Islamic Center of North East Valley

May 1, 2009

With the recent outbreak of the Swine Flu (aka H1N1 virus), the whole world is bracing for more to come. The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the flu pandemic alert level from phase 4 to phase 5 on April 29. This Khutba attemps to give some Islamic perspective on various aspects of this issue.



Here are some points to keep in mind:
  • we believe that everything that happens on earth can only happen with the permission of God. There is nothing on earth that can happen without the permission of God. This should be very clear to every Muslim. In fact, the sixth pillar of Islamic faith is to believe in the Divine Decree whether good and bad. In other words, we Muslims believe that all good and evil that is on Earth is created by God. Allah says in the Quran, Surat at-Taghabun, verse 11:

    There is not a single affliction that happens except with the permission of God. Here affliction is a comprehensive word that includes wars and killing, natural disasters, and diceases and pandemics. All of this is willed and ordained by God Almighty.


  • Eating pork has nothing to do with the Swine Flu. Pork is clearly forbidden in Islam. The fact that it's forbidden is a great bounty since God doesn't forbid anything without a great wisdom. Sometimes we may know the wisdom and sometimes we may not. But we always believe that if something is forbidden then its harm must be more than its good. Having said that, there is no proof so far that eating pork leads to the Swine Flu. So no Muslim should rush into conclusions or make any false claims. Yes it could be argued that indirectly eating pork has made the pig farming industry flourish which in turn provided a breeding ground for the feared H1N1 virus.


    • Taking all the necessary precautions does not go against our trust in Allah (i.e. Tawakkul). We are all urged to follow all necessary precautions as outlined by the Center for Disease Control. Doing that should not diminish our belief of "nothing can happen without the Permission of Allah", outlined above. In fact, there are several narrations that show that taking precautions from contagious diseases is a Prophetic injuction. For example, Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Abu Huraira that the Prophet said:

    a sick person should not come near a healthy person. Also, Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad that the Prophet said: