❖ Source:
This article is taken from the book 500 Questions and Answers for Women, which is based on the fatwas of the scholars of the Haramain. The book has been translated by Hafiz Abdullah Saleem.
Can the severity of death agonies serve as a means of forgiveness for sins? And does illness reduce sins? Please clarify.
Yes, every illness, hardship, sorrow, and distress that afflicts a person — even a thorn that pricks them — is a means of expiation for their sins. If the individual exercises patience and hopes for reward, then they will be entitled not only to expiation of sins but also to the reward for patience. This applies whether the hardship occurs at the time of death or earlier in life. In every circumstance, trials and tribulations are a means of atonement for the believer’s sins.
The evidence for this is the statement of Allah, the Most High:
وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ
[Surah Ash-Shūrā 42:30]
"And whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your hands have earned — and He pardons much."
If hardships and calamities are the result of our own actions, then they also serve as atonement for our misdeeds and sins.
Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ has informed us that whatever grief, sorrow, or pain afflicts a believer — even a thorn that pricks them — it is a means of expiation for their sins.
[Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn رحمه الله]
This article is taken from the book 500 Questions and Answers for Women, which is based on the fatwas of the scholars of the Haramain. The book has been translated by Hafiz Abdullah Saleem.
❀ Question:
Can the severity of death agonies serve as a means of forgiveness for sins? And does illness reduce sins? Please clarify.
✔ Answer:
Yes, every illness, hardship, sorrow, and distress that afflicts a person — even a thorn that pricks them — is a means of expiation for their sins. If the individual exercises patience and hopes for reward, then they will be entitled not only to expiation of sins but also to the reward for patience. This applies whether the hardship occurs at the time of death or earlier in life. In every circumstance, trials and tribulations are a means of atonement for the believer’s sins.
The evidence for this is the statement of Allah, the Most High:
وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ
[Surah Ash-Shūrā 42:30]
"And whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your hands have earned — and He pardons much."
If hardships and calamities are the result of our own actions, then they also serve as atonement for our misdeeds and sins.
Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ has informed us that whatever grief, sorrow, or pain afflicts a believer — even a thorn that pricks them — it is a means of expiation for their sins.
[Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn رحمه الله]
