It was narrated that a man, who used to sin a lot, came to the wise and righteous man called Ibrahim ibn Adham. So he tells him:
“I always sin, give me advice.”
If You Want to Sin, Don’t Eat from His Provision
So Ibrahim is trying to shame him out of sinning in front of Allah. He says:
“If you want to sin against Allah, then go ahead and do so, just don’t eat from Allah’s food, and don’t use His provision.”
So, the man said:
“How can I do that when everything is provided from Allah?”
He said:
“Does it make sense to sin against Allah, while you’re eating His food?”
Read Also: Consider Allah When You Sin
Don’t Sin in His Land
The man said:
“You’re right. Give me the second piece of advice.”
He said:
“If you insist on sinning against Allah, while eating His food and drinking from His drink, then at least don’t sin against Him on His land.”
The man said:
“That is bigger than the first one, when all the land belongs to Allah.”
He said:
“Is it proper then that you sin against Allah, while you eat His food and you do it on His land?”
Sin Where He Can’t See You
The man said:
“Give me the third piece of advice.”
The wise man said:
“If you’re going to insist upon doing all that, then at least sin where He can’t see you.”
And the man said:
“This is even greater.”
He said:
“Does it make sense that you sin against Allah on His land, while eating from His food that He provides, and you do it right in front of Him?”
Stop the Angel of Death Until You Repent
So, the man said:
“Give me the fourth piece of advice.”
He said:
“If you still insist upon sinning after all this, then continue sinning, but when the angel of death comes to take you, tell him to wait for you until you repent to Allah.”
He said:
“The angel won’t allow me.”
He said:
“Then when they’re commanded to throw you into the Hellfire, then refuse to go with them.”
He said:
“They won’t allow me.”
He said:
Then, after that, the man said:
“Enough! Enough!”
He had understood the admonition. And it was said that from that day, the man went on without sinning against Allah.
If you feel bad when you commit a sin, Ibn Al Jawzi said something very powerful about the sick heart versus the dead heart. He said that:
“If you feel bad when you commit a sin, then know that that’s a sign that your heart is still alive because you wouldn’t feel anything if your heart was dead.”
Part of our fitrah is that when we commit that sin, for example backbiting, shouldn’t taste right. You know a person who’s not used to backbiting, when they backbite it tastes bad.
Literally that dead, filthy meat tastes rotten. It just doesn’t have a good taste and you don’t feel right about it. And that’s good. You have to capitalize on that.
A person who is not used to watching Haram, when they see something, it doesn’t feel right, it felt off.
That’s a sign that your heart is alive. Because if it was dead, you wouldn’t feel it when you committed that sin.
When it comes to the sin, it is important that you don’t lose your fitrah. Don’t let sins become so normalized in your life just because they become normalized in other people’s lives around you.
Know Your Heart
How do you know that your heart is dead, sick, or healthy?
Ibn Al Jawzi said:
“The sick heart cannot taste the sweetness of Ibadah (worship), just like when a person is sick they don’t taste the flavor of their food.”
They know they have to eat to nourish themselves, and to sustain themselves, but the sweetness, the taste of the food is gone by the illness.
Likewise when it comes to the heart, if the heart is sick, the acts of worship cannot be enjoyed. So I have to ask myself what are the stains and locks on my heart that are not allowing my heart to enjoy these acts of worship.
So part of it is training yourself on the new good deeds, and aspiring to another level and your good deeds, and producing that output.
A part of it is asking yourself:
“What is it that’s really holding me back? Because if I’m not tasting the sweetness of it, something is wrong.”
That’s not something that a sheikh or a priest can tell you or diagnose you. You have to have moments of introspection and ask yourself:
“What is it that’s really holding me back from enduring and tasting the sweetness of what I have?”
Of the blessings of those who fall sick is that sickness is one of the strongest and most powerful antidotes to the sins that we commit. There is hardly anything that will expiate our sins that is more powerful than trials and afflictions that befall us.
Allah says:
And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much.
(Quran 42:30)
Every sickness and calamity that happens: a death of a loved one, a loss of a relative, financial economic, distress physical hardship, a fever, any type of pain and suffering.
Read Also: Don’t Let Calamity Shake You: A Story of Dealing with Trials
Sickness – A Blessing in Disguise
Once the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) visited a sick person who was suffering from fever, he said:
I have good news for you. For verily My Lord has told me that fever is my punishment that I inflict upon my believers so that they don’t have to be punished in the hell.
This is a punishment that Allah inflicts so that you are saved from the punishment of the next life. so in fact, it is a blessing in disguise.
And once the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) visited a female companion, Umm Sa’ib. She was also suffering from fever; she was tossing and turning. When Prophet Muhammad asked her:
What is the matter?
She said:
“I have a severe fever may Allah curse it!”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Do not curse the fever, for verily it forgives sins like a furnace gets rid of the impurities in iron.
(Muslim)
When you put an iron into the furnace, it is full of impurities; when you take it out, it is 100% pure. So, the Prophet (peace be upon him) compared the fever to a furnace, and this is a very good comparison because both are burning.
And in another hadith he said:
It will get rid of your sins like a tree in the fall. When you shake it all, the leaves come down. So too will the sickness get rid of your sins.
Every Calamity is for your Good
This is something that applies to every single calamity and misfortune. So much so, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Even if a thorn pricks one of you, it will expiate some of your sins.
(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
And in a famous hadith, he said:
Amazing are the affairs of the believers, because everything that happens to him happens for his good. If some good happens and he’s happy, he thanks Allah, and so that’s good for him. And if some bad happens, then he is patient, and Allah rewards him for that patience.
(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The believer is always a winner, he is never a loser. No matter what calamity befalls the believer, he will always come out on the upper hand having won over because he has Allah on his side. And when you have Allah on your side, you don’t care what is happening in the rest of humanity.
We don’t wish to be sick, we don’t wish for a calamity, but every one of us will fall sick and will face calamities. When it happens, then we rise up to the challenge, we renew our Iman in Allah, and we humble and submit ourselves to Him. And through all of this, we appreciate the blessings even in falling sick and in having the calamity that we have had.
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