Al-Adab Al-Mufrad

to visit the sick, to attend funerals, and to say, 'may Allah have mercy on you' when someone sneezes if he praises Allah Almighty."

Three of the Banu Sa'd related from their father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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 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."

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, may Allah bless him and grant him peace," he replied.

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, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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."

'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.'"

Anas reported that a Jewish boy used to serve the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The boy became ill and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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 (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." So the boy became a Muslim. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left saying, "Praise be to Allah who has saved him from the Fire!"

"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 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"

Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went to visit a bedouin who was ill. When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Then yes (it is)".

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.

'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.*"

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

'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.'"

Zayd ibn Arqam said, "I had a pain in my eyes and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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.'"

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, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but now that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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)."

Anas said, "I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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.'"

Abu Umama reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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."

Ibn 'Abbas said, "When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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."

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!"

Al-Aswad said, "I asked 'A'isha, may Allah be pleased with her, 'What did the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, do when he was with his family?' She replied, 'He would do chores for his family, and when it was time for the prayer, he would go out.'"