Quarantine in Islam, and Allah's Decree

By Imam Wahbah az-Zuḥaylī, may Allah have mercy on him 

Al-Madinah

One of the passive means of protection that protects against many contagious diseases and prevents the spread of epidemics like cholera and the plague is to confine the illness to where it is, what is called al-ḥajr as-ṣiḥḥī [i.e. quarantine], even though we have firm conviction that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the One who cures and causes illness. The Exalted One says, quoting the statement of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, “He who gives me food and gives me drink; and when I am ill, it is He who cures me.” [ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:79-80] He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after negating that there is any intrinsic contagion, independent of Allah’s doing, said, {Flee from the leper the way you would flee from a lion.} There is also al-Bukhārī’s narration in at-Tārīkh: {Be wary of the leper the way you would be wary of a lion.} This is part of using the outward means that Allah has commanded us to, and they are from Allah’s predestination. ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said regarding the Plague of ʿAmwās to Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ, may Allah be pleased with him, ‘Yes, we are fleeing from Allah’s predestination to His decree’, or ‘from what Allah has predestined to what Allah has predestined.’ He, peace and blessings be upon him, in what has been narrated by at-Tirmidhī, said about ar-ruqyah,[1] ‘It is from Allah’s predestination.’ Thus, just as illness is from Allah’s predestination and to be cured is from Allah’s predestination, prevention is also from Allah’s predestination.

[Translated from Qaḍāyā al-Fiqh wa al-Fikr al-Muʿāṣir (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, 1430/2009) v.2, p.342-343]

…One of the most important ways of protecting the environment is what is called al-ḥajr as-ṣiḥḥī [i.e. quarantine] nowadays, in order to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and dangerous epidemics, in order to contain the illness as much as possible. This is a type of precautionary or protective planning that has been affirmed by Islam from the very beginning. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {The one who is ill is not brought into the presence of the one who is healthy.}[2] There is also the ḥadīth in al-Bukhārī: {Flee from the leper the way you would flee from a lion}, and this is a type of protection.

As for precautions and quarantine, this is understood from other ḥadīths, such as his statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, {If you hear about a plague in a land, do not enter it, and if it occurs in the land that you are in, do not leave it.}[3]

This planning does not contradict faith in Allah’s decree and predestination, due to ʿUmar’s statement, may Allah be pleased with him, when ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ said to him, ‘Are you fleeing from what Allah has predestined?’: ‘Yes. We are fleeing from what Allah has predestined to what Allah has predestined…’[4]

[Translated from Mawsūʿah al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa al-Qaḍāyā al-Muʿāṣirah (Damascus, Dār al-Fikr, 1434/2013), v.12, p. 796]

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[1] (tn): i.e. reciting something from the Qurʾān, or something else that has been related, over the patient or someone else for the sake of protection and cure

[2] Related by Muslim, Aḥmad, and Abdur Razzāq from the ḥadīth of Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbdir Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf

[3] Related by Al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Mālik in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, and at-Tirmidhī on the authority of Usāmah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him.

[4] Its source is in the previous ḥadīth. (tn): This is also found in Riyāḍ as-Ṣāliḥīn by Imam an-Nawawī, the chapter on it being disliked to leave a land where there is an epidemic in order to flee from it and it being disliked to enter it. Please see p.563-564 (Jeddah: Dār al-Minhāj, 1427/2006).


Related:
Fatwa on the Closure of Masjids