Benefits Of Visiting The Sick In Islam

People ask me, 'Shaykh what is the key to spirituality?', as if I am some type of guru. We are all trying. What is the secret? There is no secret.

You know, Imam Ja'far Al-Sadiq (as) says about visiting the sick, you know, this is a virtue that, you know, that we tend to overlook.

We think that the way towards Jannat is Du'a Jawshan al-Kabir, the way towards Jannah is to do A'maal. I am not diminishing the value of A'maal, but there are some things that are so great that we should not miss out on it.

Imam Al-Sadiq (as) he says : "Man 'aadaa maridan..." -'if you go and visit a sick person...' and the 'Ulamaa they say what is amazing, the Imam says "Man 'aadaa maridan", he does not mention the religion of the sick person. Whoever visits a sick person, the Imam does not say whoever visits a sick Muslim or a sick Shi'ah or a sick monotheist. Who ever visits a sick person, any human being who is ill, you go and visit that person.

You sit with them, you speak to them kind words. The Imam says "Shayya'ahu Allah... Shayya'ahu sab'una alfah malakin yastaghfiruna lahu hatta yarji'a ilaa manzilih"- 'if you visit a sick person, Allah sends 70,000 angels to escort you and they do istighfaar [pray for your forgiveness] for you until you go back to your home.'

You ask people "nas'alukumu al-du'a - nas'alukumu al-du'a"[we ask you to pray for us] visit a sick person and you do not even need to say 'nas'alukumu al-du'a'. Allah will dispatch 70,000 angels to make du'a for you until you return to your home.

Farzandeh Haydar. ummid-e-aakhar, maw'ud-e-aalam, Ya Mahdi ['Son of Haydar, Hope of the end of times, The promised one for the world-Persian nasheed]