Utbah bin Mas’ud narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “It is amazing how anxious and impatient a believer becomes when he is sick. If he knew what he would receive from that illness he would wish to be sick all the time.”
Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his head to the sky and smiled.
When asked why he had done this, he said: “I was amazed to see two angels searching for a man in the place where he normally prayed. When they did not find him, they returned and said: “O Lord, we used to record the actions of Your servant so and so every day and night but we found that You had held him back and restrained him.”
Allah Almighty and Exalted said: “Record for My servant the same reward for the actions that he would perform every day and night and do not detract from that in any way. I will give him a reward for preventing him and he will be rewarded for what he used to do.”
(Narrated by al-Tabarani in al-Mu’jam al-Awsat)
Utbah bin Mas’ud, the brother of the great Abdullah bin Mas’ud, narrates this incredible event. We can assume that the Prophet ﷺ had just visited a man who was suffering from some kind of illness and was struggling to cope. None of us enjoy being ill. None of us would choose pain over comfort. But the Prophet is informing us that so much good can come out of being ill that if we were to be aware of it, we would wish to be ill all the time. Scholars such as Said Nursi have actually listed the benefits of illness, which include the idea that things are known by their opposites and thus we only appreciate the sweetness of good health after experiencing the bitterness of sickness.
We are told that another great Companion, Imran bin Husayn, had a long term illness. Due to his complete patience and contentment in the face of adversity, angels would regularly visit him and give greetings of salam to him. Here we have another insight into the workings of God’s angels. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ looks upwards and smiles. Although he was on the earth and with the people around him, at any given moment he could also be witnessing and interacting with creatures from other realms. We know that he was regularly receiving revelation from the Angel Jibril, but on many occasions he spoke to or saw other angels. Here he sees two angels whose job it was to record the sick man’s actions, presumably the man the Prophet had just visited. It seems that it was their habit to come to the place where he would normally pray in order to record and witness his prayer. That place could have been a place in his house or perhaps beside his house or even a place in a local mosque where he would always pray. Not finding him, they report back to their Lord, in order to ascertain what they should record in their scrolls. The verdict comes from the All Generous that the sick man should continue to receive the full reward for everything that he normally did when he was in good health. On top of that he would have a special reward from Allah for patiently bearing whatever he was going through. This teaches us the importance of consistent good actions, sometimes called “sacred monotony” – the idea that we will keep on “plugging away” with our prayers, fasts and acts of charity until we are no longer physically able to do so. Our intentions are better than our actions, as the Prophet taught us: ‘I intend to carry on travelling the path even if I was to live a thousand years.’ And Allah out of His generosity will record that for us. Perhaps the actions that we are rewarded for without actually performing are better than the ones that we did perform, tainted as they may be our lack of focus, sincerity and presence.
The Holy Prophet’s smile was one of wonder: wonder at these two angels and their world and wonder at Allah’s generosity. Anything that was good news for God’s servants made him happy: “in the bounty and mercy of Allah, let them rejoice..” (10:58) We pray that we are able to bear with patience and contentment whatever difficulties come our way and that the rewards we receive make our Beloved happy.
Photo by Rene Böhmer on Unsplash