Waqar Akbar Cheema
According to a famous hadith in Sahih Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said:
لا عدوى ولا طيرة، ولا هامة ولا صفر
There is no infection, no evil omen, no hama, and no serpent in a hungry belly (safar).
Problematizing the apparent meanings
The above translation done by an orientalist James Robson is actually how many people tend to understand this hadith as a negation of infection or communication of disease. The history of experiences of regular infectious diseases and epidemics, on the other hand, leave no doubt even to a person without knowledge of biology or microbiology that certain diseases do have contagious nature. The current pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19) is just a case in point.
The hadith is indeed authentic having been related by a number of companions including Abu Huraira,[1] ‘Abdullah b. Mas‘ud,[2] Ibn Abbas,[3] Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas,[4] Jabir b. Abdullah,[5] ‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar,[6] and Anas b. Malik.[7] There is no reason to question its veracity.
Other narrations/versions of the hadith
So, did the Prophet (ﷺ) plainly deny an observable fact? When we study the hadith more carefully taking into account other narrations of it, we arrive at a conclusion different from the superficial understanding.
According to another relatively detailed narration of the hadith;
أبا هريرة، يقول: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «لا عدوى ولا طيرة، ولا هامة ولا صفر، وفر من المجذوم كما تفر من الأسد»
Related Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, ‘There is no contagion, nor is there any bad omen (tiyara), nor is there any vermin calling for revenge (hamah), nor is there a serpent in the belly (safar), yet flee from a leper as you would flee from a lion.”[8]
Here the final part of the hadith “yet flee from a leper as you would flee from a lion” clearly contradicts the apparent meanings of the first phrase “there is no contagion” asking for further deliberation.
Another similar hadith goes as:
عن أبي هربرة، أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: لا عدوى، ولا هام، ولا صفر، ولا يحل الممرض على المصح، وليحلل المصح حيث شاء، قال: ولما ذلك، يا رسول الله؟ قال: إنه أذى
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “There is no contagion (‘adwa), nor is there any vermin calling for revenge (hamah), nor is there a serpent in the belly (safar). The owner of sick livestock, however, must not stop at the same place as the owner of healthy livestock, but the owner of healthy livestock may stop wherever he wishes.” They said, “Messenger of Allah, Why is that?” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “(Because) it is harmful.”[9]
Here the Prophet (ﷺ) clearly mentioned that healthy cattle should not be brought to a place where cattle suffer from some contagious disease elaborating that doing so was indeed harmful.
These reports, therefore, make it clear that in denying “‘adwa” the Prophet (ﷺ) did not mean to deny the observable phenomenon of contagious nature of certain diseases. He was actually hitting at something else. The flow of the hadith tells us that it was about denouncing certain pre-Islamic beliefs of superstitious nature. The denounced “‘adwa”, therefore, did not refer to simple plain fact of spread of an infectious disease it rather was the belief that certain diseases spread by themselves which ignored Almighty Allah as the ultimate originator of everything. The underlying message, therefore, was that the affecting agency was not a disease itself rather it was subjected to divine will in its spread or otherwise from one body to another.
We now turn to another narration of the hadith which reports a Bedouin’s query on the same lines as the apparent reading alongwith the Prophet’s (ﷺ) response which provides evidence to make sense of the seemingly contradicting parts of the hadith.
أن أبا هريرة رضي الله عنه، قال: إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: لا عدوى ولا صفر ولا هامة» فقال أعرابي: يا رسول الله، فما بال إبلي، تكون في الرمل كأنها الظباء، فيأتي البعير الأجرب فيدخل بينها فيجربها؟ فقال: «فمن أعدى الأول؟
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “There is no contagion (‘adwa), nor is there a serpent in the belly (safar), nor is there any vermin calling for revenge (hamah). A bedouin stood up and said, “Then what about my camels? They are like deer on the sand, but when a mangy camel comes and mixes with them, they all get infected with mangy.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Then who conveyed the (mange) disease to the first one?”[10]
Yet another narration of the hadith actually provides the fuller context and relates to us the complete saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) in this context.
عن أبي هريرة، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ” لا يعدي شيء شيئا، لا يعدي شيء شيئا “، ثلاثا، قال: فقام أعرابي، فقال: يا رسول الله، إن النقبة تكون بمشفر البعير، أو بعجبه، فتشتمل الإبل جربا، قال: فسكت ساعة، ثم قال: ” ما أعدى الأول، لا عدوى، ولا صفر، ولا هامة، خلق الله كل نفس، فكتب حياتها وموتها ومصيباتها ورزقها “
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “One thing does not infect another by its own agency,” repeating it three times. So a Bedouin said: “Messenger of Allah! When mange effects a camel it spreads to all the camels around.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) paused for a moment and said: “Who caused the first one to be diseased? There is no contagion (‘adwa), nor is there a serpent in the belly (safar), nor is there any vermin calling for revenge (hamah). Allah created every soul, determining its span of life, (time and cause of) its death, its afflictions, and its provisions.”[11]
This narration being the most complete provides the actual context and thus clarifies the real meanings of the hadith. The Prophet (ﷺ) basically refuted the idea that anything could be effective on its own and when a Bedouin asked a question related to spread of diseases based on his experience with camels the Prophet (ﷺ) made a rhetorical rejoinder on cause of infection in the first camel. Thereafter while rejecting different superstitions common amongst pre-Islamic Arab pagans he said “there is no contagion” and reiterated the basic beliefs of Islam that Allah not only created souls He also decreed the details of their life and death.[12]
Accordingly, “there is no contagion” has to be understood in the light of initial thrice repeated saying, “One thing does not infect another by its own agency.”[13]
Breakup of what the Prophet said
We thus learn that the Prophet (ﷺ) did the following together;
(a) Denied a conception on contagious diseases
(b) Ordained keeping oneself away from someone affected by a contagious disease mentioning that it indeed meant harm
(c) Highlighted that someone actually controlled and affected disease in the first place
(d) Reiterated that it was Allah who decreed life, death, and all the afflictions one suffers in life
Whereas, the above points are not deduced or inferred from the sayings of the Prophet (ﷺ) rather these are plainly stated in his very own words tells us that far from denying the fact of certain diseases spreading from one person or animal to another, the Prophet (ﷺ) meant to highlight that the diseases did not spread on their own, rather it was Allah, the Almighty, who decreed their spread or otherwise.
Further elaboration
What confirms this is the fact that other things denounced alongwith “spread of a disease by its own agency” (‘adwa) were beliefs of similar nature about experienced facts. Safar referred to a superstition about hunger being caused by bite of a serpent in the belly[14] and hama to a superstition about the a vermin that the pagan Arabs believed came out of head of the murdered calling for his revenge. While both hunger and the impulse for revenge were experienced facts there was no basis of a serpent in the belly causing hunger pain or a vermin emerging from the corpse of the murdered. Likewise, while certain diseases did spread from one human or animal to another it was not their own agency but rather Allah’s decree that caused its spread, whatever the observable source or means.
Even at causal level, upon entry of infectious microbe into a body its possible effects are governed by efficiency and response of host body’s innate immune system. The response of the immune system itself is contingent upon scores of complicated and interdependent variables such as genetics, environmental factors, previous disease history, microbe exposure and evolution pathways, nature and timing of exposure, what else is happening in a body at that time. All this makes it rather easier for anyone to realize and be reminded of the fact that the ultimate causation of everything rests with Allah alone.[15]
Accordingly, the Prophet (ﷺ) concluded the talk by mentioning that it was Allah who decreed life, death, and any troubles and provisions that one finds in his lifetime. He, therefore, highlighted that all that befalls one in this life was only from Allah and one should never be oblivious of this fact.
Besides a condemnation of the pre-Islamic superstitions the hadith also serves as a corrective in the modern world imbued with secular outlook which is akin to paganism in attributing independent agency to mortals; human, objects, or microbes. The attribution even if not theorized and dogmatized is there at least by the way of exclusive focus making people oblivious to the Creator and Lord of the universe and His commands.
Other relevant hadith reports
Getting back to the original query; ‘if the Prophet (ﷺ) denied the fact of some diseases being contagious?’ let us quickly refer to a few more hadith reports that affirm our conclusion that the Prophet (ﷺ) did not preach any kind of fatalism by denying the fact of contagion.
عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: «إذا سمعتم بالطاعون بأرض فلا تدخلوها، وإذا وقع بأرض وأنتم بها فلا تخرجوا منها»
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”[16]
Likewise when a leper came to pledge allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) which was typically done by putting hand in hand, “the Prophet (ﷺ) sent a message to him: ‘We have accepted your allegiance, so you may go.’”[17]
Conclusion
Far from denying the universally known fact of certain diseases being contagious, the hadith was actually a refutation of the pre-Islamic pagan Arab beliefs and superstitions. The Prophet (ﷺ) in fact preached and ordained isolation and quarantining to check the spread of infectious diseases.
[divider]References & Notes:
[1] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, (Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007) Hadith 5707, 5717 et al.
[2] al-Tirmidhi, Abu ‘Isa, al-Jami’, (Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007) Hadith 2143;
[3] Ibn Majah, al-Sunan, (Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007) Hadith 3539; Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Musnad, Hadith 2425
[4] Al-Sijistani, Abu Dawud, al-Sunan, (Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2008) Hadith 3921; Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Musnad, (Beirut: al-Resalah Publishers, 2001) Hadith 1502
[5] Muslim b. Hajjaj, al-Sahih, (Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007) Hadith 2222 (107-109)
[6] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 5753
[7] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 5756
[8] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 5707
[9] Malik b. Anas, al-Muwatta bi-rwayat Abu Mus‘ab al-Zuhri, (Beirut: al-Resalah Publishers, 1412 AH) Hadith 1989; unlike other recensions (riwayat) of Muwatta that of Abu Mus‘ab mentions that this hadith comes from Abu Huraira; al-Baihaqi too has it from Abu Huraira through two independent connected isnad. See, al-Baihaqi, Abu Bakr, Sunan al-Kubra, (Beirut: DKI, 2003) Hadith 14239-14240
[10] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 5717
[11] Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Musnad, Hadith 8343; the hadith as it appears in Musnad of Ahmad b. Hanbal is narrated from Abu Huraira by Abu Zur‘a ‘Abdul Rahman b. ‘Amr b. Jarir; see also, al-Tirmidhi, Abu ‘Isa, al-Jami’, Hadith 2143 where the same Abu Zur ‘a relates on the authority of an unnamed person from Ibn Mas‘ud from the Prophet (ﷺ). With al-Tahawi, however, the report comes from Abu Zur‘a from Ibn Mas‘ud through “a man from the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ).” Except if it is a mistake on the part of some sub-narrator, it helps us identify the unnamed teacher of Abu Zur‘a in the version with al-Tirmidhi as Abu Huraira. See, al-Tahawi, Abu Ja‘far, Sharh Ma‘ani al-Athar, (Beirut: ‘Alam al-Kitab, 1994) Hadith 7057; for more on Abu Huraira relating from Ibn Mas‘ud, see ‘Abdullah b. Ahmad, al-Sunnah, (Dammam: Dar Ibn Qayyim, 1986) Hadith 1192 and al-Ghumari, Abu al-Faid, al-Mudawi li-‘Ilal al-Jami‘ al-Saghir wa Sharhaiy al-Munawi, (Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1996) Vol.2, 481; see also, al-Bazzar, Abu Bakr, al-Musnad, (Madina: Maktaba Ulum wa al-Hikam, 1993) Vol.4, 269 Hadith 1438; al-Baihaqi, Abu Bakr, al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat, Edited by Zahid al-Kawthari (Cairo: Maktaba al-Azhariyya li al-Turath,n.d.) 126; also, al-Mizzi, Jamal al-Din, Tahdhib al-Kamal, Edited by Bashar Awwad Ma‘ruf (Beirut: Al-Resalah Publishers, 1980) Vol.16, 126
[12] What further confirms this meaning is that while at first Abu Huraira narrated both the hadith “there is no contagion (‘adwa)” and the hadith forbidding the owner with sick livestock from stopping over at the place of the healthy livestock, overtime he stopped narrating the “no contagion” hadith while continuing to narrate the hadith about mixing of healthy and sick livestock. He became so adamant in refusing to narrate the “no contagion” hadith that it made his student Abu Salama b. ‘Abdul Rahman (d. 94) wonder if Abu Huraira had forgotten it or if he thought it had been abrogated. (Muslim b. Hajjaj, al-Sahih, Hadith 2221 (104)) While the question of abrogation does not arise in such cases, the suggestion of forgetfulness too seems farfetched. It rather appears that overtime Abu Huraira thought that the “no contagion” hadith was no more relevant after the Islam had fully prevailed. In a bid, therefore, to keep the laity from falling into impression of contradiction across the sayings of the Prophet (ﷺ) he stopped narrating it. See, Al-Qurtubi, Abu al-Abbas, al-Mufhim lima Ashkala min Talkhis Kitab Muslim, (Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1996) Vol.5, 626
[13] Translation of the “لا يعدي شيء شيئا” phrase in the hadith as, “One thing does not infect another by its own agency,” follows Edward William Lane’s rendering of it. See, Lane, E. W., Arabic-English Lexicon, (Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1968) Book I, 1978 cf. Al-Jawhari, Abu Nasr, Taj al-Lugha wa Sihah al-Arabiya, (Beirut: Dar al-‘Ilm al-Malayin, 1987) Vol.6, 2421
[14] There are variant explanations of Safar in this context. Whereas, some like Malik b. Anas thought it referred to changing the sequence of the month of Safar in view of the restrictions attached to it, (Abu Dawud, al-Sunan, Hadith 3914) others held that Safar here referred to a serpent that pagans of Arabia used to believe caused hunger by biting in the belly. This latter interpretation of Safar has been reported from a companion Jabir b. Abdullah as well and since he has also related this hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), his explanation has been adopted here. See, Muslim b. Hajjaj, al-Sahih, Hadith 2222 (109). Al-Bukhari too preferred this explanation.
[15] This paragraph is actually an only slightly emended reproduction from a post of Sh. Salman ibn Nasir, here.
[16] Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 5728
[17] Muslim b. Hajjaj, al-Sahih, Hadith 2231 (126)
As salaam u alaikum,
Thank you for your article however I feel there are major issues with it. Your entire interpretation of these blessed narrations takes for granted the fact that “certain diseases do have contagious nature” of which you say there is “no doubt”. However I would contest that there is serious doubt over this matter. Anyone who looks deeply enough into the pseudo-science of virology would see enormous flaws and assumptions which have been adopted as common knowledge, when in fact, contagion as a concept has been hotly contested by many scientists throughout the ages, as well as by alternative approaches to medicine and illness, such as German New Medicine. The very existence of viruses as we are conditioned to believe by mainstream science has never been proven, in that they have never been isolated, and for this I refer you to the work of Dr. Stefan Lanka.
You go on to to correctly assert that Allah Almighty decrees illness, but in fact the very concept of viruses is predicated on the flawed notion that they have volition of their own, which as we know simply cannot be.
As your brother, dear Waqar, I urge you to look deeper into this matter, beyond the accepted dogmas on modern medicine, and try to uncover the vast holes in theories which have become commonplace. We should take the Blessed Prophet’s, peace be upon Him, words as the primary truth in any matter, rather than trying to reinterpret what He said to fit the opinions and dogma of this present age of deception.
Some key points:
– The Hadith about plague in a land makes NO mention of contagion being the reason for not travelling to or from the affected land. A perfectly plausible explanation and one more consistent with the other Hadiths you have quoted, is that one should not flee from an affected land where people are in need, and one should not travel to an affected land to save being a burden and hindrance on those who are undergoing a trial from Allah.
– The Hadith about separating sick livestock from healthy also makes no mention of contagion, and a better interpretation is to understand that healthy livestock can become distressed by being in the company of livestock with visible afflictions.
– Fleeing from a leper is also not valid evidence of contagion, as in at least one other narration, the blessed Prophet, peace be upon Him, welcomed a leper in His company who was cured thereafter. The rightly guided companions, may Allah be pleased with them, are also recorded as doing this. Surely these illuminated individuals would not have done this if there was a risk of contagion, as not only would they have been setting a bad example (which is impossible for us to even fathom), but they would have been wrong for doing so, as a key principle in Islam is that we are forbidden from deliberately putting ourselves in harms way. Yes, the Prophet, peace be upon Him, did say that IF any disease was to be contagious, leprosy would be it, but this was specific to leprosy and beyond the scope of my response here. I can elaborate further if required.
– If, by the above Hadiths you quoted, the Prophet, peace be upon Him, was only highlighting that “There is no contagion, except by the Will of Allah Almighty” then why did He clearly and succinctly say “Laa Adwa”? Yet when asked about the evil eye He said “Al ayn ul haqq”. We know that the evil eye also can only take effect with Allah’s decree, however two different responses were given. Surely this highlights the clarity with which the Prophet, peace be upon Him, was communicating that there is no such thing as contagious disease, and it was not a statement pointing to the reality of the decree of Allah being behind all things.
– If modern science posits that contagious disease is a reality, then what does modern science say about effects of the evil eye? Surely scientists would reject this, however we know from many Hadiths that the evil eye does exist and can cause many grave illnesses and afflictions. This negates our reliance upon modern science as a reliable source of knowledge to us, and reaffirms my earlier point that the Hadiths of our blessed Prophet, peace be upon Him, must come before any other source of knowledge when attempting to understand the world. We must not modify our interpretation of the Hadith to suit the world around us. Instead we should look to the world around us and apply the knowledge that has come to us from the greatest of all creation, and only then we can claim to be on His path. If modern science is at odds with knowledge from Hadith, then our focus and scrutiny should be on modern science and not on the Hadith.
My intention is pure and only to communicate the truth. I apologise in advance for any contention, mistakes or misgivings. Thank you for writing this article. I hope you take my points into account.
For further info here is a link to a video where this issue is discussed in length starting at around 1:14:00 by a respected Mufti from the UK. Many of the points above are taken from this video which explains them much better than I am able to:
https://youtu.be/hOAXL8pc5Po
I pray you and your family are in the best of health and faith at this testing time, and I pray that Allah guides us all out of darkness into light, and from falsehood into truth.
Your dear brother in Islam,
Sameer
Asslam o Alaikum
brother Sameer Ali wrote on this topic beatifully I cannot have such a good knowledge and grip. But I want to add some more points to it to think more upon that. I would you short cuts language not gramatically correc to consider points
1. Leporacy is (assummed) contagious disease. Whay our prophet ISA Alaihsala o Wasslam was not infected with leporacy I assumed he would have cured dozens if not hundreds of patients by permsission of Allah
2. In the hadith of contagion. If you add you the commentry of hadith (by decree of Allah) then some points occur.
2a. What is happeing in this universe and beyond this without decree of Allah SWT? If I ask you to put your hand in fire, if Allah wills fire will burn you but if Allah does not will fire will not burn you. This is certainly correct but would you put your hand in fire? In the hadith of contagion Prophet SAW is not talking abou the decree of Allah he is talking about the nature of certain things which he negated all four of them at same level.
2b. If you add (decree of Allah in LaAdwaa then add decree of Allah in all other three apects. it wll ruin the essense of the hadith. It will make that Safar month is normally fine but if Allah will he will make it Unlucky and for all others
3. Hazrat Ayub PBUH had been inflicted with serious disease for 18 years. This disease was so serious that even….. all left. His wife stayed with her, was she infected.
4. When Allah SWT was putting RUH of Adam PBUH in his body he sneazed and said Allhamdo Lillah and Allah said Yahhamukallah. It shows that sneazing is Rehma for Adam. If something is rehma for our father would it be harmaful and contagious (zehmat, clamity) for others?
5. Should we stop visiting sick may have contagious disease
6. Shoud we throw our fathers grandfathers who are sick into isolation that they may have even unkown contagious dieaseas
I am strongly of point of view that hadith of contagion is very very clear and there is no such thing like contagion in this world.
The discussion is based on that you have accepted the (scientific theory) of contagion, so the hadith would not be fitting in this theory, so we need to add something in its meaning.
6. in hadith of not going out and not going in have number of plausible outcomes. but is stress one point. did prophet SAW said do not open shops, do not visit sick and do not see each other because of plague?
7. running from leper does not show contagion as hadith used lion. lions have to connection with contagion at all. lions are deadly and fear can be associated with lion. so run away from leper may means you will have fear, stress, anxiety when you see leper closely.
8. putting animals seperate is not putting stress to healty, not because of contagion.
9. hadith who infected the first camel clearly denies that the second camel was not infected by the first but it was infected by the ONE who has infected the first one (Allah). means it has caught the disease from same source from which first have conceived. and that is true for all (assumingly contagious) dieseases.
Actually when there is plague. All people infected from plage are infected from the same source, same reeason etc…
These are only may thoughts I am not authentic in any subject discussed in this comment. I only urge the concerning people to investigate more into issue. But I have the feeling but words of my Prophet SAW are perfect. THERE IS NO CONTAGION.
If you see DR. Andrew Kaufman video it clearly says there is no contagion. on vice versa. For instance if you visit sick, a sick person MAY exrete some sort of exomosoms if which you inhale they MAY send message to your body about the risk and potentially the way of fighting the disease which sick person have. So if may get this disease MAY be your body is already prepared to deal with that. It all seems to be on the contrary part of contagion. This is hypothesis, but this is closer to our teaching of Islam.
There is much more to write on this…. but.. Allah knows the best.
Wasslam
As salaamu alaykum,
Jazaakum Allaahu kheiraa for your efforts to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. This comment is to draw attention to what seems to be a mistake. Under the section “Another similar hadith goes as:”, part of the hadeeth quoted says, “The owner of sick livestock, however, must not stop at the same place as the owner of healthy livestock, but the owner of healthy livestock may stop wherever he wishes.” The next paragraph then says, “Here the Prophet (ﷺ) clearly mentioned that healthy cattle should not be brought to a place where cattle suffer from some contagious disease elaborating that doing so was indeed harmful.”
Now, to the point: Doesn’t “the Prophet (ﷺ) clearly mentioned that healthy cattle should not be brought to a place where cattle suffer from some contagious disease….” contradict “…the owner of healthy livestock may stop wherever he wishes.”? I think it does, because the hadeeth says that the owner of healthy cattle may stop, i.e. take his cattle, “wherever he wishes”. Perhaps the author meant to say: Here the Prophet (ﷺ) clearly mentioned that UN-healthy cattle should not be brought to a place where there is HEALTHY cattle. As per the hadeeth, this sentence is correct. Or, perhaps, there is a mistranslation of the hadeeth. Either way, please make the necessary correction.
Baarak Allaah feekum.
One should stick to the hadith and ask if probably the modern teaching of contagious disease is wrong! Then one wozld see that the whole Covid issue is from Dajjal. Terrain theory explains perfectly the paradox why there is no contagion but why one should nonetheless separate the sick from the healthy: https://www.bitchute.com/video/tf5ENQQNNeNn/ . If youfollow the road and denounce everything in Islam what modern science denounces, it leads you straight to disbelieve as according to modern science, the stories in the Quran are fairy tales.