Illness - A Blessing in Disguise

A believer is always in a state of reflection. Reflection is actually one of the greatest acts of worship encouraged in the Qur’an. Allah says,
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّار 
“Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.” [3:191] 

A Muslim is encouraged to reflect and derive lessons from things that happen to him and those around him. For example, when one sees pictures and documentaries about the amazing design of the universe, one should increase in one’s faith and praise Allah even more. Think of just how small we are in comparison to the entire Earth, and even then Allah values us. When one sees diagrams of the human body, with all the complex structures of the organs and all the interconnected systems, one should be amazed and praise Allah even more as He has created us from nothing, SubhanAllah.  

There is one experience that we all go through that we need to reflect upon; the rich and the poor go through it, the strong and the weak go through it and the young and the old go through it. What is this condition which everyone goes through, minimum once or twice a year? It is the condition of falling ill. Insha’Allah in today’s khutbah we will try to mention some of the wisdoms and lessons behind falling ill.  

The first reflection point on why we fall ill is very important and that is to humble ourselves in front of Allah, the Most Powerful. We should realise that, even though we have so much advanced technology and modern science, we are actually a weak creation of Allah. USA, the most powerful country in the world; China, the largest country in the world and the rest of the whole of human race were in terror when Covid-19 started to spread. Terrified of what? Terrified of a virus, something so small that the eyes cannot even see. It is even smaller your cells. You can’t even see it with the light microscope. It is 20nm in length and you have to zoom in 100,000 times to see it. So, brothers, we need to humble ourselves in front of Subhan al Khaliq – the One who created everything with a purpose. And as a result of humbling ourselves, we need to connect to Allah on a daily basis. We need to start our daily salahs and humbly pray to Allah. We need to humbly talk to Allah by reading the Qur’an and by making regular dua.  

The second reflection point about why we fall ill is for us to appreciate good health and use it to worship Allah. We all know how life changes when we fall ill. We appreciate even the smallest of things. For example, when we get a sore throat, we appreciate all those weeks and months when food would go down our throat so easily. When we get neck or shoulder pain we realise the blessing of a having a functional body. When, for a few seconds something tiny goes into our eyes and we can’t see properly, we are distressed and can’t wait to get it out of our eyes quickly so we can start seeing properly eyes again. Subhanallah, Allah gave you a normal throat, functional body and eyes for what? To use them to worship Allah. You are supposed to use that functional body to walk to prayer, you’re supposed to use the eyes to look at the Quran, even if it’s just few minutes a day. This is how we truly appreciate Allah for giving us a good health. In our prayer when we say
 الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِين 
(Alhamdulillahi rabbil aalamin) – one of the millions of reasons why we are praising Allah right from the beginning of prayer is because He gave us good health and Allah gave it to us for free without us asking for it. What happens when we become comfortable and start enjoying life? We forget the One who gave us our lives and good health. We forget Allah. “It is my life; I can do whatever I want; it’s my body, I can do whatever I want”. Really? It is Allah Who gave you your life and it is Allah Who gave you your health; so use it to worship Allah in whatever way you enjoy. Sometimes we become so attached to wordily life that we forget that there is actually a Hereafter. We all know that no human will live forever. Allah says in the Qur’an, 
وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ أَفَإِن مِّتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَالِدُون 
“And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O Muhammad ﷺ), then if you die, would they live forever? [21:34]. 

We will all die one day, so let us appreciate life and use it to prepare for the next life. People generally ask if illnesses are punishments or not. The answer is that if illnesses make our hearts soft and help us worship Allah, then it is actually a blessing. But if illnesses does not help us to worship Allah then no doubt it can be described as a punishment. A great scholar of Islam called Ibn Taymiyyah once said, ‘a calamity that makes you turn to Allah is better than a blessing that makes you forget the remembrance of Allah’.  

The third benefit of people falling ill is to get rid of the arrogant notion that some people are better than others. Some people think that they are better than others because they are of a particular skin colour, or race, or because they are rich, or very smart, or because they have qualifications from a prestigious institute. But the fact of the matter is that, it doesn’t matter if you are from a particular country, race or have a specific skin colour, you should not be racist and look down on others. It doesn’t matter if you are smart, you should not look down at those who are less smart than you. It doesn’t matter if you have a degree from a prestigious institute, you should not look down on those who may not have any qualifications. You should rather use all of your successes to do good for humanity, to help each other and ultimately use it to give Islam a good image and please Allah.  

A reminder that the first person to have arrogance is Iblees. He thought he was better than Adam because he was made from fire and Adam was created from clay. Allah says in the Qur’an: 
قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِين 
قَالَ فَاهْبِطْ مِنْهَا فَمَا يَكُونُ لَكَ أَن تَتَكَبَّرَ فِيهَا فَاخْرُجْ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصَّاغِرِين 
[Allah] said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" [Satan] said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay." [Allah] said, "Descend from Paradise, for it is not for you to be arrogant therein. So, get out; indeed, you are of the debased (7:12-13). 

Bacteria and viruses infect everyone, and they do not care who you are, how smart you are or how rich you are. The pathogens infect and attack everyone and it exposes the foolishness in the idea that one person is better than someone else because of their skin colour, intelligence or qualifications. We should use our differences to help each other and use it to worship Allah. Allah says,  
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِير 
“O mankind, indeed, We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” [49:13] 

The fourth benefit, which has to be said with great importance, is to respect and obey your parents even more and look after them as much as you can. When you are ill, who looks after you? Who sacrifices their sleep to make sure you are okay during the night? Who takes you to the doctor and then gets your medicine? Who? Your friends? The people on your social media?  The people who you message for hours on end? The people who you chill with, forgetting the main people you should spend your quality time with? It is no other than your parents.  

During the coronavirus crisis, our parents stood in very long lines, just to ensure that they bought foods and other essentials just so you could eat peacefully and stay safe. All those people who believed that they didn’t need family members or neighbours and that they could look after themselves, well guess what, they too were the ones relying on family members and neighbours to help them. They too were asking others for help. So, brothers, we need to respect our parents even more, obey them and help them, especially when they need our help.  

In conclusion, as Muslims we should reflect on what is happening and use it to increase our imaan and worship Allah more. We should humble ourselves, not think we are better than others, appreciate having a good life, follow Allah’s commands because it is good for us, and respect and obey our parents even more. Have tawakkul in Allah, make lots of dua and follow the precautionary measures such as washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough.  

May Allah keep us safe, cure those who are ill and give us the tawfeeq to worship Him in all situations. Ameen.