Why Did Allah Put Him In The Belly Of The Whale?

Why Did Allah Put Him In The Belly Of The Whale?

Tell me — why did Allah put Yunus (alayhi al-salam) in the belly of the whale? What was he doing? Yunus (alayhi al-salam) leaves his people without permission. So what does Allah do? He shows him his place.

When he reaches the inside of the whale's stomach, he realizes — this is my place — and he says the famous statement:

"O Allah, there is none worthy of worship but You. Subhanak — that is Your place. Inni kuntu mina al-zalimeen — I was someone who wronged themselves. That is my place."

The Power of This Du'a

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says about this du'a:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3505)

"The du'a of my brother Dhul-Nun when he was in the belly of the whale — if anybody seeks Allah with this du'a, they will be responded to." This is one of the greatest things we can say to Allah:

What Would Have Happened If He Had Not Made Tasbih?

Allah says about Yunus (alayhi al-salam): if he didn't make tasbih, if he didn't realize his place, if he didn't accept and acknowledge the place of Allah — what would have happened to him?

He would have stayed in the stomach until the Day of Judgment. Do you know what that means?

Your Way Out of the Dark

If you are in some difficulty — you are in the dark belly of some whale. Some financial darkness, some marriage problem, some difficulty in your life. You are in a dark place and you see no way out of this cave. What is your way out?

Tasbih. Remember your place. Acknowledge your place. Acknowledge His place. And Allah will take you out of the whale.

But if you sit there thinking — "Why did He do this to me? Come on, man. What's going on? Why is this happening to me? I'm the OG. I pray qiyam al-layl. I do all this cool stuff. Allah should be giving me Jannah. What is this? What is this financial problem? Come on."

If you speak to Allah like that, you are going to find yourself deeper and deeper into the belly of the whale.

Tasbih is the way out of darkness. Tasbih is the way out of the belly. Tasbih is the way out of difficulty.

Declaring the Greatness of Allah

And when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would see something — somebody insulting Allah, an idol being worshipped — when you pass by a church, when you pass by people worshipping other than Allah, remember to say:

Remember to declare the greatness of Allah, the highness of Allah. He is far removed from what they are doing. He is nowhere near what they associate with Him. He is al-'Aliyy al-A'la.