Zakariyya Harnekar – Naseehah Hadith #4 contagion and pandemics
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Okay.
Once again.
So now I have a bit of.
In our last lesson,
in our last session, we read the first
hadith
from
the book,
hadith, on
opening from fight to fight, completion of hadith
on,
pandemic and contagion
that was compiled by Mullin Akbar.
Again, I must reiterate.
The Hadith were compiled by Mullen Atua. Compiled
means you just put them together. You put
them together, and, obviously, you commented on them.
But the Hadith are the words of Rasulullah
and that's very important too to understand
as
that makes them a
primary source
of our deen, of who we take our
deen from, how we understand our deen, etcetera.
I'm not gonna the book will be broken
up into 4 into 7 chapters rather.
And the way my word discusses
7 different things in light of a hadith.
But,
so I'm not gonna go through every single
hadith in the book. I'll just go to
hadith number 4.
And I want to read
something from hadith number 45.
That's what we
have here. Hadith number 4.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says,
when a fly falls into any of your
into one of your utensils,
or into a utensil that belongs to one
of
Then you should dip it completely.
You should dip it in completely.
Then you should throw it out.
Because in one of its wings is a
cure
is a cure, and in the other of
its wings is a disease.
Now you may think, what on earth does
this study have to do with pandemics?
You may be thinking to yourself,
you if a fly goes into my food,
I don't want to eat that food.
You may be thinking to yourself,
does this even make sense?
You may be thinking to yourself,
this hadith,
for a long time, apparently,
went against,
you know, what we knew of lies.
What should I then do with this hadith?
Should I put the hadith aside
and not act on it, and not consider
it? Or what should I do?
So there's a number of lessons in this
hadith that we can,
that we can discuss,
and that give us a, you know, a
great, great appreciation
for Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam, who he
was, and for the efforts of our scholars
in preserving the words of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
Rasulullah
is saying, you have some
drink, whatever.
You know, you can stop me in this.
You can stop me any anytime. Ask whatever
you want.
Obviously, related.
So Rasulullah is saying what?
Apply drops into your food. You must drop
the fly in,
and then take the fly
out. Because why is he saying specifically? The
shipper in one wing and,
sickness disease in the other.
Let me just see if I can close-up
here.
Okay. No worries. That's that's beside the point.
The number of question that I that I
told you get raised in relation to this
study.
So, personally, what does this have to do
with pan pandemics?
What does this have to do, and not
with pandemics as a whole, but what does
this have to do with our belief in
in a system of causality in the world?
What does it have to do with our
belief in a system of causality in the
world? You know, there's this raging debate amongst
people
that, you know, you mustn't do anything.
Nothing can harm you if Allah doesn't want
it to harm you. You must just have
ta'akul.
Carry on with life as normal, and have
ta'akul.
Would you trust in Allah?
And what people imply by saying that
is that,
just carry on like normal. Don't take precautions.
Put your trust in Allah. And after putting
your trust in Allah, you know, that is
really what your iman
requires of. I think nothing can harm you.
Nothing can do besides Allah.
Now whilst that statement is 100%
correct on one level,
The implications
that people derive,
from it,
are incorrect.
Yes.
On the level of Allah,
nothing happens
without Allah making it happen.
Nothing happens in the universe without Allah causing
it. But the norm of Allah, as we
discussed last week, the norm of Allah is
that when he causes certain things to happen,
he causes certain other things to happen.
Like, when Allah causes a fire to be
created,
right, Allah causes you to be to accompany
that fire.
When Allah,
creates large masses of ice, Allah creates,
coldness
in conjunction with that. When Allah
creates, you know, huge forces hitting things, people,
then Allah creates pain with that.
Allah has a norm in his creation, a
sunnah in his creation.
So this hadith,
though not apparent,
it teaches us certain things.
One thing it teaches us is that
there
is that second
year, cause an effect.
That cause an effect, that is simply the
sunnah of Allah that does exist in creation.
How?
Rasoolullah is telling you, in the wing of
a fly is a disease.
What does that mean? That in that there
is something in the wing of that fly
that can cause disease. Can the the thing
in the wing of the fly cause the
disease in an in in it and, I
mean, in and of itself?
No.
The
physical cause for the disease is there, But
if the disease comes about, it will only
come about, because Allah made it happen.
But the sooner of Allah is,
that that disease is present in the wing
of the fly.
So the hadith is teaching us that. And
that is what has that's how the hadith
relates to, you know, situation pandemics. It reaffirms
our understanding
that, yes, Allah is in control of everything,
but Allah has a sunnah
of, cause and effect that he creates between,
things.
And since that's the case,
if there is something in the wing of
a fly, a virus, or something like that
in the
media, whatever it may be, in the wing
of a fly that can cause sickness, then
similarly,
you can have a virus that causes sickness.
Second second thing
second thing,
how is
Rasoolullah's also indicating that this virus gets spread?
By one physical thing coming into contact with
another physical thing. That
that thing that is contained by the wing
of the fly,
being consumed by a human being.
So, our Rasoolullah Assam says don't just consume
what is in the one wing.
Dip it in.
Immerse it further.
So I said, when if you consume whatever
you had, you consume both
the daa and the shifa,
and thus you won't be affected.
Right? But what is it? The thing in
the wing of the fly is a physical
thing,
and the Shifa that's in the other wing
is also a physical thing.
So Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is teaching
us here,
that
physical things can cause other physical effects. So
what you do, you take physical precautions.
What's the physical precaution over here? Yep.
The fly in again.
So
first lesson we learned from this hadith.
The hadith reaffirms for us that second tier
causality.
The second thing
is that
physical causes can have physical effects,
and we can take physic we should take
physical precaution against that.
Not just unseen precaution.
My because people like to have this, you
know, to take the easy way out. My
precaution is just the unseen precaution, it's tawakulullah.
And only unseen causes, the unseen cause being
Allah, brings about physical effects.
So, no. Physical causes can have physical effects,
and we should take physical precautions from them.
In addition to having a tawakkul, in addition
to taking our making our dua, and all
of those things.
Right? Another thing here is this,
in this hadith that we learned from this
hadith,
career. Is that Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
his knowledge is
beyond the scope of our knowledge.
Not because
Rasulullah
studied books and stuff like that. No.
Because the source of Rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's knowledge was divine revelation.
It was only fairly recently discovered
that in flies,
there are there are enzymes or something like
that that that actually serve as cures. People
knew that flies carry diseases, malaria, all of
those things. Right?
But people didn't know that they carry within
cures.
So many people would have been
predisposed to rejecting this hadith. Why? It doesn't
make sense to my mind. Doesn't make sense
to the level of knowledge that I have.
So people would have been disposed, and and
that is actually something that happened.
Scholars and, you know, people reading a hadith
would like
either just paper over this hadith, or kind
of reject it.
You
say, no. No.
Maybe this hadith is weak on account of
what it's saying.
The chain of narration is authentic. It's it's
narrated in Bukhari,
but,
maybe
maybe we must consider this hadith weak, because
what it's saying doesn't appeal to my rationality
or my logic.
Then some then time pauses, and people actually
find inflies,
enzymes that cure,
the sickness that they that they carry.
Now what do we do?
This teaches us something. Number 1,
there's no way Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam could
have known this back then. They weren't looking
at enzymes in flies in labs or anything
like that.
Number 2
number 2,
when a Hadith is authentic
there are weak Hadith as well. But when
a Hadith is authentic, its chain is authentic,
then we don't just reject what the Hadith
has to say.
Even if it doesn't
even if it doesn't
appeal to my to the level of knowledge
that I have,
I take the advice of Rasulullah, sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
And that is why the sunnah would have
been
I mean, the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. For alujama'a,
the people generally
act according to the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. One of the main ways
that sunnah espouses in the hadith literature, they
would have said, the sunnah would be if
the fire falls in your utensil,
it might not make sense to me. Immediately,
your reaction is, I want to just take
this fly and throw it out,
as quickly as possible.
But the sooner for the people of, you
know, that appreciate hadith,
the entirety of mainstream Islam would have been,
I take that fly,
I dip it in,
It doesn't matter why am I doing it.
Rasulullah told me to do it.
But we have a firm belief that in
it, there is a wisdom. I may not
know it. It doesn't. It may not make
sense to me right now, but there is
a wisdom there.
And,
as far as they've written books on just
this one hadith,
because of, you know,
now this hadith was like the scorn of
many people.
They looked down upon, what is your messenger
saying? What is your prophet saying? This is
like an outdated thing. How can you reply
into your food and eat it? No.
Then afterwards, they find that, no, there's actually
cure in that lie.
There is actually queue in that line, as
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned.
So that gives you that's the lesson of
the fact that the source of Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam's knowledge is divine. It's not
restricted
to empirical methods like our knowledge is.
We do have other sources of knowledge like
experience and all of those things as well.
But, you know, one of the main sources
of knowledge that we rely on is empirical
knowledge, scientific knowledge. In fact, in our time,
people are over infatuated
by scientific knowledge.
Right? They don't know the limitations of that
knowledge. They draw conclusions on that knowledge that,
that the information is not even telling them.
But,
that's a discussion for another time.
The other lesson that we learned from the
hadith is, that when a hadith is authentic,
when we can show that a hadith is
authentic,
then we never reject that hadith, simply because
it doesn't
accord with our rationality.
What we what we understand is that
what we understand is that
even though I may not understand the wisdom,
there is a wisdom there.
And I and I believe that because nothing
came from Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam, except
that it was imbued with wisdom.
That's in divine knowledge.
Do you still drink it after dipping it?
Yes. That's the that's what the Rasulullah was
telling us.
That you
you dip it in, and then you throw
the fly out, and then you can, you
know, consume what is in there, what is
in the utensil. Because
the harm
that that would have been caused by the
fly, is is now removed.
So so that's what Rasoolullah Rasool Lawson is
in fact achieved.
I must make it clear. You don't have
to
drink it, still,
but you can.
You understand? You don't have to. Like, for
example, if you repulsed by it,
and it's just gonna make you mad thinking
about the fact that there was a fly
there, whatever, then you don't have to consume.
That's what what Rasool is saying. If you
are gonna consume it,
then first, stop applying in the intro.
K? And and I just went through, like,
you have one lesson from the next hadith.
Says that I heard the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam saying, cover your utensils
and tie the mouths of your water skins,
for there is a night in the year
when epidemics descend,
with some of it settling into any uncovered
utensil
or untied water skin.
So what's Rasulullah
Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam is telling us something about
one of you know, an unseen matter related
to epidemics.
You see, there's a night in the year
when epidemics descend.
Now,
generally,
we don't I mean,
there's a virus that that that gets spread,
and that's how epidemics, of course, generally.
We don't think that there's an unseen element
to it.
We don't think that there is a that
there is a supernatural,
element to it. This Hadid is telling us
that, yes,
the Hadith is affirming to us that there
is a physical phenomena of this,
of this epidemic coming about and spreading.
But there's also a supernatural element to it.
And that is that Allah decides
that now an epidemic must be sent.
It doesn't happen without
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's decree.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala decides that an epidemic
must be sent.
But then, what does Rasoolullah Sallallahu Wa Salam
say? He says,
cover your or close your water skins, and
cover your utensils.
That's a physical action.
That's a physical action.
And
the epidemic
entering
your utensils is also a physical thing.
So Rasulullah, salawasam, again, is telling us, yes,
There is an unseen element to this epidemic,
that Allah
in his divine wisdom, he decrees when they
must be sent down, etcetera. And Allah's wisdom's
in that. Right?
You know, to test people in certain ways
and, you know, to teach people lessons, and
to bring them back to him. Allah's wisdom's
in there. Definitely.
There is an unseen element to it. But
there's also elements to it that are physical,
that that epidemic can actually physically enter utensils,
that you can prevent it entering those utensils
by closing and covering them. And that is
a precaution that's physical.
Rasulullah Sallam doesn't say, just make dua that
it doesn't enter your utensils.
Just have the wakkul that it's not gonna
enter your utensils. No. Rasulullah SAW says,
certainly, you must have the wakkul.
Certainly, you must make dua that Allah protect
you, and that's why Rasulullah SAW, you know,
taught us duas of protection.
But also, Rasulullah SAWSAW recommended
that you must take physical precaution.
Cover your water skins, or cover tie your
water skins, and cover your utensil.
Very physical precautions.
And so,
what this hadith is teaching us, yes, we
believe that there is a supernatural
element,
or, like, a metaphysical
element
to all of the
phenomena that we see on on on this
earth. Earth. It all comes from the unseen
from Allah
And that doesn't mean we have to negate
the physical aspects of it, nor does it
mean we cannot take physical precautions against it.
In fact, that is what Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam
instructed and recommended that we do.
And so, you know, that should guide our
action in this time, and help shape our
our thinking,
about
how we harmonize between having tawakkul,
and taking precautions,
and, you know, deriving
metaphysical
lessons from the situation we find ourselves in.
In addition to, you know, supporting
scientific,
research, etcetera,
etcetera, which is essentially
just assessments of the physical dimensions
of this thing sent by Allah So,
I think we're in there for now.
We got more. May Allah
make us people who are
appreciative of the rational faculties that Allah gave
us, not overextending.
May Allah
make us people who appreciate the divine knowledge
that he's sent to us through
in the form of the Quran and the
sunnah.
And we'll be people that truly harmonize between
that. And they can see the coherence
between the revelation
and
actionality.
Any questions?
Comments?
So just, like, a question in in a
way of looking at perspective.
Is it not actually I mean, for the
people that are claiming, you know, you just
need to have tawakul
and that's and not take precautions,
Is it not actually like proper tawakkul to
follow the advice of
Rasool Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam because if
you believe that it was divinely inspired, then
you need to trust that that advice is
also coming from
you know, the person that the the the
being that you're putting your in.
Of course. 100%.
That's a a very beautiful way of putting
it. The instruction to take precaution
comes from the very,
being in you are placing your trust.
So why should they protect you if you
don't listen to the instruction to actually take
the precaution?
That's a very beautiful way of putting it.
That's very very good.
Came as a.
And, certainly, here is a very good example
of singing
and learning today
the warning that came more than 1400
years ago.
And today only the or recently
the scientific proof is only now
coming to light to the full.
So, certainly, there again lies in that we
should take lead
of what we have been warned of.
Whether the scientific
proof of this
was only gonna reach us in the year
3,020.
We must take heed of the lessons coming
from Rasul
do you like to ask for that comment?
Yes. Certainly, there were, there were pandemics and
epidemics before as well, and we always take,
you know, the lessons from Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasson. His teachings are timeless.
How we understand them may may develop and
advance,
but
the teachings are timeless, and we never forsake
them. We're gonna end it for now, Take
a break.
All of them, we will be with you
guys at about
Sorry. Just a question. What do water skins
refer to? Water skins refer to, basically, the
vessels from which people would drink water. It
was like
a fashioned from from camel skin,
leather that was tanned and cleaned and etcetera.
And they would make like,
they would basically use it as bottles to
drink water from.
That's that's what it was.