Has the pain you have felt shattered your pure soul? Has it exhausted your heart and your soul? Has illness made you feel that this life is gray and yellow? Do you disdain going to the doctor? And have you become exhausted from walking in the hallways of the hospitals? And have the names of the clinics become mixed up in your mind with the date of your next checkup and the faces of the doctors? What about showing you something with the ability to cleanse your soul from what is afflicting it and causing it troubles? It is, verily, the name of Allah, “Ash-Shafi” … Leave some space for your exhausted soul to take a short rest, to read about this name which is full of mercy, this name which you will learn that without it you are in a dire need, and without it you would be too far away from your Lord…
No illness after today
Ash-Shafi is one of the remarkable names of the Exalted in the heavens—Allah—and we must praise Him, because He named Himself this name and is worthy to be characterized by the quality of healing, and He is the only One who heals and recovers the bodies of his worshippers. It is also a name with a clear meaning, and just by its appearance a deep meaning can be reflected upon. Ash-Shefaa (healing) is always related to the sickness… Sickness is a recurring matter in the lives of human beings, diverse in pains, multiple in shapes, existing in every soul. Therefore, if one recovers from a certain eye problem, then he gets a headache, then when the headache ceases, joint stiffness starts to affect him. Then if these joint aches stop, a fever attacks, and if the fever is alleviated, the level of colitis reaches a high degree and is painful for him. Afterwards, if that pain goes away, the pain of a tooth nerve attacks him… And so on, so that no day passes without pain!
Finally, when he gets better, he finds his brother suffering, or his mother crying, or his son moaning, or his beloved in pain… Life is a field of diseases, pains, and sighs. Therefore, Allah has named himself Ash-Shafi, so that your pain must surrender to the Throne of His mercy, and your suffering must kneel its head at the threshold of His great ability… Sickness is an affliction on the haughty sects of human beings! A sudden fading in which the human being loses his vitality! A relapse in the vitality of this impatient, fretful, and ungrateful one when good reaches him… Allah has prescribed for this body to lose its health temporarily, so that the human being can realize his weakness and the fact that he is without any power or support… Allah has prescribed for every human being some disease so that he can remember death. For a fact, disease is the end of vitality, and death is similar in the matter of ending one’s life. O human being, your truthful core is death. Everything of you is from decay. Your temporary sleep is a kind of death. Your growing stage is death to the previous stage. Your youth stage is considered the end of childhood. Adultness and getting old is the death of the youth stage. You are closer to death than life. Nevertheless, illusion makes us think that we are immortal. This is why death screams through pain in our organs, saying that we are going to vanish! While the exhausted body of a man lies on his death bed, he stares at those who enter and leave from visiting him and notices how they are carrying on their heads crowns of vitality and health. In that moment, the haunting reminder of going to the grave fills his mind whether he expected that or not! When you are sick, your soul senses that you are going to meet death. Moreover, your eyes, your lips, and your shaking pinching fingers and toes explain in a stark way the beginning of the inner downfall. This is the last thread of life inside of you waving with its palms, saying goodbye to those visitors.
When sickness takes its whole toll, and when you are newly born out of any sin in this life, Ash-Shafi, may He be glorified and exalted, removes the disease from your body and orders your health to resume its previous cycle, and gradually you see how your cheeks become flushed with liveliness and your smile returns back after a long time of hardships has made it pale…
He cures you without a reason!
Because He is Ash-Shafi, He cures you with a means… And also with the weakest means… And sometimes with the strangest one… And sometimes with what you think it is not enough to cure you… And sometimes He cures you without a means! He cures with different forms of His mercy, such as herbs, complex and individual medicines, nutrition, and with water… Speaking of which, one of the very strangest matters that I have heard of is a child who was afflicted by Tuberculosis and various other diseases. The doctors claimed that he was about to reach his life’s end. They allowed his father to take him to the countryside so that he could enjoy his last days in the fresh air there and amongst the sceneries of vast green plains. While he was walking and holding a cold piece of cake in his hand, he met an old wise man who stared directly into his pale eyes and asked him, “Are you searching for life and prosperity, son?” He nodded yes. The man resumed, saying, “How could you wish for life while you are eating junk food? You have to eat healthy food, such as meat, vegetables, and everything created by Allah in nature where the warmth of the soil is still on it and therein life is flourishing!” This child said that the advice of this old man entered his heart with respect and awe, and, as a result, he became against every food except the living one, the one which contains in its ingredients the vitality of this flourishing life, such as meat with all of its kinds, vegetables with all of their diversity, fresh newly-baked bread coming out of the oven, and ripe fruits. Then he said, “My health has improved and my body has gained healthy weight!” This change prompted his father to go to the hospital to get a checkup to see what was going on with him. After a cycle of examinations and analyses, the doctors opened their mouths in great shock, stating that the disease is nowhere to be found in his body! The one who tells this story is the same child who grew up and became one of the most famous American nutritionists who treats patients with herbs and food in his book, Food Science and Health. He is Gayelord Hauser. Yes, the doctors had said that he was about to die, but the Great Lord had not destined that for him! Yes, the doctors had wanted him to end his life in the countryside, but Allah did not desire that! Yes, the doctors were incapable of curing him, but Allah was neither incapable to cure him nor will He be. He will never be incapable!
You don’t know!
Who has the ability to place the secrets of recovery in vegetables, meats, and plants which are available even to the poorest men in this life? He is the Only One to cure His creations. He is Ash-Shafi, the Exalted in the heavens. Maybe you are inflicted by a disease, but from the mercy of Allah, you don’t recognize it. You eat the food in which the vitality and cure exists while you don’t know. You get sick and get better while you really don’t have knowledge of your illness or cure! Allah also may put the secret of His cure in water. Consider the hadith of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, which is well known by the majority of Muslims: It was narrated that Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘
The water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for.’”
And he also said: “It is food for whoever seeks food, and it is also a cure for disease.” How many sick people have suffered from tiresome diseases and Allah guided them to drink from Zamzam water and they recovered from their illnesses! Moreover, if one looks through the hadiths about treatment, he will find a huge number of prophetic medicines, some of them grouped by Ibn al-Qayyim in his book, “Prophetic Medicine.” Mentioned here are some of them that are illustrative rather than exhaustive: ud al-hindi with its two kinds—the marine spice and Indian spice, cow’s milk and butter, Senna and Sannut, black seed, talbina (barley with milk and honey), and the act of getting up at night for optional prayer… In every mentioned item, there is a sahih hadith proving it. And He also treats through patience, prayer, charity, the constant seeking of pardon from Allah, through repentance, satisfaction, and sometimes He cures you with nothing at all!
The light returns back
He showed up where we were there in the Library of Religious Affairs in King Abd Al-Aziz Hospital in Tabuk. The horror had drawn on his face a pale, dark cloud. We missed in this moment his shining smile. We questioned him, “What is going on?” He answered in a sad tone that his son was on the top floor. He had had a terrible accident which led to the loss of his sight! It was hard for us to hear that, so we could not imagine how hard that was on the heart of his father. Could you imagine? He said in a kind tone, “I want one of you to come with me to perform Ruqya on my son. May Allah cure him…” My friend got up quickly and went with him. After an hour, he returned and told me that he had made Ruqya for him. Then, he stayed with the father to calm him down and told him about the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him,“Cure your sick ones by charity.” The father afterwards took out five hundred Riyals from his pocket and told him to give it in charity to the homeless with the intention of curing his son.
Two days later, the father entered the same place with a different, more optimistic face and asked my friend to accompany him. After almost a half hour, my friend returned happy, saying, “I have good news for you. The child has begun seeing some of the room’s light!” Consequently, he said that the father gave him one thousand Riyals to give all of it in charity, and that day was the end of the week. On Saturday, my friend told me that the father came and accompanied him to his son’s room, and I could not believe what he told me when he said that this child recovered totally from his eye problems! He began to see again like the past days. He started to see everything in his life again… Who treated him? Who destined for his eyes to return to seeing the light of life? Who returned the ability to his sight?
Return back to Him…
He does not want from you except to return to Him, to look for the ways which make you find Him… Submit to Him with your satisfaction, by your prostration, in your repentance, by asking for his forgiveness, by giving charity. Return to Him by admission of your faults… Knock on His door, then wait for the recovery… There is no hospital in this life that has the ability to heal you if Allah did not will that. There is no doctor in this world able to diagnose your disease except if Allah wills it. One of the richest men around the world was sick with kidney failure. His sons were travelling with him to Egypt to have a kidney implant… So the sons made a deal with the family of a young girl to take her kidney for one hundred thousand Riyals. In the morning, everyone was in the hospital. Before the operation, the old man asked to see the girl who wanted to sell her kidney.
Sheentered, lowing her gaze in shyness. He asked her, “Who forced you to approach a matter like this and attempt to sell your kidney for an old man like me?” She answered, “The need! My family is so poor. My siblings are studying in the university. I have to do something to help them!” Her words were like a slap in his face! She woke him up from a long sleep with these words. He momentarily forgot the congestion of spoiled blood in his body. He asked himself, “Is it logical for a human being to sacrifice an essential part of his body for the cause of hunger or the simple need to survive?” At that moment, he called his sons. When they came to him, he ordered them to take him back to Saudi Arabia because he decided against the idea of getting an implant! Moreover, he told them that the 100,000 Riyals which was for the implant was to be given in charity to the girl and her family and not to take even one Riyal from it! Despite the resistance of his sons, and the anger of some of them, they accepted what their dad saw from his point of view. Afterwards, when the father returned to Saudi Arabia, he went to the hospital for a regular kidney dialysis. In the next checkup, the doctors discovered surprisingly that his kidney had returned to functioning! This is the ability of Allah, the All-Master, who can cure without performing surgeries. He is the King who looks with mercy upon his subjects from atop His Throne. He treats a patient and changes the situation of a miserable one to a happy one. He returns a passenger and recovers an injured one…
A predetermined appointment
He makes you sick to make you return to Him and when you return to Him, He takes away the sickness! He inflicts you with sickness to make you humble, and when you prostrate and show humility before Him, He takes away the sickness as it becomes not so beneficial to you anymore!
He makes you sick to examine your patience and satisfaction, and if you become patient and satisfied, He takes away the sickness as it is not valuable anymore! Ash-Shafi is the One who, when you are in need of Him, He is there with you without having to make an appointment with Him, without a card to qualify you for treatment, and without needing to come to Him at least fifteen minutes ahead of time, like most doctors. He is Allah! Just say, “O Allah.” You will find a divine hospital opening its doors for you. It is the hospital of mercy, ability, gentle preservation, and treatment… My friend told me a story of an accident that he had. He heard bones crushing under the wheels of his car, so he stopped. He had hit a child. He carried the child to the hospital while his heart was shaking from fear. The father and grandfather of the child gathered around to see my friend unconscious. He could not imagine in his life being guilty of murdering a child! The sound of the bones breaking was replaying over and over in his ears! The grandfather of the child went to him and tried to calm him down. He told him that whatever Allah writes in His destiny is what will come to be, and he said they are going to be satisfied from it… The grandfather led them in the Isha Prayer in the mosque of the hospital, then he read a verse from the Holy Qur’an which says,
﴾But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere﴿
and at that moment, my friend cried so much! After the prayer, the doctors came out of the surgery room and told both the father and the grandfather that there is not much hope for the child’s survival, as he is suffering from terrible damage in his skull! My friend was stunned by the bad news. He returned disappointed to his home. He did not go to work for a whole week, as he was in terrible shock.
There was no medicine for this poor child greater than the belief of his grandfather, the prayers of his mother, and the faith of his father—all this besides their seeking of Allah’s mercy… Less than a week later, I visited the beautiful child myself to find him laughing, playing, standing up, and talking with us! Allah’s ability excels above the knowledge of doctors. Allah, the healer of the broken bones, says the truth,
﴾Whatever Allah grants to people of mercy – none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds – none can release it thereafter. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise﴿
[35:2]
Who is capable of healing these shattered bones? And of returning the smile to this child’s face? And for putting the life of this soul into the body that was about to lose its vitality? Allah is the Only One able to do so!
Underline here
Ibrahim, peace be upon him, the father of all prophets, met his Lord with a sound heart. Allah cleared any atom of atheism from his heart. He said precious words that would make the heart of any believer seek refuge in Allah alone and to not associate any partners with Him:
﴾And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.﴿
He alone can cure me, no one else. Underline here. You will not need anyone other than Him if He willed to treat you, and no one could do for you good if He did not will! Prophet Ayyub, peace be upon him, was inflicted by measles. His family and fortune were dispersed and destroyed. The most hopeful one of his time lost hope in his recovery, and he was steadfast! The disease mingled with pain was increasing in his body, while he was humble to his Lord. After years of infliction, he finally supplicated, while in humble prostration, a supplication that was full of belief, saying,
﴾And (remember) Ayyub, when he cried to his Lord: ‘Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy.’ So We answered his call, and We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his family to him (that he had lost) and the like thereof along with them as a mercy from Ourselves and a reminder for all those who worship Us.”
(Al-Anbiya 21:83-84).
In that moment, the doors of the sky open with mercy… And from the seven heavens, the heavenly mercy comes down to this inflicted and sad old prophet… In a moment, the years of pain fade away and the years of vitality come! Why do you go away from Him seeking the help from someone else? Why do you seek refuge in someone else? Why do you trust all these dead bodies who move around you and forget the Ever-Living who does not die? Who has deceived you and said that the cure can come from a different source? How has life deluded you all this time? And how has it made you forget who brought you out of your mother’s womb without a doctor and created in her body milk from which you grew, and who taught you how to nurse from her through the unawareness of your mind and your lack of cognition. Did you forget who inspired the mercy in your mother so that she could hold you tightly to herself and look after you so well? Quickly you forgot Him? Quickly you thought that you could live without Him? It is He who reminds you with sickness of your first days in this life. With sickness, He sends a message, as if saying, “Return to Me, as I created you from nothing. I am the only One who could overcome your sickness and remove it!”
Satisfaction
Maybe the cure you need is nearer to you than what you imagine! It is Ayyub, peace be upon him, whom Allah ordered,
﴾“Strike the ground with your foot: This is (a spring of) water to wash in, and a cool and (refreshing) drink.”﴿
The medicine to cure him was very near to him; he just needed the will of Allah to come to fruition so that he would be healed. When Allah willed, Ayyub was shown the place of the medicine, so the healing happened by the order of the Exalted in the heavens. You are not in need of checking the hospitals in Washington, Paris, or Beijing. Your healing is near if Allah wills so. Just take your heart to Allah’s city of Belief and Satisfaction. Your healing is in you but you do not feel Your sickness is from you but you don’t see If you accept Allah’s destiny, Allah becomes satisfied from you… Sickness is one of the most severe tests of satisfaction, so if your answer on this test is that you are satisfied, the result will be satisfactory, by the permission of Allah. People might ask how can I be satisfied with the disease while the pain is naturally disliked? How can I be satisfied with the thing that I dislike? Ibn al-Qayyim responds to these inquiries, saying, “There is no contradiction in this, as one is satisfied from the side of what he loves and hates it from the side of feeling the pain of it, similar to the disgusting medicine in which he knows there is healing; he gathers in his soul the satisfaction of taking it to be healed and the hatred of its disgusting smell.” In the times that you are sighing with pain, say what our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered you to say, “I am satisfied with Allah as my Lord and Islam as my way of life and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as the Prophet of Allah.” Say it with your whole heart, and tame your heart to kneel down to its meaning; wash your heart with its significance. Being satisfied with the actions of your Lord is a branch of being satisfied with Allah as your God… And when you accept His actions, He makes your heart satisfied with Him! Let your heart breathe in the satisfaction; let it feel the beauty of satisfaction, then contemplate your body, and you will see the beginnings of His healing filling the corners of your body, by the will of Allah… Raise your hands and mention His name in your prayers. Then, let it pass through all of your body. Allah returns with this pass, which is filled with your belief, things that were about to fade away! Turn the sickness into the start of a new era in which you know your Lord from His name, Ash-Shafi…
Because He is the Omniscient, He heals you… Because He is the Patient, He heals you… Because He is All-Powerful, He heals you… Because He is Allah, He heals you… With Him you will delete the numbers and names of the doctors! With Him you will forget the locations of the hospitals! With Him you will cancel the appointments of the clinics! Build in your room a new hospital called “the prayer rug”… Proceed in prostrating… And record in your heart only one name: Ash-Shafi! O Lord, O Shafi, pour out Your healing and mercy for every weak soul and for every exhausted body and for each tired heart. O Lord, You are All-Hearing of our prayers.
Rivers of sins
You have suffered from a lot of diseases in your life, haven’t you? Who healed you? Was it not Allah? Why do you think that disease is the only thing for which He is unable? This thought and feeling is worthy of His punishment. Maybe your disease is just the result of your weak belief. First, call Ash-Shafi to heal you. Then, dust off your heart from the sickness, and you will be healed. All the patients in hospitals await the permission of Ash-Shafi, the Exalted in the heavens to heal them… There is no sigh except that He hears it, and no pain except that He knows its location, and no breath except that He knows its fire in the heart. After His destiny is accomplished and your tears pour like rivers of sins, Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, orders vitality to return back to your soul and body, so you begin to walk on His earth without any sin! Because He is the Most Merciful, He heals you…
Because He is the Omniscient, He heals you…
Because He is the Patient, He heals you…
Because He is All-Powerful, He heals you…
Because He is Allah, He heals you… With Him you will delete the numbers and names of the doctors!
With Him you will forget the locations of the hospitals!
With Him you will cancel the appointments of the clinics!
Build in your room a new hospital called “the prayer rug”…
Proceed in prostrating…
And record in your heart only one name: Ash-Shafi!
O Lord, O Shafi, pour out Your healing and mercy for every weak soul and for every exhausted body and for each tired heart. O Lord, You are All-Hearing of our prayers.
