Disease & Cure - XV
وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ
فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن
لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And (mention) Dhu'n-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him,
but he cried out in the darkness, saying:
There is no Allah save Thee. Be Thou Glorified! You are free from imperfections! Lo! I have been a wrong-doer.
Then we heard his prayer and saved him from the anguish. Thus we save believers.
[Al-Quran 21:87-88, Translation: Pickthal; edited for clarity in italics]
In Dhu'n-Nun's story, we have a perfect example of how Allah saves the believers through realisation, acknowledgement and heartfelt repentance!
Anger clouds our judgement and our ability to keep faith. When Dhu'n-Nun* got angry, the ayah informs us that he imagined that he was not under divine control, and thus went off. However, he had a mission to attend to. When he repented and returned to duty, through his preaching, more than a hundred thousand people believed and repented. Therefore, divine punishment was averted from them (Q10:98). * (Jonah) Dhu'n-Nun discussion at the end of this post
مُغَاضِبًا
وَالَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ
وَالَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَىٰ بَيْنَهُمْ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْبَغْيُ هُمْ يَنتَصِرُونَ
وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ
In this excerpt from Surah ash-Shura, among the desirable characteristics expected from the believers, is their readiness to forgive when angry.
Dhu'n-Nun was angry, and, at that moment in time, he was not forgiving. Rather, he went off in anger. ..
فَظَنَّ
The
root ẓā nūn nūn (ظ ن ن) occurs 69 times in the Quran. Putting together the various shades of translation of this word, it seems that it is a thought which leads to an assumption with certainty of belief.
أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ
In his state of anger, Dhu'n-Nun assumed with certainty that he could run away and would certainly not be restricted. In the verb form,
the root ق د ر is variously translated as to restrict, overpower, control, plot, determine.
فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ
وَلَقَدْ نَادَانَا نُوحٌ فَلَنِعْمَ الْمُجِيبُونَ
[Al-Quran 37:75]
When Noah cried, and when Dhu'n-Nun cried, both were surrounded by darknesses. Noah had been preaching for centuries with hardly any response from his people, who were in the darknesses of their disbelief, falsehood and injustices. Dhu'n-Nun (Jonah) was literally in the darkness of the belly of the fish. Both cried out: Noah for help against the rejection by his disbelieving people; and Dhu'n-Nun acknowledging his own inner darkness, his anger, acting upon which led him to being surrounded in the external darkness he was trapped in.
Another parallel between the stories of Noah and Dhu'n-Nun is their being saved through water. Water was sent to save Noah and drown the disbelieving people who had rejected him; Dhu'n-Nun was sent in the water to help him realise his mistake, and to later save, through his mission, many disbelieving people.
لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ
Dhu'n-Nun was a prophet. He was a Jew by birth. He knew that there is only one God. He knew the covenant with God, which his forefathers had ratified along with Moses, after the Exodus.
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Acknowledging that there is only one Allah, free from imperfections, Dhu'n-Nun realised that it was wrong for him to be angry when Allah Himself is slow to anger, and willing to forgive all who repent. When Allah commands something we do not understand, we have to trust Him and His Perfection, and not our imperfect knowledge or understanding.
إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
Allah is Most Just. It is we who are unjust. The word الظَّالِمِينَ means the unjust, the wrongdoers, and shares the same root with the word الظُّلُمَاتِ for the darkness. The
root ظ ل م occurs 315 times in The Quran. When Adam erred, and Allah granted him words (Q2:37) to seek forgiveness, it began with the admission that they had been unjust to their nafs (
رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا)...
Dhu'n-Nun, in this phrase (
إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ), owns up to his injustice or wrongdoing, and literally admits to the darkness within and without him. He does not blame Allah for his situation.
فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ
When Dhu'n-Nun's anger subsided and he gained clarity of thought: when he realised and owned up to his mistake, and declared Allah's Perfection in all His Decrees and all His Commands, he was responded to...
وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ
... and Dhu'n-Nun was saved from the distress and anguish he was in!
الْغَمِّ
وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And thus We save the believers.
This is how believers are saved?
Subhan'Allah
What a long-term saving it is! The purpose of our life here is to realise, repent and reform, so that we are saved from eternal suffering:
click on image to enlarge & for better resolution
Jonah (Yunus (عليه السلام))
According to The Quran, Jonah is one of those who received revelation (
Q4:163), and one of those preferred over the worlds (
Q6:86), and one of the Messengers (
Q37:139).
The Medical Condition of Jonah
وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ
فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُدْحَضِينَ
فَالْتَقَمَهُ الْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ
فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ
لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ
وَأَنبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِّن يَقْطِينٍ
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ
فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
And indeed, Yunus (was) surely of the Messengers.
When he ran away to the ship laden.
Then he drew and was of the losers.
Then swallowed him the fish, while he (was) blameworthy.
And if not that he was of those who glorify
Certainly, he (would have) remained in its belly until the Day they are resurrected.
But We cast him onto the open shore while he (was) ill.
And We caused to grow over him a plant of gourd.
And We sent him to a hundred thousand or more.
And they believed, so We gave them enjoyment for a while.
[Al-Quran
37:139-
148; typos edited]
The Quran speaks very highly and very respectfully about all of Allah's chosen servants. At the same time, it also very objectively states the few essential facts we need to know to learn the lessons in their stories:
The
root ع ر ي occurs three times in The Quran, once in Adam's story, and twice in Jonah's story. In Adam's story in Surah TaHa, we learn that he was not naked (لَا تَعْرَىٰ) in The Garden. This is contrary to the popular belief among the believers regarding Adam's story. As discussed in earlier posts,
Adam suffered loss of natural clothing when he ate from the forbidden tree. In Jonah's story, he was within the belly of the fish, and when he finally was released, he was also
sick (
فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ). We know that there are acids in the stomach. Though viruses, bacteria, fungi and worms do live in the guts of larger creatures, it is not natural to expect a human to remain alive in the belly of a fish. Even though Jonah was kept alive miraculously, Q37:145 informs us that he was sick. The other key word (
بِالْعَرَاءِ) is generally translated as 'onto the open/naked shore'. I wonder if these ayaat (Q37:145 & Q68:49) are pointing towards the medical condition of his skin?
فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَلَا تَكُن كَصَاحِبِ الْحُوتِ إِذْ نَادَىٰ وَهُوَ مَكْظُومٌ
لَّوْلَا أَن تَدَارَكَهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ لَنُبِذَ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ
فَاجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَجَعَلَهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
So be patient for (the) decision (of) your Lord, and (do) not be like (the) companion (of) the fish, when he called out, while he (was) distressed.
If not that overtook him a Favor from his Lord, surely he would have been onto (the) naked shore while he (was) blamed.
But chose him, his Lord, and made him of the
righteous reformed.
[Al-Quran
68:48-
50; Translation edited in
italics for clarity]
Though there is some difference in the details between the Biblical account of Jonah, and the narrative in The Quran, they do agree on that he got angry, and ran away on a ship. He was thrown overboard and a fish swallowed him. Still alive, he realised that Allah's plan is perfect and Allah never makes any mistakes. So, while in the belly of the fish, he starts acknowledging the perfection of Allah, expressed by the word
سُبْحَانَكَ meaning
You are free from imperfections!. After being saved, and restored to health, he was sent as a Messenger to a city. The Bible informs us:
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
The Punishment of Disgrace
The Quran informs us that when Jonah returned to the mission assigned to him:
فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
So why not was any town that believed, and benefited it its faith, except the people (of) Yunus? When they believed, We removed from them (the) punishment (of) the disgrace in the life of the world and We granted them enjoyment for a time.
Another surah in which we find the mention of Jonah, along with an example of the punishment in the life of this world, is in Surah al-Qalam. Its a narrative about a people who are unwilling to share with the poor:
إِنَّا بَلَوْنَاهُمْ كَمَا بَلَوْنَا أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ إِذْ أَقْسَمُوا لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ
وَلَا يَسْتَثْنُونَ
فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ
فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَالصَّرِيمِ
فَتَنَادَوْا مُصْبِحِينَ
أَنِ اغْدُوا عَلَىٰ حَرْثِكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَارِمِينَ
فَانطَلَقُوا وَهُمْ يَتَخَافَتُونَ
أَن لَّا يَدْخُلَنَّهَا الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكُم مِّسْكِينٌ
وَغَدَوْا عَلَىٰ حَرْدٍ قَادِرِينَ
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوا إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ
قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ
قَالُوا سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَلَاوَمُونَ
قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا طَاغِينَ
عَسَىٰ رَبُّنَا أَن يُبْدِلَنَا خَيْرًا مِّنْهَا إِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا رَاغِبُونَ
كَذَٰلِكَ الْعَذَابُ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ
Indeed, We have tried them as We tried (the) companions (of) the garden, when they swore to pluck its (in the) morning,
And not making exception.
So there came upon it a visitation from your Lord, while they were asleep.
So it became as if reaped.
And they called one another (at) morning,
That "Go early to your crop if you would pluck (the) fruit."
So they went, while they lowered (their) voices,
That "Not will enter it today upon you any poor person."
And they went early with determination able.
But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we (are) surely lost.
Nay! We (are) deprived."
Said (the) most moderate of them, "Did not I tell you, 'Why not you glorify (Allah)?'"
They said, "Glory be (to) our Lord! Indeed, we [we] were wrongdoers."
Then approached, some of them to others blaming each other.
They said, "O woe to us! Indeed, we [we] were transgressors.
Perhaps, our Lord, [that] will substitute for us a better than it. Indeed, we to our Lord turn devoutly."
Such (is) the punishment. And surely the punishment (of) the Hereafter (is) greater, if they know.
Allah is perfect in His ways, His commands, His decrees, and His justice. Its His Mercy that he does not judge us all yet, otherwise most of us might have the punishment justified against us. We have time to sincerely repent form our injustices and transgressions, and humbly submit to Allah's commands.
The Hour is coming, and so is the Judgement:
.......
The general translation for
الْحُوتُ is
the fish, an occasionally
the whale. I do not know the source of these meanings, or if these have just been transmitted from one to another, or if Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gave such an explanation. If he did so, then that must be the correct explanation.
The
root ح و ت occurs five times in The Quran:
Q7:163 for the temptation of the Sabbath-violators; Q18:61 and Q18:63 for
Moses' to-be breakfast which escaped at the confluence into the water; and Q37:142 and Q68:48 for the creature that Jonah was trapped inside.
Considering that the same word (الْحُوتَ) is used for the to-be breakfast that they could carry with them, the word الْحُوتَ must probably be a general word for all sizes of this (group of) creatures.
The creature that Jonah was trapped in must be very large, able to swallow a grown man. Among the known large extant creatures in the oceans,
sperm whales and some sharks have the capacity to swallow a person. The ancient
megalodon is believed to have been the largest and most powerful predator in the ocean. It is assumed to be extinct since many millions of years. However, we know very little about the oceans and the creatures concealed within it.
Google translates whale as حوت in arabic. According to modern scientific classification, a whale is not a fish, but is classified as a mammal. Perhaps, the word حوت does not represent a biological grouping, but rather a group of creatures classed together according to some other similarities.
Google search: English to Arabic
Though the smallest-known whale is also too large to be carried in hand, their do exist smaller
cetaceans, such as the porpoise
vaquita, averaging 140 cm - 150 cms.
Dhu'n-Nun
وَذَا النُّونِ
The popular explanation for Dhu'n-Nun is that نُّونِ means whale or fish. I do not know the source of these meanings, or if these have just been transmitted from one to another, or if Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gave such an explanation. If he did so, then that must be the correct explanation.
However, if the meaning didn't originate from our dear Prophet ﷺ, and the transmissions are just assumptions, then other reasons for the title Dhu'n-Nun (possessor of ن) could be:
Nabi
Jonah was a Nabi (prophet), but so were others, then why give him this title? According to the Bible, he gave a single sentence prophecy to the people he was sent to:
ד וַיָּחֶל יוֹנָה לָבוֹא בָעִיר, מַהֲלַךְ יוֹם אֶחָד; וַיִּקְרָא, וַיֹּאמַר, עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם, וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'
Ninevah
ב קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה--וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ: כִּי-עָלְתָה רָעָתָם, לְפָנָי.
2 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.'
[
Jonah Chapter 1]
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ
فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
And We sent him to a hundred thousand or more.
And they believed, so We gave them enjoyment for a while.
Jonah was a Jew from Bani Israel around 8th century BCE. According to the Bible, Jonah, a Hebrew, was sent to preach to Ninevah.
According to Wikipedia, Ninevah was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia. For about fifty years, it was the largest city in the world until about 612 BC. So, when Jonah was sent to Ninevah, it was probably already a very large and prosperous city.
Again, according to Wikipedia, the origin of the name of the city is unclear, but may be the Biblical Hebrew Nīnewēh comes from the Akkadian Ninua (var. Ninâ). The cuneiform for Ninâ is a fish within a house (cf. Aramaic nuna, "fish"). See second last row for Ninevah in cuneiform:
Attribution:
...
Nun, By The Pen & What They Write
Surah al-Qalam begins with the statement:
ن وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ
Nun. By the pen and what they write,
[Al-Quran 68:1]
Surah al-Qalam begins with Nun (
ن) and The Pen (
الْقَلَمِ), and then first emphasises on the excellent character of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, to whom was revealed The Quran.
Nabu
Nabu, also lending to the meaning of to announce or prophesize, was believed to be a messenger / patron god of literacy, rational arts, scribes and wisdom in ancient Mesopotamia. However, I haven't found any link between Nabu and Jonah, or Nabu and Ninevah.
The Pen & What They Write
From the subheadings above about the medical condition of Jonah, and the punishment of disgrace, I wonder if this is pointing towards corruption by the pen, be it external writings, or internal genetic or epigenetic changes, inspired by Satan. Surah an-Nisa` warns us of Satan's plans to corrupt creation:
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الْأَنْعَامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيْطَانَ وَلِيًّا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُّبِينًا
"And I will surely mislead them and surely arouse desires in them and surely I will order them so they will surely cut off (the) ears (of) the cattle and surely I will order them so they will surely change (the) creation (of) Allah." And whoever takes the Shaitaan (as) a friend besides Allah, then surely he (has) lost - a loss manifest.
[Al-Quran
4:119; typos corrected]
...
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Last updated on: August 7, 2020
