Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 204
? 197 people, it occurred to him that when a prophet preaches to his people, he also receives a share of fore-warnings of fearsome happenings but God the Almighty out of compassion for His creatures, deals by them mercifully and as a result the prophets lose face; therefore instead of proceeding on his mission to his people, he made a bid to escape to another country in order to save himself from the humiliation he feared he would suffer at the hands of his people. But God the Almighty had decreed that he should go forth to the inhabitants of Nineveh and deliver to them the message of the Lord. Accordingly, He planned it so that he was cast in the sea and then He commanded a big fish to swallow him up which gorged him alive. According to the statement of the Bible, he prayed to the Lord when he was in the belly of the fish. Since only a living person can pray and not a dead corpse, it is clear that he entered the belly of the fish alive and so long as he was in it, he remained alive. Then the fish disgorged him as Allah wished that it should, on the land and not in the sea. He was then commissioned by the Almighty Lord to go to preach to the people of Nineveh. He went there accordingly and was successful in his mission. It is evident from this miracle that: a (1) Prophet Jonah entered the belly of the fish alive. (2) He remained three days and nights alive