Did She Choose Healing or Paradise?
The Woman with Fits: A Lesson on Patience, Difficulty, and Paradise
Summary
This lecture discusses a hadith narrated by a student of Ibn Abbas about a black woman who came to the Prophet Muhammad with a request for healing from seizures or fits that caused her clothing to become exposed. The scholar explains the Islamic definitions of Sahaba (companions), Tabi'un (followers of companions), and the significance of the first three generations. The Prophet offered her a choice: patience with her condition and Paradise, or supplication for healing. She chose patience but asked specifically that she not become exposed during her fits, which the Prophet granted through supplication. The lecture emphasizes that difficulty and hardship are necessary paths to Paradise and high spiritual stations, and that Allah's decree is better than what we choose for ourselves.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Please. Alhamdulillah. for.
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Abbas. Islam.
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This narration is on the authority of he's one of the a companion in the Islamic literature when the scholars say the word companion companion sahhabi. Well, there's very particular criteria for that. What is a companion? A companion is anyone who met the prophet sallall.aii wasallam as a believer and died upon that belief. Anyone who met the prophet sallall.aii wasallam as a believer and died a Muslim. So if they meet him and then die a non-Muslim, this is not a companion. If they believe in him but never meet him or if they meet him as a non-Muslim and then later accept Islam but never meet him again, they're not a companion. A companion is someone who meets him as a believer and dies upon Islam. What is a tabir? A tabir is anyone who is a companion of the companions. They are the generation that are the students the companions of the companions and are the students of the students of the companions. Why is this important? Why these three generations? Because the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam mentioned that these first three generations are the best generations of his is one of the students of Ib Abbass. He was the muti of Mecca is responsible for narrating much of Ab's says here he was with Abbass once and Abbas said to him would you me to show you someone who is a person of the people of paradise walking on this earth with us currently. I said, "Of course.".
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He said, "This woman here," and he describes her as this black woman. Well, this isn't because black or white has anything to do with the ruling. This isn't because black or white or race of a person has anything to do with a person's iman or belief. The reason he says this and you'll find this in some narrations is that in the days of Jahya, this was considered a this was considered a a lower cast of people, a lower race. And so it wouldn't be imagined that people that didn't come from the most, you know, most illustrious backgrounds and people that would come from a lower cast as they would believe or a lower race in their belief. there would be a person of paradise or there would be a person that is a companion or someone that has any high standing in the community. However, the first thing the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam did in the conquest of Mecca is that he had climb on top of the make and that image changed the entire course of history. That image changed what people saw in each other and what people it completely changed the scales and the metrics for a person of authority, a person of lofty and esteem and and lofty standing and a person who is not of high esteem. And so he says this woman came to the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam and said I have fits and when I'm having these fits because of you know I'm lost control of my body my clothes start to come off and parts of my body start to become exposed. So make dua to Allah that these things can stop. What are these fits? It's unclear whether this was some kind of possession or whether this was fits of you know seizures or some kind of neurological issue. The point is is that she would have these fits and as she is shaking or losing control of her body parts of her body would become exposed. And so she asked him for two things to make dua that she's healed from these fits and second that she is not exposed in this way. And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam said and so he gave her an option. He said if you if you want you can choose to be patient with what Allah has chosen to decree upon you and for you is paradise if you are patient through this or if you choose I can make dua and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will cure you or he will relieve this and so she said, she said, "No, well then in that case I will be patient." She said, "But I become exposed. My body becomes exposed when I'm having these fits. Please make dua for me that when I have these fits, I at least do not become exposed." And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam then made dua for her to no longer become exposed. The question is why the ultimatum? Why the choice? Why not make dua and make this go away and have have secured paradise? Well, the answer is simple. You cannot get to paradise or get to the high places of paradise without difficulty. And what Allah has chosen for you is better than what you choose for yourself. This here seems a nuisance in your life. It may be your soul ticket to paradise and you're going to pray for it to go away. And so you can either remain steadfast and patient with what Allah has given you because if this isn't your hardship, some other hardship will take its place. And if every time a hardship comes, we're going to have it prayed away. Then at what point are we going to rise in our esteem and levels? We've already heard the prophet sallall.aii tell us that great reward comes with great difficulty. This narration has been collected by Alhamdulillah.