Except the People of Yūnus

There remains the story of Yūnus. Allah says, in verse 98:

There has been no community, no people, who first disobeyed and then, on seeing the danger and the punishment impending, brought faith and had it accepted of them — except the people of Yūnus. He preached to them and they did not listen; he judged that the punishment was coming, and he departed. He reached the shore. But his people came to their senses after he had gone: they sought forgiveness, and the punishment did not come upon them.

Of this Yūnus knew nothing. He boarded a boat, a sea-going vessel, and suddenly a storm arose. The crew declared that someone would have to be thrown overboard, the vessel being too heavy, and they drew lots. He had the look of a most dignified man, and they did not want to throw him over; three times they drew lots, and each time his name came out. In the end he had to go, and he went.

A fish, a great whale, swallowed him — but a whale specially altered for the purpose: Allah had suspended the working of its stomach. It could take in, but could do nothing further; there was no bile, nothing at work inside it. There he remained for either a few hours or three days — opinions differ — and then he was cast out.

It is said that he was cast out in Palestine, just north of Hebron. There is a place there called Yūnus, with a masjid, which is said to be where he came and rested — for after such an ordeal he needed rest before returning home. That is where he rested. A visit to that masjid leaves a deep impression.

Such, al-ḥamdu li-llāh, is the reason for the name. One of the famous duʿāʾs, which appears among the seven themes later on, is what he said that brought him out of the fish: lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu mina al-ẓālimīn.

That is the story of Yūnus (peace be upon him) in the Qur'an, and the reason the sūrah is named for him. It might have been called Sūrat Mūsā; but the story of Mūsā (peace be upon him) is found everywhere, and a sūrah so named would not be distinguished by it. This, by contrast, is probably the only place where so much of the story of Yūnus (peace be upon him) is related; it is not repeated again and again. That is why the name is given here.