The Meaning of the Hadith: "There is no 'adwa (contagion) or tiyarah (superstition)..."

Question:
It is reported in an authentic hadith that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What does the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) intend by his statement: Is it the contagion of disease? We ask for clarification.

Answer:
It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: It was said: O Messenger of Allah! What is al-fa'l (a good omen)? He said: .
The Arabs used to believe in contagion, saying that if a sick person mixed with healthy people, they would be afflicted with the same illness. They said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): O Messenger of Allah! The camels are in such and such a state, and a scabby camel mixes with them, and they become scabby. He said -may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him-: The meaning is the negation of the contagion believed in by the ignorant among the polytheists, and that diseases like scabies and the like spread by their nature; this is false. As for the fact that mixing may have an effect, this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) denied. Mixing may have an effect; the disease may transfer from the sick to the healthy due to mixing by the command of Allah, with the permission of Allah -Exalted and Majestic is He- based on His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Meaning: Do not drive the owner of sick camels to the owner of healthy camels; this is from the perspective of avoiding the causes of evil. And he said: This is from the perspective of avoiding the causes of evil.
So the contagion believed in by the disbelievers is false, which is that the disease transfers by itself and spreads by its nature without the decree of Allah and His will; this is false.
As for the fact that the disease may transfer from the sick to the healthy by the permission of Allah, this may occur. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning: Do not sit with him; his disease may transfer to you. And he said: Meaning: If everyone drives their camels to the water, the sick owner of the sick camels does not drive them with the owner of the healthy camels. This has its time, and this has its time, to avoid contagion, to avoid the transfer of the disease from the sick to the healthy.
And the summary is: that the Shari'ah came with the avoidance of the causes of evil, while believing that matters are in the hand of Allah, and that nothing happens except by His decree and destiny. So the belief of the polytheists that contagion transfers necessarily by itself and its nature is false. As for its transferring by the permission of Allah if He wills, this is a reality. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the causes of prevention, and said: Although he (peace and blessings be upon him) took the hand of the leper and ate with him and said: To make it clear that matters are in the hand of Allah the Exalted, and that Allah is the One who decrees matters. So if one avoids mixing with lepers, this is what is prescribed to avoid evil. And if he did that and ate with them, to make it clear that matters are in the hand of Allah, and to make it clear to people that the disease does not spread by its nature, and that it only transfers by the decree of Allah, if he did this sometimes to refute the contagion believed in by the ignorant, this is good, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. Yes.

The presenter: So, Your Eminence the Shaykh -may Allah preserve you- does taking the means contradict reliance upon Allah?

The Shaykh: Yes, it is obligatory to take the means. So a person avoids the causes of evil, and is wary of the causes of disease, and does not expose himself to danger. And with this, he relies upon Allah, and places his trust in Him, and knows that matters are in His hand : [Al-Ma'idah: 23] [At-Talaq: 3] But with the avoidance of the causes of evil, he does not mix with the sick, whose disease has become customary, by the permission of Allah, to transfer, and he does not mix with the people of evil; because he may be afflicted with the evil that afflicted them; so he does their actions, and strives to keep the company of the good; because that is one of the causes of being adorned with their morals, and he does not eat things that may harm, which he may know harm him, and the like of that. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you and bless you, Your Eminence the Shaykh! In the hadith: Some people have superstition about some months, like the month of Safar. Does this have a basis, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh: No, it came in the hadith: Safar is false, like the rest of the months. It is not permissible to have superstition about it. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refuted it by his saying: Al-Hamamah: A bird about which the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance also had superstition. They said that if it cried over a house, its people would perish, and this is false. And Safar, the known month, some of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance had superstition about it, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refuted this and made it clear that it is like the rest of the months, there is no ill omen in it. And tiyarah (superstition) is known, taking an omen from things seen or heard. The people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance used to take omens, they might take an omen from a crow, or something else; so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refuted this, and said: Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.