What To Do When You Are Sick

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Even if you are a little sick, be grateful because this sickness is a blessing. Say,"inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un (Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return), O Allah, give me protection in my calamity and leave for me good therefrom."

It was reported that the leather toe-strap of Omar’s shoe broke and he said, inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. The people said, “O Commander of the faithful, concerning the strap of your shoe?!” He (Omar) said, “Yes, everything that strikes a believer that he does not like is a calamity.”

Whether you are a little sick or very sick, it is a time when you should learn a lot about how much you need Allah. You need His cure--only He can make you recover from your illness--no medicine can cure you without His will. He can make your sickness go away or worse or He can cause you to die from it. So you turn to Him, repent and ask Him for forgiveness.

When you are sick, you will be resting a little bit, sometimes you are forced to rest (for those high achievers, ambitious, multi-taskers or A-type people). This in itself is a blessing because now it will give you time to reflect on Allah's mercy, time for remembrance of Allah, for sending blessings upon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and reciting some Qur'an. This is a time when you thank Him abundantly for that you are still alive and you can still move and He is the One who is giving you another opportunity to do all these things. Have more hope in Allah and that He will make you better. No doubt, if you do all these, inshaAllah, this should be a great spiritual experience for you.

So, don't waste this blessing by complaining, losing temper, upset with people, impatient, laying around doing nothing or make everyone nervous, etc. Take this opportunity to reflect, learn patience and reap lots of rewards.

Calamities are just like bitter lessons to a person walking in the path of Allah. They show path towards the next world. It is that though a medicine is bitter and distasteful, it is a bliss for the sick. When the people see the reward of calamities in the next world they will be grateful to their Creator.

Allah Almighty says,

الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ﴿١٥٦﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٧

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, (155) Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return." (156) Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided. (157)

[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:155-157]

It is reported that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: When Allah wishes good of a man and establishes love with him, He sends down upon him troubles and calamities and afflicts him with mishaps. When he prays to Allah, angels say: This voice is acquainted with us. When he prays to Him a second time and says, O Lord, Allah says: O My servant, I am present, fortune for you. I have given you what is good for you and I have kept deposited with Me what is better for you. When there will be Resurrection, the pious will be brought and their actions will be weighed in the Balance--the actions of those who prayed, those who paid zakat, those who fasted and those who made hajj. Then those who were afflicted with calamities will be brought but their book of deeds will not be opened in their presence. Reward will be rained over them as calamities were thrown over them. Those who were happy and safe in the world will see the high rank of those who suffered troubles and calamities and say: Alas how good it would have been if the flesh of our bodies were severed by scissors. For this reason, Allah says: Surely the patient will be given full rewards without account.

We ask Allah to grant us excellent health and give cure to those who are sick, protect us from calamities and ease those who are being afflicted with calamities. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalaam