With back-to-school fun also come back-to-school germs! Has your household been stricken by sicknesses and illnesses? This is a great opportunity to learn some duas for good health and protection, and remind ourselves of the virtues of visiting the sick insha'Allah. Here are 8 duas for you and your family, in English and Arabic, with the pronunciation as well!

When feeling some pain in the body

Put your hand on the place where you feel pain and say:

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ

[Bismillāh] (three times).

Then say seven times:

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا أَجِدُ وَأُحَاذِرُ

[A`ūdhu billāhi wa qudratihi min sharri mā ajidu wa uḥādhir]

Put your hand on the place where you feel pain and say:

With the Name of Allah (three times).

Then say seven times: I seek refuge in Allah and in His Power from the evil of what I find and of what I guard against.

(Reference: Muslim 4/1728)

Prophet Ayyub's (AS) dua for illness

وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

"We bestowed (the same wisdom, judgement and knowledge) upon Ayyub. Recall, when he cried to his Lord: 'Behold, disease has struck me and You are the Most Merciful of those that are merciful.'"

(Reference: Surah Al-Anbiyaa', 21:83)

Asking for good

Whenever anyone accepted Islam, the Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach him how to pray then he would instruct him to invoke Allah with the following words:

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرِ لِي، وَارْحَمْنِي، وَاهْدِنِي، وَعَافِنِي وَارْزُقْنِي

[Allāhummaghfir lī, warḥamnī, waḥdinī, wa `āfinī warzuqnī]

"O Allah forgive me, and have mercy on me and guide me and give me good health and provide for me."

(Reference: Muslim 4/2073)

Placing children under Allah's protection

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to seek Allah's protection for Al-Hasan and Al-Husain by saying:

أعيذكما بكلمات الله التامة

من كل شيطان وهامة

ومن كل عينِ لامة 

[U`īthukumā bikalimāti 'llāhit-tāmmati

min kulli shayṭānin wa hāmmah,

wa min kulli `aynin lāmmah]

"I seek protection for you in the Perfect Words of Allah

from every devil and every beast,

and from every envious blameworthy eye."

(Reference: Al-Bukhari 4/119)

When stricken with a mishap or overtaken by an affair

قَدَّرَ اللهُ وَما شـاءَ فَعَـل

[Qaddarallāhu wa mā shā'a fa`al]

"It is the Decree of Allah and He does whatever He wills."

(Reference: "The strong believer is better and more dear to Allah than the weak believer, and in each of them there is good. Be vigilant for what is to your benefit and seek the help of Allah and do not falter. But when you are stricken by some setback, do not say: 'If only I had done such and such,' rather say: 'It is the Decree of Allah and He does whatever He wills.' For verily the saying 'if (i.e. if only I had) begins the work of the Devil." Muslim 4/2052.)

When visiting the sick

لا بأْسَ طَهـورٌ إِنْ شـاءَ الله

[Lā ba'sa ṭahūrun in shā Allāh]

"Do not worry, it will be a purification (for you), Allah willing."

(Reference: Al-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani Fathul-Bari 10/118.)

أَسْـأَلُ اللهَ العَـظيـم، رَبَّ العَـرْشِ العَـظيـم أَنْ يَشْفـيك 

(سبع مرات)

[As'alullāha 'l-`Aẓīma Rabba 'l-`Arshil-`Aẓīmi an yashfiyak]

"I ask Almighty Allah, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, to make you well." (Recite seven times in Arabic.)

(Reference: At-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud. See also Al-Albani, Sahih At-Tirmidhi 2/210 and Sahihul-Jami' As-Saghir 5/180.)

Excellence of visiting the sick

قَالَ صلى الله عليه وسلم: (إِذَا عَادَ الرَّجُلُ أَخَاهُ الْمُسْلِمَ مَشَى فِي خِرَافَةِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى يَجْلِسَ، فَإِذَا جَلَسَ غَمَرَتْهُ الرَّحْمَةُ، فَإِنْ كَانَ غُدْوَةً صَلَّى عَلَيْهِ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفَ مَلَكٍ حَتَّى يُمْسِيَ، وَإِنْ كَانَ مَسَاءً صَلَّى عَلَيْهِ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفَ مَلَكٍ حَتَّى يُصْبِحَ)

"When a man goes to visit his sick Muslim brother, he walks along a path of Paradise until he sits, and when he sits he is cloaked in mercy. If he comes in the morning, seventy thousand angels pray for him until evening, and if he comes in the evening, seventy thousand angels pray for him until morning."

(Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 149)