Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamalaykum brother,

I have a question

Q. 1 - I have heard that if a person is suffering from health issues and have bad family life is this mean that Allah is washing away the sins what he and she has made ?

Q.2 – if the parents have done a lot of sins in this world , do the children of the same also have bad effects on the life…I mean do the shadow of the parents bad deeds follow and children are also be penalized for the same in this world ?

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Answer:

Affliations wipe sins

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: I have heard that if a person is suffering from health issues and have bad family life is this mean that Allah is washing away the sins what he and she has made ?

Allah says in the Holy Quran in Chapter 67 Surah Al Mulk verse 2:

He (Allah) created death and life that He may test you, to see which of you is the best in deeds.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 21 Surah Anbiyaa verse 35:

35 Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good (only) by way of trial: to Us must ye return.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, the life of this short and transitory world is but a test and a trial from the Lord…..the real place to receive rewards and punishments is only in the Hereafter.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 155-157:

155 Be sure We shall test you with something of fear, and hunger, some loss in goods, or lives, or the fruits (of your toil); but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.

156 Who say when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah we belong and to Him is our return."

157 They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah and Mercy; and they are the ones that receive guidance.

Abu Hurairah reports that Allah's Messenger (saws) said: "For every misfortune, illness, anxiety, grief, or hurt that afflicts a Muslim -even the hurt caused by the pricking of a thorn - Allah removes some of his sins."

Ibn Mas'ud said: "I visited the Messenger of Allah (saws) while he (saws) had a fever. I exclaimed: 'O Messenger of Allah (saws) ! You have a high fever!' He (saws) said: 'My fever is as much as two among you [might have].' I asked: 'Is it because you have a double reward?' He (saws) replied: 'Yes, that is right. No Muslim is afflicted with any hurt, even if it is no more than the pricking of a thorn, but Allah wipes off his sins because of it and his sins fall away from him as leaves fall from a tree'."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.545 Narrated by Abu Said Al Khudri and Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "No fatigue, no disease, no sorrow, no sadness, no hurt, no distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that."

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6244 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

Allah's Messenger (saws) visited Umm Sa'ib or Umm Musayyib and said: ‘Umm Musayyib, why is it that you are shivering?’ She said: ‘It is fever and may it not be blessed by Allah’, whereupon he (the Prophet (saws)) said: ‘Don't curse fever for it expiates the sin of the posterity of Adam just as furnace removes the alloy of iron.’

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, rest absolutely assured that fever, illness, sickness, diseases, or any calamity or hardship that befalls a believer is not a punishment from Allah Subhanah….but rather a trial and a Mercy from their Lord, for through these afflictions Allah Subhanah expiates some of the sins of that person.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.1

Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet (saws) said: "When Allah wants to be good to someone, He tries him with some hardship."

Your Question: if the parents have done a lot of sins in this world , do the children of the same also have bad effects on the life…I mean do the shadow of the parents bad deeds follow and children are also be penalized for the same in this world ?

Allah Says in the Glorious Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 164:

Every soul draws the mead of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal in the end is toward Allah: He will tell you the Truth of the things wherein ye disputed.

Allah Says in the Glorious Quran Chapter 53 Surah Najm verse 38:

38 No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another;

Allah Says in the Glorious Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa verse 15:

15 Who receives guidance receives it for his own benefit: whoever (chooses to) go astray does so to his own loss: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another:

In light of the absolutely clear guidance of the Glorious Quran quoted above, every soul draws the mead of its acts on none but itself!!! It one parents or loved ones have transgressed the prescribed Boundaries of their Lord through the commission of sins, they alone are to blame for their deeds, and they alone shall bear the burden of their sins…….the off-spring will remain absolutely blameless and innocent of the crimes committed by their parents and vice versa!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan