10: Jonah
This chapter was revealed after
Eventide 103 and before Hud [the Messenger]
11 which immediately follows it.
It is the first of a group of five chapters which
all begin with the initials A. L. R. (10, 11,12, 14 15), just as
the second and
third chapters and the 29th to the 32nd inclusive begin with A. L. M.
Chapter
13 has the combination A. L. M. R
This consists of 109 late Meccan verses arranged in eleven sections except
for
VV 40, 49, 59 and 96 which date from Madina. It begins with a description
of how
the world was created. The prophet Jonah is mentioned only in section x;
a fuller
story of the prophet Jonah is actually given in 37:V, and he is mentioned
again in
21:VI and 68:11. There is a close connection with the previous chapter
9, because
this one rounds off its contents and shows how God's mercy predominates.
The sin of Association is taken up in Sections II, III and XI; rain from
Heaven
in iii: the Qur'an in IV; personal responsibility, and the different nations
in v; and
freewill and tolerance in X. The chapter also is concerned with Truth (III,
IV, VIII,
XI). At the end of Section VII we are told emphatically that God has no
son. Noah
and Moses are other prophets who are discussed in VIII.