Is there reward in illness? And how sound is our saying to the sick person, “Reward and well-being”?

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings

To begin with, it appears that the hadith mentioned is missing part of its original text; the full text is:

that Imam ʿAli (a), during an illness from which one of his companions was suffering, said: “May Allah make your ailment a shedding of your misdeeds, for there is no reward in illness, but it sheds misdeeds and strips them away as leaves are stripped away. Reward lies only in speaking with the tongue and acting with the hands and feet; and Allah the Exalted admits into Paradise, by virtue of sincerity of intention and a righteous inner self, whomever He wishes of His servants”.

Here are some observations for understanding the narration, and for understanding the relation of the sick person to reward:

1 - People's saying to the sick person, “Reward and well-being,” is like their saying, “May Allah grant you reward and well-being.” The prayer for well-being is clear, and the prayer for reward is general and acceptable; that is, what is meant may be: We ask Allah to give you the reward that Allah used to give you while you were healthy, and may Allah not deprive you of it.

It has been narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a): The Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Allah Almighty says to the angel assigned to the believer when he falls ill: ‘Write for him what you used to write for him in his health, for it is I who have placed him in My bonds.’”

2 - The narration is not concerned with negating reward in illness absolutely; rather, owing to the context of contrast, the negation here serves to show that illness is not a substitute for righteous deeds, and that a person should not rely on it.

There are narrations that support this understanding, namely those that state explicitly that Allah gives the sick person a reward. In the narration: “Staying awake one night because of illness or pain is better, and greater in reward, than a year's worship.”

And in the advice of the Prophet (s) to ʿAli (a): “O ʿAli, the moaning of the believer is glorification (tasbih), his crying out is declaring [Allah's] oneness (tahlil), his lying on the bed is worship, and his turning from side to side is jihad in the way of Allah; and if he is restored to health, he walks among the people with no sin upon him.”

3 - Illness is also considered an expiation for sins and a shedding of misdeeds. It has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s): “A night's fever is an expiation for a year.” Likewise, as in the previous narration: “and if he is restored to health, he walks among the people with no sin upon him.”

4 - If the sick person is a believer, then in the case of some illnesses it is a sign of Allah's love for him, as [narrated] from Abu ʿAbd Allah Jaʿfar (a): “When Allah loves a servant, He looks at him; and when He looks at him, He presents him with one of three gifts: either a headache, or a fever, or an eye inflammation.”

5- If the sick person is a disbeliever, it has been narrated from Imam al-Rida (a): “Illness is, for the believer, a purification and a mercy, and for the disbeliever a punishment and a curse; and illness continues to stay with the believer until no sin remains upon him”.

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