Part 91

hi m as he had done an act worthy o f blame. ) (5oorah As-

Sa/Ja! 37: 139-1 41). That is to say, when he was the loser

when they drew lots, he was cast overboa rd into th e sea and

Allah , the Almighty. the All-Powe rful sent a grea t fi sh fro m

the Medi terranean Sea and it devoured him ; Al lah, Most Hi gh,

commanded it not to cat hi s fl esh or break hi s bones, beca use he

was not food for it. So it took him and swa m throu gh all o f the

seas. It was said that Ihi s fi sh was swa llowed by another, even

large r fi sh. They sa id that when he had stayed for some lime in

the fi sh belly, he thought that he had died ; th en he moved hi s

limbs and saw that he was ali ve. He fell down in prostration

befo re All ah in the bell y of th e fi sh, and he said, "0 , Lord! I

have taken as a place of wo rship to You a place whi ch no oth er

person has reac hed." They differed as to how long he spellt in

the belly of the fi sh. Some said th ree days; thi s was the view

ofQatadah. Some said seven days; thi s was the view of la'far

As-Sadiq, may Allah be pleased wi th hi m. Some sa id forty

days; thi s was the view o f Abu Malik. Mujahid said , narrating

from AshSha'bi, " It swa ll owed him in thc morning and cast

him forth in thc eve ning." This is supported by thc pOClry of

Umayya h Ibn Ab i As-S alt

And }{J II , by a Grace/rom YOtl , saved YOO lI llS.

And lIe remained in the belly of the fish for a night.

What is mcant is that when the fish began to swim with him

404 71le SIOIY of }ho/lll\' (./{JlllIh) ~•

in the deep seas, and hurtl ed with him through the salty waves,

he heard the sound o f the fi sh praising the Most Bene fic ent

and he cven hea rd the prai ses of the pebbl es for Ihe Splitter of

secds and (fruit) stones (47) and th e Lord of the seve n heavens

and the seven earlh s and all thaI li es be tween them an d Ih at

whi ch is benea th the soil. O n hearing Ihcse praises, he began to

beseech All ah, sil e ntl y a nd in word s, as Alla h has info nncd LIS,

th e Ow ner o f Mi ght and Maj esty, Who kn ows the secrets and

co nfi dential ta lks and Who a lleviates harm and affl ict ion , Who

hears a ll vo ices, even though they may be weak. Who knows

th e unseen th ings, even though they may be mi nu te and Who

a nswers the supplicat ions o rl hose who arc in great distress. as

I-Ie says in His Book, which was revea led to Hi s trustworthy

Messenge r - and He is the Mos l Trut hfu l of Speakers, the

Lord o f the World s and the God of the Messengers - ( And

(remember) DlulII-NoOI1 (Jonah) , whe n he went o ffi n anger, and

imagined th at We shall not pun ish him (i.e. the ca lamites whi ch

had be fa lle n him )! But he c ri ed through the darkness (say ing),

"La ilaha ilia Anta (none has the ri ghl to be worshipped but

You [0 , A ll ah]) , G lorifi ed (and Exa lted) a rc YOll (above a ll

that [ev il] they associate w ith You). Trul y, I have been of the

wrong-doers." So We answe red his ca ll , and deli ve red him

from the distress. And thus We do de li ver the be lievers (who

bel ieve in the One ness of All ah, absta in from evil and work

righteousness). ) (Soorah A I~Allbi)'(t' 2 1:87,88)

As fo r Hi s Say ing: ( and (he) imag ined that We shall no t

puni sh him (i .e. th e ca lami tes whic h had be fa ll en hi m) ! )

(Soorah A f~All biya' 2 1:87), it means: We wo uld not constrain

him . It was a lso sa id th at it mea ns: We woul d not ord ain for

him ; and Ihi s is linguisti ca ll y we ll-kn ow n, as the poet says (in

(<17) Sec Soorah AI-All '11111 6:95.

711(' 5(01")' oj )rWIIIIS ( ./01l0h) ~ 405

71u!re is 110 relllm jiw 111m lime 1I'IIi('II lias gO/Ie.

/JIe.<;sed ore )011 - rlull whicll )'Uu ordain l\'ill he.

Aml l he II/alter i.'i all ill )'(JIIr I/auel,·.

As fo r Hi s Sayi ng: ( But he cried through the dark ness )

(SoOl",,1I AI-AI/biy,, " 21 :87), ' Abdu ll ah Ibn Mas' ood ,.,g,

•Abd ull ah Ibn •Abbas .,;;" ' Am r Ibn Ma imoon, Sa' eed Ibn

Juba ir, Muhammad Ibn Ka ' b , A I-Hasa n AI-Basri, Qatadah

and Ad-Dahhak sa id that it means the darkness of the fis h,

the darkn ess of the sea a nd the dark ness of the night. As for

His say ing: ( Ilad he no t bee n of those who g lorify A lla h. He

would ha ve indeed rema incd inside it s bc It y (t he fi sh) til l the

Day of RCSlIITCc<ioll ) (SoOl",,1I As-S"JJ,,' 37: 143, 144), it was

sa id tha t it means: Were it not for the fa cl that he had praised

A ll ah when he was in that si tu ation, a nd spoke n those wo rds

am nlli ng All ah 's sole right 10 be worshipped, glorifyi ng Him,

acknowledgi ng Him with humi lity and repentance to Him a nd

resort in g 10 Him (in hi s hour of need), he wo uld ha ve rcmained

there until the establ ishmc nt of the Day of Res urrcc tion - and

he wo uld have been se nt fo rth from the be ll y orl hal fi sh.

Thi s is suppo rted by the na rrati on of Imam A hmad and some

of the comp ilers of the Swum, on the a uthority of ' Abdullah

Ibn 'A bbas ~ . who sa id: The Messenger o f A ll ah ~ sa id to

me, "0, boy! I will teach YOll some words: Re member A llah

a nd He w ill rem ember YO li. Remember A ll ah and you wi ll find

I-lim before YOli . Reme mbe r A ll ah in ti mes of ease and He wi ll

re member you in times of hardship." (~ 8)

He, Most I-I igh , says, ( But We threw him ) (Soorah As-Set/fat

37: 145). That is, We cast him forth ( on 01- '(lm' ) (Soorah

(48) This is an authentic hadeelll naml1cd by Im.un Ahmlld (2800) and At-

As-Saffat 37: 145). That is, in a deserted place, in w hich there

are no trees; rather, it is ba re o r the m. ( Wh ile he was sick )

(Soorafl1ls-SaJJaI 37: 145). That is, phys ica ll y weak . 'Abdu ll ah

Ibn Mas'ood "*' said, " Like the body of a chi cken w ithout

feathers on it." (~ 9) 'Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas '*',

Zaid said that hi s body was like the body of a chi ld when it is

born, swo llen and wi thout anythin g on it. ( And We ca used a

gourd plailt to grow over him ) (Soorah As-Saffat 37: 146).

Imam Ahmad narrated on the aut hority of Sa ' d Ibn Abi

Waqqas ~ that he sa id: I passed by ' Uthman Ibn 'A fTan ~ in the

mosque and I greeted him w ith sa lutati ons of peace; he looked

at me, but he did no t return my sa lutation s of peace. So I went

to 'U mar Ibn A I-Khattab ~ and sa id, " 0 , Commander of the

Fa ithful ! Has anything happened in Islam?" Twice I repeated

thi s, but he repli ed, "No. Why do yo u ask?" I sa id, " Only

beca use I passed by 'U thman Ibn ' Arran a short whi le ago in

the mosque and I greeted him with saluta tion s of peace and

he saw me clearl y. But he d id not answe r my salutations." He

said: So 'U mar ~ senI ror 'U thman ~ and said to him, " What

prevented you from rep lying to your brother 's salutation ?" He

sa id , " 1 did not (ignore his sa lutations)." Sa'd -*' sa id, " Yes

(you did)." They cont inued to contradi ct eac h other until they

bo th swore th at they were te lling the truth. He said: Then

'U thm an .:t:t> remembered and he said, " Yes (I re member now).

I ask A ll ah's Forgiveness and I turn to Him in repentance . You

passed by me a while ago and I was preoccupied with thought s

ofa ~aying whi ch I hea rd fro m the Messe nger of A ll ah jS which

I never think of except that a ve il co mes down over my eyes

and my heart. " Sa' d sa id: And I wi ll tell you w hat it was. The

Messe nger of A llah told us the fi rst part of the supp licat ion

(49) Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaibah in AI-Mllsollluif (6/338, No. 31866) as part

Tlte S/()/)' of }bOIlIf.l" ( Jonah) ~ 407

then a Bedou in ca me and kep t him busy, the n the Messe nger of

A ll ah 3i got up a nd I fo llowed him. When I fe lt worri ed th at he

would ent er his hOll se, I sta mped my fee t on the ground ancl the

Messe nger o f Allah ~ tu rn ed toward me and sa id , " Who is this.

Abu Ishaq?" he sa id, " I rcplied, "(W hat is the mall cr) I said,