# Is it possible for Prophet Yunus to have survived inside a whale?

*Could Yunus have survived being swallowed by a whale?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/a-ciw2-k4y0/s/1/
- Date: 2018-05-26 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Was Prophet Yunus (a.s.) Swallowed by a Whale? Is that Possible in Nature? -Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–4:56)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-CIW2-K4Y0&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/a-ciw2-k4y0/

**Topics:** Stories of the prophets; Quran and science

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Highly unlikely but not impossible: the Quran describes no superhuman feat, only that he was swallowed and thrown out very sick.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Yunus being swallowed and surviving was a very unlikely event but not impossible.

**Evidence, his words at 3:09:** “one would say these events are highly unlikely in the Quran explains it as a very unlikely event that it would happen but not impossible” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-CIW2-K4Y0&t=189s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says scholars have discussed whether Yunus being swallowed is possible from a natural perspective, and that large toothless sea creatures such as the sperm whale or whale shark have wide oesophagi and several stomach chambers. He notes that the Bible gives three days while the Quran gives no period, and says there are accounts of sailors and dogs recovered after being swallowed by whales. He says the Quran mentions nothing superhuman, only that Yunus was thrown out heavily sick, and calls the event highly unlikely but not impossible. He adds that people have been resuscitated hours after drowning, and that God mentions such stories for a lesson, not to set the Quran against science.

## Sources and names cited

- Yunus (Jonah)
- Quran 37:142 (the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy): https://quran.com/37/142
- Quran 37:145 (We cast him onto the open shore while he was sick): https://quran.com/37/145
- the Bible
- Isa (Jesus)

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–4:56)

[0:00] and this thing of unis aleihsalaam is another example look Eunice ELISA Lam was swallowed by he says fault Optima Julio - Wawa Willam and hoot now scholars have spoken about these what kind is this possible from a natural perspective well they've spoken yes it is possible there are several kind of creatures within the sea including like the large whales the sperm whale or the whale shark these kind of animals that do not actually have teeth and they have several chambers and the esophagus is

[0:37] actually very large and what they do is they process food by taking it into one chamber which first of all just kind of compresses the food and then pushes it into another chamber to further digest and it takes a process now the Quran unlike the Bible which mentions that Jonah was in the whale's stomach for three days as Jesus for example acknowledges and that the Son of God will also write you know and will also return after three days as Jonah did but in the Quran there's no mention of

[1:15] the period of time that Jonah were was swallowed Younis aleihsalaam all it mentions is that he was swallowed and this naturally now you think well he was swallowed and then thrown out by this by this whale there's several accounts of animals for example you can google there's accounts of sailors recovering off for a few days they're dogs that have been swallowed by certain whales these other accounts which you can I mean nowadays you can search these kind of things online one of the questions is well if you were taken in you would have been compressed because

[1:53] the first the esophagus is quite wide and the first chamber they would have been a certain amount of oxygen that comes in but you would have been like pressed on not crushed entirely but almost depressed heavily this would result in you suffer immensely now what is the Quran say that that the fault akumal who - that the Wawa moline and then for never the who will our our that then this hoots that swallowed Yunus Spa kind of threw him

[2:31] out what was a team and he was immensely sick and ill as a consequence of this now how long did this process take place was it just an hour was it less than an hour was it more than an hour a lot of does it mention these things but it's not impossible one thing if the Quran doesn't mention it in any supernatural kind of way that he was a super hero look he was swallowed and then he fought the whale and jumped out it doesn't mention in fact it mentions when he was thrown out he was heavily sick and and

[3:09] kind of like as a consequence of of what had happened to him so these things are not or not you know aunty reason in that sense yes you one would say these events are highly unlikely in the Quran explains it as a very unlikely event that it would happen but not impossible so I hope that's all some help let's move on boats all right those of you just tuning in click like take share people and suffocation and look another good example is people who drowned

[3:47] for example there's many people who are who do drown but are resuscitated after hours I mean you can read reports of people having ground pool sides or other things and being recovered and resuscitated after or in certain waters after hours 15 hours 17 hours there's reports about these things so I'm just saying that when you look at these things take it into a whole copper context that's all I hope that's of some help and I don't know why you see one thing we need to understand

[4:26] is why is Allah mentioning these things so you can take a lesson from it not to kind of oh this is to draw this kind of Allah I did these things in a vacuum we're now going to go against science because Allah has given us the manual to oppose science that's nonsense the laws never said any of these things okay people let's take a look what else are we looking

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment a-CIW2-K4Y0/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/a-ciw2-k4y0/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.