Abu Hurairah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) visited a man who had been ill, so he said: “Receive good news, for indeed Allaah (Ta’ala) said: ‘It is My Fire which I impose upon My sinning slave as his portion of the Fire.’” [At-Tirmidhi no. 2088 and authenticated by Al-Albaani who graded it Saheeh]. Al-Hasan said: “They would hope that the fever that occurred at night would atone for any deficiency caused by sins.”Sickness for a believing servant of Allaah is not only pain and adversity; it is also a blessing in disguise since it wipes out some of his sins. It makes up for the loss in one’s rank with Allaah that he suffered because of his misdeeds, and it is a source of salvation from Hellfire.
Ibn Abi Ad-Duniya reported on the authority of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Fever is the share of every believer of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.” [Saheeh Al-Jamie’ no. 3187]
Ibn Rajab (Rahimahullaah) said: “Bear in mind that Allaah (Ta’ala) created Paradise and Hell. Then He created sons of Adam, and He made for each of these (i.e. sons of Adam), two abodes (dwellings, i.e. Paradise and Hell). He (Ta’ala) then sent Messengers as givers of glad tidings of Paradise for those who believe and do righteous deeds; and warned of Hellfire for those who disbelieve and disobey. He (Ta’ala) set proofs and evidences that prove the truthfulness of His Messengers for what they have taught about their Lord and what He (Ta’ala) said about that (final recompense). He (Ta’ala) makes His slaves witness the impact of Paradise in this world as well as the impact of Hellfire (i.e. Allaah gives examples so we can imagine how Hell and Paradise will be).
1-The severest of what the people find of heat is from the heat of Hellfire, and the severest cold that they experience is from the Zamhareer of Jahannam (Hellfire). Zamhareer is the severe coldness which Allaah has prepared as punishment for the disbelievers on the Day of Judgment.
Abu Hurairah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The (Hell) Fire complained to its Lord saying: ‘O my Lord! My different parts eat up each other.’ So, He allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in summer, and this is the reason for the severe heat and the bitter cold you (we) find (in weather).” [Al-Bukhaari no. 3260]
2-It is reported that the coldness of the Sahar (predawn), which people witness every night, is from the coldness of Paradise when it opens at the time of Sahar every night. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhuma) reported that Paradise is hung with two horns of the sun, spreads every year (during spring) what appears in it of flowers, fruits and good weather, moderate in coldness and heat. [Reported by Al-Haithami in Majma’ az-Zawa’id]
3-Moreover, Allaah has made His servants witness in their own selves, the impacts of Paradise and Hell:
From the impact of Paradise is what appears in the hearts of believers of the light of Iman (faith); the witnessing of the unseen with their hearts. Paradise could even appear to some of them as if they see it with their eyes and smell its fragrance. On the day of Uhud, Anas ibn an-Nadr (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) said: “Woe (to you)! I find the smell of Paradise beside the Uhud mountain.” [Muslim no. 1903]
4-As for the impact of Hellfire, it is what they experience of fever which is from the heat of Hellfire. Rafi` ibn Khadij (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated: “I heard the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) saying: ‘Fever is from the heat of the (Hell) Fire; so cool it with water.’”[Al-Bukhaari no. 3262]
Ibn Rajab (Rahimahullaah) said: “The meaning -and Allaah knows best- is that the heat of the fever in this world expiates the sins of the believer and purifies him by it till he meets Allaah without a sin. Purified from every filth (evil deed), the slave becomes suitable for the nearness of his Lord in the abode of His dignity, the abode of as-Salaam (safety and security) and he will not need to be purified in Hellfire tomorrow. This is regarding the believer who has fulfilled Iman and has no sins except that which is expiated and purified by the fever.”
There are many authentic narrations that mention the expiation of sins through sicknesses and afflictions, such as:
1-Jabir ibn ‘Abdullaah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) reported that Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) visited Umm As-Sa’ib or Umm Al-Musayyib and said: “Umm As-Sa’ib or Umm Al-Musayyib, why is it that you are shivering?” She said: “It is fever and may it not be blessed by Allaah,” whereupon he [the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)] said: “Do not curse fever, for it expiates the sins of the children of Adam just as a furnace removes the alloy of iron.” [Muslim no. 2575]
2-‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Azhar (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The example of a believer who is afflicted with fever is like an iron heated in the fire; its scum is removed and that which is good remains.’’ [Al-Haakim and authenticated by Al-Albaani in Saheeh At-Targheeb no. 3439 and graded Hasan]
3-Ubayy ibn Ka’b (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The good deeds will be written for the person who has been afflicted with a flickering in his feet (i.e. he hesitates or is scared) or stricken in a vein.” Ubayy (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) said: “O Allaah! I ask you for a fever which does not prevent me from going out in Your Cause nor prevent me from going to Your House (in Umrah or Hajj), nor going out to the Masjid.” It is said that he (Ubayy) was not touched but he had fever. [Saheeh At-Targheeb no. 3444 and Al-Albaani graded it Hasan li Ghairihi]
4-Ibn ‘Abbaas (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhuma) narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) paid a visit to a sick bedouin. The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) used to say when visiting a patient: “No harm will befall you! May Allaah cure you! May Allaah cure you!” So the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said to the bedouin: “Tahoor Laa Baas Alayk” “No harm will befall you. May Allaah cure you!” The bedouin said: “You say, may Allaah cure me? No, for it is a fever which boils in (the body of) an old man and will lead him to the grave.” The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Yes, then may it be as you say.” [Al-Bukhaari no. 3616]
The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) used to become severely sick with fever due to his great status and dignified position with Allaah, and Allaah’s will to elevate his rank with Him.
‘Aishah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anha) narrated: “I never saw anybody suffering so much from sickness as Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).” [Al-Bukhaari no. 5647]
`Abdullaah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated: I visited the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) during his ailments and he was suffering from a high fever. I said: “You have a high fever. Is it because you will have a double reward for it?” He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Yes, for no Muslim is afflicted with any harm but that Allaah will remove his sins as the leaves of a tree fall down.” [Al-Bukhaari no. 5647]
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) said: “I entered upon the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) when he was suffering from a fever. I placed my hand on him and felt heat with my hand from above the blanket. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, how hard it is for you!’ He said: ‘We (Prophets) are like that. The trial is multiplied for us and so is the reward.’ I said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, which people are most severely tested?’ He said: ‘The Prophets.’ I said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, then who?’ He said: ‘Then the righteous, some of whom were tested with poverty until they could not find anything except a cloak to put around themselves. One of them will rejoice at calamity as one of you would rejoice at ease.’” [Ibn Maajah no. 4024 and authenticated by Al-Albaani who graded it Saheeh]
Accordingly, fever expiates sins and elevates the believer in degrees.
The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) made the headache and fever a sign of a believer, and the opposite case a sign of the people of Hell.
Abu Hurairah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) asked a bedouin: “Have you ever been afflicted by Umm Mildam?” He enquired: “What is Umm Mildam, O Messenger of Allaah?” He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “A kind of heat a person feels between the blood and the skin (i.e. fever).” The bedouin said: “I have never felt that.” The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Have you ever suffered from a headache?” The bedouin asked: “O Messenger of Allaah! What is a headache?” He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied: “A vein which strikes a man in his head.” The bedouin said: “I have never experienced it.” When he left, the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “If anyone wants to see a man of Hell, he should look at this man.” [Reported by Ahmad in his Musnad]
The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) chose the fever for his Ummah (nation) generally and for the people of Al-Madinah specifically and for the Ansaar from the residence of Qubaa specifically.
The evidence for the first one: Abu Qilaabah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that he was told that one night while offering night prayer, the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said in his Du’aa thrice: “Then let it be fever or plague.” In the morning one of his family members asked him about it. He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “I asked Allaah for three things. He granted me two and withheld one for me. I asked Him that my Ummah not be destroyed by drought. He granted that. I asked Him that they not be overcome by enemies from other than them. He granted that. And I asked Him that some of them not suffer from the harm of others, and He withheld that. So I said: ‘Let it then be fever or plague’ three times.” [Musnad Imaam Ahmad no. 5/248]
The evidence for the second: Abu Aseeb -the freed slave of the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)– narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Jibreel [Gabriel (‘Alayhis-salaam)] came to me with fever and plague, so I withheld (kept) the fever for Al-Madinah and sent the plague to Ash-Shaam. And the plague is a martyrdom for my Ummah, a mercy for them and a punishment for the disbelievers.” [Saheeh Al-Jamie’ no. 60 and Al-Albaani graded it Saheeh]
This does not contradict what is reported in the Saheeh on the authority of ‘Aishah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anha): “When Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) reached Al-Madinah, Abu Bakr and Bilal (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhuma) became ill. When Abu Bakr’s fever got worse, he would recite (this poetic verse): ‘Everybody is staying alive with his people, yet death is nearer to him than his shoelaces.’ And Bilal, when his fever deserted (left) him, would recite: ‘Would that I could stay overnight in a valley wherein I would be surrounded by Idhkhir and Jalil (kinds of good smelling grass). Would that one day I could drink the water of the Majanna and would that (the two mountains) Shama and Tafil would appear to me!’ The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: ‘O Allaah! Curse Shaibah ibn Rabi’ah and ‘Utbah ibn Rabi’ah and Umaiyah ibn Khalaf as they turned us out of our land to the land of epidemics.’ Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) then said: ‘O Allaah! Make us love Al-Madinah as we love Makkah or even more than that. O Allaah! Give blessings in our Saa’ and our Mudd (food measurements) and make the climate of Al-Madinah suitable for us and divert its fever towards Al-Juhfa.” ‘Aishah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anha) added: When we reached Al-Madinah, it was the unhealthiest of Allaah’s lands, and the valley of Bathan (the valley of Madinah) used to flow with impure colored water.” [Al-Bukhaari no. 1889]
The fever that is meant by this Hadeeth is the plague; the unhealthy land and the impure water and air which cause sicknesses, and it was diverted from Al-Madinah to Al-Juhfa.
‘Abdullaah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated: The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Al-Madinah and settling at Mahya’ah, i.e. Al-Juhfa. I interpreted that to be an indication that the epidemic of Al-Madinah had moved to that place (Al-Juhfa).” [Al-Bukhaari no. 7038]
The evidence for the third one which particularizes the Ansaar is reported in Al-Musnad by Imaam Ahmad on the authority of Jaabir (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu): “The fever sought permission from the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Who is it?” It said: “Umm Mildam.” So he (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ordered for her to go to the people of Qubaa’. So they were afflicted with it. They came to the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) complaining about it. He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “If you wish I will invoke Allaah to remove it from you, and if you wish it will be a purification for you.” They said: “Does it do that (i.e. purify one from the sins)?” He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Yes.” They said: “Then leave it.” [Musnad Ahmad no. 14393, Shu’aib Al-Anaoot said its narrators are the narrators of the Saheeh and its Matn (text) a strangeness]
Many of the Salaf used to choose fever for themselves, as is mentioned by Ubayy ibn Ka’b (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu), who invoked for the fever.
‘Aishah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anha) narrated: Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allaah expiates some of his sins because of it, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn.” [Al-Bukhaari no. 5640]
However, the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ordered to ask Allaah for Al-‘Afiyah (well-being) and urged the Companions upon that, and to not ask Him for affliction.
Anas (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) reported that Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) visited a person from amongst the Muslims to inquire (about his health) who had grown feeble like a chicken. Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Did you supplicate for anything or beg of Him about that?” He said: “Yes. I used to utter (these words): ‘Impose punishment upon me earlier in this world, that which You are going to impose upon me in the Hereafter.’” Thereupon Allaah’s Messenger (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Blessed be Allaah, you have neither the power nor forbearance to take upon yourself (the burden of His punishment). Why did you not say this: ‘O Allaah, grant us good in the world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the torment of the Fire.’ He [the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)] made this supplication (for him) and he was cured. [Muslim no. 2688]
And the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) heard a man while he was saying: “O Allaah, indeed, I ask You for patience (Allaahumma, inni as ‘alukas-sabr).” He (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “You have asked Allaah for trial, so ask him for Al-‘Afiyah.” [At-Tirmidhi no. 3527 and graded Hasan]
Abu Hurairah (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Do not wish to meet the enemy, but when you meet (face) the enemy, be patient.” [Al-Bukhaari no. 3026]
Some of the Salaf used to say in their supplication: “O Allaah! Reduce the pain and do not reduce the reward.”
It is disliked to wish for death, because it entails hastening the affliction before its befalling.
Ibn ‘Umar (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhuma) said to a man who heard him wishing for death: “Do not wish for death, for you are going to die, but ask Allaah for Al-‘Afiyah (the well-being).”
Harithah ibn Mudarrib (Radia-Allaahu ‘anhu) said: “We went to visit Khabbab who had himself cauterized in seven places on his body.” He said: “I have been ill for so long, and if it was not that I heard the Messenger of Allaah (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) saying: ‘None of you should wish for death’ then I would have wished for it, and he said: ‘A man is rewarded for (all of) his spending except for the dust’ – or he said – ‘in the dust.’” [At-Tirmidhi no. 2483 and authenticated by Al-Albaani who graded it Saheeh]
Fever can lead to death, so wishing for it is like wishing for death.
Source:
Al-Busharah al–Uthma lilmu’min bi Anna hadhdhahu in an-nar Al-Humma
By Ibn Rajab (Rahimahullaah)
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