To what extent is the hadith authentic: "By My Glory and Majesty, I do not seize My believing servant, while I desire to have mercy on him, except that I test him with every sin he committed, (making it) an illness in his body, or poverty in his sustenance, or a calamity in his wealth or children, until I reduce him to the equivalent of an atom. If anything remains (of his sins), I intensify the throes of death upon him, until he meets Me as pure as the day his mother bore him"?

The hadith: "By My Glory and Majesty, I do not seize My believing servant whom I wish to show mercy to, except that I test him with every evil deed he committed as an illness in his body..." has no origin and it is not permissible to spread it except to clarify its lack of authenticity, because of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Do not lie about me, for whoever lies about me shall enter the Fire." What has been authentically reported in the Sunnah concerning the expiation of sins through affliction suffices, such as the hadith: "Calamity continues to afflict the believing man and woman in their self, child, and wealth, until they meet Allah with no sin upon them." And the hadith: "If Allah wishes good for His servant, He hastens the punishment for him in the world." And the hadith: "No believer is afflicted by a thorn or anything greater than it, except that Allah raises him in rank thereby, or expiates a sin for him thereby."