What is the story of Prophet Yūnus in the whale?
Yūnus left his people before Allah's permission. The sea took him; the whale swallowed him. In that darkness, he called out with the words Allah preserved — and was returned.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
The story of Yunus (Jonah), as the page tells it, is of a prophet who left his people before Allah's permission: the sea took him and the whale swallowed him, and in that darkness he called out with the words Allah preserved and was returned. The cited passages note that his people are the one community singled out in the Qur'an whose faith benefited them — when they believed, Allah removed the punishment from them. Travellers like Ibn Battuta also record visiting sites near Nineveh associated with Yunus.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Ibn Battuta, Imam al-Ghazali, and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"Jerusalem. On my way there I visited the tomb of Yunus Jonah, peace be upon him, which is adorned"
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"from the coast. Their staples are mostly bananas and fish. They follow the Shafi'i school of thought"
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"to be the site of the famed city of Nineveh, city of Jonah. Upon him be peace. The surrounding wall"
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"marking Jonah's standing place, and it is remarked that the mosque's mihrab, prayer niche, was once"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Some wise men said if a scholar dies the fish in the water and the birds in the sky weep for him his face is"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"evidence. If there was evidence, such as finding a ring in a fish's ear or an injury on a gazelle,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"They are plentiful in fish and buffalo milk. Its people eat the sand lizard, a creature similar to"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"hand of grease with fish. A hadith states, every nation has its temptation and the temptation of"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"Allah held back the flow of the water upon the fish, making it appear as if a tunnel had formed."
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"so its faith benefited it, except the people of Yunus? When they believed, we removed from them"
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