Jonah Would Have Remained in the Belly of the Whale Till the Resurrection

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds

Peace and benedictions upon you, my Master, Apostle of Allah

Qadianis and others who deny the Sunni Islamic doctrine that Allah raised the Messiah عليه السلام up to Himself and that he remains alive in Heaven argue that it is impossible for a mortal human to be kept alive for so long since two millennia have transpired since the Messiah عليه السلام was taken away. Some of these heretics, especially the Qadianis, claim to believe in the Holy Quran, wherein Allah عز وجل says concerning the Prophet Jonah عليه السلام:

فَالۡتَقَمَہُ الۡحُوۡتُ وَہُوَ مُلِیۡمٌ

The whale swallowed him while he was blameworthy

فَلَوۡلَاۤ اَنَّہٗ کَانَ مِنَ الۡمُسَبِّحِیۡنَ

Had he not been of those who glorify (Allah)

لَلَبِثَ فِیۡ بَطۡنِہٖۤ اِلٰی یَوۡمِ یُبۡعَثُوۡنَ

Certainly, he would have tarried in its belly till the Day when they are raised

(Surah 37, Ayat 142-144)

That the Prophet Jonah عليه السلام tarried in the belly of the whale (or was it a large fish?) for three days according to the Book of Jonah is itself a miracle that boggles the mind. But how do the Qadianis and other like minded heretics who deny the possibility of a mortal man living for thousands of years explain Allah’s declaration that had the Prophet Jonah عليه السلام not been of those who sanctify Allah, that is recite Tasbih, that he would have remained alive in the belly of the whale until the Resurrection? It has been nearly three thousand years since the Prophet Jonah عليه السلام was sent as a Messenger of God to the people of Nineveh, and who knows how much longer it shall be when the Resurrection occurs. Had he not been of those who glorify Allah, he would be almost three thousand years old and still be in the belly of that whale!

Now it has to be acknowledged that some Mufassirin have stated that the meaning of Surah 37:144 is that Prophet Jonah’s grave would have been in the belly of the whale, and not that he would have remained alive till the Resurrection. Firstly, the Mufassirin are not unanimous on this point, as mentioned by Imam al-Baidawi:

لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ حياً وقيل ميتاً

Certainly, he (Jonah) would have remained in its belly until the Day they are raised, alive, and it is said, dead (Tafsir al-Baidawi; v.5, p.18)

Imam an-Nasafi has in fact declared that Prophet Jonah عليه السلام would have remained alive in the belly of the whale is the plain meaning of the Ayah:

‌الظاهر ‌لبثه ‌حياً ‌إلى ‌يوم ‌البعث

(Tafsir an-Nasafi; v.3, p.137)

Hence, in virtually every instance where the verb لَبِثَ meaning to remain, to stay, to tarry (Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p.834) occurs in the Holy Quran it is in reference to staying while being in a state of having life:

فَقَدۡ لَبِثۡتُ فِیۡکُمۡ عُمُرًا مِّنۡ قَبۡلِہٖ

I (the Prophet Muhammad عليه السلام) have indeed stayed among you a lifetime before this

(Surah 10, Ayah 16)

وَیَوۡمَ یَحۡشُرُہُمۡ کَاَنۡ لَّمۡ یَلۡبَثُوۡۤا اِلَّا سَاعَۃً مِّنَ النَّہَارِ

And on the Day when He will gather them together, it will be as though they had not tarried (in the world) save for an hour of a day

(Surah 10, Ayah 45)

فَلَبِثَ فِی السِّجۡنِ بِضۡعَ سِنِیۡنَ

So he (Joseph) remained in prison for some years

(Surah 12, Ayah 42)

وَلَبِثُوۡا فِیۡ کَہۡفِہِمۡ ثَلٰثَ مِائَۃٍ سِنِیۡنَ وَازۡدَادُوۡا تِسۡعًا

And they stayed in their cave three hundred years and added nine more

(Surah 18, Ayah 25)

فَلَبِثۡتَ سِنِیۡنَ فِیۡۤ اَہۡلِ مَدۡیَنَ ۬ۙ ثُمَّ جِئۡتَ عَلٰی قَدَرٍ یّٰمُوۡسٰی

And you tarried several years among the people of Midian. They you came (here) at the decreed (time), O Moses!

(Surah 20, Ayah 40)

قٰلَ کَمۡ لَبِثۡتُمۡ فِی الۡاَرۡضِ عَدَدَ سِنِیۡنَ

(Allah) will say, “How long did you remain in the Earth in number of years?”

(Surah 23, Ayah 112)

وَلَقَدۡ اَرۡسَلۡنَا نُوۡحًا اِلٰی قَوۡمِہٖ فَلَبِثَ فِیۡہِمۡ اَلۡفَ سَنَۃٍ اِلَّا خَمۡسِیۡنَ عَامًا

And We certainly sent Noah to his people so he remained among them a thousand years save fifty years

(Surah 29, Ayah 14)

لَقَدۡ لَبِثۡتُمۡ فِیۡ کِتٰبِ اللّٰہِ اِلٰی یَوۡمِ الۡبَعۡثِ

You have indeed tarried, according to the Book of Allah, till the Day of Resurrection

(Surah 30, Ayah 56)