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Crying Due to Illness

Al-ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Bāz

Answering the question: Is crying due to illness considered a form of ungratefulness to Allāh?

The eye sheds tears and the heart grieves, yet we do not say anything except what is pleasing to our Lord.

Related by al-Bukhārī

[Q]:I am ill and I sometimes cry because of what happens to me after my illness. Is this considered an action which opposes Allāh and of not being pleased with what He has decreed? I do not do this action willfully. Likewise, does that ruling also include talking to my relatives about my illness?

[A]: “There is no harm in crying, if it is simply tears coming from the eyes, without wailing. This is based upon the statement of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), when his son Ibrāhīm passed away: “The eye sheds tears and the heart grieves, yet we do not say anything except what is pleasing to our Lord. By your death – O Ibrāhīm – we are indeed in grief.”1 The aḥādīth with this meaning are numerous.”2

Endnotes:
[1] Related by al-Bukhārī (no. 1303) and Muslim (no. 2315), from Asmāʾa ibnt Yazīd raḍī Allāhu ʿanhā.
[2] Fatāwá al-Mar‘ah (p. 12)

Published: June 4, 2007
Edited: February 18, 2023

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