Should You Offer Du’a for Healing or Be Patient?

Praise be to Allah.

Du`a for healing: Recommended?

There is nothing wrong with praying for relief from harm ; in fact that is better. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) encouraged us to ask for well-being, as he said: “Do not wish to meet the enemy, and ask Allah to keep you safe and sound.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari (7237) and Muslim (1742)

Some du`as for healing

One of the supplications that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would say when he visited someone who was sick was: “Allahumma adhhib al-bas Rabb an-nas, wa’shfi fa anta al-Shafi, la shifa a illa shifa’uka shifa an la yughadiru saqaman (O Allah, take away the pain, O Lord of mankind, and grant healing, for You are the Healer, and there is no healing but Your healing that leaves no trace of sickness).” (Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (3565); classed as sahih by al-Albani in Sahih at-Tirmidhi)

‘Uthman ibn Abi’l-‘As came complaining of a pain that he felt in his body, and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Put your hand on the part of the body that hurts and say Bismillah (in the name of Allah) three times. And say seven times: A‘udhu Billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhir (I seek refuge in Allah and His might from the evil of what I feel and worry about).” (Narrated by Muslim (2202)

Allah, may He be exalted, has told us about the elite of His creation, namely the Prophets (blessings and peace of Allah be upon them), that they called upon Him and asked Him to grant relief from harm, as He, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

{And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, “Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.” So We responded to him.} [al-Anbiya 21: 83-84]

{And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.} [al-Anbiya 21:87-88.

When the Jewish man Labid ibn al-A‘sam put a spell on the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) called upon his Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, asking Him to grant him relief from this trial.

Muslim (2189) narrated that ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: One of the Jews of Banu Zurayq, whose name was Labid ibn al-A‘sam, put a spell on the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), to the extent that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would imagine that he had done something when he had not done it. Then one day or one night, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) offered du`a , then he offered du`a, then he offered du`a, then he said: O ‘Aishah, do you know that Allah has responded concerning that which I asked Him about? 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The words “Then one day or one night, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) offered du`a, then he offered du`a, then he offered du`a” indicate that it is recommended (mustahabb) to offer supplication (du`a) when bad things happen, and to repeat the supplication, and to turn to Allah, may He be exalted. End quote.

Any contradiction between offering du`a for healing and being patient?

Thus it becomes clear that there is no contradiction between offering supplication, asking for relief from the calamity, and being patient . Allah, may He be exalted, has commanded us to call upon Him in supplication and beseech Him with humility, and our offering supplication to Him is an act of worship. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

{And your Lord says, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you”.} [Ghafir 40:60]

And it is He Who has commanded us to show patience , and has promised us an immense reward for that, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

{Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account} [Az-Zumar 39:10]

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) – who is the most perfect of people in patience and the most content of them with the decree of Allah – called upon his Lord in supplication, which indicates that offering supplication is not contrary to patience, because patience means restraining oneself and refraining from becoming discontent and objecting to the divine will and decree.

So there is no reason why a person cannot combine the two acts of worship, patience and supplication. In fact, that is what is best and is most perfect, for it is the way of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to bless us with understanding of His religion.

And Allah knows best.