Understanding Illness: A Spiritual Reflection

THIS WEEK HAS been a week of illness for me.

First the flu and then a bad back. The latter is an old problem with a slipped disc that has probably worsened with all the coughing and lying in bed.

With its fast pace of life, the materialistic worldview views ill health negatively. We don’t want to be ill. We can’t afford to be ill. It’s an annoyance, an inconvenience. Something that needs to be battled and won every time. We want to be doing what we want to do, earning and spending, enjoying life to the max, and not lying in bed miserable and suffering.

But for the Believer it is a chance to reflect and switch the reset button.

A tiny movement of a spinal disc pressing up against a nerve can leave you double-upped in pain every time you move and take away your sleep. An invisible virus can lead to a fever that leaves the body weak and wilted.

Allah ﷻ is reminding us of our fragility. And that however much we like to think otherwise, the reality is that we are not in control. It is only through His mercy that we enjoy what we call good health. The incredible complexity of the body and its billions of physical, chemical and biological interactions are all kept in line with Allah’s permission. Our health truly is a gift that is given to us. Yet most will take it for granted without a second thought and not appreciate its value until it is gone.

Through illness, it may be that Allah ﷻ is reminding us to look to our sins and to turn to Him in repentance. It may be that He is saving us from some greater calamity. It may be that He is rectifying our account on Yawmul Hisab by expiating our sins. It may be that He is reminding us that as we get older our bodies need to be given their rights and be looked after. It may be a reminder to make use of our health in His cause whilst we still have it and make it count for us in the next life. It may be to make us grateful to Him, to learn patience, to prioritise our goals, to have greater compassion for others who may also be suffering around us, and to make du’a.

Alhamdulillah. All praise to Allah for all of this.

Rather than seeing illness as a negative, we should see it as a positive and a way of getting closer to Him.

‎وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ

And when I am ill, it is He who cures me. (ash-Shu’ara 80)