Question

Assalamu alaikum, may Allah (swt) protect you and the Ummah and give victory to the Ummah through you. Please I have two questions and prayed may Allah make it easy for you.

1. What is your view according to Islam concerning polio vaccination that the western worlds and America are claiming to help some third world countries with free-of-charge?

2. Is it allowed according to Shariah to buy farm produce e.g. beans, during period of harvest when they are in surplus in order to store them until the period when the supply is meager and to sell at a profitable or higher price? Jazzak Allahu Khayran

Yusuf Adamu, Abuja, Nigeria.

Answer

Wa Alaikumu as-Salaam wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu

First: Vaccination is a medicine, to seek medicine is recommended not obligatory; the evidences for this are:

1. Narrated by Bukhari from Abu Huraira that he said that the Prophet (saw) said:

(مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ دَاءً إِلَّا أَنْزَلَ لَهُ شِفَاءً)

"AIIah has not sent down a disease except that He also sent down its cure."

Muslim narrated from Jabir Ibn Abdullah from the Prophet (saw) who said:

(لِكُلِّ دَاءٍ دَوَاءٌ، فَإِذَا أُصِيبَ دَوَاءُ الدَّاءِ بَرَأَ بِإِذْنِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ)

"Every illness has a cure, and when the proper cure is applied to the disease, it ends it, by the permission of Allah Azza wa Jal."

Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood:

(مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ دَاءً، إِلَّا قَدْ أَنْزَلَ لَهُ شِفَاءً، عَلِمَهُ مَنْ عَلِمَهُ، وَجَهِلَهُ مَنْ جَهِلَهُ)

"AIIah has not sent down a disease except that He also sent down its cure; whoever knows it (the cure), knows it, and whoever is unaware of it (the cure), he is unaware of it."

These Ahadith contain instructions; for every disease, there is medicine that cures it; this is an encouragement to seek medicine that leads to the cure of disease by the permission of Allah (swt); it is an instruction and not an obligation.

2. Ahmad narrated from Anas that the Prophet (saw) said:

(إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَيْثُ خَلَقَ الدَّاءَ، خَلَقَ الدَّوَاءَ، فَتَدَاوَوْا)

"There is no disease that Allah has created except that He also has created its remedy, so seek medicine."
Abu Dawoud narrated from Usama Ibn Shareek who said; ‘I approached the Prophet (saw) and his companions, they appeared as if they had birds sitting on their heads, I extended my greetings and sat down, then many Bedouins came from here and there and asked: 'O Messenger of AIIah, should we seek medicine?' He said:

تَدَاوَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَضَعْ دَاءً إِلَّا وَضَعَ لَهُ دَوَاءً، غَيْرَ دَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ الْهَرَمُ» أي "إلا الموت"

"Yes, O slaves of AIIah, seek medicine, for AIIah has not created a disease except that he has also created its cure, except for one illness.' They said, 'And what is that?' He said, 'Al-Haram' [death]" I.e. except for death.

In the first hadeeth, he (saw) commanded to seek medicine, and in this hadeeth his answer to the Bedouins was to seek medicine for Allah did not send a disease except that He sends the cure. The speech in both Ahadith came in the command form that means a general order and not an obligation; unless the subject is regarding a definite issue. The definite command requires a Qareena (an indication) to its presence. In both Ahadith, there is not a Qareena present that indicates the obligation. In addition, there has been narrations of Ahadith that indicates the permissibility of not seeking medicine, which negates the indication of the obligation from both hadeeth.

Muslim narrated from Imran Ibn Haseen that the Prophet (saw) said:

(يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مِنْ أُمَّتِي سَبْعُونَ أَلْفًا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ»، قَالُوا: وَمَنْ هُمْ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ؟ قَالَ: «هُمُ الَّذِينَ لَا يَكْتَوُونَ وَلَا يَسْتَرْقُونَ، وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ)

"Seventy thousand from my Ummah shall enter Jannah without any reckoning" They said "who are they O Allah's Messenger?" He said: "They are the ones who do not get themselves branded (cauterized) nor they treat themselves with Ruqqya, and they trust in Allah."

Ruqqya and cauterization is a form of medicine.

Bukhari narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "This black woman came to the Prophet (saw) and said: "I have (epileptic) seizures, and I get exposed, so supplicate to Allah for me." He (saw) said:

(إِنْ شِئْتِ صَبَرْتِ وَلَكِ الجَنَّةُ، وَإِنْ شِئْتِ دَعَوْتُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُعَافِيَكِ» فَقَالَتْ: أَصْبِرُ، فَقَالَتْ: إِنِّي أَتَكَشَّفُ، فَادْعُ اللَّهَ لِي أَنْ لاَ أَتَكَشَّفَ، »فَدَعَا لَهَا... )

"If you wish, be patient and you will attain Jannah; or if you wish, I will ask Allah to cure you."

She replied, "I will be patient! But my body gets exposed (because of the fall), so supplicate to Allah for me that I do not become exposed." and he sallalahu alaihi wa sallam made supplication for her."
These two hadeeths indicate the permissibility of not seeking medication.

This explains all of the issue:

"فتداووا"، "تداووا", to "seek medicine" is not an obligation, therefore it is either permissible or recommended. The extent of encouragement by the Prophet (saw) to seek medication makes the command of seeking medicine that is mentioned in the hadeeth recommended. Therefore the ruling on vaccination is that it is recommended, because vaccination is a medicine and to seek the cure is recommended, not obligatory, and it is permissible to seek cure from a non-Muslim Doctor, whether it was with payment or a an unpaid help... so whoever wanted to use vaccination, it is permissible.

There is also a matter I would like to remind about, that the assistance of the Kaffir Colonialists to the Muslim lands, whether it was for medication or otherwise, especially what they call free aid, these aids are usually used as a platforms for entering the hegemony of the Kaffir colonialists and their influence in the lands, and for the looting of its wealth and riches, the Capitalist States do not give free aid without taking anything in return, for they do not have Spiritual Values through which they help the needy, but their values are materialistic to reap through their aids malicious interests... so let the Muslims beware of this.

Secondly: Monopoly is absolutely forbidden in Islam, its Shar'i ruling is that it is Haram because of its explicit prohibition mentioned in the explicit Hadith. It was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, that Sa'eed bin Al-Musayyeb said, that M'uammar bin Abdullah said, that the Prophet (saw) said:

«لَا يَحْتَكِرُ إِلَّا خَاطِئٌ» "No one Monopolizes except a wrongdoer". The forbiddance in this Hadith is a decisive request for abstaining from the action, and vilifying the monopolist by describing him as a wrongdoer - and the wrongdoer is the sinner - and this is a Qareena (indication) indicating that this request (talab) for abstaining away from the action indicates decisiveness, and thus, this Hadeeth proves the prohibition of monopoly. The monopolist is he who collects goods in anticipation of its cost to increase in the market, whether collecting it from buying, or from the yields of his vast lands, the type of yields he personally owns, or for the scarcity of its cultivation, so he collects them by monopolizing them to sell them at a higher cost, making it difficult for the people of the country to purchase it. In this respect, i.e. increasing the cost to the people is forbidden (Haram), as per what has been narrated by Ma'qal bin Yasar who said: the Prophet (saw) said:

«مَنْ دَخَلَ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ أَسْعَارِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ لِيُغْلِيَهُ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَإِنَّ حَقًّا عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُقْعِدَهُ بِعُظْمٍ مِنَ النَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ»

"Whoever strives to increase the cost (of products) for Muslims, Allah, the Exalted, will seat him in the center of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection."

Therefore, hoarding is forbidden, and thus, it is not permissible to buy the agricultural products at a lower price upon its availability in the market, then storing it until its availability in the market becomes less or non-existent, then offering it for sale at a higher price, because this is the reality of monopoly, and it is forbidden as we have showed above.

Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

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