What are the Islamic manners of visiting the sick?
The Prophet ﷺ said: on the Day of Judgement, Allah will ask — I was sick, and you did not visit Me. The companions, astonished, asked how. He said: the sickness of any of My servants is My sickness in the community.
10 passages from 8 books in the library
The Islamic manners of visiting the sick center on compassion, presence, and bearing witness to the dying with mercy. Al-Ghazali's Iḥyāʾ preserves moving scenes: As-Sunābiḥī visited Ubādah ibn al-Ṣāmit during his final illness "and he began to weep"; the gravely ill, when asked their wishes, replied that "the fear of hell has left no room in my heart for desires"; and Umar in his final illness prayed for an easy death. The accounts model attending the sick with empathy, prayer, and reflection on mortality.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 8 books by Ibn al-Qayyim and Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
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"The most burdensome things for people are fear, anxiety, illness, and poverty, with anxiety being the most painful for the soul, due to the loss of the beloved and the anticipation of harm, followed by illness, then fear, and then poverty. The proof of it is that a man hastens into poverty in order to drive off fear by means of it, giving away the whole of his wealth so as to be safe; and he hastens into fear and poverty together in order to drive off by them the pain of illness, so that a man will hazard everything in seeking health and spend his wealth upon it when he dreads death — and when he is certain of it,"
14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim →
· Provenance →
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"former health by resisting and counteracting the causes of illness. Some even become healthier, stronger, and more active because the strength of wellness overpowers the causes of weakness and illness. Sometimes the illness itself becomes a reason for health, as the poet said, perhaps your reproach may have commendable outcomes, and sometimes bodies become healthy through ailments."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Many people, including jurists, mistakenly believe that anything not rare is the majority. However, there are three categories: rare, much, and most. For instance, a hermaphrodite is rare, but when linked to illness, it becomes common, similar to travel. Illness and travel are general excuses, while prolonged menstruation is a rare excuse. Illness is common but not the majority."
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"Illness and travel are general excuses, while prolonged menstruation is a rare excuse. Illness is common but not the majority. When a jurist refers to illness and travel as prevalent, he means they are not rare. If not, it is incorrect. The healthy and resident are the majority, while travelers and the sick are common, and menstruating women and hermaphrodites are rare."
14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim →
· Provenance →
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"they reach their Master. They cannot reach their Master until they are sound and whole, and they will not be sound and whole until their illness turns into their remedy. This can only be achieved by opposing its desires, as the desires are its illness, and its cure lies in opposing them. If the illness grows severe, it can kill or nearly kill."
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"he started with, causing the seeker to become impatient and the reader to become weary. However, if the question is about a severe disease of the heart, such as the illness of forbidden love, distinct from other diseases in its nature, causes, and treatment, as the author mentioned, and it is a disease present in every age and place, but it may, in some societies, due to numerous causes, spread among the elite after the general populace to the extent that it threatens the community with downfall, if the question is about such an illness that is almost a deadly epidemic, then there is no doubt that for the full counsel"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"while the hypocrite will have the healthiest body but the sickest heart. Due to the high praise of illness and trials, some people came to desire illness, seeking the reward for patience. Among them were those who bore illness quietly, never disclosing it to a physician, enduring the ailment, and accepting Allah's decree."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Wish for what we are in and when death approaches us. We do not wish for what they are in During his final illness Abd al-malik Ibn Marwan was asked. How do you find yourself commander of the faithful? He replied I find myself as Allah Almighty said and you have certainly come to us alone Just as we created you the first time and you have left what we bestowed upon you behind your backs and then he passed away Fatima bint abd al-malik the wife of Umar Ibn Abd al-aziz Recounted that during his final illness Umar would say Oh Allah ease my death for them even for just an hour of the day on The day of his passing she left him and sat in another room"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"upon from the narration of Amr ibn al-As, who asked, who is the most beloved to you, O Messenger of Allah? He replied, Aisha, and this has been noted earlier. The hadith records that he would be carried in his illness every day and night to visit each one and say, where will I be tomorrow? This tradition is recorded by Ibn Sa'd in al-Tabaqat from the narration of Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Husayn, stating that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was carried while ill to visit each of his wives, dividing the nights among them. In another narrative, when the illness grew severe, he asked, where will I be tomorrow? They"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"and direct them towards their happiness — all of which he can convey without exertion or burden. His situation becomes like that of a man who suffered an unbearable illness, with pain preventing him from sleeping, leading to restless days without eating, drinking, or moving due to the severity of the pain. He finds a clear cure, free from cost and effort, without bitterness in taking it, heals, and thus enjoys restful sleep after long nights of wakefulness, peace by day after intense anxiety, and a pleasant life after profound distress, experiencing the delight of health after prolonged illness."
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