Al-Adab al-Mufrad

Visiting the sick

Jabir said, "The Prophet, (ﷺ), visited Umm as-Sa'ib while she was sighing. He asked, 'What is wrong with you?' 'The fever,' she replied, "May Allah debase it!' The Prophet, (ﷺ), said, 'Gently! Do not curse it. It removes the errors of the believer as the bellows remove the dross of iron.'"

Visiting the sick

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, (ﷺ), said, "Allah says: 'I asked you for food and you did not feed Me. He (His slave) will say, 'Lord, how could I feed You when You did not ask me for food and You are the Lord of the universe?' He will say, 'Do you not know that My slave so-and-so asked you for food and you did not feed him? Do you not know that if you had fed him, you would have found that action with Me? Son of Adam, I asked you for water and you did not give Me water.' The slave will reply, 'O Lord, how could I give you water when You are the Lord of the universe?' He will say, 'My slave so-and-so asked you for water and you did not give him water. Do you not know that if you had given him water, you would have found that action with Me? Son of Adam, I was ill and you did not visit Me.' He will say, 'O Lord, how could I visit You when You are the Lord of the universe?' He will say, 'Do you not know that My slave so-and-so was ill. If you had visited him you would have found that action with Me (or you would have found Me with him)."

Visiting the sick

Abu Sa'id reported that the Prophet, (ﷺ), said, "Visit the sick. Follow funeral processions. Remind yourselves of the Next World."

Visiting the sick

Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, (ﷺ), said, "There are three things which are all a duty for every Muslim: to visit the sick, to attend funerals, and to say, 'may Allah have mercy on you' when someone sneezes if he praises Allah Almighty."

The visitor supplicating for recovery of the ill one

Three of the Banu Sa'd related from their father that the Messenger of Allah, (ﷺ), visited Sa'd (ibn Abi Waqqas) in Makka and Sa'd wept. He asked, "Why are your weeping?" Sa'd replied, "I fear that I will die in the land from which I have emigrated as Sa'd (ibn Khawla) died." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O Allah, heal Sa'd!" three times. Sa'd said, "I have a lot of property which my daughter will inherit. Shall I will all of it away?" "No," he replied. Sa'd asked, "Two-thirds?" "No," he replied. "A half then?" Sa'd asked. "No," he answered. Sa'd asked, "A third?" "A third," he said, "but a third is a lot. What you give as sadaqa from your property is sadaqa. What you spend on your family is sadaqa. What your wife eats of your food is sadaqa for you. It is better for you to leave your family in a state of plenty (or he said "livelihood") than to leave them where they have to importune people."

The excellence of visiting someone who is ill

Abu Qilaba reported from Abu'l-Ash'ath as-San'ani that Abu Asma' said, "Whoever visits his brother is in a tent of the Garden." I (the transmitter) asked Abu Qilaba, "What is the tent of the Garden?" "Its fruits," he replied. I said to Abu Qilaba, "From whom did Asma' transmit?" "From Thawban from the Messenger of Allah, (ﷺ)," he replied.

Hadith for the ill and the visitor

Abu Bakr ibn Hazm and Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir were some people from the mosque who visited 'Umar ibn al-Hakam ibn Rafi' al-Ansari. They said, "Abu Hafs! Relate to us!" He said, "I heard 'Abdullah say that he heard the Prophet, (ﷺ), say, "When someone visits a sick person, he dives into mercy to such an extent that when he sits with him, he settles in it."

Someone who prays in the presence of a sick person

'Ata' said, "Ibn 'Umar visited Ibn Safwan and the time came for the prayer. So Ibn 'Umar prayed two rak'ats with them and then observed, 'I am travelling.'"

Visiting a mushrik (for illness)

Anas reported that a Jewish boy used to serve the Prophet, (ﷺ). The boy became ill and the Prophet, (ﷺ), went to visit him. He sat by his head and said, "Become a Muslim." The boy looked at his father who was also sitting by his head. His father said to him, "Obey Abu'l-Qasim ((ﷺ))." So the boy became a Muslim. The Prophet, (ﷺ), left saying, "Praise be to Allah who has saved him from the Fire!"

What to say to someone who is ill

'A'isha (ra) said, "When the Messenger of Allah, (ﷺ), came to Madina, Abu Bakr (ra) and Bilal (ra) came down with a fever. I visited them and asked, 'Father, how are you? Bilal, how are you?' When Abu Bakr's (ra) fever worsened, he said: "Every body is given the prayer to arise healthy among his people, yet death is nearer to him than his shoe-laces." And whenever Bilal’s (ra) fever subsided, he would recite, "Would that I know that I will ever spend a night in a valley surrounded by Izkhir and Jaleel (two kinds of sweet smelling grass). And that I will arrive one day to the waters of Majannah and observe (the mountains) Shamah and Tafeel" Ayshah (ra) went to the Prophet (ﷺ) M, and informed him of what transpired with these two men. Thereupon, he made this supplication: "O Allah, make us love Madinah as dearly as we love Makkah, or more than that. O Allah! Make it healthy for us and bless for us it sa' and mudd. And remove its fever putting it in al-Juhfah"

What to say to someone who is ill

Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Prophet, (ﷺ), went to visit a bedouin who was ill. When the Prophet, (ﷺ), visited someone who was ill, he would say, 'There is no harm in it. It is a purification, Allah willing." That man then said, "A purification! No, rather it is a fever which boils (or appears) in an old man and will cause him to visit the graces." The Prophet, (ﷺ), said, "Then yes (it is)".

What to say to someone who is ill

Nafi' reported that when Ibn 'Umar visited someone who was ill, he would ask him how he was. When he left him, he would say, "May Allah choose what is best for you." He did not say more than that.

What the sick person answers

'Amr ibn Sa'id said, "Al-Hajjaj visited Ibn 'Umar while I was with him, He asked, 'How are you?' 'Sound,' he replied. He asked, 'What is wrong with you?' He replied, "I have been afflicted by the business of carrying arms on a day when it is not lawful to carry them.' He was referring to al-Hajjaj.*"

Visiting a deviant (for illness)

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As said, "Do not visit wine-drinkers when they are ill."

Women visiting a man who is ill

Al-Harith ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari said, "I saw Umm ad-Darda' going to visit (a sick) Ansari man from the mosque and she was on her mount in an uncovered howdah."

Someone who dislikes for visitors to look at other things in the house

'Abdullah ibn Abi'l-Hudhayl said, "'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud went to visit a sick person with some other people. There was a woman in the room and one of the men began to look at her, 'Abdullah said to him, 'It would have been better for you if your eyes had been gouged out.'"

Visiting someone with eye trouble

Zayd ibn Arqam said, "I had a pain in my eyes and the Prophet, (ﷺ), visited me and said, 'Zayd, if tour eyes were to go blind because of their illness, what would you do?' He said, 'I would be steadfast and reckon my reward to be with Allah.' He said, 'If that happens to your eyes and you are steadfast and reckon your reward to be with Allah, then your reward will be the Garden.'"

Visiting someone with eye trouble

Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad reported that one of the Companions of Muhammad lost his eyesight and people visited him. He said, "I used to look at the Prophet, (ﷺ), but now that the Prophet, (ﷺ), has died, by Allah, what has happened to my eyes is as easy for me to bear as one of the gazelles of Tibala (in Yemen)."

Visiting someone with eye trouble

Anas said, "I heard the Prophet, (ﷺ), say that Allah Almighty said, 'When I test him in his two precious ones (i.e. his eyes) and he is steadfast, I will repay him with the Garden.'"

Visiting someone with eye trouble

Abu Umama reported that the Prophet, (ﷺ), said, "Allah says, 'O son of Adam, when I take what is precious from you and you are steadfast in the face of the blow and reckon that your reward is with Allah, the only reward which I am content for you to have is the Garden."

Where does a person sit when he visits a sick person

Ibn 'Abbas said, "When the Prophet, (ﷺ), visited a sick person, he would sit by his head and then say seven times, 'I ask Allah the Immense, the Lord of the Immense Throne, to cure you.' If the time of the invalid had not yet come, he would be cured of his pain."

Where does a person sit when he visits a sick person

Ar-Rabi' ibn al-Hasan said, "I went with al-Hasan to visit Qatada. He sat by his head and asked after him and made supplication for him. He said, 'O Allah, heal his heart and cure him of his illness!"