Did You Not Know?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Narrated Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection:

O Son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink whin You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.

[Muslim]

In each of these questions there is a sense of 'Did you not know?'

Visiting the sick and feeding the hungry and the thirsty are not merely worldly acts, they are acts of deep eternal consequences that we will be asked about in the Day of Judgment.

We look at things with the eye of faith and responsibility. Anything we do is an opportunity of drawing closer to Allah, an opportunity of increasing our faith and fulfilling our responsibilities towards our fellow human being.

Visiting the sick and feeding the hungry and the thirsty is an expression of our mercy towards our fellow human beings. Allah has divided mercy into 100 portions and He kept 99 portions for Himself and release one for His creation. Mercy in all creation is one reflection of Divine Mercy and this should remind us of the reality of great mercy and bounty of the Lord. Human mercy is pale in comparison to Allah's mercy.

Abdullah b. Umar said that Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

The Merciful One shows mercy to those who are themselves merciful (to others). So show mercy to whatever is on earth, then He who is in heaven will show mercy to you.

[Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi]

Narrated Jarir bin 'Abdullah, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.

[Bukhari]

Our concern of another is expressed in goodness to another. We do this seeking pleasure of Allah and Divine Mercy.

Narrated Abu Hurayra, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

No one of you will be saved because of his deeds." They (the Companions) said: "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Not even me, unless Allah bestows mercy upon me. So do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship Allah in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and adopt a moderate course, adopt a moderate course (he said it twice) whereby you will reach your target (Paradise).

[Bukhari]

We seek the mercy of Allah by being actively merciful to His creation. When we do something for people, we don't look at their forms but look at them as creation of Allah.

We have a duty to visit our fellow Muslims who are sick and we have a duty to feed the poor and needy amongst us. Doing so will strengthen Islam and our fraternity and maintain ties of kinship, friendship or any worldly association.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

The one who visits the sick is like a person who is in a fruit garden of Paradise until he returns.

[Muslim]

Allah respond to the call of the distressed. He says,

أَمَّن يُجِيبُ ٱلْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَآءَ ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ أَءِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ ٱللَّـهِ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٦٢

Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Little do you remember. (62)

[Qur'an An-Naml 27:62]

So, when you visit the sick, you gain that favor.

When you walk to visit the sick, you are walking into the mercy of Allah.

A Muslim walking to visit a sick person will be wading in the mercy of Allah. When the visitor sits with the sick one, they will be immersed in mercy until his return.

[Ahmad and Ibn Hibban]

Visiting the sick reminds you of the blessings of Allah and becomes a means of being thankful of the blessings.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace said:

There are two blessings that most people fall short in benefiting from--health and free time.

When you are in good health and you visit someone sick, remind yourself not to lose out these days, in which you have health and free time. If you fill out your time with junk, consider how you have wasted the 2 great blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you and make the most of your good health and free time that is left. Be thankful for the blessings.

Allah has promised that if we are thankful, He will give us more. So thankfulness is the key to increase.

وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌۭ

And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'(7)

[Qur'an Ibrahim 14:7]

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٧٣

And indeed, your Lord is full of bounty for the people, but most of them do not show gratitude.(73)

[Qur'an An-Naml 27:73]

They are some of Allah's servant who are truly thankful but they are few indeed. These people have absolute increase manifest in different ways.

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

Hasten to perform good deeds before seven things: are you waiting for poverty which makes you forget? Or wealth which makes you exceed your limits? Or a debilitating disease or senility? Or an unexpected death or the Dajja - he is the worst of the absent thing you are waiting for, or the Hour? The Hour is most bitter and terrible.

[Sunan At-Tirmidhi]

Things really don't get better as time passes by. So take the moment you are in and turn towards Allah in it. If you do this, then you are under the favor of Allah whether you are in health or in sickness, in richness or in poorness, in ease or in difficulty, whether you are young or old.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Strange is the affair of the Mu'min (the believer). Verily, all his affairs are good for him. If something pleasing befalls him he thanks (Allah) and it becomes better for him. And if something harmful befalls him he is patient (saabir) and it becomes better for him. And this is only for the mu'min.

Every moment is better for the believers because in every moment they have the right response to Allah. In blessing they are thankful, in calamity they are patient. When they do good, they praise Allah and when they sin they turn to Allah in repentance. In every moment they turn to Allah.

We ask Allah that we find Him in ease and in difficulties and find ease to turn to Him in every moment.

Have concern for the sick and those who suffer. If you realize someone is sick tell other people, while guarding their privacy, so they may visit. Stay in touch with your family and friends so you know if they become sick, you can visit or at least call them and see how you can help them or make du'a for them.

Be the first to set up something in your community, if none exist, where 2 or 3 people are assigned to visit the sick in your community and make du'a for them, take a gift for them, cheer them up, assist them and their families, if they need assistance, not just in terms of money but small things like help doing grocery for them, take food for them, throw their garbage, take their children to school, etc.

O Allah, remove the distress and heal the illness, for you are the Shafi. There is no healing but Your healing, a healing that leaves behind no illness.

Ameen.

Please don't forget us in our night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam