Jonah (Yunus)

Commentary

(a) Who has created heaven and earth; and who is sustaining them?—These questions have been the central point of the human quest in every age. But finding the correct answers to these questions will be possible only when a man is able to see beyond the physical world, and nobody possesses eyes which can see beyond the physical world. This is why every answer which man himself devises is based on mere guesswork and conjecture and not on any knowledge based on facts. In this world, those who speak on the basis of real knowledge are known as prophets. These are the particular people who have direct contact with the world above. God Himself, on His own, informs them of the reality of things. Therefore, prophets’ knowledge is the only knowledge on which one can rely with certainty. We have no direct means of testing the veracity of the Prophet’s claims. However, there certainly exists an indirect means; and that is the signs (ayat) of the universe. These signs, in effect, corroborate the inner realities explained by the Prophet. For instance, we see that on earth, day follows night and night follows day. This phenomenon of rotation has come into existence due to an extremely stable system which is regulated with mathematical precision. Moreover, this phenomenon is wonderfully favourable to our life. There appears to be a clearly purposeful plan at work behind it. This state of affairs is definitely a proof of the existence of a Being who is vested with Absolute power, who is Benevolent and Merciful, and about whom the prophets have been giving us information throughout the ages. Those who, according to their own ideas, follow ‘partners’ are not following any factual reality, but only their own conjecture and imagination. The reality revealed through the prophets is corroborated by the entire universe, but there is nobody here to corroborate or uphold the claim of the polytheists, or those who attribute partners to God (mushriks).