Yunus the Prophet: The Qur'anic Story of Jonah

By Joshua Schwartz
New York

The story of Jonah, as found in the Qur’an, is an adoption and adaptation of the eponymous Biblical book, suited to fit the purposes of a different religion. Jonah is the only one of all the fifteen later prophets to receive mention in the Qur'an. This is an indication that some element of Jonah’s journey and the condition in which he found himself surely resonated with the Muslim soul.

It is of interest to note how Jonah’s actions and intentions reflect on the Qur’anic view of prophecy and the prophet’s duty to God. The Biblical and Qur’anic prophet is not, as colloquial use would have it, a fortune-teller. Rather, a prophet is one to whom the intimate knowledge of God is revealed. With this exclusive knowledge, the prophet is charged with a responsibility and a mission. It is imperative upon him or her to spread the message to the community. The prophet must point out the areas in which a community falls short in regard to the expectations placed upon it by God as laid out in the revealed texts. Sometimes, as in the case of Isaiah, the prophet is called upon to puncture an air of self-righteousness prevalent in the community, one that precludes any further spiritual development. As can be imagined, most people do not appreciate harsh critiques of their character, especially if these critiques purport to have direct consequences on the state of their immortal souls! Thus, the life of the prophet can be a dangerous one. As it says in the Qur’an, “And when We destroy a human habitation / We send Our command to (warn) its people / living a life of ease; / and when they disobey, / the sentence against them is justified, / and We destroy them utterly.” (17:16) Can one imagine being the individual whose task it is to deliver a message like that? The prophet Jonah was given such a message in regard to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. As it says in the Book of Jonah, “Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” (1:2) Immediately, the reader can see the similarities in the mission of the prophetic character. Jonah the son of Amittai, had previously brought a message of good fortune to the sinning king Jeroboam II, when he told him that the king would expand the borders of the Northern Kingdom to the previous borders of the reigns of David and Solomon. When put in contrast with his previous mission, it is no great mystery why Jonah was reluctant to fulfill his new obligation. Before, his responsibility was to give a message of good tidings to the sinful, and as everyone knows, the best surprises are unexpected. Now, his mission resembles the inverse of the previous. He is to bring a message of culpability to a city filled with inhabitants drunk on their own power and complacency. Understandably worried, “Jonah… arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3) The Qur’an, not surprisingly, takes a very negative view on this sort of behavior. As it says in 18:57, “Who is more unjust than he / who, on being reminded of his Lord’s revelations / turns away from them….” Just as anyone who turns away from the revelation of the Qur’an must be doing so of conscious choice, since the truth of the revelation is so evident, any prophet who turns away from the word of God must be held accountable.

Another clue as to how the character of Jonah is regarded in the Qur’an is found when examining the company with which Jonah is placed. Often, in the Qur’an, the prophets of God are listed to lend legitimacy to the latest (and final) revelation, that is, the Qur’an itself. In 4:163, Jonah is listed directly after Job, which is reasonable because Job is the only other Biblical character from the Kethubim treated in the Qur’an, save Jonah of course. Jonah is listed alongside Aaron, Moses’ brother, and King Solomon, son of David. The juxtaposition leads to a number of interesting conclusions. In the Hebrew tradition, Aaron is largely regarded in rabbinic literature as a peace-maker (complementing the rigid legalism in the character of his stern brother). He is described as one who "loves peace and pursues peace, loves all creatures and brings them closer to the Torah." Similarly, King Solomon is described as a man of peace (in direct contrast to his war-like father). Where David was forbidden to build the Temple of the Lord, due to the blood on his hands, his son, Solomon was empowered. His reign was characterized by treaties and friendly relations with many neighboring countries. Even the etymology of his name implies a peaceful nature. In the Hebrew, Solomon’s name is Shlomo, deriving from the root ShLM, much like the Hebrew word for peace, shalom. The jointly shared character of his neighbors suits Jonah’s purpose quite well. Jonah’s task as a prophet is to avert the planned decimation of Nineveh and bring its inhabitants to the way of God. Thus, we see the role of the prophet, as embodied in Jonah, as peace-maker. In another surah (6:86), Jonah is put in the context of Elisha, the acolyte of Elijah, and Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Jonah’s relation to Lot is direct and obvious. The Qur’an treats Lot as another one of the prophets sent to warn a population of their impending doom, namely, the city of Sodom. However, Elisha shows up in only one other place in the Qur’an, in 38:48 where Elisha’s name is juxtaposed with that of Ishmael, the symbolic father of all Muslims! In the verse, they are categorized as “the chosen ones, the excellent in Our sight.” From this, the reader can gather that the mission of the prophet is one highly valued in the eyes of God. The mission, weighty as it is, is appropriately appreciated by God. This evidence further impugns Jonah’s choice to run away from his God-given task, since his work, as difficult as it may be, is highly regarded by the Revealer of Truths.

When examining the language the Qur’an uses to describe Jonah’s actions, the reader can gain an appreciation of what is the proper conduct of a prophet, and by extension, of the ideal human being. As it is written in 21:87 “[remember Jonah of the fish] when he went away in anger / and imagined We would not test him.” From the Qur’anic perspective this is clearly aberrant and impudent behavior. The verse implies that Jonah’s imagining of an absence of punishment is merely wishful thinking. Also, the use of the word “anger” to describe Jonah’s mood directly contradicts his ideal character as a prophet as outlined above. The prophet should be one whose actions are completely in tune with God’s desires and commands. There is no room for rebellion or dissent. In 25:43 it states, “have you considered him who takes his own lust for his / god? / Can you stand a surety for him?” In other words, when put into this context, how can one trust a prophet if, instead of faithfully relaying God’s message and intentions, the prophet in question follows his or her instincts and emotions? Again, the central conflict between tradition (following the word of God) and innovation (following one’s emotions) is played out. In both the Muslim and the Jewish scriptural traditions, the character of the prophet is seen as filled with righteous anger. In the Book of Jonah, the prophet loves justice. He desires to see justice done no matter what the cost. This  is why he wants to die (by being thrown overboard as God’s storm rages) rather than submit to God’s will. This is the first instance of his rebellion. His life’s purpose has diverted from the one that God intended for him, and therefore, his life has lost its meaning. He would rather his life end than have to spend another moment subject to the will of a divine power to Whom he can no longer relate. His acquiescence comes when an enormous fish swallows him and prevents him from drowning. He prays to God to release him, and after three days, God does. Jonah then goes to Nineveh to complete his mission.

Jonah’s second act of rebellion occurs after he saves the city of Nineveh. He again is irrationally angry with God for saving the people of the city, since, due to his extreme sense of justice, he feels that they do not deserve God’s mercy. He requests that God take his life. God then decides to teach Jonah a lesson. As Jonah sits in a booth, observing the results of Nineveh’s repentance, God causes a ricinus plant to grow over him. Then, a worm eats the plant away, and the sun causes Jonah to faint. Jonah is incensed, but God debunks his outrage by claiming that if Jonah is so upset over a plant he had no hand in raising or cultivating, then shouldn’t the Master of the Universe care about a great city like Nineveh with so many of his creations “who don’t yet know their right hand from their left” (4:11). Jonah, for the second time, surrenders to God’s will. This story is an especially attractive model of faith in practice for Islam, a faith which puts a premium on complete submission to the will of the divine.

Biblical scholars claim that the genre of the storytelling in the Book of Jonah is significantly more complex than once thought. A clue in this matter is the concealment of the motive behind Jonah’s flight from Nineveh and from God’s will. Some say it is meant to increase the tense tone of suspense throughout the narrative. Others offer an opposing answer: The narrative of Jonah is a "story of surprise," of which readers initially think they understand the hero and his motives, "only to find out, to their astonishment, that they have been misled." The reader’s first impulse is to assume that Jonah is attempting to escape God’s design because he is too soft-hearted to inform Nineveh of their imminent demise. The text plucks at the reader’s emotions by invoking sympathy for Jonah as he altruistically exhorts the sailors to cast him into the abyss to save their lives. The true reason behind his flight, as outlined above, is not found until chapter four where the reader learns that Jonah flees because he does not believe that the people of Nineveh deserve redemption.

Why is this complex literary technique applied when a direct answer could have worked just as well? The answer lies in the intrinsic conflict between universalism and particularism. One way to interpret the actions of Jonah is to put them into a particularistic model. He holds his loyalty to his people Israel above his fealty to his God. If the people of Nineveh repent quickly, it will shame the Jews in the eyes of the nations and God. The key to this approach is that the entire story is set among gentiles alone. The only Jew to play a part in the story of Jonah is Jonah himself. Following this rationale, Jonah attempts to flee his duty by ship, but God sends a terrible storm to disrupt his journey. Jonah is then immediately put into a position where to do the moral thing, that is, to not allow anyone else to be killed along with himself, is to save gentiles. The right course of action is one of universalism, where the life of the Jew is sacrificed in order to save the lives of the gentiles. A similar tension is played out in Islam, and especially in the Qur’an. On one hand, the people of the book are seen to be on a higher spiritual and moral level than the pagans and polytheists. Furthermore, even the people of the book have the truth of the Qur’anic revelation evident before them, and yet they do not accept it as their holy book. In this mindset, only the Muslims have full access to the truth, to the correctly interpreted and applied revelation. However, sometimes, in the Qur’an, one finds a verse that expresses the opposing point of view. In the surah entitled, appropriately enough, Jonah, it says, “Why has there been no habitation that believed / and profited from their faith, except the people of Jonah? / When the came to believe, We removed from them / the affliction of shame in the world, / and made them prosperous for a time. If your Lord had willed, / all the people on the earth / would have come to believe, one and all.” (10:98-99) The view expressed here is clearly universalistic, one wishing for all people to recognize the veracity of the one true God. No nation or tribe is given priority here. All are equal in God’s eyes. Thus, Jonah is again seen as the bringer of peace, in this aspect as a sort of harmony of God with His creations, however reluctantly he fulfills his role.

The full meaning of the story of Jonah has been one that has evaded even the shrewdest reader for thousands of years. Its literary techniques are complex, and its hero is difficult. However, the story has transfixed readers since its inception. Thus, it is no wonder why the story is included in the body of the Qur’an, because the people of the Arabian peninsula must have been quite familiar with it. The reader comes into a better understanding of the text as an outline of the function of prophecy. Jonah is seen here as the initially flawed but ultimately successful prophet. In the beginning of his journey, he is rebellious, not willing to reexamine his priorities when it came to loyalty to his people or his God. By the end however, he recognizes the innate value of human life, for all of Man was created by the one God. The prophet is a bringer of peace and harmony with the divine will. Jonah’s life spins out of control when his desires are out of line with those of God. The tale of Jonah was included in the Qur’an in order to embed the author’s innovation in a safely accepted tradition. It is in this conflict that the reader may understand the plight of Jonah: to follow his heart or to follow god’s will. Ultimately, the only lesson he can learn is that the difference is really only in his mind. In God, there is only one.     MJJ

Back to articles.