dua of prophet Yunus as

“And my success is not but through Allah. Upon him I have relied, and to Him I return.”

— Surah Hud Ayat 88

Dua to solve hardship by Prophet Yunus

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

laaa ilaaha illaaa Anta Subhaanaka innee kuntu minaz zaalimeen
“There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.”
Surah al-Anbiya Ayat 87

Key Takeaways:

  • In the darkest moment in Yunus (as) life he remembered and turned to Allah (swt), he realized His oneness and exalted him. In a vulnerable and desperate position, he becomes closer to Allah, and Allah (swt) responded to his call and freed Yunus. In the Quran Allah says, “Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah ? Little do you remember.” (27:62)
  • A repeated narrative in the Qur’an that’s very clear is that cultures continually fall into disarray. It’s the natural progression of systems to increase in entropy or disorder as time goes on. The famous Will Durant quote, “A nation is born stoic, and dies epicurean”. (Epicureanism is a philosophy that seeking pleasure should be the number one priority for living the “good life”)
  • The story of Yunus (as) is the same but what is an individual to do being born into a corrupted state? If you do nothing, it will remain corrupt, if you give in, it will remain corrupt. The answer has to be to oppose corruption. Allah (swt) had sent Yunus (as) to guide the lost community of Nineveh, now Northern-Iraq.
  • Yunus (as) tried to show them the foolishness in idolatry and destructive path they were on. But they ignored him. Yunus (as) decided himself that they were beyond saving and his efforts would be appreciated elsewhere, so he left. Yunus (as) denied his responsibility without Allah’s consent and sailed away. Allah (swt) sent a storm for Yunus (as) because he could not deny his destiny – he would need to reconcile and repent. A whale came to the surface and swallowed Yunus (AS) who was thrown overboard and took him into deep waters where he was engulfed into three layers of darkness – the night, the sea, and inside the belly of the whale. Here he recited this du’a for forgiveness.

Story behind the Prophetic du’a of Yunus

In the Qur’an, it refers to Prophet Yunus (as) by the name Dhul nun meaning the companion of the fish or the man of the fish.

The story behind this nickname is because he had denied Allah’s command. As a punishment, Allah sent a whale to come and swallow him whole. A quick summary of the story of Yunus (as), Allah appointed him to guide the lost community of Nineveh, what we know of as Northern-Iraq.

Allah’s instructions were clear, to guide the lost community back to Allah and Islam. But like all the Prophets before him, he had a difficult time and the people denied his message. Eventually, Yunus (as) rationalized that many other communities needed saving. If these people were not receptive to his calling then he would devout his time and energy elsewhere. So, he left. It is said in Surah Saffat Yunus, “…ran away to the laden ship.” (37:140).

The ship was “laden” meaning fully loaded or heavy so when the storm gathered, they found their ship was slowly sinking. One by one they threw any luggage to lighten the load on the ship, but still, it was far too heavy.

Once they had thrown everything off, they realized the only way to save the ship was to throw a man overboard.

No one wanted to volunteer, so they decided the most impartial way to decide who would get booted off was a game like straws or picking a name out the hat where everyone had an equal chance of losing.

The first name that was drawn was Yunus (as) “And he drew lots and was among the losers.” (37:141) But for whatever reason, perhaps the people on the ship liked Yunus (as) as he was kind, pious, and a morale booster for the ship crew, so they drew a second and third time. Each time, Yunus (as) name was drawn, Yunus (as) knew this was a sign from Allah that he could not escape. Shortly thereafter he  found himself trying to survive in the treacherous waters. It is here Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala commanded for a whale to surface and swallow the Prophet whole.

The verse in the Qur’an states that he was in “darknesses” as in layers of darkness, the first being night, second being buried deep within the ocean waters, and the third darkness was suffocating inside the belly of the whale. It is in this darkness he cried out to Allah, “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” (21:87) We’re told because of the fact Prophet Yunus (as) used to constantly remember and worship Allah, that he built a lot of goodwill. Now, when he needed Allah’s help the most, Allah responded to it, “So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.” (21:88)

Prophet yunus dua hadith

Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Sa`d narrated from his father, from Sa`d that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“The supplication of Dhun-Nun (Prophet Yunus) when he supplicated, while in the belly of the whale was: ‘There is none worthy of worship except You, Glory to You, Indeed, I have been of the transgressors. (La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minaz-zalimin)’ So indeed, no Muslim man supplicates with it for anything, ever, except Allah responds to him.”

Sahih (Authentic)
Jami at-Tirmidhi 3505