Reply to: Fever in the form of a woman

 

Fear of Allah - the Almighty - is the refuge in times of calamity, and consolation in times of worry and misfortune. Trials are an everlasting divine law, and are a requirement of Allah's wisdom and justice - the Most High - whose impact is clearly evident in poverty and wealth, health and sickness, fear and security, deficiency and abundance, and even in everything we love and hate. We do not escape the circle of trials
 : “And We tested them with good and evil that perhaps they would return .” [Al-A`raf: 168]
 And We test you with evil and with good as trial, and to Us you will be returned . [Al-Anbiya: 35], Ibn Abbas - may God be pleased with him - said: We test you with hardship and ease, health and sickness, wealth and poverty, lawful and unlawful, obedience and disobedience, guidance and misguidance.

The wise and prudent person must certainly be certain that all things have been completed, and that Allah, the Exalted, has determined everything, both small and great, and knows what was and what will be, and if it were to be, how it would be:  “ There is no creature on earth or bird that flies with its wings except that they are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Register .” [Al-An`am: 38] The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “ The first thing Allah created was the Pen. He said to it: Write. It said: O Lord, what should I write? He said: Write the decrees of everything until the Hour comes .” [Narrated by Abu Dawud]

Fate is inevitable, and what does not happen, creation has no power to create. If a person is destined for a difficult situation, and things become difficult for him, then he must wear a belt with two ends: one of them is patience, and the other is contentment, so that he may receive the full reward for doing so. How many hardships have been difficult, and impossible for the entire world to remove, and then they were relieved with ease in less than a moment.

It was said to Al-Hasan: O Abu Saeed, where did this disposition come from? He said: From a lack of contentment with Allah. It was said: And where did the lack of contentment with Allah come from? He said: From a lack of knowledge of Allah.

When Saeed bin Jubair was brought to Al-Hajjaj to be killed, a man cried, so Saeed said to him: What makes you cry? He said: Because of what happened to you. Saeed said: Then do not cry, for it was in God’s knowledge that this matter would happen. Then he recited: “ No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being” [Al-Hadid: 22].

Whatever befalls a person, if it pleases him, then it is a clear blessing, and if it displeases him, then it is a blessing. On the one hand, it expiates his sins and he is rewarded for them, and on the other hand, there is wisdom and mercy in it that he does not know:  “ But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you do not know.” [Al-Baqarah: 216] And the Messenger of Allah spoke the truth when he said: “ How amazing is the affair of the believer, for his affair is all good. If something good happens to him, he is thankful, and that is good for him, and if something bad happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him. And that is only for the believer .” [Narrated by Muslim]

All mankind agree, without hesitation, that health is a crown on the heads of the healthy, which only the sick can see, and that health and wellness are a blessing that many people are deceived by. Diseases and ailments are widespread diseases like fire in dry wood, from which no age is free, no country is independent, and no human being is spared from them, except for those whom God has mercy on; for they are all expected symptoms, and it is impossible, impossible for life to be free of them, and if someone is not struck by its overwhelming torrent, its scattered spray here or there will strike him.

Eight things are indispensable for a young man ***** And the eight things must happen to him:

joy and sorrow, unity and separation ***** And ease and hardship, then sickness and recovery

. Illnesses and ailments, even though they are bitter and heavy, and very painful and painful, the Creator - may He be glorified - has given them wisdom and many benefits, known to those who know them and unknown to those who are ignorant of them.

Ibn al-Qayyim - may God have mercy on him - said about himself in his book (( Shifa al-Aleel )) that he counted the benefits and wisdom of diseases, and they exceeded one hundred benefits. He also said: (( The benefit of the heart and soul from pains and diseases is something that only those who have life can sense. The health of the hearts and souls depends on the pains and hardships of the bodies )). End of his words - may God have mercy on him.

Being afflicted with diseases and illnesses may be a gift and mercy from Allah, to expiate sins and raise status. Fever asked permission to see the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said: “Who is this?” She said: “Umm Mildam” – which is the nickname of fever. He ordered that it be taken to the people of Quba’, and they experienced from it what Allah knows best. They came to him and complained about it to him, and he said: “What do you want? If you want me to supplicate to Allah for you to remove it from you, or if you want it to be a purification for you?” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, will you do that?” He said: “Yes.” They said: “Then leave it.” [Narrated by Ahmad and Al-Hakim with a good chain of narration]. 

He also said : “ There is no Muslim who is afflicted with harm from illness or anything else, except that Allah expiates his sins because of it, just as a tree sheds its leaves .” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

A man said to the Messenger of Allah , “What do we have to do with these diseases that afflict us?” He said: “They are expiations.” Ubayy ibn Ka’b said: “And if they are few in number?” He said: “Even if they are a thorn or something greater.” [Narrated by Ahmad].

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) visited  a sick person who was suffering from an illness and said: “ Be of good cheer, for Allah, the Almighty, says: ‘It is My Fire which I unleash upon My believing servant in this world, so that his portion of the Fire in the Hereafter will be his portion ’” [Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majah]. Illness is fever.

From here we learn the positive results that illness produces, and we know that its taste is like patience, but its consequences are sweeter than pure honey. So why, then, does one of us feel humiliated by an illness that afflicts him, or curse and insult it, or excuse himself with ‘Oh, what if?’ Does ‘what if’ benefit anything?!

Know that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) entered upon Umm al-Sa’ib and said: “What is the matter with you, Umm al-Sa’ib? Why are you shaking?” She said: “It is fever, may Allah not bless it.” He said: “ Do not curse fever, for it removes the sins of the children of Adam just as the bellows remove the impurities of iron .” [Narrated by Muslim]

From the above, one should not think that illness is a desired goal. No, by no means. The arrogant believer should not wish for affliction, nor ask Allah to send down illness upon him. The Messenger of Allah ( blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Ask Allah for forgiveness and well-being, for after certainty no one has been given anything better than well-being .” [Narrated by An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah].

Mutraf said: “ For me to be well and thankful is dearer to me than for me to be afflicted and be patient .”

From here we know well that illness is not an end in itself, but rather for what it leads to in terms of patience, seeking reward, good reward, and praising the Benefactor in every situation. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Calamities that happen without the servant’s choice, such as illness, the death of a loved one, or thieves taking his money, are only rewarded for being patient with them, not for the calamity itself. Rather, the calamity expiates his sins, for reward is only for voluntary actions and what results from them .” End quote from his words (may Allah have mercy on him).

From this standpoint, the infidel and the Muslim, the righteous and the wicked, are united in the calamity of illness on the same level, and they differ in the fruit and the outcome. No one would consider them equal in this except a foolish and reckless person, who falls into what Ibn Masoud said: ( You see the infidel as the healthiest of people in body, but the sickest of them in heart. And you find the believer as the healthiest of people in heart, but the sickest of them in body. By God, if your hearts were sick and your bodies were healthy, you would be less important to God than a dung beetle .)

Salman al-Farsi entered upon a sick person to visit him and said to him: ( Be of good cheer, for the illness of the believer is made by God as an expiation and a place of repentance for him, and the illness of the wicked is like the camel; its people tie it up and then release it, and it does not know why it was tied up and why it was released .)

When Islam encourages patience in the face of affliction, and explains the healing effects and sufficient wisdom contained in ailments, no one should mistakenly understand that it glorifies pains and honors aches and ailments. Rather, Islam praises those who are afflicted and those who have ailments, their composure and their good faith: “  What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And Allah is ever Appreciative and Knowing.” [An-Nisa’: 147].

Urwah ibn Az-Zubayr complained of a disease in his leg, so they cut it off from his knee, and he was silent and did not groan. That night, one of his sons fell from the roof and died, so Urwah said: O Allah, to You be praise. They were seven sons, so You took one and left six. I had four limbs, so You took one and left three. If I took, then I gave, and if I was afflicted, then I was cured.

May Allah have mercy on Urwah and forgive him, for some of his illnesses were lighter than others, and his affliction was lighter than the affliction of others, so his illness became easy for him, and his affliction became easy for him.

This is the believer, he looks with the eye of his insight and praises Allah for two things:

First , preventing what could have happened of greater calamity, as he knew that there are hidden things in the corners and calamities in the wilderness.

Second , preserving what could have disappeared, of overwhelming health and abundant grace. So he looks at the existing blessing before he looks at the lost blessing.

Often times, pains are a purification that Allah, in His wisdom, sends to the sincere believers to remove from them what enchants their hearts from the pleasures of this world, so that they do not remain deceived by them or rely on them for long. And many a calamity has a benefit, indeed, how many a trial conceals within it gifts and mercies.

The appearance of fever in the form of a woman is not new. Our master Gabriel, peace be upon him, the King of the Mountains, the Angel of Death, and others appeared to the beloved Mustafa, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the world appeared to the beloved Mustafa  in the form of an old woman during the Isra’ journey. All of this is a characteristic of prophecy and the miracles of the prophets that no one can be asked about except God. Just as the law of fire fell for our master Abraham, peace be upon him, and did not burn him, and the sea split and the law fell for Moses, peace be upon him, and Jesus, peace be upon him, spoke in the cradle and one of the laws of life fell for him, so too did the laws fall for the beloved Mustafa  .

O God, we ask you for forgiveness, wellness, and permanent recovery