WHAT WAS THE SIGN
OF JONAH – QURANIC AND BIBLE COMPARISON?
ASSEMBLED
BY MALLAM ABBA ABANA, KUBWA, ABUJA, NIGERIA
http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com
https://web.facebook.com/abba.abana
emails:gonidamgamiri@yahoo.com;
abba.abana@gmail.com
FRIDAY 28TH
JULY 2017 CE AND 5TH
DHUL QADA 1438 AH
Bismillah
Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum
Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu. Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His
forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from
our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and
whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is
no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (Sallalhu alaihi Wasalam)
is His slave and Messenger.
WHAT WAS THE SIGN OF JONAH – ISLAMIC?
YUNUS (JONAH) - DESCRIPTION OF JONAH'S
PEOPLE
Prophet Jonah
(Yunus) also known as Dhan-Nun. About his people Almighty Allah said: Was there
any town (community) that believed (after seeing the punishment), and its Faith
(at that moment) saved it (from the punishment)? (The answer is none,) - except
the people of Jonah; when they believed, We removed from them the torment of
disgrace in the life of the (present) world, and permitted them to enjoy for a
while. Holy Quran chapter Surah 10: 98
The inhabitants of
the town of Nineveh were idolators who lived a shameless life. Prophet Jonah
was sent to teach them the worship of Allah. The people disliked his
interference in their way of worship, so they argued: "We and our
forefathers have worshipped these gods for many years and no harm has come to
us."
YUNUS (JONAH) - JONAH LEAVES HIS PEOPLE
Try as he might to
convince them of the foolishness of idolatry and of the goodness of Allah's
laws, they ignored him. He warned them that if they kept on with their foolishness,
Allah's punishment would soon follow. Instead of fearing Allah, they told Jonah
that they were not afraid of his threats. "Let it happen," they told
him. Jonah was disheartened. "In that case I will leave you to your
misery!" So saying, he left Nineveh, fearing that Allah's anger would soon
follow. And (remember) Dhan-Nun (Jonah), when he went off in anger, and
imagined that We shall not punish him (i.e., the calamities which had befallen
him)! Holy Quran chapter Surah 21:87
YUNUS (JONAH) - THE PEOPLE ARE FORGIVEN
Hardly had he left
the city when the skies began to change color and looked as if they were on
fire. The people were filled with fear by this sight. They recalled the
destruction of the people of 'Ad, Thamud and Noah. Was theirs to be a similar
fate? Slowly faith penetrated their hearts. They all gathered on the mountain
and started to beseech Allah for His mercy and forgiveness. The mountains
echoed with their cries. It was a momentous hour, filled with sincere
repentance.
Allah removed His
wrath and showered His blessings upon them once again. When the threatening
storm was lifted, they prayed for the return of Jonah so that he could guide
them.
YUNUS (JONAH) - THE STORM AT SEA
Meanwhile, Jonah
had boarded a small ship in the company of other passengers. It sailed all day
in calm waters with a good wind blowing at the sails. When night came, the sea
suddenly changed. A horrible storm blew as if it were going to split the ship
into pieces. The waves looked wild. They rose up as high as mountains then
plunged down like valleys, tossing the ship and sweeping over the deck.
Behind the ship, a
large whale was splitting the water and opening its mouth. A command had been
issued from Almighty Allah to one of the greatest whales of the sea to surface.
It obeyed. The whale hurried to the surface of the sea and followed the ship as
it had been commanded.
The tempest
continued and the chief crewman asked the crew to lighten the ship's heavy
load. They threw their baggage overboard, but this was not enough. Their safety
lay in reducing the weight further, so they decided among themselves to lighten
their load by removing at least one person.
YUNUS (JONAH) - JONAH JUMPS INTO THE
SEA
The captain
directed: "We will make lots with all the travelers' names. The one whose
name is drawn will be thrown into the sea." Jonah knew this was one of the
seamen's traditions when facing a tempest. It was a strange polytheistic
tradition, but it was practiced at that time. Jonah's affliction and crisis began.
Here was the
prophet, subjected to polytheistic rules that considered the sea and the wind
to have gods that riot. The captain had to please these gods. Jonah reluctantly
participated in the lot, and his name was added to the other travelers' names.
The lot was drawn and "Jonah" appeared.
Since they knew
him to be the most honorable among them, they did not wish to throw him into
the angry sea. Therefore, they decided to draw a second lot. Again Jonah's name
was drawn. They gave him a final chance and drew a third lot. Unfortunately for
Jonah, his name came up again.
Jonah realized
that Allah's hand was in all this, for he had abandoned his mission without
Allah's consent. The matter was over, and it was decided that Jonah should
throw himself into the water. Jonah stood at the edge of the ship, looking at
the furious sea. It was night and there was no moon. The stars were hidden
behind a black fog. But before he could be thrown overboard, Jonah kept
mentioning Allah's name as he jumped into the raging sea and disappeared
beneath the huge waves.
YUNUS (JONAH) - THE WHALE SWALLOWS
JONAH
The whale found
Jonah floating on the waves before it. It swallowed Jonah into its furious
stomach and shut its ivory teeth on him as if they were white bolts locking the
door of his prison. The whale dived to the bottom of the sea, the sea that runs
in the abyss of darkness.
Three layers of
darkness enveloped him, one above the other: the darkness of the whale's
stomach, the darkness of the bottom of the sea, the darkness of the night.
Jonah imagined himself to be dead, but his senses became alert when he found he
could move. He knew that he was alive and imprisoned in the midst of three
layers of darkness. His heart was moved by remembering Allah. His tongue was released
soon after saying: "La ilaha illa Anta (none has the right to be
worshipped but You (0, Allah), Glorified (and Exalted) be You above all that
(evil) they associate with You. Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers." Holy
Quran chapter Surah 21:87
Jonah continued
praying to Allah, repeating this invocation. Fishes, whales, sea-weeds, and all
the creatures that lived in the sea heard the voice of Jonah praying, heard the
celebration of Allah's praises issuing from the whale's stomach. All these
creatures gathered around the whale and began to celebrate the praises of Allah
in their turn, each in its own way and in its own language.
The whale also
participated in celebrating the praises of Allah and understood that it had
swallowed a prophet. Therefore it felt afraid; however, it said to itself:
"Why should I be afraid? Allah commanded me to swallow him."
YUNUS (JONAH) - ALLAH FORGIVES JONAH
Allah Almighty saw
the sincere repentance of Jonah and heard his invocation in the whale's
stomach. Allah commanded the whale to surface and eject Jonah onto an island.
The whale obeyed and swam to the farthest side of the ocean. Allah commanded it
to rise towards the warm, refreshing sun and the pleasant earth.
The whale ejected
Jonah onto a remote island. His body was inflamed because of the acids inside
the whale's stomach. He was ill, and when the sun rose, its rays burned his
inflamed body so that he was on the verge of screaming for the pain. However,
he endured the pain and continued to repeat his invocation to Allah.
Almighty Allah
caused a vine to grow to considerable length over him for protection. Then
Allah Exalted caused Jonah to recover and forgave him. Allah told Jonah that if
it had not been for his praying to Him, he would have stayed in the whale's
stomach till the Day of Judgment.
YUNUS (JONAH) - SUMMARY OF JONAH'S
STORY
Almighty Allah
recounted: And, verily, Jonah was one of the Messengers. When he ran to the
laden ship, he (agreed to) cast lots, and he was among the losers, - Then a
(big) fish swallowed him and he had done an act worthy of blame. Had he not
been of them who glorify Allah, he would have indeed remained inside its belly
(the fish) till the Day of Resurrection. But We cast him forth on the naked
shore while he was sick, and We caused a plant of gourd to grow over him. And
We sent him to a hundred thousand (people) or even more. And they believed; so
We gave them enjoyment for a while. Holy Quran chapter Surah 37: 139-148
YUNUS (JONAH) - JONAH'S PEOPLE -
CHANGED
Gradually he
regained his strength and found his way to his hometown, Nineveh. He was
pleasantly surprised to notice the change that had taken place there. The
entire population turned out to welcome him. They informed him that they had
turned to believe in Allah. Together they led a prayer of thanksgiving to their
Merciful Lord.
YUNUS (JONAH) - PORPHET MUHAMMAD'S
SAYING ABOUT JONAH (PBUT)
Ibn 'Abbas
narrated: "The prophet Muhammad said: 'One should not say that I am better
than Jonah Ibn Matta."
SOURCES
http://www.alim.org/library/biography/stories/content/SOP/6/16/Yunus%20%28Jonah%29/The%20Whale%20Swallows%20Jonah%20#
WHAT WAS THE SIGN OF JONAH –BIBLE?
"CHRIST" NOT A NAME
Over a thousand
million Christians today blindly accept that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
They produce "a thousand and one" prophecies from the Jewish Bible
(the Old Testament) to prove their claim that Jesus was the Messiah promised to
the Jews. Let us hold the thousand" prophecies in abeyance for a moment
and examine the only unequivocal claim made by Jesus in the Gospels and examine
whether he fulfilled his promise to the Jews.
We must admit that
the word CHRIST is not a name. It is a title. It is a translation of the Hebrew
word Messiah, meaning "anointed." The Greek word for
"anointed" is Christos from which we get the word Christ.
Priests and kings
were "anointed" when being consecrated to their office. The Holy
Bible confers this title even on a heathen king CYRUS (Isaiah 45:1).
We are reminded in
the Gospel of St.Luke that "WHEN EIGHT DAYS WERE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE
CIRCUMCISING OF THE CHILD, HIS NAME WAS CALLED JESUS, WHICH WAS SO NAMED OF THE
ANGEL BEFORE HE WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WOMB." (Luke 2:21). The name that was
given to Mary for her yet unborn son was JESUS and NOT Christ. It was only
after his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist that he, Jesus, claimed to
be the Christ. The Jews were not the ones to accept his claim on its face
value. They wanted proof!
MIRACLE AS PROOF
Matthew records
that the learned men among the Jews - the Scribes and Pharisees - came to Jesus
and asked, "MASTER, WE WOULD SEE A SIGN FROM THEE". (Matthew 12:38).
What they really wanted was some "magic trick," some "sleight of
hand" like producing a rabbit out of a hat or walking on the water or
flying in the air or trodding on burning coal. This is the type of
"sign" or MIRACLE they were looking for. The Jews mistook him for a
sorcerer, a wizard, a charlatan.
NO "SIGN" BUT ONE
With righteous
indignation Jesus replies: "AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION SEEKETH
AFTER A SIGN; AND THERE SHALL NO SIGN (no miracle) BE GIVEN TO IT, BUT THE SIGN
(miracle) OF THE PROPHET JONAS: FOR AS JONAS WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN
THE WHALE'S BELLY; SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN
THE HEART OF THE EARTH." Matthew 12:39-40). Jesus says, "NO
SIGN." He does not refer the Jews to blind Bartimeus whose sight he had
restored. He does not speak about the "woman with issues" who was
healed by merely touching him; or about the 2000 pigs he had destroyed to heal
"a man possessed;" or the 5000 and the 3000 people he had fed and
satiated with a few pieces of fish and a few pieces of bread. "No
sign," says Jesus, BUT ONE! - "THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAS!"
He is putting all his "eggs" in one basket. His claim to being the
Messiah (Christ) stands or falls the ONLY "sign" he was prepared to
give.
Did Jesus fulfill
the only sign he gave? Christendom answers with a unanimous Y-E-S! without
heeding the Biblical advice - 'not to take things for granted.' - but
"PROVE ALL THINGS!" (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
JONAH FLEES HIS CALL
What was the
"sign" (miracle) of Jonah? We have to go to the "Book of
Jonah" in the Old Testament to find out. God commanded Jonah to go to
Nineveh and warn the Ninevites to repent from their "evil ways, and from
the violence that is in their hands." (Jonah 3:8) But Jonah was loath to
go as a warner unto the Ninevites, so he goes to Joppa instead of Ninevah, and
takes a boat to run away from the Lord's command.
While at sea,
there was a terrible tempest. According to the superstition of the mariners, a
person fleeing from his Master's command creates such a turmoil at sea. They
began to enquire among themselves and said, "COME, AND LET US CAST LOTS,
(like the tossing of a coin, "head" or "tail") THAT WE MAY
KNOW FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL IS UPON US. SO THEY CAST LOTS, AND THE LOT FELL
UPON JONAH." (Jonah 1:7). Though here was a temporary lapse on the part of
Jonah in fulfilling his mission, he manfully and most outrageously volunteers:
"AND HE SAID UNTO THEM TAKE ME UP, AND CAST ME FORTH INTO THE SEA; SO SHALL
THE SEA BE CALM UNTO YOU: FOR I KNOW THAT FOR MY SAKE THIS GREAT TEMPEST IS
UPON YOU." (Jonah 1:12)
DEAD OR ALIVE?
Since Jonah was
selflessly offering himself as a "vicarious" sacrifice there was no
need for strangling him before throwing him into the sea, no need to spear him
or break his arm or limb. In his own words: "TAKE ME UP AND CAST ME
FORTH." The question now arises, that when the shipmaster and the crew
threw him overboard, was Jonah dead or alive? Any Christian child who has attended
Sunday School will give an immediate reply: "ALIVE!" The storm
subsides. Was this perhaps a coincidence? A fish swallows Jonah. Was he dead or
alive when swallowed? The answer again is "ALIVE" Was he dead or
alive when "JONAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD HIS GOD OUT OF THE FISH'S BELLY?" (Jonah 2:1)
Surely dead men
don't cry and don't pray! The answer again is "ALIVE" For three days
and three nights the fish takes him around the ocean: dead or alive?
"ALIVE!" is the answer. On the third day it vomits him on the seashore:
dead or alive? A-L-I-V-E, of course! What had Jesus prophesied about himself?
He said: "AS JONAH WAS ..... SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE" LIKE JONAH.
And how was Jonah? Was he dead or alive for three days and three nights? Alive!
ALIVE! ALIVE! is the unanimous answer from the Jew, the Christian and the
Muslim!
UNLIKE JONAH
If Jonah was alive
for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in
the tomb as he himself had foretold! But Christianity hangs on the flimsy
thread of the death" of Jesus for its salvation. So it has to answer that
Jesus was DEAD for three days and three nights. The contradiction between his
utterance and its fulfilment is obvious. Jonah ALIVE, Jesus DEAD! Very UNLIKE
Jonah! Jesus had said "LIKE Jonah" not UNLIKE Jonah. If this is true
then according to his own test Jesus is not the TRUE Messiah of the Jews. If
the Gospel record is genuine then how can we blame the Jews for rejecting
"CHRIST".
THREE AND THREE = 72 HOURS?
The Doctor of
Divinity and the Professor of Theology replies that in Matthew 12:40 under
discussion, the emphasis is on the TIME factor - "as Jonas was THREE days
and THREE nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the son of man be THREE
days and THREE nights in the heart of the earth." "Please note,"
says the learned theologian, "that the word "THREE" is repeated
F-O-U-R times in this verse to prove that Jesus was going to fulfil the
prophecy as regards the length of time he was going to remain in the tomb, and
NOT 'As Jonas was' in relation to his being alive or dead. If it is the time
factor that Jesus was stressing then let us ask whether he fulfilled that
aspect of his promise to the Jews as well. The Christian dogmatist answers:
"OF COURSE!"
PUBLIC HOLIDAY
The question
arises: when was Christ crucified? The whole Christian world answers:
"FRIDAY!" Is this the reason we celebrate "Good Friday" -
as a Public Holiday in every Christian nation from America to Zambia, from
Abyssinia to Zaire at Easter? What makes Good Friday" so good? "it is
the death of Christ on the Cross on this day to wash off our sins," says
the Christians. So he was killed on the cross on a Friday, 19xx years ago?
"YES!" says the Christians. From the Gospel records we gather that
the Jews were in a hurry to eliminate Jesus. Hence the midnight trial, and then
dispatching him off to Pilate in the morning; from Pilate to Herod and then
back again to Pilate. The vested interests were afraid of the general public.
Jesus was their hero. He had been their benefactor. His enemies had to do away
with him quickly, and succeeded in doing so. However, as much as they were in a
hurry to hang him on the cross, they were in equal hurry to bring him down from
the cross before sunset on Friday because of the Sabbath. The Sabbath starts at
about 6 p.m. on Friday and the Jews were warned in Deuteronomy 21:23 that the
victim of crucifixion was an "accursed of God" and was not to be
permitted to remain hanging on the Sabbath day, "that thy land be not
defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."
To satisfy the
religious scruples of the Scribes and Pharisees the "secret
disciples" of Jesus took down the body from the cross. They gave the body
the Jewish burial-bath, plastered it with "one hundred pounds weight of
aaloes and myrrh" (John 19:39), then placed the shrouded body into the
sepulcher before night-fall.
WHY "SUPPOSED"?
There are numerous
differences between the various sects and denominations of Christianity, but on
the above they are unanimous. Jesus is SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night
of Friday. He is still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the day of Saturday. He is
still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night of Saturday. Christians agree
whole-heartedly with this. It will be noted that I have repeated the word
'SUPPOSED' three times. The reason is that the Gospels are silent as to when
exactly Jesus came out of the tomb. He could have been taken away on Friday
night by his "secret disciples" to a more congenial and restful
place, but I have no right to assume about what the Gospel writers are silent.
I have, therefore, repeated the word 'SUPPOSED' three times.
In the final
analysis, let us see whether Jesus was THREE days and THREE nights in the
tomb:-
EASTER WEEK
IN THE SEPULCHER
DAYS NIGHTS
FRIDAY - placed in
tomb just before sunset - nil
- One night
SATURDAY -
supposed to be in tomb One day One night
SUNDAY - missing
before sunrise -
nil - - nil -
TOTAL One Day Two
Nights
You will no doubt
note that the GRAND TOTAL is ONE day and TWO nights, and NOT three days and
three nights. According to the Christian Scriptures Jesus had failed a SECOND
time. FIRST he was unlike Jonah, who was ALIVE in the belly of the fish, which
is the exact opposite of what the Christians claim had happened to their master
Jesus, who was DEAD for the same period of time as Jonah was - ALIVE.
SECONDLY, we
discover that he also failed to fulfill the TIME FACTOR as well. The greatest
mathematician in Christendom will fail to obtain the desired result - THREE
days and THREE nights. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in
telling us that it was "before sunrise" on Sunday morning (the FIRST
day of the week), that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it
empty.
"GOOD" WEDNESDAY
The Armstrong
family has debunked the whole Christian world. They seem to know their
arithmetic! Mr. Robert Fahey of the "Plain Truth" magazine, delivered
a lecture recently at the "Holiday Inn,' Durban, where I was present. Mr.
Fahey attempted to prove to his Christian audience that Jesus Christ was
crucified on a Wednesday and not on Friday, as is supposed by Orthodox
Christianity for the past two thousand years. According to him if one counts
backwards from Sunday morning deducting 3 DAYS and 3 NIGHTS, one ought to get
WEDNESDAY as the answer.
I congratulated Mr
Fahey for his ingenuity. I asked him, how was it possible for the past two
thousand years the whole Christian world celebrated GOOD FRIDAY instead of GOOD
WEDNESDAY. Thus the 1,200,000,000 Christians of the world today are ignorant of
the correct day of the so called crucifixion! It means that even the Roman
Catholic Church – which claims an unbroken chain of Popes from Peter to this
day - according to Mr Fahey are mislead.
GOD OR THE DEVIL?
The question
arises, who deceived the millions of Christians for the past TWO THOUSAND
years. GOD or the DEVIL? Mr. Fahey categorically answered: "THE
DEVIL!" "If the devil," I said, "can succeed in confusing
the Christians in the most elementary things of their Faith, whether to
celebrate a Good Friday or a Good Wednesday, then how much easier for him to
mislead Christians in other things concerning God?" Mr. Fahey blushed and
walked away.
If this is the
belief of the trend-setters of the Christian Faith in the world today, may we
not then ask: is this not the mightiest hoax in history?
REFERENCE
Sheikh AHMED
DEEDAT lecture at Islamic Propagation Center 47/49 Madrassa Arcade
Durban 4001
Republic Of South Africa
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