The Jonah Question of Sura 68 – Part 6

In the previous article, we saw that Muhammad was told not to be like Jonah.

This is a complex, but critical issue.  With God's command to Jonah - it was an outreach from the Hebrew people to the Ninevites (which is in modern day Iraq).  It was unheard of.  Jonah at first rejected it!  But then, with some "encouragement" from God - Jonah went on his mission.  And he succeeded.

So how does this relate to Muhammad?

The only way to know is to look into the roots of Jonah's experience, and how that fits in with both Christianity and Islam.  After all - both of them were prominent in Muhammad's time.  

It's complicated.  It's not easy.  But I believe it will be most enlightening.

So I welcome you to come along on the journey.

To really understand what's happening here with The Jonah Question, I highly recommend at least reading the article that raised the issue.

Review

[68:48] You shall steadfastly persevere in carrying out the commands of your Lord. Do not be like (Jonah) who called from inside the fish.
[68:49] If it were not for his Lord's grace, he would have been ejected into the desert as a sinner.
[68:50] But his Lord blessed him, and made him righteous.
[68:51] Those who disbelieved show their ridicule in their eyes when they hear the message and say, "He is crazy!"
[68:52] It is in fact a message to the world

This is the closing for Sura 68 -
telling Muhammad to not be like Jonah.

At the end of Part 5 - I asked you to pray about the what this command meant.
It appears to be an odd statement.  One that can only be answered by looking at the Old Testament - (although Jonah is not part of the Torah, which is the primary OT reference for Muslims today).  It seems to be an odd analogy, given that Jonah preached to ancestors of today’s Arabs.  Especially since Jonah was upset that God didn’t kill them!

So - what was it about?

A starting point for examination

Well - we have to start somewhere, so let's pick a hypothesis, and see where it goes.  BTW - this is not necessarily where it ends, so please don't think this is the conclusion - whether you like it , or if you don't like it.  Keep an open mind - and let's see where this leads.

To me - it seems that the initial best conclusion one can come to is that the giver of the revelation is telling Muhammad not to complain - not to cry out to God like Jonah did.

Notice - it says - Do not be like (Jonah) who called from inside the fish.

I've bolded part of this - who called from inside the fish

The questions raised in part 5 are still valid.  This is a very odd reference for someone to make in regards to being a prophet to Arabs.  (BTW, I know I'm generalizing with the use of the word Arabs.  Not all Arabs are Muslims - or vice versa.  It's meant more as a talking about the people of that region of the world.)
As mentioned in part 5 - there are much better references to use.  Even allowing for the possibility that the only part of the Jonah reference is to his crying out while in the fish - why would the giver of the revelation use this instance rather than one of the many others that could apply?

It’s very odd.

Seems to indicate either a lack of understanding of the Bible and what Jonah was about, or else an amazing insensitivity to the audience that Muhammad was to speak to.

But the giver of the revelation is supposed to be an angel of God.  Surely the issues of (1) lack of understanding and (2) insensitivity could not be real.  So there's still a big question here.

In any case -
there are still more questions that answers as to why this passage was chosen.

More on that later.

Let’s get back to the possibility that this reference was solely to tell Muhammad not to complain.  Don’t cry out to God while you’re in a bad place.  Don’t be like Jonah.

On one hand - this makes sense.

Muhammad was in a bad place.  People weren't happy with what he had to say.  An we're talking his own people here.  He wasn't even going to Jews and Christians at this point in time.  He wasn't sure that the first revelation was from God - but maybe it was from a Jinn (evil spirit).

All of those things would be enough to make anyone cry out to God!