Do diseases transmit?

- Did the Prophet (pbuh) tell a person whose camels had scabies that the disease was not contagious?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Abu Hurayra narrates: The Prophet (pbuh) said, “There is no such thing as adwa (infection with disease), safar (attack by a hungry snake) and hama (ominous bird or an evil spirit that has not revenged).” An Arab (Bedouin) who was there said: “O Messenger of Allah! What do you say about the camels that stand on the sand like deer - intact - and then get scabies when a camel with scabies gets into them?” Thereupon, the Prophet (pbuh): “Then how did this scabies infect the first camel?” (Muslim, Salam, 101)

In another narration, Abdullah b. Abbas narrates: The Prophet (pbuh) said: “There is no such thing as contagion / transmission of disease.” An Arab (a Bedouin, a peasant) said: “O Messenger of Allah! When we put a goat with scabies among the sheep and goats, they all get scabies.” The Prophet (pbuh) said, “O Arabi! Who infected the first animal with scabies?” (see Majma’uz-Zawaid, 5/102).

In a narration, after the sentence “There is no such thing as the transmission of disease...”, the following is stated, “Avoid leprous patients as you would avoid a lion” (see Bukhari, Tibb, 19). The Prophet (pbuh) also said: “Let no one who is sick go near a healthy person” and “Let no one who hears that there is plague in a place go there.” (Nawawi, Ibn Hajar, the interpretation of the hadith in question). Those statements indicate the existence of contagious diseases.

Having mentioned the different hadith narrations regarding the issue, we can now move on to the explanation of the hadith in question:

Explanation:

- It seems that the Prophet (pbuh) did not draw attention to the veil of causes with such statements, but to the true belief in tawhid. In particular, he attached great importance to turning the attention away from causes but toward the Creator of causes in order to completely remove the sediments of shirk (polytheism) remaining from the Era of Jahiliyya from the hearts of people. The statement in the hadith, “Then, who infected the first animal with scabies?” is a clear emphasis on this faith. From this perspective, we can understand the hadith as follows:

- Infectious diseases, like non-infectious diseases, do not act outside of Allah’s command and will. The will and power that makes animals sick when there are no infectious diseases is the same will and power that makes animals sick after the emergence of infectious diseases. Causes are only a veil; it is Allah’s power that does the real work.

- The phrase “La adwa”, translated as “There is no such thing as contagion”, should be understood in this context. That is, in reality, the disease is not transmitted; it is Allah who infects others with its virus. Everything in the universe - from A to Z - can act only in the scope of the will, knowledge and power of Allah. Microscopic creatures are no exception.

To sum up, the hadiths stating that there is no contagion point out the fallacy of attributing real influence to causes. In the hadiths that point to the existence of contagious diseases, on the other hand, Allah’s custom that takes place based on causes is highlighted and it is pointed out that viewing causes as a system that reflects the wisdom of Allah’s laws in the universe though they have no real effect means respecting divine wisdom. (see: Nawawi; Ibn Hajar, explanation of the hadith in question)

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