Wa`alykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother in Islam, we would like to thank you for your question and the great confidence you place in us. May Allah reward you abundantly for your interest in knowing the teachings of Islam!
In its dealing with virulent contagious diseases, Islam aims to limit the spread of such diseases. Therefore, the Islamic ruling in this regard is that it is not permissible for people in a land where there is a specific epidemic (whether they are residents or visitors) to leave it, nor is it permissible for those outside that place to enter it. Even if the people within the infected area are free of any symptoms of the disease, they must not go out, for they may be carriers of the disease.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) does not currently refer to the SARS outbreak as an epidemic (which indicates a widespread and rapid spread), it does consider the outbreak very serious and is working with local governments to control the spread of the disease and to find cures. The WHO has posted advisories against non-essential travel to several countries. Updated information can be found on their web site: www.who.int/csr/sars.
People in infected towns (or provinces) of China and infected areas of other countries must remain in their towns (or provinces) and withstand patiently the suffering that befalls them, and this will make them worthy of great reward similar to that of shuhada’ (martyrs in the cause of Allah) in the Hereafter. People should also avoid traveling to infected areas until the WHO lifts its advisory for those areas.
The eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states:
“Islam includes a detailed discussion of the issue of infection. It directs Muslims to take all necessary protective procedures. Hence, whenever a virulent contagious disease spreads in a place, people are enjoined to detain those people and animals that are suspected of carrying the disease under enforced isolation (quarantine) to prevent the spread of the disease.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Do not let ill camels mix with healthy ones.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari) This hadith means that a man whose camels are ill should not let them mix with other healthy camels when they gather to drink.
Imam Muslim also reported in his Sahih that there was a man infected with leprosy in the delegation of Thaqif. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) summoned him and told him to go back home, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had accepted his pledge of allegiance.
Ibn Majah also reported that people should not gaze at people infected with leprosy.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported as saying: “When you talk to a man infected with leprosy, let a distance of one or two spears between you and him.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said about plague: "If you hear about it (an outbreak of plague) in a land, do not go to it; but if plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it." This means that virulent contagious diseases must be detained in a scope as narrow as possible.”
We would like to elaborate here on the Islamic way of dealing with outbreaks of disease.
"Quarantine is one of the most important methods to prevent the spread of an epidemic disease. It is a period of time during which a vehicle, person, or material suspected of carrying a contagious disease is detained at a port of entry under enforced isolation to prevent disease from entering a country.
Hence, people in a place where a contagious disease is spread are not allowed to leave the infected place and mix with healthy people. They are detained whether they are obviously infected or not. In the same way, healthy people are prevented to enter a place where an epidemic is spreading.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared the rulings related to such cases in many Hadiths. He (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited people from entering a country where plague is spreading, and also prohibited the people in it from leaving the country. He explained that doing so is like escaping from jihad against the disbelievers, and this is a grave sin. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared that whoever keeps patient and withstands such tribulation will be in the same rank as a shaheed (martyr).
Moreover, Al-Bukhari records the story of `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in this concern on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Abbas who said: `Umar ibn Al-Khattab departed for Sham (the Levant) and when he reached Sargh, a place near al-Yarmuk, the commander of the (Muslim) army, Abu `Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, and his companions met him and told him that an epidemic of plague had broken out in Sham. `Umar said, "Call for me the early Muhajirun (immigrants to Madinah)." So `Umar called them, consulted them and informed them that an epidemic of plague had broken out in Sham.
Those people differed in their opinions. Some of them said, "We have come out for a purpose and we do not think that it is proper to give it up," while others said (to `Umar), "You have along with you other people and the Companions of Allah's Messenger. So do not advise that we take them to this epidemic." `Umar said to them, "Leave me now."
Then he said, "Call the Ansar (Muslims native to Madinah) for me." I called them and he consulted them and they followed the way of the Muhajirun and differed as they did. He then said to them: “Leave me now," and added, "Call for me the old people of Quraysh who emigrated in the year of the Conquest of Makkah."
I called them and they gave a unanimous opinion saying, "We advise that you should return with the people and do not take them to that (place) of epidemic." So `Umar made an announcement, "I will ride back to Madinah in the morning, so you should do the same." Abu `Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrah said (to `Umar), "Are you running away from what Allah has ordained?" `Umar said, "Would that someone else had said such a thing, O Abu `Ubaydah! Yes, we are running from what Allah has ordained to what Allah has ordained. Don't you agree that if you had camels that went down a valley having two places, one green and the other dry, you would graze them on the green one only if Allah had ordained that, and you would graze them on the dry one only if Allah had ordained that?"
At that time `Abdur-Rahman ibn `Auf, who had been absent because of some job, came and said, "I have some knowledge about this. I have heard Allah's Messenger saying, "If you hear about it (an outbreak of plague) in a land, do not go to it; but if plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it." `Umar thanked Allah and returned to Madinah.
In addition, Imam Ahmad reported on the authority of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “My nation may not decay except in fighting or with the break out of a plague.." I (`Aishah) said: “O Allah’s Messenger, we know the matter of fighting, what about the plague?” He said: “…whoever withstands it patiently will receive a reward similar to that of a shaheed (martyr); and whoever runs away from a plagued land is like one running away from the battlefield.”
Jabir ibn `Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A man running away from a plagued land is like one who escapes from the battlefield; and one who withstands plague patiently is like one who fights patiently in the cause Allah.” (Reported by Ahmad)
The Prophet’s hadiths are some obvious manifestations of the miraculous nature of Islamic teachings. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not only prevent a healthy person to enter a land where an epidemic disease is spreading, but he also prevented a person inside such an infected land to leave it. It was clear then, as it is now, that an infected person must be prevented from leaving an infected land so as not to transmit disease to others. Yet, it was not logical until relatively recently — after much progress had been made in medicine and science — to prevent a person who has no symptoms of the disease to leave an infected land to save his life. The wisdom of the Prophet’s instructions in this concern is apparent now that we know that a person may carry and spread a disease without having any symptoms of it himself.
How did Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) come to know such scientific facts though he was illiterate? He (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that through divine revelation. Allah Almighty says: “It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired, which one of mighty powers hath taught him” (An-Najm: 4-5)
This is actually a witness to the truthfulness of the Prophet’s Message. It also indicates the universality of Islam; it is valid for all times and places. Islam will be a witness to or against mankind, as Allah Almighty says: “That he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear proof (of His sovereignty) and he who survived might survive by a clear proof (of His sovereignty).” (Al-Anfal: 42)
Finally, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of Prophets and Leader of the Messengers."
Excerpted, with modifications, from: www.islamweb.net
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