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Could the phrase "Allah withheld the water's flow from the fish (whale)," which appears in the commentary on the Hadith of Musa and Al-Khidr in Sahih Al-Bukhari, be explained in detail?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The meaning of "Allah held back the flow of water from the whale" is that the water did not flow over the whale's path and did not erase its trace, making it like a niche or a tunnel (a carved opening in the ground). Thus, the whale's passage in the sea remained, visible. This occurred after the whale became agitated in the water, and the water did not close over it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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