Illness Removes Misdeeds

Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah رحمه الله تعالى

Jabir bin Abdullah (رضي الله عنه ) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) asked a woman why she was shivering. She answered it was because of fever and cursed the fever. The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said:

“Do not slander fever, because it takes away many wrong actions, just as the blacksmith’s bellows remove dross and impurities from iron.”

                                            [Sahih Muslim]

It is Allaah’s favour upon you to have your sins erased from your account while you are still alive. Purification becomes excessively more difficult with each step of existence after death. Everybody has sins they need to get rid of. Illness wipes out sins from a person’s account and purifies their record of deeds in the same way that a blacksmith’s furnace purifies metal from its impurities.

Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) visited a sick man of the Ansaar and when the Messenger of Allaah asked him how he was, he said: “O Messenger of Allaah, I have not closed my eyes for seven days.” The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “Have patience, my brother, for if you do, you will be rid of your wrong actions as easily as you acquired them.”

The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) also said:

“The time of illness cancels out the time of wrong actions."

{Uddat as-Sabirin wa Dhakhirat ash-Shakirin}