to immediately bring God's punishment, if his claim was true. They also demanded that Muhammad change the Quran to no longer condemn their practice of idolatry and the use of intercessors when worshipping God.

The chapter's response to these objections is a blend of "argument, threat, promise, and reproach". It defends the Quran's divine origin, not as a fabrication of Muhammad's, and states that Muhammad could not change it even if he wished. As for the challenge to bring God's punishment, the chapter states that God may delay punishment in this world if He chooses. It also recounts the punishments against unbelievers in the past, such as the people of Noah and Moses. It states that if the pagans waited for punishment before believing, it would be too late, as was the case with the Pharaoh of Moses. According to the Quran, the Pharaoh only believed in God just before drowning, and that belief was too late and did not benefit him.

The chapter also mentions the people of Jonah, who initially rejected Jonah's message but later repented and believed. Therefore, unlike the people of Noah and Moses, they were spared from God's punishment. The mention of Jonah in verse 98 gives the chapter its name. The chapter then instructs Muhammad, if he had any doubt about the truth of the revelation, to ask the People of the Book (i.e., the Jews and Christians) who could confirm the Quran's account of these past peoples.

Revelation

According to Islamic tradition, the chapter was primarily revealed during the Meccan phase (610–622) of Muhammad's prophethood (before his migration to Medina), therefore, a Meccan surah. Based on its context, some verses appear to date to when Muhammad first began his call to Islam. According to the fifteenth-century commentary Tafsir al-Jalalayn, some said that the surah was revealed sometime after Muhammad's Night Journey (c. 621). Verses 40 and 94–96 appear to be exceptions and were revealed in Medina. The congruity of the topic unmistakably shows this doesn't contain separated sections or talks that were uncovered at various occasions or on various events. In fact, it is, from the beginning to the end, a firmly interconnected discourse which most likely was revealed at one sitting. Other than this, the nature of its subject is itself a reasonable confirmation that the Surah belongs to the Makkan period.

We have no tradition regarding the hour of its revelation, yet its subject matter gives a clear indication that it was probably revealed during the last phase of Muhammad's stay in Mecca. For the manner of the discourse suggests that at the time of its revelation, the hostility of the opponents of the Message had become so intense that they could not tolerate even the presence of Muhammad and his supporters among themselves, and that left no expectation that they could ever understand and accept Muhammad's message. This shows the last admonition like in this surah had to be given. These attributes of the discourse are clear confirmation that it was revealed during the last phase of the movement in Mecca.

Something else that decides more explicitly for the surahs of the last stage in Mecca is the mention (or absence) of some explicit or implicit information about Hijrah (Emigration) from Mecca. As this Surah does not contain any clue about this, it is a proof that it was revealed before those surahs which contain it.

Name

The chapter is named after Jonah who was known as Yunus in the Islamic tradition, who is mentioned in verse 98. Despite the chapter being named after him, this verse is the only one (out of 109) where the chapter mentions him. This is not uncommon in the Quran; a chapter's name is usually taken from a prominent or unusual word in it, which may or may not relate to its subject matter.

Principal Subjects

The first verses contain a greeting towards the Right Way, addressed to those who considered Allah's message delivered by a human (Muhammad) strange. They accused Muhammad of witchcraft, although there is nothing strange or related to magic or soothsaying in it. Muhammad simply conveyed to humanity these two realities:

• Allah, the Creator of the universe, is indeed your Lord, and He alone is worthy of worship.
• After this life, there will be another life where you will be held accountable for your actions in this world. You will be rewarded or punished based on whether you adopt the righteous conduct required by Allah after recognizing Him as your Lord, or act against His commandments.

Both of these realities are real in themselves, whether you acknowledge them or not. If you acknowledge them, you will have an honourable end; otherwise, you will face the consequences of your wrongdoings. The main issues, divine laws, and instructions in the surah can be listed as follows:

1. Allah is the sole Creator of this universe.
2. The deities worshipped by mushrikin, other than Allah, have no power to benefit or harm anyone.
3. The deities other than Allah are not even aware that they are being worshipped.
4. Allah sent a Messenger for guidance to each nation.
5. The Quran provides solutions to all human problems.
6. mushrikin follow only conjecture.
7. The story of the Prophet Nuh and his people.
8. The story of the Prophet Musa, Pharaoh, and his chiefs.
9. Belief after experiencing the scourge did not benefit any nation except the people of the Prophet Yunus.
10. Forbidding anyone to be forced to convert to Islam.

Exegesis

Verse 10:25

See also: Peace in Islamic philosophy

Allah calls to the Abode of Peace (Paradise) and guides whom He wills to the straight path.

The ideal society according to the Quran is Dar as-Salam, literally, "the house of peace" of which it proclaims: And Allah invites to the 'abode of peace' and guides whom He pleases into the right path.

Verse 10:101

It is narrated that when Ja'far al-Sadiq was asked about verse [10:101]: ...the signs and warnings are of no avail to the disbelieving people, he replied the signs are the Imams and the warnings are the Prophets.

Bibliography

• Johns, A. H. (2003). "Jonah in the Qur'an: An Essay on Thematic Counterpoint". Journal of Qur'anic Studies. Edinburgh University Press. 5 (2): 48–71. doi:10.3366/jqs.2003.5.2.48. JSTOR 25728109.
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr; Caner K. Dagli; Maria Massi Dakake; Joseph E.B. Lumbard; Mohammed Rustom, eds. (2015). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-112586-7. Search this book on

External links

• Q10:38, 50+ translations, islamawakened.com
• Quran 10 Clear Quran translation

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• Al-Anfal
• An-Nahl
• Ta-Ha
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