Du’a for the distressed….

La ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minazzalimeen….

There is a story shared by the Abrahamic traditions of a divenly inspired and guided man. Known by muslims as Yunus (aka. Dhan-Nun), Christians as Jonah, and Jews as Yunah, this man has a story that embodies the  forgiving nature of God. Of the known descriptions of God, a vast number of them describe his forgiveness. To name a few; Al-Ghafoor (The most forgiving), Al’Afuw (The forgiver and restorer of honor after commiting sins), Al-Tawwab (The acceptor of repentance), Al-Haleem (The clement),  Al-rahman and Al Raheem (The most merciful and compassionate).  The story of this prophet is shared through the various Abrahamic traditions.  Although the story is slightly different, it is a captivating one with a blisteringly strong message.   

     In the Qur’an, God tells us “Was there any community that believed after seeing the punishment, and its Faith at that moment, saved it from the punishment? (the answer is none)–except the people of Yunus; when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the present world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while.” (10:98 Quran)

   Nineveh was a town full of idolators, we know that God has sent many messengers to communities such as these to send a clear message of tawhid or the oneness of God.  Yunus was guided to deliver this message to the people of his town, Nineveh.  As is the case with most prophets, once Yunus began delivering this message, the people of Nineveh slowly became infuriated.  The people said something along the lines of “If what you say is true, then bring the punishment of your God, we have no fear of your threats!” Out of frustration, Yunus left Nineveh fearing that God was to deliver his punishment to the town and was hoping to escape the punishment. God said, “Remember Dhan Nun (Yunus), when he went off in anger, and imagined that We shall not punish him (the calamities which had befallen him)”! (21:87) Well, Yunus (peace be upon him) couldn’t have been more wrong.  There is no escaping the punishment of God.

As he left Nineveh, frightening clouds overcame the town. As the clouds changed colors and began to look like fire, the people of Nineveh rembered the generations before them that were destroyed.  Faith entered their hearts and they begged for God’s mercy.  God forgives all, in this case even polytheists, which is the one unforgivable sin! The people were spared and showered with God’s mercy.  They prayed to God and begged for Yunus to return and guide them to the straight path.

At this same time, Yunus (peace be upon him) was on a boat with some other men heading to another land.  Thinking that he could avoid God’s punihsment, Yunus rode along on the boat. God commanded a whale to follow the boat. The people were frightened and decided to throw things off the boat to lose weight and outrun the whale.  They drew lots (played a lottery system) and everytime Yunus was the one who lost.  The men kept redrawing, for they did want to lose Yunus!  Yunus put his faith in God and jumped into the ocean. He was swallowed by this whale.  While in the belly of the whale, Yunus prostrated and prayed the following:

La ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minazzalimeen (Ch. Al-Anbiya (21): vs. 87)

 “None has the right to be worshipped save You (God);glory be to You (God), far removed are You (God) from any imperfection; I have been amongst the wrong-doers“ 

Tirmidhi records that anyone who is in distress and makes this supplication, has it answered immediately! 

Reflection: How many times we find ourselves in distress and turn to others than God. I recently got in a bad car accident and was two feet away from a fatal outcome.  Afterwards, I could not have been more grateful for the ability to walk out alive.  I realized that the sign of universal belief is the turning to God in a helpless situation.  Even athiests turn to God in the eye of dire distress, this is undeniable evidence of our innate inclination to turn to God at times of extreme danger. However, a submitter continues to turn toward God after receiving his mercy.  Even after this horrible experience, it was only a few weeks until I stopped making du’a for this blessing and for future blessings. I so easily fall into the trap of forgetting all the forgiveness and mercy that God has bestowed upon me. I am assuming you can relate! God willing, we can all keep this in mind and take it as a valuable lesson to never forget the favors God bestows upon us and that he never ignores a supplication, especially at times of grave danger!

Memorize this du’a and understand its story, it is very easy to memorize. This is undoubtedly a du’a to keep in ur du’actionary!

La ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minazzalimeen (Ch. Al-Anbiya (21): vs. 87)