Praise be to Allah.
The Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no ‘Adwa (transmission of infectious disease without the permission of Allah) and no Tiyarah (superstitious belief in bird omens), but I like good omens.” They said: What is a good omen?” He said: “A good word.”
There are several versions of this hadeeth; Al-Bukhaari (5776), (5316), and Muslim (2224).
Al-Bukhari (5316) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no ‘Adwaa [contagion, transmission of infectious disease without the permission of Allah], no tiyarah [superstitious belief in bird omens], no haamah [refers to a Jaahili Arab tradition described variously as: a worm which infests the grave of a murder victim until he is avenged; an owl; or the bones of a dead person turned into a bird that could fly], and no Safar [the month of Safar was regarded as “unlucky” during the Jaahiliyyah period (before Islam)].”
Meaning & Commentary:
The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) “There is no ‘Adwa” are general in meaning, thus the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) states that there is no contagion (without the permission of Allah).
With regard to the words “no contagion (Adwa): contagion is something that happens, as is indicated by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Do not put a sick one with a healthy one” i.e., the owner of a sick camel should not bring it to the owner of a healthy camel, lest the contagion be transmitted.
“And do not throw yourselves into destruction” Quran 2:195.
We cannot say that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was denying the effect of contagion, because contagion is something that is proven to exist in real life and is mentioned in many other hadith’s.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said “There is no ‘adwa”, a man said: “O Messenger of Allah, the camels may be healthy like deer, then a mangy camel comes and mixes with them and they all get the mange.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “And who infected the first one?” meaning that the disease came to the first one with no contagion, rather it came from Allah. By the same token, if it was transmitted by contagion, then it was transmitted by the command of Allah. A thing may have a known cause or it may not have a known cause.
The mange of the first one may not have a known cause, apart from the fact that it happened by the will and decree of Allah, and the mange that came after it does have a known cause. But if Allah wills the camel will not become mangy. Hence sometimes a camel may get the mange but then it recovers and does not die. The same happens with the plague and cholera; they may enter a house and some may get sick and die, while others are not affected at all.
Based on this, what is meant by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) “no ‘Adwa (contagion)” is that disease is not transmitted from a sick person to a healthy one by itself, rather it is transmitted by the will and decree of Allah. If a sick person mixes with healthy ones, this is one of the causes of the transmission of disease.
But this does not mean that it will inevitably happen, rather it only happens if Allah wills it. Hence we often see a sick mother give birth to a healthy child, and the disease is not transmitted to the infant.
And Allah knows best.
