Islam doesn’t accept the concept of contagion. The Ulama substantiate this from the generality of the Hadith (there are no contagious sicknesses nor any bad omens).
In regard to sicknesses and diseases being contagious, there are two views reported from the Muhadditheen of the past:
The correct view is that there are no sicknesses that are contagious in Islam. Rather, all sicknesses come directly from Allah Ta’ala. Just as the first person was afflicted with the sickness directly from the side of Allah Ta’ala, similarly the second person who associated with the sick person was also afflicted with the same sickness directly from Allah Ta’ala.
The second view is the view of Bayhaqi, Ibnu Salah and others. They hold the view that though all sicknesses come directly from Allah Ta’ala, Allah Ta’ala has created certain causes for these sicknesses to come about. Hence, associating with a sick person may at times become a cause for one being afflicted with the same sickness, and at times, it may not be the cause for one falling sick. However, this view is incorrect and the first view, which is, that there are no sicknesses that are contagious is the correct view.
There are two types of ahadith about contagious diseases which, some people claim, that they apparently seem to contradict each other. Let’s have a look at some of these ahadith:
A- Ahadith which apparently proof that there is contagion
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “Flee from a leper as you will flee from a lion.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5707)
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “Plague is a calamity which was inflicted on those who were before you, or upon Bani Isra’il. So when it has broken out in a land, don’t run out of it, and when it has spread in a land, then don’t enter it.” (Muslim 2218)
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “Do not keep looking at those who have leprosy.” (Ibn Maja 3543)
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “The ill should not be taken to the healthy.” (Muslim 2221)
‘Amr b. Sharid reported on the authority of his father that there was in the delegation of Thaqif a leper. Allah’s Apostle, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam sent a message to him:
“We have accepted your allegiance, so you may go.” (Muslim2231)
Ibn Abi Mulayka said that Umar ibn al-Khattab passed a leprous woman doing tawaf of the House, and he said to her, “Slave of Allah, do not make people uneasy. Better that you stay in your house,” so she did so. A man passed by her after that and said to her, “The one who forbade you has died, so come out,” and she replied, “I am not going to obey him when he is alive and disobey him when he is dead.” (Muwatta 259)
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “Fear your leper like you fear the lion.” (Ibn Hibban 106)
B- Ahadith which proof that there is no contagion
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “(There is) no ‘Adwa (no contagious disease) nor is there any bad omen (from birds).“ (Sahih al-Bukhari 5707 – this hadith was narrated by many Sahaba, radhiAllahu anhum, in similar variations and is well documented in many Hadith books)
The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: There is no infection (contagion), no safar, no hama. A desert Arab said: Allah’s Messenger, how is it that when the camel is in the sand it is like a deer-then a camel afflicted with mangy mixes with it they all get afflicted with mangy? He said: Who infected the first one? (Muslim 2220)
Salman, radhiAllahu anhu, worked with his hands, than he bought food, than he send for the lepers and ate with them. (Ibn Abi Shayba, al Musannaf)
From Jabir ibn Abdullah, radhiAllahu anhu: The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, took a man who was suffering from tubercular leprosy by the hand; he then put it along with his own hand in the dish and said: Eat with confidence in Allah and trust in Him. (Abu Dawud 3925; Ibn Hibban 6120, sahih)
From Umm Mumineen Aisha, radhiAllahu anha: We had a Mawla who had leprosy, and he ate from my bowl, drank from my cup, and slept on my bed. (Ibn Abi Shayba, 5/568; Fath al Bari 10/159; Sharh ala sahih al Muslim 14/228)
Ibn Umar, radhiAllahu anhumma, ate together with a leper and he put his hand on the hand of a leper. (Ibn Abi Shayba, al Musannaf)
Ma’mar said: I was informed that a man with leprosy came to Ibn Umar, radhiAllahu anhumma, and asked for him. Ibn Umar got up and gave him a Dirham and put it in his hand. A man said to Ibn Umar: ‘I give it.’ But Ibn Umar refused that man gives the dirham. (AbdurRazzaq, al Musannaf)
A delegation from the Thaqif came to Abu Bakr, radhiAllahu anhu. Food was brought and this people were called to eat. And they didn’t allow a man with this disease -leprosy- to come with them. So Abu Bakr, radhiAllahu anhu said: ‘Call him.’ So we called him. Abu Bakr said: ‘Eat.’ So he ate and Abu Bakr, radhiAllahu anhu, put his hand and his (the lepers) hand. (Ibn Abi Shayba, al Musannaf)
Non of these ahadith contradicts the there is no contagious disease hadith
Although some people claimed that these ahadith seem to contradict each other, there is no contradiction as we will see, in shaa Allah. Umar ibn al Khattab, radhiAllahi anhu, and others from the Salaf ate with the lepers and they had the opinion that the order to keep distance (from lepers) was mansuh (abrogated). (Tuhfa al Ahwadhi, chapter ‘What was narrated about eating with lepers’, p. 437)
From Abdullah ibn Jafar, radhiAllahu anhumma: I saw Umar ibn Al-Khattab bringing a pot with water. A man who was afflicted by this disease (leprosy) drank from it and he gave the pot to Umar. Umar put his mouth on the place where his mouth has been and drank from it. And I knew, Umar did this, to escape the belief that there is contagion.” (Ibn Ishaq, isnaduhu jayyid)
Iyyadh said: The narrations about the leper differ. In the narration from Jabir, radhiAllahu anhu the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, ate with the leper and said: Eat with confidence in Allah and trust in Him. Umar ibn al Khattab, radhiAllahi anhu, and others from the Salaf ate with the lepers and they had the opinion that the order to keep distance (from lepers) was mansuh (abrogated).
Abu Ubayd said, and a Jama’ah followed him: In the word: “The ill should not be taken to the healthy.” is no evidence for contagion. Rather, if the healthy would get sick with the Will of Allah – the Almighty – he might think that this is because the disease is contagious, so he would be unsettled and skeptical about that. That’s why he, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, ordered to avoid him (keep distance from him).
Some people came up with the conclusion, that the order to keep distance is for the protection of the healthy from people with diseases. They way they interpret this hadith is evil, because this means the acceptance of contagion, which the Sharia denies.
Tabari said: We have the right to say what is true from the narrations from him, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam: that there is no contagion, and that nothing affects a person except what was written for him.
And in the order to flee from the leper is nothing which opposes to eat with them.
Because sometimes he, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, was he was ordering to guide, and other to show the permissible. … He, salliAllahu alayhi sallam, would sometimes do something what he forbade, to show that this is not haram.
Therefore Qurtubi said in “al Mufham”: The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, prohibited that the ill is taken to the healthy, to prevent the belief of the people of ignorance about infection. Or the fear of confused souls and the effect of delusions. Therefore his, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, words: “Flee from a leper as you will flee from a lion.” Even though our creed is, that leprosy is not contagious, we still find in ourselves an aversion and hatred to contact (lepers).
And if someone would force someone to be close to him and to sit with him – he would be hurt by that. Therefore the best for the believer is not to be exposed (to lepers), except what he needs to. And avoid the ways to delusion. And to stay away from the cause of pain, although he believes that it does not save him from destiny (al Qadr). And Allah knows best.
Ibn Hajar said: And some of the Ahl at Tibb (medical scholars) said, the breath which comes from their bodies has a very bad smell. This is the reason for distancing from them. And he, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, ate with lepers. If the order of keeping distance to them would be obligatory, he wouldn’t have done this.
Another group combined his action with his word, saying that his words were addressing the weak, but his action was the real Iman. Ho acts upon the first acts upon Sunnah, and this is the effect of wisdom. And who acts on the second has a stronger Yaqeen. Because nothing has an effect on anything except with to the Will of Allah – the Almighty. Like He says: But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. (Baqara 2/102)
So whoever is strong in his Yaqeen, he should follow the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, in his deed and nothing will harm him. And whoever finds himself weak should follow his order about fleeing.
Ibn Qayyim said: “If the people of a house want to eat and drink and let them sleep in their house, they can do this. And if they want to keep distant from them and avoid them, they can do this (too).”
Dhahabi said: “It is allowed to flee from the leper and not to touch from where he ate. But this has to be done in a way, that the leper doesn’t feel it and isn’t made sad. Whoever eats with confidence in Allah and trusts Him, he is a believer.” What he meant is a believer whose Iman is perfect.
Others said: The hadeeth “There is no contagion” has to be understood like it is, and forbidding the ill from been taken to the healthy is not due to contagion, but rather because of the bad smell, and because the appearance of the lepers is ugly and can cause aversion.
Yet another explanation for the Hadith: There are no contagious sicknesses nor any bad omens. This Hadith was explained in order to refute a baseless belief prevalent amongst the Arabs. The Arabs in the pre-Islamic era believed that sicknesses and bad omens were some type of creation which possessed the ability, in its very nature, to move by itself from person to person. Hence, they dreaded associating with a sick person as they feared that the sickness within him would move to them and grip them by itself.
Thus, the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, strongly refuted this baseless, superstitious belief by saying: There are no contagious sicknesses nor any bad omens (in Islam). This belief of the Arabs was based on shirk as they believed that this sickness has the ability to move on its own in every situation, and is not under the control of Allah Ta’ala. This belief is actually the very same belief modern science preaches and the vast majority of people believe – including many people who claim to be Muslims.
As for the Hadith that states: Flee from a leper as you will flee from a lion), some explain that this was mentioned in order to safeguard the belief of people from becoming corrupt. It is commonly witnessed that when a person associates with a sick person and is thereafter afflicted with the same sickness, he generally attributes the sickness to his association with the sick person and not to Allah Ta’ala. Hence, the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alaihi wa sallam, commanded us to refrain from associating with a sick person so that our belief is not corrupted.
Some others hold the view that though all sicknesses come directly from Allah Ta’ala, Allah Ta’ala has created certain causes for these sicknesses to come about. Hence, associating with a sick person may at times become a cause for one being afflicted with the same sickness, and at times, it may not be the cause for one falling sick. However this is a incorrect view.
We find that when the plague of Amwas struck Syria in the time of Umar (radhiAllahu anhu), the people did not abandon the sick. Rather, they continued to take care of them and associated with them, as the Sahabah (radhiAllahu anhum) possessed strong Iman.
It is reported in one narration that when Muaz (radhiAllahu anhu) returned from the masjid, he found his son afflicted with the plague. He remained with him until he passed away. From this narration, we understand that during the epidemic, the Sahabah (radhiAllahu anhum) would attend the masjid for prayer as well as take care of the sick among them. There is no mention of the Sahabah (radhiAllahu anhum) abandoning those who were ill among them during the epidemic.
During the plague of Amwas, Umar (radhiyallahu anhu) had given an instruction to Abu Ubaidah (radhiyallahu anhu) to take the people from the low, confined and damp land wherein they were situated to a higher land as the clear, open air would prove effective as a remedy for their sicknesses. In this case also, we do not see that those who were uninfected moved away and quarantined those who were infected, forsaking them and leaving them to fend for themselves. Rather, all the people moved together. Similarly, there is no mention of all the people isolating themselves from each other.
Accordingly, it is reported in the Hadith that Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, had taught the Ummah that at the time when an epidemic breaks out in a certain place, people from that place should not leave and nor should people from outside enter.
The Muhadditheen explain that the reason for people being discouraged from leaving the place is that if all the people had to try and escape from the place, then no one would remain to take care of the ill and the sick among them. From this, we understand that care should be shown to those who are ill and they should not be abandoned. If there are certain people taking care of them, then others will be absolved and are not obliged and forced to go near them. However, if they are quarantined and isolated to the point that no person cares about them, and they have to pass away in this situation, then on account of not taking care of the sick, all the people who had knowledge of their condition will be answerable and sinful.
As for the hadith from Ibn Abi Mulayka when Umar ibn al-Khattab, radhiAllahu anhu, said to the leprous woman: “Do not make people uneasy.” It is even obvious in the wording, that Umar, radhiAllahu anhu, didn’t ask the woman from stopping tawaf because he believed that leprosy is contagious, but he asked her to stay at home, so people don’t get uneasy by the appearance and smell of of this disease.
We have to keep in mind, that people who are affected by leprosy very often have missing limbs, disfigured bodies and destroyed faces. Oftentimes people who suffer from leprosy miss half their nose, their gaze is empty and instead of hands, they only have a stump. Leprosy is a disease which easily can triggers fear and terror to the one who sees a leper.
Very often this condition is accompanied with bad smell, which causes harm or disgust to the one being exposed to this smell. The Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “He who eats of this plant (garlic) should not approach us and pray along with us.” (Muslim 562)
He prevented the one who is eating garlic from attending because it harms others. Therefore it is clear that the ahadith about leprosy can’t be interpreted as an evidence for contagious diseases.
Neither leprosy nor any other disease is contagious, even today’s western medicine doesn’t fully agree about the contagiousness of leprosy. According to their claim: “95% of the world population has a natural immunity to leprosy.” And „However, leprosy is actually not that contagious. You can catch it only if you come into close and repeated contact with nose and mouth droplets from someone with untreated leprosy.“ (WebMed)
About the hadith from Amr b. Sharid, when Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, accepted the allegiance of the leper, without seeing him. And sending him a message saying: “We have accepted your allegiance, so you may go.”
We know for certain, that Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, has forbidden us the wrong, as Allah ta’ala says about him, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam: “The Messenger … who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong.” (A’raf, 7/157)
And we also know for certain, that he, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, ordered us to change something wrong, when we witness it. Abu Sa’id al Khudri said: I heard the Messenger of Allah as saying: He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith. (Muslim 49)
It is therefore not possible, that the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, saw something wrong or dangerous and has not warned the people from this. When this delegation from the Thaqif came a leper was amongst them. If leprosy was contagious or was of any danger for people, undoubtable, Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, would have warned the other people of this delegation and told them, that they have to stay away from this leper person. He would have told them, that they shouldn’t have taken the leper with them.
Ibn Hajr said: And the best in combining this ahadith is: The negation of the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, on contagion is general. And it was true that he, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said:
„Nothing infects anything.“ And his, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, answer to the one who said to him, that a camel afflicted with mangy mixes with healthy camels they all get afflicted with mangy, was: Who infected the first one? Meaning Allah ta’ala started this in the second one like He started this in the first one. As for the matter of fleeing from the leper, it is for the sake of Sadd Al Dharai (1), so if a person who gets in contact with a sick person and -by the Will of Allah- gets sick too, he might believe that he got this disease by the way of contagion -which Islam negates. And he believes that contagion is true. He falls into a wrong belief, the orders to stay away from sick people is to avoid this belief. (Ibn Hajr, Sharhk al Nahkiba 48)
Others like al Baqalani came up with a very weak explanation, they said, that there is no contagion in general. But diseases like leprosy and plague, which are mentioned in the ahadith, are contagious. So according to their explanation, the hadith, there is no contagious disease, means, there is no contagious disease except for the diseases which are known to be contagious. However, like I said before, this is a very weak and incorrect view. And Allah knows best.
A few more words on the ahadith about the camels. The disease which the Sahaba, radhiAllahu anhu, was talking about is al Jurb. Al Jurb can either be scabies or folliculitis.
Folliculitis is a general disease of the skin that inflames the hair follicles on the skin. The disease of folliculitis is benign and largely self-limited and non-contagious skin disease. (Pain Assist)
1 Dharai is the plural of Dhariah which signify means. Sadd means to block. In Usul, it means blocking the means to evil. Sadd al Dharai is often used when a lawful means is expected to produce an unlawful result. The concept of Sadd al-Dharai is founded on the idea of prevention of evil before it materializes. A general principle has been adopted by jurists that ‘preventing harm takes priority over securing a benefit’. As such means, if they lead to evil, these must be rejected.
Scabies is an itchy skin condition caused by a tiny burrowing mite called Sarcoptes scabiei. (Mayoclinic)
Although modern medicine claims that scabies is contagious, it is very easy to understand, that it is not the disease which is contagious, rather the mites can easily pass on from one person (or animal) to the next. That’s the reason why Abu Huraira, radhiAllahu anhu, said that the sick camel should not be taken to the healthy one. (Muslim 2221) when they were talking about scabies.
Another reason why the sick ones should not be taken to the healthy ones is to protect the sick ones. And not the opposite, how it is often claimed by people who lack all kind of knowledge to be able to talk about a hadith which talks about a medical issue. It is well known, that the immune system from sick people is very weak. They have to be protected and can’t be exposed to other people.
After these explanations of this ahadith and the clarification that there is no contradiction at all in these ahadith it needs to be said, that the people -who are regarded as scholars and muftis- who spoke about these ahadith, and claimed that in these ahadith is proof that diseases are contagious are utterly useless. They do not only lack knowledge of Islamic sciences like Hadith, Usool al Hadith and Sirah, but they also are lacking in basic medical understanding. Furthermore, they are trying fit Islam into whatever science or general knowledge is trendy. It is not enough for them, that Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam said something. They want modern science, which is compromised, rotten and corrupt to verify what Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said. And if modern science doesn’t confirm the words of the Messenger of Allah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, they bend the truth until it fits to the standard their lords destined, instead of saying: “Rasulullah, salliAllahu alayhi wa sallam, spoke the truth and science lied.”