Every child gets ill, and a child who only hears that Islam is about being strong can feel lost when they are weak. The Sunnah is full of gentleness here. The Prophet ﷺ said no fatigue, disease, sorrow or even a thorn prick touches a Muslim without Allah wiping away some of his sins. He ﷺ commanded us to feed the hungry and visit the sick, taught a dua to say seven times beside a patient, made dua for the sick himself asking Allah to take away the harm, and told a companion in pain to place his hand where it hurt and say Bismillah. These five lessons give a child the words for their own illness and for other people's. Every point carries its ayah or hadith reference.
Lesson 1 · Mercy in pain · ages 8-11
Not even a thorn is wasted
The Prophet ﷺ said no illness, sorrow or even a thorn prick reaches a Muslim without Allah expiating some of his sins.
1The hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said no fatigue, disease, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress befalls a Muslim, even the prick of a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.
2Pain is not punishment
A child who is ill is not being told off by Allah; the hadith frames the pain as cleaning, not anger.
3Sabr is the response
Allah gives glad tidings to those who are patient and say inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un when tested.
4You still take the medicine
The Prophet ﷺ told the companions to seek treatment; trusting Allah and taking medicine go together.
5Ask for shifa
Being rewarded for illness does not stop you from asking Allah to lift it.
Ulaaa'ika 'alaihim salawaatun mir Rabbihim wa rahma; wa ulaaa'ika humul muhtadoon
“Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.”
“No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor 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 al-Bukhari 5641
Do this before next time
Next time you have a headache or a scrape, say Alhamdulillah once and make one dua.
Lesson 2 · Rights · ages 5-7
Go and visit them
The Prophet ﷺ said feed the hungry, visit the sick and free the captives — visiting is a duty, not a favour.
1The hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said: Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and set free the captives.
2Allah takes it personally
In a hadith of Muslim, Allah says on the Day of Resurrection: I was sick but you did not visit Me — meaning His servant who was sick.
3Short and gentle
A visit to someone ill is quiet and short; you are there to comfort, not to fill the room.
4Children can visit
A drawing, a card, a phone call — a child's visit counts in the same sunnah.
5Bring a dua
The best thing to bring is a dua for their shifa, said in front of them.
Laisal birra an tuwalloo wujoohakum qibalal mashriqi walmaghribi wa laakinnal birra man aamana billaahi wal yawmil aakhiri wal malaaa 'ikati wal kitaabi wan nabiyyeena wa aatalmaala 'alaa hubbihee zawilqurbaa walyataa maa walmasaakeena wabnas sabeeli wassaaa'ileena wa firriqaabi wa aqaamas salaata wa aataz zakaata walmoofoona bi ahdihim izaa 'aahadoo wasaabireena fil baasaaa'i waddarraaa'i wa heenal baas; ulaaa'ikal lazeena sadaqoo wa ulaaa 'ika humul muttaqoon
“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.”
“Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and set free the captives.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 5649
“O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me. ... Didn't you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him?”
Sahih Muslim 2569
Do this before next time
Call or write to one person you know who is unwell this week.
Lesson 3 · Dua · ages 8-11
The dua said seven times
The Prophet ﷺ taught a dua to say seven times beside someone who is ill, asking Allah, Lord of the mighty Throne, to cure them.
1The hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said if anyone visits a sick person whose time of death has not come and says with him seven times: I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty Throne, to cure you — Allah will cure him from that disease.
2Learn the Arabic
As'alullaha al-'Azeema, Rabba al-'Arshi al-'Azeem, an yashfiyaka — short enough for a child to memorise.
3Say it beside them
The hadith describes saying it with the sick person, so they hear you asking Allah for them.
4Allah decides
Ibrahim asked Allah for healing too, saying it is He who cures him when he is ill; the cure is always from Allah alone.
5Ibrahim's words
Ibrahim said it is Allah who feeds me and gives me drink, and when I am ill it is He who cures me.
Wa nunazzilu minal quraani maa huwa shifaaa'unw wa rahmatul lilmu;mineena wa laa yazeeduz zaalimeena illaa khasaaraa
“And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.”
“If anyone visits a sick whose time (of death) has not come, and says with him seven times: I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty Throne, to cure you, Allah will cure him from that disease.”
As'alullaha al-'Azeema, Rabba al-'Arshi al-'Azeem, an yashfiyaka
I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty Throne, to cure you.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3106
Do this before next time
Memorise the seven-times dua and say it for someone who is ill.
Lesson 4 · His ﷺ own dua · ages 8-11
Take away the harm, O Lord of people
When the Prophet ﷺ visited a patient he asked Allah to remove the illness and cure them, since only He cures.
1The hadith
Aishah reported that whenever the Prophet ﷺ visited a patient he would say: Take away the disease, O Lord of the people! Cure him, for You are the One who cures. There is no cure but Yours, a cure that leaves no disease.
2It names Allah as healer
The dua does not praise medicine; it says plainly that the cure belongs to Allah.
3A cure that leaves nothing
He ﷺ asked for complete shifa, not just for the pain to quieten down.
4Ayyub's dua
Allah tells us Ayyub called on Him when harm touched him, and Allah answered and removed it.
5Say it for family
This is the dua to say over a younger sibling or a grandparent who is unwell.
Fastajabnaa lahoo fakashaf naa maa bihee min durrinw wa aatainaahu ahlahoo wa mislahum ma'ahum rahmatam min 'indinaa wa zikraa lil'aabideen
“So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him [back] his family and the like thereof with them as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers [of Allah].”
Surah Ash-Shu'araa · 26:80
وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ
Wa izaa mardtu fahuwa yashfeen
“And when I am ill, it is He who cures me”
“Take away the disease, O the Lord of the people! Cure him as You are the One Who cures. There is no cure but Yours, a cure that leaves no disease.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 5675
Do this before next time
Learn this dua and use it the next time someone at home is ill.
Lesson 5 · Yourself · ages 5-7
Put your hand where it hurts
The Prophet ﷺ told Uthman bin Abu al-'As to place his hand where he felt pain, say Bismillah three times, then a dua seven times.
1The hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said: Place your hand at the place where you feel pain in your body and say Bismillah three times, and say seven times: A'udhu billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhiru.
2What it means
I seek refuge with Allah and with His power from the evil that I find and that I fear.
3A child can do it alone
This is one dua a child can use by themselves at night when something aches.
4Ruqyah is from the Sunnah
Reciting Qur'an and these duas over yourself is the Sunnah's own way of seeking healing.
5Al-Fatihah too
The companions used Surah al-Fatihah as a healing recitation with the Prophet's ﷺ approval.
Wa law ja'alnaahu Qur-aanan A'jamiyyal laqaaloo law laa fussilat Aayaatuhoo 'a A'jamiyyunw wa 'Arabiyy; qul huwa lillazeena aamanoo hudanw wa shifaaa'unw wallazeena la yu'minoona feee aazaanihim waqrunw wa huwa 'alaihim 'amaa; ulaaa'ika yunaadawna mim maakaanim ba'eed
“And if We had made it a non-Arabic Qur'an, they would have said, "Why are its verses not explained in detail [in our language]? Is it a foreign [recitation] and an Arab [messenger]?" Say, "It is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure." And those who do not believe - in their ears is deafness, and it is upon them blindness. Those are being called from a distant place.”
Yaaa aiyuhan naasu qad jaaa'atkum maw 'izatum mir Rabbikum wa shifaaa'ul limaa fis sudoori wa hudanw wa rahmatul lilmu'mineen
“O mankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.”
“Place your hand at the place where you feel pain in your body and say Bismillah (in the name of Allah) three times and seven times A'udhu billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhiru.”
Sahih Muslim 2202
Do this before next time
Practise the words now so you can say them the next time something hurts.
Every ayah on this page comes from the Tanzil Uthmani text of the Qur'an with the Sahih International translation, and every hadith carries its collection and number so you can check it yourself. Back to the learning path
