The Blessings of Sickness
Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira: The Prophet said,"No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, 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."
The above Hadith (Saying) from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is actually quite amazing when you think about it and become enlightened over it.
Let us compare a 25 year old man with a 65 year old man, in terms of energy levels. We can safely assume the 25 year old's energy level is higher, meaning that he can go through a day without feeling tired. Whereas, the 65 year old, one trip to the grocery store and back leaves him a little weary and he needs to take a short nap.
Allah swt says in Surah Yassin, "If We grant long life to any, We cause him to be reversed in nature. Will they not then understand?" (Qur'an, 36:68)
And why does God say, "Will they not then understand?"
Have you ever stopped to think about and ask yourself, why didn't God create us to get stronger and stronger over time?
Alright, let's go a little deeper. One may assume that, in regards to sins, the 25 year would have lesser sins than the 65 year, as the 65 year old has lived a longer life to experience the pleasures and temptations of this world. Is that a safe assumption to make?
As we re-read the Hadith (saying) above that I quoted, even a short nap from a 65 year old in the afternoon, because he was tired expiates sins from him. Can you imagine how many sins are being removed if he experiences tiredness every single day? As he lives and experiences his remaining years in old age, he is automatically one step closer to being among those who are granted Paradise. This in itself is true Mercy from our Glorious Creator. AllahuAkbar!
This is Grandeur and Marvel of our Lord, the Creator of the Heavens and the Universe and ALL that is in between. He loves us so much that He created us "to reverse in nature". He granted us the sense of fatigue and tiredness and sadness and sickness so that we can remove sins from our souls. He wants that when we stand in front of Him on the Day of Judgement that our record of good deeds outweighs our record of bad deeds. He is giving us every chance to go to Paradise and we seldom think about this nor even give thanks, but for only a few of us. This is why God says "Will they not then understand?"
God is Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate to mankind.
"And few of My servants are grateful.” (Qur'an 34:13)
Now, if we re-read the top posted Hadith (saying) deeper, we can identify that EVERYONE gets sick. To say that you are in perfect health and never get sick is a wrong statement to make and contradicts the Laws of Creation that God sent forth as He created man.
The fact is, we all get sick, at a minimum of 4 times a year, our bodies are created with a cyclical period to detox itself. These 4 times are between December & January, March & April, June & July, September & October. So no matter where you live, or what colour, creed, nationality, we all follow this cycle of detoxification. Now do you not find it interesting that these periods coincides with the 4 seasons?
Do you not realize that God created 4 seasons to act as a witness and reminder to ourselves that these are the times that we get sick and heal ourselves and these are the times that we expiate sins from our bodies? Do we not realize this and give thanks to our Creator? "Will they not then understand?"
God is Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate to mankind.
What you can do is to start a log and record the day and month that you get sick along with members of your family. And continue this log, the next year and the next year. By 5 years, you can look back and you'll notice a pattern of sickness and predictability of when you will get sick.
We all have the same organs in our bodies, but we all function and operate differently, and this is due to our thinking abilities to our lifestyles and health choices our bodies detox differently during those 4 cycles. Some may experience low to mild symptoms to the point they may not even be aware that their body is detoxing and others medium to more severe symptoms and therefore we all do not detox on the same day and hour.
Regardless of what level of sickness we all incur, there is something more amazing that is occurring and we are all having sins being expiated against our souls, which will bring us closer to reaching Paradise.
Now if you are in great health, continue this lifestyle but become more aware of your body and know that when the 4 times per year come, sins are being removed from your record. If you find that you go through these cycles with more severity, then spend the time to understand why that is and make the efforts to improve your health.
As people get older, they feel the onset of more sickness and health issues and they do not realize that God is so Merciful to you as you get older, God loves you so much that He wants you to be among the people of Paradise and how does He do this? By reversing you in nature. Aaamin.
Praise be to God. The Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate to mankind.
I pray that this short article has enlighten you to deeper contemplate the meaning of the above Hadith (saying) in a new light as it has for me.
May God grant us better understanding of how our bodies get sick and heals itself and May God make us all among the people of Paradise.
Aamiin.
TQ MASTER ALI