# Why Do I Have These (Dis)Abilities? |  Why Me?

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Why Me
**Published:** 2024-03-14
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/UwK4rsBRXuI
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/why-do-i-have-these-disabilities-why-me
**Topics:** Afterlife, Faith

## Description
There is no greater blessing after faith than good health. Good health gives you the opportunity to strive in the way of Allah and earn blessings. But what if it wasn't decreed for you, and you are living with disability or illness? Allah has placed reward in both ability and disability, and there...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** There are certain things all of us can and can't do. But there is no greater blessing after faith than good health. It gives us strength, mobility, and opportunity. But what if Allah ordained a different path for you?

**[0:17]** Your strength falters, you're not as mobile as you wish to be, and while there is much blessing in good health, there is great reward in illness and disability. Health is one of the easiest blessings to recognize in ourselves, and illness is one of the easiest hardships to recognize in others, even in a complete stranger.

**[0:38]** But it's especially hard to see it in someone close to us. And in the story of the disability of one, Allah may enable something special in that person and everyone around them as a direct result of it.

**[0:57]** The same Prophet (ﷺ) who said that there is no greater blessing than

**[1:14]** 'afiyah, than health, also said do not curse any illness, even a fever, because fever burns off your sins. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is with the one who is ill, and the 70,000 angels travel with the one who goes to visit the one who is ill. What then of a person who serves someone who is

**[1:33]** ill constantly? The test of disability is not just for the individual, it's for the entire family. And the patience and tireless work that loved ones put in for months or even years are recorded precisely by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And it's a chance for everyone to grow in faith,

**[1:50]** and especially for the one who is serving to grow in character. And while the family can come together through a test like this, it can be tough for some to witness the vulnerability and mortality of the people they thought would last forever. But it also reminds them of their greater purpose

**[2:06]** and the fact that they too may one day be just as vulnerable. For the one who acquires an illness later in life, adjusting to a very different life and seeing the doors of your dreams closed in front of your eyes can be very traumatic. But this too is all part of Allah's qadr.

**[2:26]** You may have been meant to go through this for a higher purpose, or you were meant to be a beacon of hope for others going through similar or even worse. You may be the reason for a child to grow up grateful and humble instead of arrogant and shallow, or the catalyst for a community to become

**[2:43]** more accessible for people with all disabilities. Or perhaps it's simply the beautiful patience and acceptance that you exhibit in a time of calamity that becomes your ticket to Jannah. 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (رضي الله عنه) was told after a journey that his favorite son Muhammad

**[3:00]** fell from a high place and died. And he immediately said, Alhamdulillah, Allah gave me seven kids, and he only took one away from me. Then he was afflicted with an infection in his leg, and his leg had to be amputated. And when his leg was amputated, he said, Alhamdulillah, I had four

**[3:16]** of my full limbs, meaning my arms and my legs, and Allah only took one of them. And then he said this beautiful du'a, he said, Rabbi la'in akhasta laqad abqayta, wa la'in ibtalayta laqad 'afayta. Oh my Lord, where you have taken from me, you've still left more to remain. And where you have put

**[3:34]** me to trial, you still granted me health. And Imam al-Zuhri (رحمه الله) says, and he still recited his portion of the Quran that night, subhanAllah, he still prayed qiyam that night. And it reminds me of the beautiful man in Gaza, 'Am Khalid, who told that little girl who lost her leg, 'Amo, don't worry,

**[3:52]** your leg has already gone to Jannah. You know, sometimes we learn to fly when our worldly wings are clipped. And in the case of physical disabilities, sometimes that's when we end up being the most spiritually healthy, and we elevate our ranks to places we did not even know existed.

**[4:10]** The truly disabled are those who are spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind, whose hearts can't see and hear. And that's why when Ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) went blind, he said, in ya'khuthillahu min 'aynaya noorahuma fa fee lisani wa sam'i minhuma noor. If Allah removes the light from my eyes,

**[4:29]** my tongue and my ears make up for them in light. And it was said to Qatadah (رحمه الله), why are the blind so much deeper than those who can see? And he said, li'anna abusarahum tahawwalat ila quloobihim, because their vision was turned inwards into their hearts. It reminds me of my

**[4:47]** mother, may Allah have mercy on her, who, when she went partially deaf, she said she would sit in a gathering with ease and she would say, alhamdulillah, Allah spared me from hearing the backbiting and the gossip. The Sahabah saw the loss of the ability to perceive Allah as the only real disability,

**[5:03]** and they constantly sought his reward because they knew their purpose. Sometimes it's about what you can give, and sometimes it's about what Allah takes away from you.

**[5:24]** The Prophet (ﷺ) guaranteed 'Uthman (رضي الله عنه) Jannah because of all that he would spend in Allah's cause. But then he guaranteed a woman Jannah because she was patient with her seizures. If you looked around the community of the Prophet (ﷺ),

**[5:40]** you'd notice that the mu'adhin 'Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum was blind, that Nusaybah lost her arm in the battle of Yamamah, that 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was described as exceedingly short and bow-legged, that Abu 'Ubaydah was missing his teeth and he had a lisp from pulling the helmet of the Prophet

**[5:57]** (ﷺ) out of his face on the day of Uhud. Does your community look like the community of the Prophet (ﷺ)? Allah admonished the Prophet (ﷺ) for frowning at a blind man. And then the Prophet (ﷺ) admonished the community and said don't stare at a person with leprosy or a skin condition in a way that would make them feel

**[6:16]** despised. A woman with a mental illness comes running to the Prophet (ﷺ) shouting Ya Rasulullah help me! And the Prophet (ﷺ) says oh umm fulan, choose whichever road you would like and I will come with you and fulfill what you need. A prophetic

**[6:31]** community is one in which we all recognize the unique blessings and challenges we have. And then we grow together seeking that place where no disability remains.

**[6:48]** Allah may have spared someone of the fitnah of the blessing of a limb or faculty in this life but he won't deprive them of the eternal blessing of it in a far better way in Jannah.

**[7:06]** But it's understandable that no one wants to feel left out in this world or unable to fully pursue their happiness. In the case of the believer it's the perceived missed opportunities to do good. The companions were the most eager to perform as many good deeds as they

**[7:22]** could no matter what the cost was but sometimes they weren't able to. You had the young teenagers during the battle of Badr and Uhud who came begging the Prophet (ﷺ) to be part of it but the Prophet (ﷺ) turned them away because they weren't physically fit for it. You had a group of companions unable to participate in Tabuk

**[7:42]** and the Quran captures the moment of their tears. That they turned away in tears out of grief because they could not find anything they could give in the path of Allah. Think about those who can't fast because they're diabetic or those who can't do sujud and taste

**[8:02]** the sweetness of their foreheads on the ground. Allah doesn't just dispense his mercy by giving concessions to people who are unable to participate in these acts of goodness. He assures them of the reward and that they're not deficient. You see in Islam abilities are overrated

**[8:18]** intentions are what count and don't just think about special needs or missing limbs. You may also look around and wonder just in general why is that person so much smarter than me and able to get it so quickly or why is that person so much stronger than me but it may be that

**[8:34]** that endowed physical strength could actually be a fast track to arrogance and some of the most intelligent people in the world become the most intellectually arrogant and they think like Qarun when he said, that really I was given this due to my knowledge and in reality he became a complete fool

**[8:52]** by failing to recognize who gave him his strength and his brilliance in the first place. So you're striving to make up the gaps in life in anything that comes harder to you allows you to be more humble to work to realize your potential and to always have this longing

**[9:08]** heart to be more for the sake of Allah but Allah always reminds you and those around you that in any area you lack with your ability Allah has given you a head start with some other blessing. You have to open yourself up to wanting to please Allah in every way

**[9:24]** then asking him to guide you to places you didn't even know existed. There are lights that are allowed to arrive and then there are lights that are allowed to enter. Your abilities are opportunities to please Allah and that often means by using them to help those

**[9:42]** who don't have those abilities and in the case of each one of us it teaches us not to be self-centered or to take our blessings for granted because in a flash you can lose them.

## Other Episodes in "Why Me"
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- [When Life Comes Full Circle | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/when-life-comes-full-circle-why-me.md)
- [What Will The Day of My Death Be Like? | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/what-do-i-feel-when-im-dying-why-me.md)
- [Will Allah Still Forgive Me? | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/will-allah-still-forgive-me-why-me.md)
- [How Can I Accept That I'm Dying? | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/how-can-i-accept-that-im-dying-why-me.md)
- [What If It's Too Late? | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/what-if-its-too-late-why-me.md)
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- [Trailer: Why Me? | A Ramadan Series on Understanding Qadar](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-me/trailer-why-me-a-ramadan-series-on-understanding-qadar.md)