al-Bishara al-Uzma lil-Mumin bi-Anna Hazzahu min al-Nar al-Humma
- Author died
- 795 AH
- Editions
- الفاروق الحديثة للطباعة والنشر
al-Bishāra al-ʿUẓmā lil-Muʾmin bi-Anna Ḥaẓẓahu min al-Nār al-Ḥummā ("The Supreme Glad Tidings for the Believer That His Share of the Fire Is Fever") is a short hadith monograph by the Hanbali traditionist Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 CE) . The treatise provides a textual and theological commentary on prophetic traditions stating that the physical suffering of fever in this world serves as the believer's designated share of Hellfire, purging their sins before the afterlife .
Hadith Transmission and Textual Critique
The treatise opens with the narration recorded in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal from Abu Umama al-Bahili, stating that the Prophet ﷺ said: الحمى من كير من جهنم، فما أصاب المؤمن منها، كان حظه من النار ("Fever is from the bellows of Hell; whatever afflicts a believer of it is his share of the Fire") .
Ibn Rajab analyzes the chains of transmission (asānīd) transmitting this text and its variants, identifying transmitter discrepancies (ikhtilāf) surrounding Abu Salih al-Ash'ari :
- Abu al-Husayn al-Filastini related it from Abu Umama via Abu Salih .
- Isma'il ibn 'Ubayd Allah transmitted it through Abu Salih from Abu Hurayra as a report of the Prophet ﷺ visiting an ailing person . Ibn Rajab notes that this pathway in Ibn Majah contains 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Tamim al-Dimashqi, whom he classifies as weak (ḍaʿīf) .
- Sa'id ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz related it from Isma'il from Abu Salih as a non-prophetic saying (mawqūf) of Ka'b al-Ahbar, which al-Daraqutni deemed the correct attribution .
- Ibn Rajab clarifies an error made by Shababa, who confused Abu al-Husayn al-Filastini with Abu Husayn al-Asadi al-Kufi, and Abu Salih al-Ash'ari with Abu Salih al-Samman .
He subsequently surveys parallel narrations from other Companions, including Aisha, Uthman ibn Affan, Abu Rayhana, and Anas ibn Malik, evaluating their authenticity and citing assessments by traditionists such as al-Daraqutni and al-Uqayli .
Theological and Spiritual Commentary
Ibn Rajab explains that God created both Paradise and Hell and manifested perceptible traces of them in the physical world . Extreme earthly heat derives from the exhalation of Hell (fayḥ Jahannam), while extreme cold derives from its freezing chamber (zamharīr) . Fever acts as a bodily manifestation of Hell's heat that cleanses a believer of sins—analogous to a blacksmith's bellows removing dross from iron—so that the believer meets God purified and without need for further purging in the afterlife .
Addressing the Quranic statement وَإِنْ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا ("There is not one of you but will pass over it" [Maryam: 71]), Ibn Rajab notes the differing views among the Companions regarding whether "entry" (wurūd) refers to crossing the bridge (al-Ṣirāṭ) or entering the Fire itself without being harmed by its heat . Under both interpretations, believers whose faith is perfected will feel no agony from Hell, their only experience of its heat having been the fever endured in this world .
The text highlights several related historical and prophetic traditions:
- The Prophet's own fevers were doubly intense because tribulations and rewards are multiplied for the prophets .
- The Prophet identified individuals who never experienced fever or headaches as bearing signs of the people of Hell .
- Early figures, such as Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, prayed to be continuously afflicted with fever to expiate their shortcomings, provided it did not hinder their performance of obligatory prayers, the pilgrimage, or military campaigns .
- The Prophet directed fever specifically to the people of Quba upon their choice to have it cleanse their remaining sins .
Despite these virtues, Ibn Rajab concludes by affirming that Muslims are religiously instructed to ask God for wellbeing (al-ʿāfiyah) rather than pray for affliction or death .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved across several repositories, including:
- Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul (Fatih MS 5318) .
- King Saud University in Riyadh (MSS 1637/14 and 1817/9) .
- The Saudi Library / Dar al-Ifta in Riyadh (MSS 56/16b and 527) .
- The National Library of Tunisia (MS 157) .
The treatise has been edited and published in collected volumes of Ibn Rajab's monographs, such as Majmūʿ Rasāʾil Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, edited by Tal'at al-Hulwani .
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