Reports on the reward for fever and illness

Sayyiduna Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I went in to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he had a fever. I touched him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, you have a very severe fever." He said: "Yes, I suffer fever as two men among you suffer it." I said: "That is because you have the reward twice." He said: "Yes. By the One in whose Hand is my soul, there is no Muslim on the earth who is afflicted by any harm, whatever it may be, except that Allah removes his sins from him because of it, just as a tree sheds its leaves."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No thorn, or any hardship greater than it, afflicts a Muslim except that Allah Almighty raises him one degree because of it, or forgives one of his sins because of it."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) visited a sick man who had a fever, and Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Rejoice, for Allah Almighty says: This is My fire, which I set upon My believing servant in this world, so that it may be his share in place of the Fire of the Hereafter."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the verse of the Noble Qur'an "Whoever does evil will be recompensed for it" [al-Nisa: 123] was revealed, it weighed very heavily on the Muslims and distressed them greatly. They came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Stay in the middle between excess and shortfall, and keep to what is right. Every hardship that befalls a Muslim is an expiation for him, even a mishap that strikes him and a thorn that pricks him."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No one among the Muslims is afflicted with any hardship except that Allah Almighty gives a command to the angels. Then Allah Almighty says: Write for My servant the deeds he used to do while he was healthy (and which he now cannot do because of illness), as long as he remains bound in My fetter."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever falls ill or goes on a journey, Allah Almighty writes for him the deeds he used to do while healthy or resident (which he now cannot do because of illness or travel)."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id and Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: We heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whatever illness, hardship, prolonged sickness, worry or grief afflicts a Muslim, Allah Almighty makes it an expiation for his sins."

Iyad bin Ghutayf said: We went to visit Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was ill. His face was turned towards the wall, and his wife was sitting by his head. I said: "How did Abu Ubaydah spend the night?" His wife said: "He spent the night in a state of reward." Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah turned towards us and said: "I did not spend the night earning reward; but whoever Allah Almighty tests with some hardship, that hardship becomes a means of his sins falling away."

Something similar is also reported from Iyad bin Ghutayf as a marfu' narration (traced back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whatever thing befalls a Muslim and causes pain to his body, Allah Almighty makes it an expiation for his sins."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that fever was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and a man reviled it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Do not revile fever, for it cleanses away sins just as fire cleanses away the dross of iron."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Hardship keeps afflicting a believing man or a believing woman until he meets Allah Almighty with no sin left upon him."

It is narrated from Ata bin Yasar that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a believing servant falls ill, Allah Almighty commands the Noble Scribes: Write for My servant the like of what he used to do while healthy, until I take him to Myself or grant him relief from this hardship."

Sa'id bin Wahb said: I went with Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) to visit a friend of his from Kindah. He said: When Allah afflicts a believer with some hardship and then removes it from him, it becomes an expiation for his sins, and he is given the chance to make amends (with Allah) in what remains (of his life). And when Allah Almighty afflicts a sinful wrongdoer with some hardship and then grants him relief, he is like a camel whose owner ties its thigh and foreleg so that it cannot walk; it does not know why it was tied, and then it is released and it does not know why it was released.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) that when a (believing) servant falls ill, the angel says: "O Lord! Your such-and-such servant is afflicted with illness." Allah Almighty says: "As long as he remains in My fetter, keep writing for him the like of the deeds he used to do (in health)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) that when Allah Almighty tests His servant with illness, He says to the angel of the left shoulder: "Lift (your pen and stop writing)," and He says to the angel of the right shoulder: "Write for My servant the deeds he used to do (in health)."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "There is no believer who is pricked by a thorn or anything greater than it except that, in return for it, Allah Almighty raises him one degree and forgives a sin of his."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No pain is dearer to me than fever, (because) it enters every joint of the son of Adam, and Allah Almighty gives each of his joints a share of reward.

It is narrated from Salim that one day Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a man and was amazed at his health and strength. He asked him: "Have you never had a fever? Have you never had any ache (such as a headache)?" He said: "No." He said: "Woe to this one; he will die with his sins."

It is narrated from Rabi' bin Umaylah that a Bedouin was with Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him), and the people mentioned pain and illness in his presence. Sayyiduna Ammar said: "Have you ever complained of illness?" He said: "No." He said: "Then you are not one of us. There is no believer who is put through hardship except that his sins fall away just as the leaves of a tree fall. And the disbeliever is put through hardship, but his example is that of a camel: when it is tied it does not know why it was tied, and when it is released it does not know why it was released."

It is narrated from Asim that Abu al-Aliyah went to visit al-Nadr bin Anas. He said: For fifty years we have been relating that no believing servant falls ill except that, when he recovers and gets up, he gets up as he was on the day he was born. And for fifty years we have been relating that no believing servant falls ill except that Allah Almighty says to the Noble Scribes: "Write for My servant the deeds he used to do while healthy."

It is narrated from Amr bin Shurahbil that Sayyiduna Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Reward is not written for pain, but it becomes an expiation for sins.

Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Red camels would not please me in exchange for a single night in which I am ill.

Abu Qilabah said: When a person falls ill while (engaged) in some righteous deed, he receives the reward of the deed he used to do in health.

Ikrimah said: When a man falls ill, every day those same deeds of his that he used to do in health are raised up to Allah.

It is narrated from Muslim bin Yasar: When a servant falls ill, the best of the deeds he used to do in health is written for him.

Ali bin al-Husayn said: When the body does not fall ill, it becomes ungrateful for blessings (and insolent), and there is no good in a body that is ungrateful.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: No person is pricked by a thorn, or anything greater than it, except that Allah Almighty removes his sins because of it.

Mus'ab bin Sa'd narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Which of the people suffer the most hardships?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The prophets, then those who are most like them; and calamities keep coming upon a servant until he meets Allah Almighty in a state in which no sin remains upon him."

Masruq said: On the Day of Resurrection the people of affliction will wish that their flesh had been cut with shears in this world.

Mujahid said: Everything of the sick person is written (in his record of deeds), even the sound of his groaning in his illness is written.

Abu Rabi'ah said: I heard Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah Almighty afflicts the body of a Muslim with some hardship (and trial), He commands the angel: Write for him the righteous deeds he used to do while healthy. Then, if Allah grants him healing, He washes him clean and purifies him of sins; and if Allah takes his soul, He forgives him and has mercy on him."