EBOLA SCARE: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
 
By: Abu Bilaal Abdulrazaq bn Bello bn Oare
8th August, 2014
 
Nobody wants to die, even though everyone complains about life. Everyone strives to evade/avert death in any way possible. Whenever there is news of a fatal road accident, we immediately think of avoiding the route on which the accident occurred, or avoiding the type of vehicle that was involved in the accident, or even avoiding road travel completely and opting for air travel instead – especially for those who can afford it. And when there is news of a plane crash that claims the lives of over a hundred persons, including passengers and crew, we make a U-turn and say, O’ the roads are better-off after all.
 
Similarly, when we here of a person that dies after consuming a particular food or drink, what immediately comes to our minds is how to forbid that food or drink for ourselves and our loved ones for the rest of our lives. We are always evasive about death, even though everything in life seems to point to the inevitability of its occurrence.
 
Therefore, it is important to remind ourselves that no matter how much we run away from death, it remains the most certain thing in life. As Allâh, The Exalted and Most High, aptly puts it in the Qur’ân: “Say (to them): "Verily, the death from which you flee, will surely overtake you, then you will be sent back to (Allâh), the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you used to do." [Sûrah al-Jumu'ah (62):8]
 
When the time of death hasn’t come, it cannot be quickened or drawn closer in any way. And when it has come, it cannot be delayed even for a blink of an eye. “And never does Allâh grant respite to a human being when his appointed time (death) has come. And Allâh is All-Aware of what you do”. [Sûrah al-Munaafiqoon (63):11]
 
Allâh, Exalted be His Majesty, also says in the Glorious Qur’ân: “No calamity befalls, but by the Leave [i.e. Decision and Divine Preordainments] of Allâh, and whosoever believes in Allâh, He guides his heart. And Allâh is All-Knower of everything”. [Sûrah at-Taghaabun (64): 11]
 
It is the instinctual fear of death that has informed the general reaction to the current outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which was first reported in the Republic of Guinea in March 2014, and later spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other parts of the world, including Nigeria. Various individuals, governments, and NGOs have been issuing dire warnings of a global pandemic underway if the disease is not effectively contained.
 
The latest update from World Health Organization (WHO) shows a cumulative number of 1,711 cases, with 932 deaths from EVD, two of which were recorded in Nigeria. This new development has caused a serious scare round the country in particular, and the world in general, and the media – especially the cyber space – has been awash with all sorts of information on various unverified cures and preventive measures for EVD. Interestingly, the current Ebola scare has created some form of brisk business for many people, as bitter-kola has suddenly become the most sought-after commodity in the market. Those who trade on table salt are not left out of the market boom, as the latest of the information, as of the time of penning this write-up (many more may have come out), is that a drink and a bath of warm salt solution prevents/cures EVD. Without wasting time at all, many Nigerians have gone ahead to take this “native-doctor’s” prescription. After all, prevention, they say, is better than cure, and to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.
 
Islam, as a religion, encourages proper safety and health hygienes and does not go against seeking medical attention whenever necessary. The religion teaches us to wash our hands before and after eating, to wash our mouth and clean our teeth regularly, especially before the five daily prayers, to clean-up our lower orifices with our left hands and to eat with our right hands, and to eat only of that which is pure and wholesome. These are important for leading a healthy life.
 
However, despite every precautionary measures we take, calamities still happen, and they happen for different reasons. They remind all of the boundless powers of the Creator. He has power over all things, He does whatever He wills, and He is just in whatever He does. They serve as punishment to the sinful and as clear reminder to the heedful. They are also the results of man’s pernicious handiwork. In the infallible Words of the Almighty, “Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of the (meed) that the hands of men have earned, that (Allâh) may give them a taste of (the consequences) of some of their deeds, in order that they may turn back (from evil).” [Sûrah Ar-Rûm (30):41]
 
Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allâh be upon him) gave precise instructions on how to respond to epidemics, pandemics, pestilences, or plagues. In a proclamation that would evoke the envy of governments and NGOs across our contemporary world, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Prophet said: "If you hear of an epidemic outbreak in a land, do not enter it; but if it breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place". (Sahīh Al-Bukhāri)
 
It is clear that the Prophet’s command is meant to effectively quarantine the epidemic and eventually contain it and prevent its spread to other places. Muslims are expected to set the example for others by remaining in the stricken area. They are also expected to care for those affected by the epidemic (rather than scorn and ostracize them), knowing that by taking care of the stricken they might attain the lofty height of martyrdom. The Prophet declared, as only a true Prophet could declare, that “death from an epidemic is martyrdom for every Muslim” (Sahīh Al-Bukhāri). He also said that epidemics are “punishment sent by Allâh on whom He wishes, and Allâh makes it a source of mercy for the believers, for if one in the time of an epidemic stays in his place patiently hoping for Allâh's Reward and believing that nothing will befall him except what Allâh has written for him, (and he dies) he will get the reward of a martyr" (Sahīh Bukhāri).
 
We may wish to reflect over the fact that the HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to be precisely such divine punishment inflicted on those who have taken to the path of perversion and promiscuity. On the other hand, those who die of HIV/AIDS while holding fast to faith in their hearts and are innocent of transgressions of the flesh would receive the reward reserved for martyrs. This is not fatalism, neither is it blind faith. It is a just reward for the innocent believers who get caught-up in calamities that befall the whole as a result of the sins of a few.
 
The Prophet also talked about the occurrence of epidemics and pandemics that will ravage the world as portends of the End Time. That explains the frequent appearances of epidemic diseases here and there, now and again. At some time it was SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and at other times it was Avian Influenza (a.k.a. Bird Flu) and HIV/AIDS. He, blessings and peace of Allâh be upon him, said: "Count six signs that indicate the approach of the Hour: my death, the conquest of Jerusalem, an epidemic that will afflict you (and cause you to die in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep, the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one hundred Dinārs, he will not be satisfied; then an affliction which no Arab house will escape, and then a truce between you and Bani-Al-Asfar (i.e. the Byzantines)…” (Sahīh Bukhāri).
 
Beloved, let us take important lessons from the happenings around us, in order that we might retrace our steps back to the path of righteousness. Let us hold fast to the Qur’ān. It is a Cure. It has the capacity to heal and to serve as a protection from any kind of calamity/illness. Allâh says: “And We send down in the Qur'ân that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe. [Sûrah al-Israa].
 
Especially, the recitation of the first ten verses of Sūrah al-Kahf offers protection from the Dajjal and his evils, including the spread of epidemics. The Dajjāl  is the false Messiah or Anti-Christ, a supremely evil being with a PhD in deception who seeks to impersonate the true Messiah [Isa (Jesus) the son of Mary].
 
May Allâh fill our hearts with faith, and establish our feet firmly on His Path. And may He not punish us on account of our sins.
 
 
Abu Bialaal Abdulrazaq bn Bello bn Oare
 
Kaduna, Nigeria
 
sahabah@aol.com