The Shaykh continued, "O my king, the words for a sickness that encompasses and spreads or epidemic in divine texts, the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) are Ta’un (الطاعون) or Waba’ (وباء). Sometimes these words are used interchangeably and other times they refer to a specific type of epidemic disease, diseases that are similar to pestilence or plague. Iyad said, "Ta’un refers to [specific type of sickness, pestilence or the well known plague] which is known for its boils that cover the body, and Waba’ refers to generally all (epidemic) sickness. Waba’ is referred to as Ta’un because of its likeness in leading to death, otherwise every Ta’un is Waba’, but not every Waba’ is a Ta’un. In short, Ta’un is often used interchangeably with Waba’ in divine texts as a general epidemic disease that leads to death – and in some specific contexts Ta’un refers to diseases that are like the well-known pestilence, or plague. This difference between Ta’un and Waba’ is important when discussing specific hadiths as they refer to them in light of the context used.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I saw (in a dream) a dreary-dark woman with unkempt hair going out of Madinah and settling at Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) the Waba’ (sickness, epidemic) of Madinah being transferred to Mahai'a, meaning, Al-Juhfa." Here the Prophet (ﷺ) was referring to Waba’ – specifically the Malaria and Influenza that existed in Madinah and it was known for making people sick and the city was rife with it to the extent both of the Prophet’s (ﷺ) parents could have passed away due to the sickness associated with the city. Waba’ here is referred to the general sickness, epidemic, that was killing some and making many sick.
The Prophet (ﷺ) would make a specific prayer for the city to be blessed and purified from this sickness, saying, "O Allah! Make Madinah beloved to us, as You made Makkah beloved to us, and even more! And transfer the fever that is in it to Al-Juhfa. O Allah! Bless our Mudd and our Sa' (kinds of measures for food and provision)."
And when the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Ta’un (plague, epidemic disease) is rijz (calamity) of punishment, He punished with those who came before you.” And Aisha said she asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about Ta’un (plagues) and he (ﷺ) said, “It is a punishment that Allah sends upon whoever He wills, but Allah has made it a mercy for believers. ….” Both of these contexts of Ta’un, refer again to the general epidemic diseases.
The Prophet (ﷺ) would say about Madinah, "There are at the entrances to Madinah angels who prevent Ta’un (plague) and Dajjal (the anti-christ) from entering it.” In this case, Ta’un refers to the specific disease of pestilence or the well-known plague, but Madinah is not protected from general epidemic sicknesses.
Imam Al-Nawawi said, "Ta’un here consists of purulent pustules (boils) that erupt on the body. These appear in the groin, or in the axillae, or the hands, or on the fingers and elsewhere on the body, accompanied by swelling and intense pain… Every Ta’un is a Waba’, but not every Waba’ is a Ta’un."
He continues to say, “As for Waba’ (epidemic disease), al-Khaleel and others said that it refers to the plague. Others said that it refers to any widespread disease. The correct view, as noted by scholars, is that it is any sickness that affects many people in one part of the land, but not all of it; differs from ordinary diseases in the large number of people affected and in other ways; and where they are all affected by the same kind of sickness, unlike at other times, when people suffer from different kinds of sickness. Every Ta’un is a Waba’, but not every Waba’ is a Ta’un.
This hadith is critical in our understanding as Madinah is protected from plague entering it, but not epidemic diseases!
There are many times were some epidemics in Makkah and Madinah.
Between 13-24 H - Abu AlAswad Du’aly (the famous scholar who derived the rules for Arabic grammar) narrates, “I went to Madinah when there was an outbreak of disease and the people were dying rapidly. I was sitting with `Umar and a funeral procession passed by…”
152 H – An inscription on a rock of a prayer asking for relief of an epidemic that struck Madinah found by historian, Muhammad Al-Mughadhawi. The inscription writes, "O Allah remove the Waba’ (epidemic disease) and difficulty from the people of Madinah," written in Jumada year 152.
735 H – Diphtheria epidemic struck Madinah that would kill 15 people every day. They had not seen anything like it prior to it.
749 H – an epidemic disease struck Makkah
1235 H (1814 CE) – 8000 die in Hijaz in general due to epidemic disease
1246 H (1831 CE) – An epidemic disease that came from India killed three fourths of the pilgrims in Makkah.
1252-1255 H (1837 CE – 1840 CE) – Hajj period in Makkah witnesses epidemic diseases.
The Prophet (ﷺ) in 9 H on the expedition of Tabuk, made a number of prophesies, among them that there will come a plague that will afflict a number of his followers. ‘Awf bin Malik Al-Ashja’i said, “I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) during the campaign of Tabuk, when he was in a tent made of leather, so I sat in front of the tent. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘Enter, O ‘Awf.’ I said, ‘All of me, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘All of you.’ Then he said, ‘O ‘Awf, remember six things (that will occur) before the Hour comes, one of which is my death.’ I was very shocked and saddened at that. He said, ‘Count that as the first. Then (will come) the conquest of Bayt Al Maqdis (Jerusalem); then a disease which will appear among you and cause you and your offspring to die as martyrs and will purify your deeds; then there will be (much) wealth among you, so that if a man were to be given one hundred Dinar, he would still be dissatisfied; and there will be tribulation among you that will not leave any Muslim house untouched; then there will be a treaty between you and the Romans, then they will betray you and march against you with eighty banners, under each of which will be twelve thousand (troops).’”
The mention of the disease in the prophecy of the Prophet (ﷺ) occurred during the caliphate of Umar ibn Al Khattab. During a military campaign in the year 18 H/639 CE, a plague in Emmaus (Arabic: ‘Amawas), Palestine a city 30 kilometers away from Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) broke out and many companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) were afflicted. Al-Jawhari said “it was the first plague in Islam,” as prophesized by the Prophet (ﷺ). The caliph at that time, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, radhiyallahu 'anhu, heard about it, and out of his concern set out to meet them.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas narrates the events when ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab set out for Sham (Levant: Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, etc). When he got as far as a place called ‘Sargh’, the commanders of the army, Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn Jarrah and his companions met ‘Umar and told him that a plague had broken out in Sham.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said, ‘Umar said to me, ‘Call the early Muhajirun (the earliest Muslims and those who were the immigrants to Madinah) for me,’ I called them, sought their consultation and informed them that a plague had broken out in Sham. They disagreed. Some of them said, ‘You have set out on a matter and we do not think that you should retreat from it.’ Others said, ‘You have the rest of the people as well as the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, and we do not think that you should expose them to this plague.’ ‘Umar then said, ‘Leave.’ Then he said, ‘Call the Ansar (the helpers, the citizens of Madinah that gave refuge to all the migrants that came to the city) for me,’ and I called them and he consulted them.
Their reaction was as the Muhajirun and disagreed as they had disagreed. He said, ‘Leave.’ Then he said, ‘Call those who are here of the elders of Quraysh who emigrated the year of the Conquest of Makkah.’ So I called them, and none among them disagreed about it. They said, ‘We think that you should return with the people and not expose them to this plague.’ So ‘Umar made an announcement among the people: ‘I am returning in the morning, so return as well.’ Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn Jarrah said, ‘Are you fleeing from the decree of Allah?’ ‘Umar said, ‘If only someone other than you had said that, Abu ‘Ubaydah!’ Yes, ‘we are fleeing from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah‘. Do you think that if you had camels and they went down into a valley which had two sides, one of which was fertile and the other barren. Is it not that if you grazed them on the fertile side, then that grazing would be by the decree of Allah, and if you grazed them on the barren side, then that grazing would also be by the decree of Allah?’
‘Abdul Rahman ibn ‘Awf-who had been absent on some errand- then came and said, ‘I have some knowledge regarding this issue. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “When you hear that [a plague] is in a land, do not go to it and if it occurs in a land that you are already in, then do not leave it, fleeing from it.'” ‘Umar praised Allah [due to him making the correct decision] and then left.”
The king asked, "O Shaykh, how the righteous dealt with plague and epidemic disease?" The Shaykh said, "In the Ta’un of ‘Amawas there are a number of spiritual lessons of how a believer deals with affliction of epidemic in the example of the companions of the Prophet – may Allah be pleased with them.
Abu Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrah, the companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), among the ten promised paradise by the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was alive, stayed and aided his people and was in their service. He would get on the pulpit and comforting people who were afflicted by saying, “O People! This affliction is a mercy for you all, the prayer of the Prophet, and the passing of the righteous before you…” and he was afflicted with plague thereafter.
'Sa’id ibn Al-Musayyib narrates when Abu Ubaydah was afflicted with the plague, he called the believers around him and said, “I’m advising you all with an advice if you all accept it you would never cease to remain on good. Establish the prayer, fast the month of Ramadan, give charity, go to Hajj and Umrah, come together, advise your leaders and don’t cheat them. Do not let the world deceive you. Even if a person lived one thousand years, they will undoubtedly reach what you are witnessing before you, my demise. Allah has written death upon the children of Adam and they are in the state of passing. The smartest of them are the most subservient to their Rabb and the ones that act toward the final day of their destination. Wasalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullah. O Muadh ibn Jabal, lead the people in prayer.”
He passed away thereafter, Allah be pleased with him. Muadh ibn Jabal at his funeral stood before people and addressed them saying, “O People! Turn back to Allah, repent for your sins. For any servant that meets Allah repentant from their sins has a claim of deserving Allah to forgive them. Whoever has a loan on them let them pay it off because a servant (of Allah) is held under the pledge of giving back their loan. Whoever has woken up today and abandoned their brother (due to a disagreement and grudge) then go out and meet them and reconcile. It’s not befitting that any Muslim abandons their brother more than three days. O Muslims! You have been distressed by the passing of a man that I don’t claim I have seen a servant more dutiful or open hearted, nor more distant from harboring misfortune (toward others), or more loving of everyone and wishing good for them advising them than him. Stand and seek mercy for him and the prayer for him.”
Muadh ibn Jabal lost children and his family as well before passing himself, all the while patiently saying as Abu Ubaydah said before him, “This affliction is a mercy for you all, the prayer of the prophet, and the passing of the righteous before you."
The righteous of the past dealt with the reality of afflictions with the certainty of trusting in Allah and conviction that nothing granted can be only with His will and nothing taken can only be through His permission. They fully believed in their being that what befalls a human will never miss them, and what they missed was never meant for them, and this life is a mere temporal, yet gravely important preparatory phase of existence that prepared them for what is to come. As our beloved Prophet (ﷺ) said regarding plague that, "It is a punishment that Allah sends upon whoever He wills" - and that it is, "He made it a mercy to the Mu’minin," he (ﷺ) did not say Muslimin. Mu’minin here refers to a higher level of faith of those who internalize and have conviction of faith beyond just believing and entering into Islam. As the faith has three levels, Islam, Iman, and Ihsan. The phrase “mercy to Mu’minin” refers here to a higher level of faith that internalizes the wisdoms of Allah’s divine decree and actualizes it into not just actions of the limbs, statements of the tongue, but actions and statements of the heart as well such as absolute reliance on Allah, patience in times of adversity, and gratitude. This makes the statement of our Beloved Prophet (ﷺ) even that more powerful. Such believers echo the words of our Rabb who describes the mark of such believers. The Prophet (ﷺ) embodied the message taught by the Almighty, and imparted a spiritual lesson that is the most powerful form of hope in the most difficult of times. A message of perseverance, through tests, and knowing the wisdom is in the hands of the Most Merciful, All High, All Wise. Allah commanded His Prophet (ﷺ) to impart that message Himself by commanding the Prophet (ﷺ) to tell humanity and the believers,
قُلْ لَنْ يُصِيبَنَا إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَنَا هُوَ مَوْلَانَا ۚ وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ"Say, 'Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us; He is our protector.' And upon Allah let the believers rely." - [QS.9:51]
[Part 3]
