a salaam alayakum wa ra matula hi wa barack atu. Kafaholak achie? Jazak Allahu khyr.

Let me recapitulate this Mighty Miracle from the Book of Jonah:

1. When you throw a man into a raging sea, he ought to die. Because Jonah did not die, therefore, it is a MIRACLE!

2. A fish comes and gobbles the man; he ought to die. He did not die. It is now therefore, a double MIRACLE!

3. Because of heat and suffocation in the whale's belly for three days and three nights, he ought to die. He did not die, therefore, it is now a miracle of MIRACLES!

When you expect a man to die, and he does not die, only then is it a MIRACLE. If a man faces a firing squad and six bullets are pumped into his body at the given signal, and the man dies. Is it a miracle? "No!" But if he lives to laugh it off, would that be a miracle? Of course it would be a MIRACLE. We expected Jonah to die each time, but he does not die; therefore, his is a multiple MIRACLE.
(part. 10)

Now once more the question: Was Jonah dead or alive when he was thrown into the raging sea? We get a unanimous reply — that he was ALIVE! The storm subsides, perhaps it was a coincidence. A fish comes and swallows him. Was he dead or alive? And again everyone says ALIVE! From the fishes belly he prays to God for help. Do dead men pray? "No!" So he was ,.. ALIVE! On the third day the fish vomits him onto the seashore — dead or alive? And the reply again is ALIVE! It is a miracle of miracles! The Jews say that he was ALIVE! The Christians say that he was ALIVE! And the Muslims say that he was ALIVE! Little wonder that Jesus chose the "SIGN" (miracle) of Jonah as his only "SIGN" (miracle): 1 Something on which the followers of three major religions are agreed.
(part. 9)

DEAD OR ALIVE?

The question arises that, when they threw Jonah overboard, was he dead or was he alive? To make it easy for you to get the right answer, let me help you by suggesting that Jonah had volunteered; when he said:

". . . Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm for you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you."

(HOLY BIBLE) Jonah 1:12

When a man volunteers, one does not have to strangle him before throwing him; one does not have to spear him before throwing him; one does not have to twist his arms or legs before throwing him. Everyone agrees that that is so.
(part. 8)

An enquiry begins and Jonah realises that he is the guilty party, that as a prophet of God, he was the soldier of God. And as a soldier of God he had to obey the Commands of God. He had no right to act presumptously. So he volunteers and makes a manly comeback. He feared that God was after his blood, and in wanting to kill him. He will sink the boat, and innocent people will die. Jonah reasons, that it will be better for him to be thrown overboard, and thus avert the disaster overtaking them.
(part. 7)

BACKGROUND TO THE "SIGN"

To refresh your memory, let me tell you that God Almighty commands Jonah (pbuh) to go to Nineveh (a city of a hundred thousand people) and warn them to "repent in sack-cloth and in ashes". That is, to humble themselves before the Lord, or God will destroy them.

Jonah feels despondent, fearing that the materialisic Ninevites will not listen to him; they will make a mockery of him. So instead of going to Nineveh, he goes to Joppa and sets sail to Tarshish. At sea there is a terrible storm and, according to the superstition of the mariners, whoever runs away from his "Master's Commands" creates such a turmoil at sea.
(part 6.)

What was the "sign" or the miracle that Jonah performed that Jesus now proposes to emulate? To discover this miracle, we have to go to the "Book of Jonah", in the Bible. But this "Book" is very elusive! it happens to be a single leaf, with four short chapters, and is difficult to find in any encyclopedia of a thousand pages, such as the Christian Bible. But you do not have to go to the Book itself. Every Christian child who ever attended Sunday-school, knows the whole story.
(part. 5)

It is also necessary for us to try and define what is meant by a miracle. One of the simplest and truest of definitions is that given by Dr. Lyttelton in, "The Place of Miracles in Religion", that is:-
"AN ACT BEYOND HUMAN POWER."

This is exactly what the Jews wanted from Jesus. An act which they, the Scribes and the Pharisees, could not duplicate. On the face of it the request seems quite fair, but it is a sick mentality which craves for "tricks" which every sceptic and materialist can rationalise.
NO "SIGN" BUT ONE!
So Jesus reacts:

". . . An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign (miracle), and there shall no sign (miracle) be given to it, but the sign (miracle) of the prophet, Jonah." (HOLY BIBLE) Matthew 12:39
(part. 4)

All his teaching and preaching, and healing were not enough to convince the Jews that he was a man sent by God; that he was their Messiah. Now they are asking for a "SIGN" — a Miracle — such as flying like a bird, or walking on water; in short, anything they considered IMPOSSIBLE.

Before you proceed any further in the discussion with the Christian, please make sure that he understands the word "sign" in the above verse to mean a "miracle". This simple English word from the King James Version of the Bible, which every other Version seems to have copied is creating difficulty in the grasping of its true significance. In the "New International Version", supported by Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Reformed churches, the word is expanded as "miraculous sign", thank God! Not just any sign, or road signs — "Stop, Yield or Go!"
(part. 3)

The Christian missionary, the evangelist, the crusader, is reluctant to give a hearing to any Christian scholar despite the latter's sincerity or greatness of calibre — whether Taylor, or Schweizer, or Brandon or Anderson he may be. As soon as they say a word which goes against their pet prejudice, they will discount them all as "external source" and "minority 20th-century speculation". Therefore, I am constrained here to catch the proverbial "Bull by the Horn" and take him to the drinking trough.

DEMAND FOR A MIRACLE

The Jews had murmured in the wilderness against Moses (pbuh). They had given him endless trouble, and now his successor, the Messiah is given no lesser parrying. In their bouts of harassing questionings, they come to him, now, sounding most respectable and polite:

"Master, (Hebrew — Rabbi, meaning Teacher) we would have a sign of thee"

(HOLY BIBLE) Matthew 12:38

(part. 2)