Our Creed
thought the illnesses were endowed with this capability
by Allah such that transmission no longer required Him.
Others thought illnesses and their capabilities always
existed as a part of nature, per se. Far from being restricted
to Jahiliyya, many of us today hold a similar belief. We
think the emergence and disappearance of diseases as
solely a cause of bacteria, viruses, fungi, auto-immune
processes, and so on. Science, being a godless endeavor
and one based on the empiric alone, ends its pursuit of
understanding at the superficial level of empiricism (i.e.
knowledge that derives from experience alone).
The Qur’an, however, was revealed to convey a deeper
and more holistic meaning. Our Book doesn’t undermine
empiric observation, rather, it adds to science in a way that
benefits us spiritually as well. Allah conveyed a few simple
statements to clarify the reality: “Say, He is Allah, the One”
(112:1). Tauhid does not only refer to Allah, Himself, but
also to His actions. He, alone, is the Creator; the Creator
of everything. His creating is absolute, and no movement
or cause exists except that He brought it into existence.
“Say, Allah is the Creator of all things” (13:16). Hence, He
is the Creator of disease and cure. He is the Creator of
vectors and their transmission, because they all are ‘things.’
Transmission and disease cannot be brought into existence
by a vector. If they could, then the vector would have been
the creator of the disease…but, there is only one Creator.
An Islamic View
So, what is happening here? The coming into existence of
each thing is the point in time Allah brings it into existence.
Meaning, when x event takes place, Allah normally brings
into existence y event. This is correlation and not causation
on the part of x. For example, when fire encounters dry
wood, Allah normally creates heat and then, burning of the
wood. (On the molecular level, the process of oxidation
appearing as an exothermic reaction, i.e., fire, is just a
series of events on the subatomic level brought into
existence by Allah). The necessary causation of all things
is Allah. We repeatedly observe the same phenomenon,
like fire spreading within wood, because that is what He
consistently creates. However, the correlation of two events
is not necessary in and of itself. When Allah wishes to cause
something else, He can do so. For example, although fire
normally results in burning and heat, the Qur’an informs
us of a different materialization with Sayyiduna Ibrahim e:
“Allah said, ‘O fire, be coolness and safety upon Ibrahim’”
(21:69). When Sayyiduna Ibrahim e was thrown into the
fire, Allah created coolness in that moment rather than
heat.
In the hadith, we find another example. The Prophet a
fasted for days on end without feeling hunger. Lack of
food is normally followed by hunger, thirst, and weakness.
Instead, he said, “My Lord feeds me and gives me drink”
(Bukhari). By that, the Prophet a didn’t mean Allah caused
food and drink to descend upon him, rather, He did not
create the sensation of hunger, thirst, and weakness in him
as is normally the case ( Jami` al-La’ali Sharh Badh’ al-
Amali, pp. 30-31).
The case of disease is similar. The apparent cause before
it, for example, the inoculation of the vector, is a sign or
indicator of the Sunna (way) of Allah as to what will likely
happen next: the illness. Whereas one person sees the
outward (the vector-causing disease), the believer more
fully appreciates the work of His Creator. If His Master
wishes to bring about the existence of a disease with the
vector, then he worries little because the Prophet of Allah
a informed us, “He made it a mercy for the believers”
(Bukhari). Even in the case of death, the believer is relieved
as he said, “Epidemic disease is a type of martyrdom for
each Muslim” (Bukhari). It has been reported about Hefsah
bint Sireen, the great jurist, that she was asked by Anas ibn
Malik g, “What would you prefer to die from?” She replied,
“From an epidemic.” He replied, “Indeed, it is a shahadah
(martyrdom) for each Muslim” (al-Tabaqat al-Kubra). When
an epidemic strikes, we do not intellectualize the vector
and fear it, because it is powerless. Rather, we understand
the true cause is Allah, and we turn to Him.
Just as we look to the prophetic words to understand the
reality of what actually takes place in illness, we again look
back to the hadith to shed light about what to do in such
trying times. It is not permissible for one to think Allah
will cause illness if He wills, and subsequently go wherever
he wants and act recklessly. The Prophet a forbade it. It
remains the Sunna of Allah to bring illness into existence
with the vector, so the Prophet a advised, “Do not mix the
sick with the healthy” (Bukhari), and “Move away from the
leper as you would from the lion” (Bukhari).
At this point, I would like to summarize in a way that
opens the mind to the reality and binds the limbs in divine
obedience. Once the above is digested, you will see the
universe not as a series of cause and effect, rather, you will
see it as a masterful display of divine power. It behooves
the believer to then act in accordance with the dictates of
his Creator. His every action is good, wise, and beneficial.
His knowledge alone encompasses all that is beneficial
for His servants, and we only know little of it. So, it is best
for the servants and more befitting of our state that we
be pleased with His decree, accept it wholeheartedly, and
busy ourselves with what Allah and His Messenger a have
commanded (al-Mubeen al-Mu`een li Fahm al-Arba‘een, p.
439).
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