THE Prophet (SAW) encouraged a Muslim who may be sick to be patient on Allah (SWT) by firmly holding on to the faith of Al-Islam, no matter the circumstances. Qur’an 2:155-157 (Surah Al-Baqarah) confirms this. One must not take this injunction out of context. A Muslim who may be challenged health-wise should not further undermine his or her situation with a misapplication of the Quranic injunction quoted here. Sha’aria allows for the Muslim to seek help from medical professionals and to take advantage of the advanced technology in medicare.
Abu ad-Darda reported the Prophet (SAW) saying, “Allah has sent down both the malady and its remedy. For every disease, Allah has created a cure. So, seek medical treatment, but never with something, the use of which Allah has prohibited.” It is equally permissible for the sick to resort to prayer in times of sickness inasmuch as no part of the prayer indicates shirk against Allah (SWT).
It was narrated from Ibn Abbaas (R.A.) that the Prophet (SAW) said, “The one who visits a sick person who is not dying, and says seven times in his presence, ‘I ask Allah the Almighty, the Lord of the Mighty Throne, to heal you’, Allah will heal him from the sickness.” (Abu Dawood). There is a plethora of citations from the Qur’an and the famous collections of Al-Mahthurah prayer guide which an afflicted Muslim can readily use to look to Allah (SWT) for intervention.
It is clearly an act of shirk, a very unpardonable one at that, for anyone to clad himself or herself in any kind of superficial object of superstitious beliefs which may impose a sense of self-delusion against whatever has been destined by Allah (SWT). A supposedly Muslim faithful who dies with a semblance of such make-believe object of Shirk shall clearly ends up in Jahannam (the everlasting Hellfire). Hadith At-Tabarani: 248-249.
Muslims are encouraged in the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) to make visiting the sick a routine. Bukhari and Muslim quoted the Prophet (SAW) as saying, “O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove the affliction, and heal, for You are the Healer, and there is no healing except Your healing.” This prayer reflects the Prophet’s compassion and concern for the well-being of the sick, and his trust in Allah’s mercy and healing power.
It is approved should a Muslim who is sick be medically attended to by fellow Muslim of the opposite gender if a qualified care-giver of same gender is unavailable, once his or her piety is not in any doubt by the Ummah. An evidence to justify this is drawn from the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). The Ashab (the first-generation Muslims who lived in the times of the Prophet (SAW) as contemporaries) who were wounded during battles were evacuated from the battle fronts in order for them to be attended with care by fellow Muslim women in their Niqab or Khimar garments.
A designated location or facility where the sick are practically attended for more focused and dedicated attention such as the hospital is never strange to the Sunnah. Some authentic hadiths (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)) validate the idea of keeping sick Muslims in the hospitals for medical attention and isolation. Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah quoted the Prophet (SAW) as saying “A sick person should not be taken to a healthy person.” Another one as narrated by Bukhari and Muslim quotes the Prophet (SAW) thus: “If you hear of an outbreak of a plaque in a land where plaque has broken out, do not leave it.” Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi also reported the Prophet saying, “Avoid the one who has been afflicted with leprosy as you would avoid a lion.” The last in this set of hadiths is the one narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majah which reports the Prophet (SAW) saying, ‘The sick person should be kept apart from the healthy person.’ All the quoted hadiths are authentic.
However, the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) is favourably disposed to the sick Muslims, even as imperative as it were, for them to be hospitalised or isolated. The Sunnah equally makes it very imperative for the Ummah to periodically pay visitation to the sick with gift items. Words of admonition and encouragement should be said to soothe the psyche of the sick whenever visitation is paid to them, although it should not take much time staying with sick except if the need arises. The Prophet (SAW) encouraged sick Muslims to be forward-looking and hopeful on recovery, only that they must be patient with Allah (SWT) while the trial lasts. The sick should not be deemed as getting very despondent about their chances of surviving their sickness and afflictions. The following set of hadiths (Sahih al-Bukhari 5641, 5642, 5647) validate the issue being made here sacrosanct. Narrated Abu Sa’ad Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira: The Prophet (SAW) said, “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.”
Ibn Abbaas reported: If the Prophet (SAW) entered the home of a sick person to visit him, he would say, “It will not harm you. It is purification, if Allah wills.” Ibn al-Mulaqqin (R.A.) said that what this means is that it is not allowed to wish for unpleasant and harsh fates and to throw oneself into danger situations. Hence, the Salaf (early generations) asked for well-being and to be protected from trials and tests, because people vary in terms of their ability to bear tests and trials with patience and steadfastness. The Prophet (SAW) said to Umm Sa’ib, who was suffering from a fever, “Do not curse the fever, for verily it forgives sins like a furnace gets rid of the impurities in iron.” The Prophet (SAW) once said to a female companion, “Every sickness and calamity that happens is a blessing in disguise and an opportunity for sins to be expiated.”
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