Muiz Bukhary – Visiting the Sick – A Path to Mercy and Paradise
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of visiting sick individuals and following guidance on the importance of sick individuals. They stress the need to be aware of rights and ways to fulfill them, as well as the importance of visiting sick individuals for their health and healing. They also emphasize the importance of offering support and words of strength to strengthen the individual's mindset and ensure actions are directed with caution. The speakers stress the importance of building empathy and reliance on Allah's subhanonic Word, and provide examples of positive experiences for their own health.
AI: Summary ©
All praise belongs to Allah Ar-Rahman Ar
-Raheem, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
We praise Him Azzawajal, the Lord of all
worlds.
We seek His assistance, we seek His help,
we seek His forgiveness and we turn to
Him in sincere tawbah, in sincere repentance.
We seek His protection, we seek refuge in
Allah from the evils within ourselves and the
consequences of our deeds.
Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to be led astray, none can
guide.
I bear witness that there is no God,
no deity worthy of worship other than Allah,
alone, without any partner.
And I bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam is His servant and messenger.
I begin by reminding myself and then all
of you all gathered here for Salatul Jum
'ah to adopt a life of taqwa, and
that is, my dear brothers, my dear sisters,
to instill in your lives the consciousness of
your Maker, the consciousness of your Lord, and
you must do this to secure victory and
success in this world as well as the
hereafter.
May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
all from the people of taqwa and may
He make us from the victorious and successful
ones.
My dear brothers and sisters, one of the
most profound aspects of our deen, of Islam,
is its emphasis on caring for one another.
The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is reported
to have said, hadith is recorded in the
book of Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim
rahimahumullah, every Muslim, every Muslim has five rights
over another Muslim.
Every Muslim, absorb the words, every Muslim has
five rights over another Muslim.
Number one, to return the greetings.
In other words, try to understand, every Muslim
has five rights over you, rights that you
must fulfill towards the other Muslim.
Number one, to return the greeting.
When a Muslim greets you, assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
then it is a right to be fulfilled
that you respond alaikumussalam or walaikumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Number one.
Number two, to visit the sick.
If your Muslim brother, your Muslim sister is
ailing, then he or she has a right
to be fulfilled.
You must visit the sick.
Number two, to accompany the janaza, to accompany
the janaza, the funeral.
Number four, to accept an invitation.
You've been invited, to accept the invitation.
And number five, to respond to the one
who sneezes.
So someone sneezes, someone says alhamdulillah, then you
must respond saying, yalhamukallah.
So five rights to be fulfilled.
Today inshallah ta'ala, we're going to be
focusing on the duty and the privilege, it's
not only a duty, it's a privilege as
well, of visiting the sick.
Iyadatul mareed, as known in the Arabic language.
Subhanallah.
When you go into the books of hadith,
like the book of Imam Al-Bukhari, Imam
Muslim, Imam Abu Dawood, there's literally a chapter,
kitab, in other words, kitab iyadatul mareed.
The book or the chapter of visiting the
sick.
It is such an emphasized duty and privilege
like I highlighted.
And in terms of the virtues, I can
go on listing them, but due to the
brevity of time, I'll stick to a narration
or two.
We have a hadith recorded in the book
of Imam Al-Tirmidhi, rahimahullah, where the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is reported to have
said, when a Muslim visits a sick Muslim,
the narration goes along the lines of these
words, if he visits him in the morning,
i.e. if he visits him at dawn,
70,000 angels pray for him until evening,
until dusk.
Pray for whom?
Pray for the one who visited the sick.
So if you visit a sick person at
dawn, 70,000 angels pray for you until
dusk.
And if he visits him in the evening,
so if you visit a sick person in
the evening, again the words of the messenger,
70,000 angels pray for him until the
morning.
And the messenger didn't end there.
He went on to say and he will
have his share of fruits in Jannah, in
paradise.
My dear brothers and sisters, imagine 70,000
angels.
You see, sometimes when you meet people, what
do we tell people?
When we know someone is perhaps, for example,
a scholar, an imam, when you meet an
individual of that nature, you say, make dua
for me.
Make dua for me.
Right?
You say, make dua for me.
When you know someone is perhaps going on
a journey, umrah, hajj, you say, make dua
for me.
Make dua for me.
At the end of the day, you are
asking a mortal to make dua for you.
A human being to make dua for you.
It is established in the narrations.
Some of the sahaba, they have done it.
So there is precedence.
But look at who is making dua for
you in this hadith.
One angel, two angels, 70,000 angels.
And what is the description?
What is the nature of angels?
Angels, they do not disobey Allah.
Human beings, we disobey.
We drift.
We make mistakes.
No one is perfect.
No one is perfect.
Human beings, we make mistakes.
But angels, they do not disobey Allah.
And you are securing the dua of not
one angel, not two, not five, not ten,
not hundred, not thousand.
75,000 angels.
Allahu Akbar.
Such blessings.
Another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ is recorded, his
report perhaps said, hadith is recorded in the
book of Imam Ibn Majah, rahimahullah.
Whoever visits a sick person and announces, a
caller from the heaven announces, oh so and
so, you are blessed.
Your walking is blessed.
Let's say you have to go in your
vehicle, then the movement in the vehicle is
blessed.
And you have prepared an abode for yourself
in Jannah.
You have prepared for yourself an abode in
paradise.
My dear brothers and sisters, the sick are
surrounded by angels.
In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ is reported
to have said, when a believer visits his
sick brother, he walks in the mercy of
Allah until he sits.
When he sits, so you have gone to
visit someone who is sick, you sit down
now, when he sits, mercy envelops him.
If he visits in the morning, 70,000
angels pray for him until evening.
If he visits in the evening, 70,000
angels pray for him until morning.
So as you can see, my dear brothers
and sisters, this is not merely a visit.
It is an act of Ibadah.
It is an act of worship, a spiritual
act that draws, that attracts the mercy of
Allah.
It attracts angels who pray for him closer
to you and it establishes and ensures for
you reward in Al-Akhirah.
Now in the last few minutes that I
have with you all, I want to touch
on a few action items, a few etiquettes
when it comes to visiting the sick.
Now these are practical ones.
They are deduced from the sunnah, from the
practice of Muhammad ﷺ.
Number one, your niyyah, your intention.
This is the beauty of our deen.
Whatever you do, you see it is based
upon your intentions.
It is based upon your intentions.
So this visit, make sure that before you
set out, before you embark, put your intention
right.
Why are you doing it?
You are doing it to please Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
This conscious act of yours purifies the Ibadah,
purifies the worship.
You are doing it for Allah.
You are not doing it for any other
reason.
Number two, greet the patient with salam.
So you begin with the greeting of peace.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Number three, make sure that you only speak
positive words.
So offer words of strength.
Offer words of support.
Offer words of encouragement.
Offer words of optimism.
The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said,
give glad tidings.
Do not frighten them.
Make things easy and do not make things
difficult.
You see, at times, you don't know the
mindset of an individual in that situation.
There are many a people who are strong,
subhanallah, you know.
Sometimes from outside, when we look, we think
that this person might be in doom and
gloom.
This person is in a valley.
Why?
Because he's been diagnosed with this sickness, that
sickness.
But when you sit down with them, that
is something that I want to highlight.
They strengthen your Iman, Allahu Akbar.
And you're blown away.
You're sitting down with a patient and that
patient is saying, I am happy with the
decree of Allah.
I have seen the help of Allah.
I know that there is good in this
for me.
I know that this is going to be
a means for my sins to be forgiven.
Why?
You've even heard of people saying, I look
at this.
Sometimes you say, oh, so and so is
suffering.
We use the word suffering.
But when you go sit down with that
patient, he says, this is a gift from
Allah.
Look at the mindset.
This is a gift from Allah.
Cancer is a gift from Allah.
My kidneys have shut down.
It is a gift from Allah.
Whilst you are thinking that this person is
in a crisis of faith.
So check your Iman first.
But then obviously at times Shaitan is around
and they may go through certain phases and
at those junctures as believers, we must offer
support.
We must offer words of positivity, offer words
of optimism.
Number four, offer authentic duas for the sick
that have been taught to us by Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
For example, you have the dua where the
Prophet tells us when you go into the
presence of a sick individual, where you read,
أذهب البأس رب الناس إشفئ أنت الشافي لا
شفاء إلا شفاؤك شفاء لا يغادر سقاما أذهب
البأس Remove the harm, Rabb al-Nas, O
Lord of mankind.
He is the one who created us.
He is the one who decreed that this
should happen.
O Lord of mankind, remove the harm.
إشفئ أنت الشافي Heal, for you are the
healer.
لا شفاء إلا شفاؤك There is no healing
other than your healing, Ya Allah.
شفاء لا يغادر سقاما Bless this person with
a healing that leaves no trace of illness.
This dua is recorded in the book of
Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim, Rahimahum Allah.
Another dua that you can utter, لا بأس
طهور إن شاء الله Don't worry, don't worry.
طهور إن شاء الله This is going to
be a means of purification for you.
Your sins are going to be forgiven.
Your ranks are going to be elevated.
Your palaces in Jannah are being built.
Hadith is recorded in the book of Imam
al-Bukhari.
You know of the hadith where the Prophet
tells us that even a thorn pricking a
believer, sins are forgiven.
Then just imagine when an individual is going
through excruciating pain, do you not think that
sins are being forgiven?
Do you not think that that person's ranks
are going to be raised?
Action item number five, make sure you choose
appropriate timings when you go to visit the
sick.
Be mindful of the patient's rest.
Be mindful of the patient's privacy because at
times due to treatment, due to certain machinery
that have been fixed on to them, they
may not always be dressed in a manner
where they can receive guests.
So be mindful, respect their privacy, respect their
timings, avoid visiting during meal times, avoid visiting
during late hours unless you have been invited
by the patient.
Keep your visits short.
Next visit may be harmful for the patient.
So keep the visits short and make sure
that you go with limited number of people
now.
MashaAllah, if Allah has blessed you with many
children, now don't go and land in the
patient's house with 15 of your children now,
where now you're burdened the patient one, the
sick one to be hospitable to you, to
prepare food for you and so on and
so forth and then the noise and all
of these things can disturb the individual.
Try and bring a small gift if possible.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his reporter
have said exchange gifts, give gifts to one
another and you will love one another.
Hadith is recorded in the book of Imam
al-Tirmidhi rahimahullah and make sure you also
make du'a before leaving.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us,
As'alullah al-Azim, Rabb al-Arsh al
-Azim ay yashfiak.
You make the du'a, O Allah, I
ask Allah the Almighty, the Lord of the
mighty throne to cure you, to give you
shifa, to give you healing.
Hadith is recorded in the book of Imam
Abu Dawood rahimahullah.
My dear brothers and sisters, through these visits,
there are many lessons for us.
Number one being gratitude for our own health
and well-being.
Allah says in the Quran, If you were
to try and enumerate the blessings of Allah,
you would never be able to do so.
This morning, my dear brother, my dear sister,
this afternoon or before Jum'ah when coming
to the masjid, if you went to the
washroom, if you went to the toilet and
if you relieved yourself comfortably, experiencing ease and
relief after you have relieved yourself, consider yourself
extremely fortunate, extremely blessed.
Go sit down with someone whose kidneys are
failing and you will realize the value of
your kidneys that are functioning right now as
I speak, as you listen within your bodies.
Are you paying for it?
But if these shut down, you have to
hook yourself up to a machine.
A machine you have to undergo dialysis.
Then you realize how many blessings have I
taken for granted.
If you can breathe, take a deep breath
without feeling excruciating pain, without feeling a band
tightening around your lungs, consider yourself blessed, consider
yourself fortunate.
There are people who can't climb a short
flight of stairs that they start huffing and
panting because of conditions that they are undergoing.
Consider yourself blessed, consider yourself fortunate and render
gratitude.
Don't be ungrateful, don't be ungrateful lest, lest
Allah tests you through that blessing.
And then it will be too late.
Reflect on the fact that these sicknesses are
a means of purification like I highlighted earlier
on.
Don't look at them negatively when you see
someone ill, make dua for them, reflect on
the fact that this is a means of
purification for them.
And build empathy, build reliance on Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
As you see a person in illness, you
reflect and remind yourself of tawakkul and relying
on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So my dear brothers and sisters, as we
reflect on the immense blessings and rewards that
have been promised for visiting the sick, I
want to conclude by mentioning an incredible example,
a powerful example.
Exemplified to us by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
r.a, the closest companion of the Prophet
s.a.w. Rasulullah s.a.w. once
asked the gathering, who amongst you is fasting
today?
Abu Bakr r.a said, Ya Rasulullah, I
am.
Then the Prophet s.a.w. asked, who
amongst you followed a janazah today?
Abu Bakr r.a said, Ya Rasulullah, I
did.
Then the Prophet said, who amongst you served
food to the needy, fed the needy, gave
charity to the needy?
Abu Bakr r.a said, I did.
Then the Prophet s.a.w. said, who
amongst you has visited the sick today?
Abu Bakr r.a he responds saying, Ya
Rasulullah, I did.
Then the Prophet said, anyone in whom these
good deeds are all combined will certainly enter
Jannah, enter Paradise.
May Allah make us from the people of
So therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, fast
when you can, outside the month of Ramadan,
fast when you can, attend funeral prayers, the
janazah, feed the hungry and visit the sick,
bringing comfort and joy to their hearts and
thereby earning blessings, earning rewards and earning the
prayers of angels.
With that I conclude, may Allah s.w
.t grant us and all those who are
sick, complete healing, complete shifa, a healing that
leaves no illness behind.
Ya Allah, grant complete healing to those undergoing
chemotherapy and cancer treatments and make every session
a means of recovery and strength.
Ya Allah, make the journey of those receiving
these treatments a source of purification for their
sins.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those battling cancer.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those facing kidney,
renal failure and undergoing dialysis.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those navigating the
challenges of autoimmune diseases, certain syndromes where the
body's immune system turns against itself.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those living with
diabetes and managing its complications.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those coping with
mental health conditions.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those fighting heart
disease, to those recovering from strokes, to those
fighting neurological conditions.
Ya Allah, grant ease to those with blood
disorders.
Ya Allah, surround the sick with your divine
mercy, easing their pain and granting them hope
in your power to heal.
Ya Allah, remove pain and suffering from all
those who are afflicted and grant them ease
and relief.
Ya Allah, protect us from illness and grant
us good health in our bodies, in our
hearts, in our minds and in our souls.
Ya Allah, guide the hands and hearts of
the doctors treating the sick.
Ya Allah, protect us from those in the
medical field who seek to exploit their patients
for financial gain.
Purify their intentions, Ya Allah, and make them
act only in your name.
Ya Allah, surround the sick with your angels
and envelop them in your mercy and in
your care.
Ya Allah, make us amongst those who visit
the sick for your sake and earn the
prayers of angels and the rewards of Jannah.
And just as how you united us here
in this masjid, unite us in the gardens
of Jannah, in the companionship of our beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and bless us all to
drink at the Haud, at the fountain, the
sweet waters through the soft and blessed hands
of Muhammad ﷺ.