Zia Sheikh – Illness and Sickness in Life
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Allah is the Greatest, Allah is
the Greatest I bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship
except Allah I
bear witness that there is none
worthy of worship except Allah I bear
witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
I bear witness
that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Come to Prayer
Come to success Come
to success There is none
worthy of worship except Allah I
bear
witness
that there is none worthy of worship except
Allah As
the saying goes, prevention is better than cure
and this is something that is not just
a saying, there is an Islamic background behind
it.
And one of the things that I just
mentioned was the issue of excess, extravagance in
one's diet, extravagance in one's lifestyle.
Allah SWT tells us in the Quran very
clearly, O Children of Adam, when you are
coming to the place of worship, then beautify
yourself, make sure you are looking good, make
sure you are smelling good.
When you are coming to worship Allah SWT,
make sure you are looking good.
This is not the purpose of the khutbah,
so I won't go into it, but it
is something that we need to make sure
that we take care of when we are
coming to the masjid whenever we come.
And then Allah says, eat and drink.
Allah SWT gave you so many blessings to
consume, but the condition is, do not be
excessive.
Do not be excessive in that consumption, do
not be excessive in eating, because Allah SWT
does not love those people that are excessive.
So from this we can see that prevention,
prevention from sickness, it is important for us
and it is an obligation that Allah SWT
has put upon us.
Another hadith that the Prophet SAW, he said,
The human being, he doesn't fill a utensil
which is worse than the stomach.
The worst utensil that a person can fill
is his stomach.
So this is something that we do all
the time, filling our stomach at all times.
But the Prophet SAW, he gave us a
prescription to make sure that we do not
become sick when we are consuming the food
that we eat.
The Prophet SAW said, It is enough for
the human being, it is enough for the
son of Adam that he takes a few
morsels that make him straighten his back.
Meaning, enough energy that a person needs to
walk around with and get around with, this
is enough consumption for a human.
This is enough for a human being.
And then he said, If you are going
to eat, if you are going to eat
more than that, then what is the procedure
to make sure you don't become sick?
He said, A person should make one third
for his food, one third for liquid and
one third for empty air, he should leave
it empty.
And the way to understand that is to
make sure you stop eating before you are
full.
You feel that you can eat a little
bit more, that's when you stop.
That's when you stop.
And according to scientific research, the human brain
actually doesn't realize that the body is full
until 20 minutes after the person has eaten.
So then a person when he thinks that
he can eat more, he is actually already
full.
But because the brain has not caught up
to the stomach yet, a person still feels
that he can eat more.
He takes a second serving and then before
he knows it, he becomes really full, heartburn,
stomach upset and he cannot move for the
rest of the day.
So this is what the Prophet A.S.
said.
To prevent illness, a person needs to distribute
his consumption of food into three parts.
And like I mentioned, one third for the
food, one third for drink and one third
you leave it empty.
That is why also the prohibition or the
prevention of sicknesses is done by personal hygiene.
Personal hygiene is something that Islam has emphasized
right from the beginning.
If you look at all the books of
Fiqh, if you look at many of the
books of Hadith, the first thing that the
scholars start with is Kitab al Tahara, book
of purification.
Why?
Because purification of the body, it is a
central part of Islamic teachings.
Without purification, you cannot pray.
Without purification, you cannot read the Quran.
Without purification, you cannot do many things.
And as the Prophet A.S. said, cleanliness
is part of Iman and even regarded as
half of Iman according to some Hadith.
So personal hygiene, washing of the hands, clipping
of the nails, taking a shower regularly and
washing of the joints, wherever the joints meet,
washing of those body parts.
All of these are mentioned in the Hadith.
The ten things of Fitrah, circumcision, clipping of
the nails, taking a shower, washing the joints,
etc.
etc.
All of these things, ten things and the
majority of them are from issues related to
personal hygiene.
The issue of Siwak, brushing of the teeth.
The Prophet A.S. emphasized this so much.
He said, If it wasn't for the fact
that my Ummah would have difficulty, I would
order them, I would obligate the Siwak upon
them.
I would make it Fard upon them to
make the Siwak, to brush the teeth.
And again according to new scientific research, they
say that illnesses that come from lack of
oral hygiene, they can actually even affect the
heart.
They can actually affect the heart.
So it is reported from the Prophet A
.S. that he used to make Siwak all
the time.
He used to have the Miswak in his
pocket.
Before leaving the house, he used to make
the Miswak.
Before coming into the house, he used to
make Miswak.
Before the Salat, he used to make Miswak.
During the Wudu, he used to make Miswak.
So it was a constant thing that he
used to do all the time.
And something that again, we should emphasize, the
oral hygiene, brushing the teeth at least 2
-3 times a day.
Making sure that, especially after consuming of food,
so that we don't have bad breath.
All of these things are taught to us
by Islam.
And they are part of personal hygiene and
prevention from illnesses that can come to us.
So what are the benefits of sickness?
Allah A.S. obviously sickness has come to
us, but he has also placed benefits in
those sicknesses for us.
First of all, when a person becomes sick,
then he has an appreciation for his health.
Things that he usually takes for granted.
The fact that he is healthy, he usually
takes it for granted.
But when he becomes sick, then he thanks
Allah A.S. for the fact that Allah
had given him health.
And especially if the illness is temporary, when
he comes out of that illness, he has
a new appreciation for the fact that Allah
A.S. gave him health.
The other thing is that from a scientific
perspective, a person becomes sick.
He gets the flu, he gets the cold,
and he gets some kind of infection.
The reality is that a person does get
those things, but it actually boosts the immune
system.
It makes a person much stronger when he
becomes sick.
And that is why when you get a
vaccination, what is the vaccination?
The vaccination for illnesses, you get a vaccination,
it is actually a very small, a minute
sample of that particular illness that you are
trying to get a sickness from.
That you are trying to protect yourself from.
So, the doctor injects the illness into you.
Your body then produces antibodies and protection for
when you are actually exposed to the proper
illness.
So, this is what vaccination is.
So, in that case, we understand from this
that even sicknesses that a person goes through,
they actually boost the immune system and a
person becomes stronger because of that.
And when he is exposed to more illnesses,
Allah SWT protects him from those illnesses.
And finally, the forgiveness of sins.
If a person becomes sick, Allah SWT forgives
the sins.
The Prophet SAW, he said, Whenever
a human being is afflicted, whenever a Muslim
is afflicted with nasab and wasab.
Nasab basically means fatigue, wasab means illness, a
chronic type of illness.
Or any type of grief, any type of
worry, any type of harm, any type of
concern.
Even if a thorn goes into his foot,
Allah SWT forgives his sins through these illnesses
that a person gets.
So, a person should realize that from this
perspective, an illness is a benefit from him
and it is a type of blessing from
him.
So, because of that, many people, what happens
to them when they become sick, they start
complaining.
And the Prophet SAW, he came to a
woman called Ummul Saib or Ummul Musaib and
said to her, Ummul Saib, what's wrong with
you?
Ummul Saib means you are just shaking and
moving around with discomfort.
What's wrong?
It means to shake and move because of
discomfort.
She said, I have a fever and because
of that, I'm feeling uncomfortable.
And she went on to say, may Allah
not give barakah in this illness of mine.
The Prophet SAW, he said, Do not curse
this fever of yours.
Do not curse this fever.
Because this illness, this fever, it eliminates the
sins of the son of Adam.
Just like the furnace, it removes the impurities
from metal.
So, this is again a type of blessing
that Allah SWT gives us in the form
of sickness, that through that sickness, Allah SWT,
He removes and forgives our sins through it.
But that doesn't mean that we should ask
Allah SWT for sickness.
The Prophet SAW, he used to say to
people, Ask Allah SWT for safety and protection.
But if you are afflicted at any time
with any kind of test, then be patient
and Allah SWT, He will forgive you your
sins and He will raise your status through
that patience that you are displaying.
InshaAllah, we are out of time now.
I had quite a lengthy khutbah prepared.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.
And if you are ever afflicted with any
type of illness, Allah SWT gives us patience.
Allah SWT grants us safety from all types
of illnesses.
And if you have any sick people in
our family, Allah SWT grants them a speedy
recovery.
And we seek refuge in Allah from the
evil of our souls and from the evil
of our deeds.
Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and
whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.
And we bear witness that there is no
god but Allah, alone, with no partner.
And we bear witness that our Master and
Master is Muhammad, His servant and Messenger.
Allah SWT said, Verily, Allah and His angels
send blessings upon the Prophet.
O you who have believed, send blessings upon
him and send peace upon him.
And send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the
family of Muhammad, according to the number of
those who prayed and fasted.
And send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the
family of Muhammad, according to the number of
those who sat and stood.
And send blessings upon all the Prophets and
Messengers, and upon the angels who are near,
and upon the righteous servants of Allah, in
Your mercy, O Most Merciful.
O Allah, honor Islam and the Muslims.
O Allah, remove shirk and the polytheists.
O Allah, support Islam and the Muslims.
O Allah, support those who support the religion
of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,
and make us of them.
And take those who have forsaken the religion
of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,
and do not make us with them.
O Allah, support us and do not forsake
us.
Allah is
the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
We bear witness that there is no deity
worthy of worship except Allah.
We bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
Come to prayer.
Come to success.