Contempt or Compassion Toward the Contagion Diseased? Understanding Islamic Principles Concerning Epidemics

Title

Contempt or Compassion Toward the Contagion Diseased? Understanding Islamic Principles Concerning Epidemics

Author

Musferah MEHFOOZ

Page

149-180

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.202112_18(2).0004

Abstract

Diseases, especially contagious and epidemic ones, have challenged man since the time immemorial. These epidemics trigger the minds, requiring religious and social explanations, which tremendously influence individuals and communities' attitudes and behavioral patterns toward contagious diseases. During the early period of Islam, the people of Arabia faced pandemics and endemics. The Prophet (peace be upon him) advised his Companions on how to tackle such outbreaks. These pieces of Prophetic advice regarding contagious ailments were paid serious attention to by the later generations of the believers. Keeping in view the current international scenario, it is high time to investigate the nature of the endemics related Prophetic advice and approach of his Companions and later generations in Muslim history. It has generally been observed that in the situation of endemics or pandemics, most people look down upon the contagious disease-afflicted people with contempt and opt for social deviance, leading to opprobrium, intolerance, exclusion, relationship dissolution, and moral censorship of the afflicted. In this study, it is to be seen whether the Prophetic instructions and the Companions’ practices in this regard betray care, concern, love, compassion, caution, social intimacy, and proper treatment. The study is expected to conclude that the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) advice and his Companions’ reactions towards them were highly humane, extraordinarily scientific, and morally commendable, which reshaped the Muslim minds towards contagious diseases and their sufferers. An analytical approach has been applied in this study to conclude objectively, along with qualitative research methodology.

Keyword

Epidemic, Pandemic, Muslim World, Islamic Principles, Muhammad the Prophet

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