How to reconcile the two hadiths: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]) and (Flee from the leper)
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[How to reconcile the two hadiths: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]) and (Flee from the leper)]
Your Eminence! How do we reconcile the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen], no hama [evil bird], and no safar [unlucky month]) with his saying: (Flee from the leper as you would flee from a lion) ?
Yes,First: You must, may Allah bless you! take a very important rule, which is: (It is impossible for the Qur'an to ever be contradictory) If you come across two verses that you think are contradictory, know that this is either due to a deficiency in your understanding, or a deficiency in your knowledge. So pause and do not judge them to be contradictory until you ask the scholars. This is regarding contradiction.
Likewise, it is impossible for two hadiths from the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) in the authentic Sunnah to ever be contradictory. So if you come across something you think is contradictory, it is only due to a deficiency in your understanding and a deficiency in your knowledge, and you must be patient until you ask someone more knowledgeable than you.
And between the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah, contradiction is also impossible; because it is all truth, and truth does not contradict.
Know these three rules completely.
So we say: The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Flee from the leper as you would flee from a lion) indicates on its surface that the leper may transmit the disease, and that is the case. Leprosy is a contagious disease, and there are many diseases known to be contagious. So one does not sit with a person who has a contagious disease; leave him,For this reason, the scholars said: It is obligatory for the one in authority to isolate the lepers—those who have been afflicted with leprosy—in a specific place where people do not come into contact with them and they do not come into contact with people, out of fear of contagion.
But the saying of the Messenger: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]) This is a negation of what they believed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, that contagion must occur, and that it is effective in all circumstances, as evidenced by the fact that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]), a Bedouin raised an objection to him and said: (O Messenger of Allah! Camels are in the desert like gazelles—Meaning: they have nothing in them—then a scabby camel mixes with them and they become scabby—and what is this? This is contagion—So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Who caused the first one to be scabby?) Its meaning is: Who put the scab in the first one without it mixing with a scabby one? It is Allah. So the one who transferred the contagion from this sick person to the healthy one is Allah the Exalted, and it is not the contagion itself.
So the negation: due to the effect of the contagion by itself.
And the affirmation: to establish that the contagion is from Allah the Exalted.
And for this reason it came in the hadith: (Do not lead a sick animal to a healthy one) and this is more general,Meaning: that one who has sick camels or sick sheep should not lead them to the healthy ones; because that is one of the causes of the disease transferring to the healthy one. Do you understand now?The negation means: Meaning: Contagion does not affect by itself as the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance believed.
And the command to flee from the leper, and likewise every patient whose disease is contagious, is from the category of avoiding harmful causes.
Your Eminence! How do we reconcile the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen], no hama [evil bird], and no safar [unlucky month]) with his saying: (Flee from the leper as you would flee from a lion) ?
Yes,First: You must, may Allah bless you! take a very important rule, which is: (It is impossible for the Qur'an to ever be contradictory) If you come across two verses that you think are contradictory, know that this is either due to a deficiency in your understanding, or a deficiency in your knowledge. So pause and do not judge them to be contradictory until you ask the scholars. This is regarding contradiction.
Likewise, it is impossible for two hadiths from the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) in the authentic Sunnah to ever be contradictory. So if you come across something you think is contradictory, it is only due to a deficiency in your understanding and a deficiency in your knowledge, and you must be patient until you ask someone more knowledgeable than you.
And between the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah, contradiction is also impossible; because it is all truth, and truth does not contradict.
Know these three rules completely.
So we say: The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Flee from the leper as you would flee from a lion) indicates on its surface that the leper may transmit the disease, and that is the case. Leprosy is a contagious disease, and there are many diseases known to be contagious. So one does not sit with a person who has a contagious disease; leave him,For this reason, the scholars said: It is obligatory for the one in authority to isolate the lepers—those who have been afflicted with leprosy—in a specific place where people do not come into contact with them and they do not come into contact with people, out of fear of contagion.
But the saying of the Messenger: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]) This is a negation of what they believed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, that contagion must occur, and that it is effective in all circumstances, as evidenced by the fact that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no 'adwa [contagion] and no tiyarah [bad omen]), a Bedouin raised an objection to him and said: (O Messenger of Allah! Camels are in the desert like gazelles—Meaning: they have nothing in them—then a scabby camel mixes with them and they become scabby—and what is this? This is contagion—So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Who caused the first one to be scabby?) Its meaning is: Who put the scab in the first one without it mixing with a scabby one? It is Allah. So the one who transferred the contagion from this sick person to the healthy one is Allah the Exalted, and it is not the contagion itself.
So the negation: due to the effect of the contagion by itself.
And the affirmation: to establish that the contagion is from Allah the Exalted.
And for this reason it came in the hadith: (Do not lead a sick animal to a healthy one) and this is more general,Meaning: that one who has sick camels or sick sheep should not lead them to the healthy ones; because that is one of the causes of the disease transferring to the healthy one. Do you understand now?The negation means: Meaning: Contagion does not affect by itself as the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance believed.
And the command to flee from the leper, and likewise every patient whose disease is contagious, is from the category of avoiding harmful causes.