Page 65 - Prayer in the Qur'an

THE PROPHETS' PRAYERS
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RELATED IN THE QUR'AN

The Prophet Yunus's (as) Prayers

In the Qur'an, Allah refers to the Prophet Yunus (as) as follows:
Yunus too was one of the Messengers. When he ran away to the
fully laden ship and cast lots and lost. Then the fish devoured
him and he was to blame. (Surat as-Saffat: 139-142)

The Prophet Yunus (as) abandoned his people to whom Allah
sent him as a prophet. As these verses convey, he got on a ship,
where he "cast lots and lost." As we understand from the Qur'an, the
Prophet Yunus (as), who could not persevere in the task Allah had
given to him and abandoned his people, was thrown out of the ship
to the sea where he was swallowed by a fish. In regret, the Prophet
Yunus (as) turned to Allah in prayer, as in:

… "There is no god but You! Glory be to You! Truly I have been
one of the wrongdoers." (Surat al-Anbiya': 87)
In return for his sincere prayer, Allah miraculously rescued him:
We responded to him and rescued him from his grief. That is
how We rescue the believers. (Surat al-Anbiya': 88)
Then, Allah sent the Prophet Yunus (as) to an obedient society:

We sent him to a hundred thousand or even more. They had
faith and so We gave them enjoyment for a time. (Surat as-
Saffat: 147-148)
In previous pages, we said that Allah may answer a prayer in the
form of a "cause and effect," or if He wills, He may miraculously an-
swer a prayer. This is easy for the Lord of the heavens and earth and

everything in between. In the Prophet Yunus's (as) case, Allah re-
moved all seeming obstacles and saved him from a fish's stomach.
This is a striking example showing that people should never despair of
Allah's forgiveness and be steadfast in their prayers. As long as one