Ever wonder why a Muslim is allowed by Allah, subhana
watallah, to get sick?
Hadith - Bukhari 7:564
I
visited Allah's Apostle
while he was suffering from a high fever. I touched him
with my hand and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You have a
high fever." Allah's Apostle
said, "Yes, I have as much fever as two men of you ha ve."
I said, "Is it because you will get a double reward?"
Allah's Apostle
said, "Yes, no Muslim is afflicted with harm because of
sickness or some other inconvenience, but that Allah will
remove his sins for him as a tree sheds its leaves."
Hadith - Muslim & Bukhari
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri r.a. reported that the Prophet
said: Whenever a Muslim is afflicted with a hardship,
sickness, sadness, worry, harm, or depression --even a
thorn's prick, Allah expiates his sins because of it.
Recorded by
Bukhari in al-Adab ul-Mufrad (no. 493), verified
authentic by al-Albani
"Expect good, because Allah (s.w.t.) makes
a believer's sickness an expiation (for his sins) and a
period of repose. As for a disbeliever falling sick, he
is like a camel whose owner ties it and then lets it
loose --it does not understand why it was tied, nor why
it was freed."
~~~The cure...
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari, Book 25, Number 5466, Narrated
Jabir ibn Abdullah
Allah's Messenger
said: There is a remedy for every malady, and when the
remedy is applied to the disease it is cured with the
permission of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.
Hadith - Muwatta 50:12
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that a
man received a wound in the time of the Messenger of
Allah
.
The blood clotted in the wound and the man called two men
from the Banu Ammar tribe. They looked at it and claimed
that the Messenger of Allah
said
to them, "Which of you is the better doctor?" They said,
"Is there any good in medicine, Messenger of Allah?" Zayd
claimed that the Messenger of Allah
said,
"The one who sent down the disease sent down the remedy."
Narration - Ahmad
"Worshippers of Allah, use medical treatments."
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #2170, Narrated AbdulMalik ibn
Umayr
Allah's Messenger
said, "Fatihat al-Kitab contains healing for every
disease."
[Darimi and Bayhaqi,
in Shu'ab al-Iman, transmitted it.]
~~~Severe
Trials for those Firm in their Religion
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi 1562, Narrated Sa'd
When the Prophet
was asked which people suffered the greatest affliction,
he replied, "The prophets, then those who come next to
them, then those who come next to them. A man is
afflicted in keeping his religion. If he is firm in his
religion his trial is severe, but if there is weakness in
his religion it is made light for him, and it continues
like that till he walks on the earth having no sin."
[Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah
and Darimi transmitted it, and Tirmidhi said this is a
hasan sahih tradition.]
~~~Rewards for those
Afflicted
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #1570, Narrated Jabir ibn
Abdullah
Allah's Messenger
said, "On the Day of Resurrection, when people who have
suffered affliction are given their reward, those who are
healthy will wish their skins had been cut to pieces with
scissors when they were in the world."
[Tirmidhi
transmitted it, saying that this is a gharib tradition.]
Recorded by Ahmad
,
verified authentic by al-Hakim, ath-Thahabi, and al-Albani
The ailment is intensified for the righteous. Whenever a
believer is afflicted with a hardship, be it a thorn or
more, a sin is taken off him because of it, and he is
elevated on level (in Jannah [Paradise]).
Hadith - Al-Bukhari
A traveller's or sick person's deeds are recorded in
accordance with what he used to do when he was resident
or well.
~~~Endurance
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi, Narrated AbuUmamah
[Ibn Majah
transmitted it.]
The Prophet
stated that Allah, who is Blessed and Exalted, said "Son
of Adam, if you show endurance and seek your reward from
me in the first affliction, I shall be pleased with no
lesser reward than Paradise for you."
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa'i, Narrated 'A'ishah
The Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, said, "Do not
say, 'I feel rotten*.' Instead, say, 'I do not feel
well."
*or any _expression that involves corruption of any type.
~~~Epilepsy
Hadith - Bukhari 7:555, Narrated 'Ata bin Abi Rabah
Ibn 'Abbas said to me, "Shall I show you a woman of the
people of Paradise?" I said, "Yes." He said, "This black
lady came to the Prophet and said, 'I get attacks of
epilepsy and my body becomes uncovered; please invoke
Allah for me.' The Prophet
said (to her), 'If you wish, be patient and you will have
(enter) Paradise; and if you wish, I will invoke Allah to
cure you.' She said, 'I will remain patient,' and added,
'but I become uncovered, so please invoke Allah for me
that I may not become uncovered.' So he invoked Allah for
her."
~~~Kindness to the sick
Hadith - Mishkat, Narrated Abu Sa'id
Allah's Messenger
said, "When you go in to visit an invalid, express a hope
that he will live long. That will not avert anything, but
it will comfort him."
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 40,
Narrated An-Nu'man bin Bashir
Allah's Apostle
said, "You see the believers as regards their being
merciful among themselves and showing love among
themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that,
if any part of the body is not well then the whole body
shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it."
~~~Visit the sick
Hadith - Qudsi 18
O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will
say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the
Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My
servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not?
Did you not know that had you visited him you would have
found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food
and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I
feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will
say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you
for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had
you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward
for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give
Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O
Lord, how should I give You to drink whin You are the
Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so
asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to
drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely
found that with Me.
~~~Supplication of an
Invalid
Allah's Messenger
said, "When you visit an invalid tell him to make
supplication for you, for his supplication is like that
of the angels."
[Ibn Majah
transmitted it.]
~~~Taking Medicine
Hadith - Muslim, narrated Jabir Bin 'Abdillah
The Prophet
said: Every disease has a medication: If the medication
for a particular disease is found, it will be cured with
Allah's (swt) permission.
Hadith - Bukhari 7:610, Ibn 'Abbas and 'Aisha, Radiya
'Llahu 'anhuma
Abu Bakr kissed (the forehead of) the Prophet
when he was dead. 'Aisha added: We put medicine in one
side of his mouth but he started waving us not to insert
the medicine into his mouth. We said, "He dislikes the
medicine as a patient usually does." But when he came to
his senses he said, "Did I not forbid you to put medicine
(by force) in the side of my mouth?" We said, "We thought
it was just because a patient usually dislikes medicine."
He
said, "None of thos e who are in the house but will be
forced to take medicine in the side of his mouth while I
am watching, except Al-'Abbas, for he had not witnessed
your deed."
~~~Read Qur'an when Sick
The Noble Qur'an - Al-Isra 17:82
And We send down from the Qur'an that which is a healing
and a mercy to those who believe (in Islamic Monotheism
and act on it), and it increases the Zalimun (polytheists
and wrong-doers) nothing but loss.
~~~Ruqyah
Ruqyah (plural: ruqa) is du'a or dhikr used for
protection or cure.
Hadith - Muslim, Narrated 'Awf Bin Malik al-Ashjai
'Awf Bin Malik al-Ashjai said to the Prophet
,
"O Allah's Messenger! We used to apply ruqa during
Jahliyyah. What do you think of that?" He
replied: "Present your ruqa to me. There is nothing w
rong with them as long as they do not involve shirk."
Hadith - Muslim and others
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri r.a. reported that Jibril came to the
Prophet
and said, "O Muhammad, are you sick?" He replied, "Yes."
He said: "Bismillahi arqik, min kulli shay'in yu'thik,
min sharri kulli nafsin aw 'ayni hasid -- With
Allah's Name I shelter you (give you ruqyah), from all
that ails you, from the evil of every soul, or that of
the envious eyes. May Allah cure you; with Allah's Name
I shelter you."
Action Items for the
uttaqun:
-
Study
tawheed as it relates to illnesses
-
Give
all acknowledgement to Allah, subhana watala,
for healing and ailments.
-
Do
not jump to the conclusion that all sicknesses are
punishments from Allah, subhana watala.
-
A
woman may be treated by a male physician (including
treatment or examination of private parts, etc.) only
if a female physician cannot be obtained through all
means possible, and it is recommended that a mahram
male or trustworth muslim female be present to
prevent the occurance of khulwah.
-
Males should avoid treatment by non-mahram
female doctors or nurses, except when male doctors or
nurses are not available.
-
Do
not look down on a person who is sick, merely because
of the sickness.
-
Performing ruqyah is permissible so long
that it does not contain shirk or anything else haram.
But do not seek ruqyah, because that can
prevent you from being among the seventy thousand who
immediately enter Paradise. You may, however,
volunteer on your own and perform ruqyah over an
individual if s/he has not requested it and still be
eligible to be among the seventy thousand who
immediatley enter Paradise... Allah knows best.
-
Count
your blessings while you are sick, using the
opportunity to seek forgiveness of sins and remaining
patient during the affliction.
Remember...
Allah, subhana watala, sees everything we do!
