714 — “Rejoice, Umm al-‘Ala’, for Allah removes the sins of a Muslim through his illness just as fire removes the dross from gold and silver.”

Abu Dawud (3092) recorded it: Sahl ibn Bakkar narrated to us, from Abu ‘Awanah, from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr, from Umm al-‘Ala’, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, visited me while I was ill, and said …”—then she cited it.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy narrators used by al-Bukhari, and the criticism concerning some of them is not detrimental.

Note: Al-Suyuti cited this hadith in al-Jami‘ al-Kabir (1/6/2) only through al-Tabarani’s narration from Abu al-‘Ala’. Al-Haythami did not include it in al-Majma‘ because it is found in the Sunan and therefore does not meet his criterion.

The hadith also has another route from Umm al-‘Ala’, with the wording: “Be patient, for it”—meaning the pain of fever—“removes the dross of the believer just as fire removes the dross from iron.” Ibn al-Sakan and Ibn Mandah recorded it through al-Zubaydi, from Yunus ibn Sayf, that Haram ibn Hakim informed him, from his paternal aunt Umm al-‘Ala’, “that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, visited her during a fever and saw her writhing from the severity of the pain. He said to her …”—the hadith. This is how it appears in Ibn Hajar’s al-Isabah.

I say: The narrators of this chain of transmission are trustworthy, so it is a good chain of transmission.