We’re all sinners, we’re all in the wrong, we’re all in need of forgiveness, and the first step on the path to earning that forgiveness is to acknowledge errors. For that, the prophet Jonah’s prayer from inside the fish is a good place to start…
لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
There is nothing worthy of worship but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers.
You know the story: Jonah, peace be upon him, called his friends and neighbors and they ridiculed him and ignored his pleas. After many years, he lost his patience and left them, despite Allah’s instructions to remain steadfast in his outreach. He boarded a ship, planning to sail somewhere far away, but Allah sent a violent storm to block his path. The sailors threw everything they could overboard in an attempt to save themselves, and once all their goods were gone, the cast lots to see who would get thrown overboard. By the will of Allah alone, Jonah, peace be upon him, ended up in the water, where he was swallowed by a great fish.
Down in the belly of that fish, he prayed for forgiveness: “There is nothing worthy of worship except for Allah, Glorified is He! Truly, I have been among the wrongdoers.”
And may Allah guide us to better and may He forgive our sins and show us mercy on the Day of Judgement, ameen.
