A Beautiful Dua to recite when Seeing a Person who is afflicted in his Body or Religion,

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي عَافَانِي مِمَّا ابْتَلَاكَ بِهِ وَفَضَّلَنِي عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَقَ تَفْضِيلًا

The meaning:

“All praise is due to Allah, the One who has kept me safe from that with which He has trialed you with , and preferred me over so many of His creation.”

Abu Hurairah narrated that:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever sees an afflicted person then says: ‘All praise is due to Allah who saved me from that which He has afflicted you with, and blessed me greatly over many of those whom He has created, (Al-ḥamdulillāhi alladhī `āfānī mimmabtalāka bihī wa faḍḍalanī `alā kathīrin mimman khalaqa tafḍīla)’ he shall not be struck by that affliction.”

The hadeeth has been reported by Tirmidhi and others, and authenticated by Albany rahimahullah.

A Side Note: al-Imam an-Nawawi and others mentioned he shouldn’t raise his voice with the du’a to the extent the person who is afflicted can hear him.

Ash-Shaikh Muhammad bin AbdulWahaab, rahimahullah, was the one who mentioned it should be said when seeing a person who is afflicted in his religion or body, as found in his book ‘Adaabul Mashee ilaa salaatu’ .

This Du’aa is said whether the person being afflicted is a muslim or a non Muslim.

Ibnul Arabi, rahimahullah, said when explaining the hadeeth:

قوله من رأى صاحب بلاء أي مبتلي في أمر بدني كبرص وقصر فاحش أو طول مفرط أو عمى أو عرج أو اعوجاج يد ونحوها أو ديني بنحو فسق وظلم وبدعة وكفر وغيرها

“His statement ‘if he sees a person of trials’ , (which has the) meaning (of) being trialed in his body, such as with having leprosy, or with being extremely short, or being extremely tall, or being blind, or being crippled, or the shape of his hand is distorted or its likes. (Similarly), or a religious related affliction similar to wrongdoing and oppression, and an innovation and disbelief, and other than it.”

Translated by

AbdulFattaah bin Uthman
Abu Fajr