Jonah

Jonah was a messenger sent from God.  He was distinguished by God over all the people and was inspired to remind them, worship God alone.  He abandoned his mission in protest, thinking that God could not control him.  He was rebellious against God’s plan for him, and escaped to a loaded ship.  During his journey on the ship, he ended up being swallowed by a fish. While Jonah was inside the fish he resorted to meditation on God.  He implored God from the darkness, calling out, “There is no god other than You.  Be You glorified.  I have committed a gross sin.”  God responded to him and saved him from the crisis.  Jonah was ejected from the belly of the fish and thrown up into the desert, exhausted.  God had an edible fruit tree grown for him. Jonah was blessed by God and made righteous.  Jonah was then sent to more than a hundred thousand people proclaiming the message: worship God alone.  The community believed and was relieved from humiliating retribution and was made a prosperous community. (4:163, 6:86, 10:98, 21:87-88, 37:139-148).

Jonah committed a gross sin.  He committed a form of idol worship, thinking that God does not control everything.  God chooses His messengers, inspires them, distinguishes them, and makes them do as He chooses.  God is in control of everything.  All of us must recognize and submit to this fact.  This can be a scary concept because the human is forgetful. 

Therefore, every time you think God isn't in control of everything, you are committing the gross sin of idol worship.

Jonah meditated and prayed.  This is the turning point of the story.  Jonah was in darkness.  He was in the darkness of the fish’s stomach, potentially more intense than the darkness of the ocean and night time.  He was definitely in a spiritual darkness, having committed a gross sin.  Now in this darkness, he realized that no creature on Earth could help him and only God could save him.  As Jonah witnessed this reality, he turned to the Creator and prayed, “There is no god other than You.  Be You glorified.  I have committed a gross sin.”  All of a sudden, this seemingly hostile environment was now used for Jonah’s service.  The fish became a vehicle for his transportation and carried him to the desert.  God bestowed His mercy on Jonah.

Jonah undoes his misinterpretation that God is not controlling everything by proclaiming, “There is no god other than You.”  This affirms belief in the oneness of God and acknowledges that God is doing everything.  “Be You glorified.”  This statement declares God is free from any fault or injustice.  All of His creations are purposeful and appropriate.  “I have committed a gross sin.”  He is admitting by viewing his life experiences in absence of the first two statements, he has done wrong and harmed himself.  After Jonah called out this prayer, God responded, saved him, blessed him and made him righteous.

 

We can compare our lives with that of Jonah and seek to redeem ourselves, when we forget that God is controlling everything.  Jonah could not see God’s wisdom, so he rebelled against what God planned for him.  We also cannot always see God’s wisdom and may forget God is in complete control.  We might allow our emotions of anger, stress, sadness, etc. to control our lives during situations.  During those instances we are rebelling against God, not remembering that these experiences are His plan for us.  Jonah was swallowed by a fish.  We are “swallowed” by our egos and jinn for the duration of our rebellion.  Jonah ended up in darkness.  We end up in darkness for the period of time that we are not remembering God.  Jonah prayed to God to get him out of this crisis.  We can use this same prayer to help us out of our crisis.  Jonah was blessed and made righteous.  God willing, God may bless us and make us righteous too.

Robert

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[11:120] We narrate to you enough history of the messengers to strengthen your heart. The truth has come to you herein, as well as enlightenments and reminders for the believers.

[40:54] (Their history) is a lesson and a reminder for those who possess intelligence.