The religion of Islam advocates and commands that one fulfil the obligations he owes to Allah Ta‘ala and the obligations he owes to the servants of Allah Ta‘ala. Regarding the obligations and rights one owes the servants of Allah Ta‘ala, these can be divided into two types of rights.

The first type are those rights which are specific to each person individually e.g. the rights one owes towards his parents, kith and kin, neighbours, etc.

The second type are those rights which relate to all Muslims in general. In regard to this type, Hazrat Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has explained in his Mubaarak Hadith that each Muslim has six rights over his fellow Muslims. Among these six general rights is that one visits his Muslim brother when he is sick.

Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Hazrat Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “A Muslim has six rights over his Muslim brother. When he meets him, he should greet him (with salaam); if he invites him, he should accept his invitation; when he sneezes (and says alhamdulillah), he should reply to his sneeze by saying ‘Yarhamukallah’; when he falls ill, he should visit him; when he passes away, he should attend his janaazah; and he should love for him what he loves for himself.” ^[1]