ISIS apparently wants to make sure you don’t idolize dead men.
Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days. He’s spent a lot longer in his tomb, putatively in the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus in Mosul.
But if this video is for real—and we’re not able to verify it—the Islamist cleansers of culture now on a tear through northern Iraq want to give him another ejection.
According to the UK Daily Mail, members of the Islamic State terror group were filmed attacking centuries-old graves, one of which belonged to the Prophet Jonah. That tomb is revered by Muslims and Christians alike.
"ISIS militants believe giving special veneration to tombs and relics is against the teachings of Islam," the Mail said.
‘[They] engaged in the process of tampering with the contents of the Mosque. It is still held by them until now.’
The shrine of the Prophet Seth (Shayth) was also destroyed by rebels, according to reports
Wikipedia gives some background to this mosque:
This old shrine standing on the site of a Christian church is a stone’s throw from the built-up walls and gates of Nineveh. In the middle of the mosque stood a sepulcher, covered with a Persian carpet of silk and silver, and at the four corners, great copper candlesticks with wax tapers, besides several lamps and ostrich shells that hung down from the roof. A whale’s tooth, appropriate to Jonah’s well-known adventure at sea, is said to be preserved there.
It is one of the most important mosques in Mosul and one of the few historic mosques that are found in the east side of the city.
