Lit. “Returning.”

Allah ﷻ says in His Book:

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ
“Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.”
— Surah al-Baqarah, part of v. 156

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The Virtue of Asserting That We All Belong to Allah During Afflictions

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There are several aḥādīth that mention the rewards of affirming that our return is to Allah by saying:

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ
“Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return,”

when afflictions strike.

For instance, Imam Ahmad reported that Umm Salamah narrated:

Once, Abu Salamah returned after being with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recite words that made me delighted.” He (ﷺ) said:

لَا يُصِيبُ أَحَدًا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مُصِيبَةٌ فَيَسْتَرْجِعُ عِنْدَ مُصِيبَتِهِ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَخْلِفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا، إِلَّا فَعَلَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ بِهِ
“No Muslim is struck with an affliction and says Istirjaʿ at the time of the affliction, then says: ‘O Allah, reward me for my loss and grant me something better than it,’ except that Allah will do so.”

Umm Salamah said, “So I memorized these words.”

When Abu Salamah died, I said Istirjaʿ and supplicated: “O Allah, reward me for my affliction and grant me something better than it.” Then I thought to myself, “Who could be better than Abu Salamah?”

When my ʿiddah (the waiting period before a widow or divorced woman may remarry) ended, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked permission to see me while I was tanning a hide. I washed my hands, gave him permission to enter, and offered him a pillow, upon which he sat.

He (ﷺ) then proposed marriage to me. When he finished speaking, I said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is not that I do not desire you, but I am a jealous woman, and I fear that you may see from me something displeasing for which Allah would punish me. I am also advanced in age and have children.”

He (ﷺ) said:

أَمَّا مَا ذَكَرْتِ مِنَ الْغَيْرَةِ فَسَوْفَ يُذْهِبُهَا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَنْكِ، وَأَمَّا مَا ذَكَرْتِ مِنَ السِّنِّ فَقَدْ أَصَابَنِي مِثْلُ الَّذِي أَصَابَكِ، وَأَمَّا مَا ذَكَرْتِ مِنَ الْعِيَالِ فَإِنَّمَا عِيَالُكِ عِيَالِي
“As for the jealousy you mentioned, Allah, the Exalted, will remove it from you. As for your age, I have experienced what you have experienced. And as for your children, your children are my children.”

She said, “I submitted to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then married her. Umm Salamah later said, “Allah compensated me with one better than Abu Salamah: the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”

Imam Muslim reported a shorter version of this hadith:

Umm Salamah, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), reported that he (ﷺ) said:

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ، اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَخْلِفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا
Inna lillāhi wa inna ilayhi rājiʿūn. Allāhumma’jurnī fī muṣībatī wa akhlif lī khayran minhā.
“We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. O Allah, reward me for my affliction and grant me something better in exchange for it.”

Allah will reward him for his affliction and grant him something better in exchange.

She (Umm Salamah) said: “When Abu Salamah died, I said these very words as I had been instructed by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). So Allah granted me someone better in exchange for him—the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”

— Reported by Muslim
— Adapted from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (2:156)