Visiting the ill
Visiting the ill is a means of attaining great reward, and it is from amongst the various rights of fellow Muslims which Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned. Some of the jurists have categorised visiting the ill as a (Waajib) obligatory act, but the correct view is that it is Sunnah.
Hadrat Thawbaan Radiallahu Anhu narrates that Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam is reported to have said, “When a Muslim goes out to visit his Muslim brother (that is ill) then he is considered to be in the garden of Jannah.” [Tirmidhi]
Hadrat Ali Radiallahu Anhu states that I heard Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying, “When any Muslim goes out to visit an ailing Muslim in the morning then 70000 angels make Dua for his well being until the evening, and if he goes out to visit him in the evening then 70 000 angels make Dua of well-being for him until the morning, and he is granted a garden of Jannah.” [Tirmidhi]
It was the practice of Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam to visit the ill whenever he heard of anyone not feeling well. It is from amongst the ettiquettes of visiting the ill to place one’s hand on the forehead of the ill person and ask him his condition with the proviso that the ill is not inconvenienced in anyway. If there is fear of him being inconvenienced by placing one’s hand on him and asking his condition, then this practice may be omitted, and the family members may be questioned about his well-being.
Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us to recite the following Dua seven times when visiting the ill: