How is the hadith (There is no 'adwa and no bad omen) reconciled with the hadith (Flee from the leper)?

The questioner : Reconciling the hadith and the hadith . Be quiet, young men, if you permit, brothers, listen to the answer regarding the reconciliation of the two hadiths. The hadith : Is there 'adwa or not? And the reconciliation of this hadith with the hadith . Many people ask about this.

The Shaykh : Among the virtues of the Noble Qur'an, and likewise the speech of the trustworthy Messenger, is that it issues from a single source. As the Exalted said in the Noble Qur'an: Thus, the speech of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is revealed to him from the heavens, just like the Qur'an. The difference between the Noble Qur'an is that its wording and its meaning are from the Lord of the Worlds. As for the hadiths of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace), their meanings are from the revelation of the heavens. From this perspective, the hadith meets the Qur'an, but it differs from the Qur'an in that the wording of these meanings is from the words of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace). As for the Qur'an, it is the speech of Allah; it is His speech and His meaning. As for the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him), the wording is from him and the meaning is from his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, from this standpoint, it is protected; falsehood does not come to it from before it or from behind it. Based on this, just as Allah the Glorious and Exalted testified to His speech, which is the Qur'an, with that testimony recorded in the Qur'an, namely His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): But because it is from Allah, you will not find a little inconsistency, let alone much inconsistency in it. Likewise, every Muslim should believe in the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that there is no contradiction in it, no conflict, and no difference, because, as I mentioned earlier, its meaning is from Allah and its wording is from him (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace). Furthermore, it is protected in its wording. This hadith confirms this for you, which Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), or from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar; the uncertainty is from me now. The important thing is that the hadith revolves around one of the two Abdullahs among the Companions: either Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As or Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab. He said: "I was in a gathering with the polytheists, and I was writing down the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They said to him in that gathering: 'You are writing down what Muhammad says in a state of contentment and anger.' Something stirred in his heart, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned this polytheistic doubt to him. What the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) did was place his finger on his noble mouth and say to him: However, when some hadiths appear to some people, especially those who have not been granted a great share of knowledge, they suspect a contradiction between them. The result for them is that they doubt both hadiths, meaning their authenticity, and consequently they strike one with the other. They fall into great misguidance by turning away from the hadith of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace), which is authentic. There is a science in the science of hadith known as "The Difference in Hadith." This is a chapter in the chapters of the science of hadith. Some of the strong scholars have authored books on the difference in hadith. For example, the book *Ikhtilaf al-Hadith* by Ibn Qutaybah, which has been printed in more than one edition. Also, the book *Mushkil al-Athar* by Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi. These are two very important books because they train the student of knowledge to know the way to reconcile hadiths that appear contradictory, when in fact there is no contradiction between them. There are many, many examples of this type. It is sufficient for you to know what has been mentioned before: that scholars have authored books in this field. What concerns us now is answering that question. There is the famous hadith: And there is another hadith that appears to contradict the first hadith, which is: I have not mentioned both hadiths so that, first, the apparent contradiction between them is strengthened. But in reality, we will be able to eliminate the contradiction completely and understand the correct meaning intended by both hadiths. As for the first hadith, it is a section and a piece of a hadith that has a continuation: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke this hadith, there was a Bedouin owner of camels in the gathering. A doubt arose for him regarding his saying (peace be upon him) which included: He said: "O Messenger of Allah, we see the healthy camel entering among the camels. Excuse me, we see the scabby camel entering among the healthy camels and infecting them." He (peace be upon him) said: The first hadith ends. The second hadith: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pledge allegiance to him in Islam, and he had leprosy. Leprosy is a known contagious disease. He (peace be upon him) said to him: Meaning, the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) was not pleased to shake his hand, and he pledged allegiance to him differently from his pledge to the general Companions, where he would pledge with a handshake. The man also came wanting to pledge allegiance to the Messenger in Islam with a handshake, so he excused himself and said to him: From here came the contradiction. But the truth is that the first hadith does not deny contagion, but it denies a specific contagion described with a specific attribute, and it does not deny contagion in general. How? When he (peace be upon him) said: The Bedouin Arab, the desert dweller, understood what comes to the minds of many people: that the Shari'ah denies contagion. Therefore, he raised the objection that he touches with his hand and sees with his eyes: his healthy camels, which, as came in some hadiths, have hair like gold. If the scabby camel enters among them, the scab spreads to their bodies, and it becomes a very painful sight. So he presented this doubt to the Messenger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took a very wise path with him. He did not say to him, "You did not understand the hadith, you did not understand my intention and my meaning." Rather, he said to him one word that conveys the intention of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) through a hint, which is sufficient instead of an explicit expression. He said to him: With this answer, we can say that the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) put the dots on the letters, as it is said in this time. When he said: He denied the contagion that the people of Jahiliyyah believed in, which is that it transfers by itself, merely by the scabby camel mixing with the healthy camel. It is not necessary that it infects it with its scab. So the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) denied this Jahili belief, which is a belief that we can say has returned today in the Jahiliyyah of the twentieth century. This is because doctors, and I do not mean only the doctors of the disbelievers, but also some Muslim doctors who do not have the correct Islamic jurisprudence, have become convinced in their hearts that this is the nature of the disease: that it infects by itself, by its nature. And that is not the case. There is a very big difference between contagion and other causes that Allah the Glorious and Exalted made as consistent causes that do not fail except in a miraculous way, such as miracles and karamahs, and the like. For example, a hungry person eats and gets full. We cannot say he will not get full. This is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation. A thirsty person drinks water and is satisfied. The matter ends there. But it is not the case that merely because a healthy person mixes with another person who is sick with a contagious disease, that disease must transfer to this healthy person. Yes, yes, yes, yes. When a Muslim assumes a matter in something Allah created for a profound wisdom, and he exaggerates in this creation and describes it with what contradicts reality, then he has fallen into error. This is what the people of the first Jahiliyyah were upon, and what many doctors in this era are upon, as I mentioned earlier. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He invalidated the Jahili contagion, meaning that which transfers by itself. The proof of this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to that Bedouin, "You say such and such, and we do not reject your saying because it is an observed matter. But who infected the first camel, which in your view started infecting?" The answer is Allah. So the whole matter is in the hand of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). If the Muslim understands that there is contagion in some diseases, and this is a scientific and Shari'ah reality that cannot be denied—contagion is a Shari'ah reality before it is a scientific reality, and therefore it cannot be denied—then what the denial of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his saying: is directed at is the Jahili contagion, in which they neglected Allah the Glorious and Exalted, and that He is the One who, if He wills, permits that disease to transfer from the sick to the healthy, or does not permit it. This is the intention of the hadith, and it is his saying (peace be upon him): So he does not deny contagion absolutely, nor does he negate it absolutely. Contagion is established, as I said earlier: by Shari'ah and by science. As for by Shari'ah, the second hadith: And you have a hadith that is considered one of the scientific medical miracles of the Prophetic Sunnah, which is called today quarantine. He (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) laid the foundation for the quarantine that came to us from Europe, and Europe took it from our religion, which is his saying (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace): So why did he forbid the one who is in a land with the plague to go to a land without the plague, fearing that he would transfer the plague, which is called, for example, cholera? And he ordered the one for whom the plague is in a land other than his own not to enter it, fearing what? That he would be afflicted with the plague. So there is contagion that cannot be denied by Shari'ah, let alone by experience and science. And this contagion can be observed in things other than animals, and by animals I mean the two kinds of animals: the speaking animal, which is man, and the silent animal, which are the beasts and the animals Allah has subjected for us. We can see contagion in things other than animals, in some plants, for example, or in some products of some animals. For example, if one onion spoils, it infects what is around it. In the rotten egg, if you put it among fresh, healthy eggs, after three days the rot spreads to them. This is contagion. This is a reality that cannot be denied. But this is by the will of Allah the Glorious and Exalted and by His decree. This is the point the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) wanted to draw the attention of the Arabs to at that time. They were living in a profound Jahiliyyah; they did not know Allah the Glorious and Exalted, and therefore their thoughts were focused on the appearances of worldly life. So, in short, by itself. By itself. But by the will of Allah and His desire, this occurs. And here comes the hadith: The hadith of quarantine, as we mentioned. And so on. And there are many, many hadiths of this type. Whoever wants to expand should refer to the two books mentioned earlier: *Ikhtilaf al-Hadith* by Ibn Qutaybah and *Mushkil al-Athar* by Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi. Please.