Question: Is it true that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) told us to dunk the fly into our drink if it
falls into it? If so, how do we explain this scientifically? Also, are we
required in Islam to do this even if we do not want to?
Answered by the
Fatwa Department Research Committee - chaired by Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb
al-Turayrî
|
This is an authentic hadîth.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If a fly falls into the
drink of any one of you, he should dunk it all the way in and then remove it,
because on one if its wings is disease and on the other is its cure." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (3320, 5782)]
These are the words of our Prophet (peace be upon him).
As far as our scientific knowledge of the fly is concerned, we know
that the fly is a carrier of numerous harmful microorganisms. We also know
that the surface and internal environments of the fly are both complex
biological environments in which thrive numerous microorganisms, some of
which are harmful to humans, some of which are benign to us, and still others
of which prey upon the harmful microorganisms or otherwise keep the
populations of those harmful microorganisms in check.
The microbiota of the fly - as these microorganisms are collectively
referred to - is very diverse and the ecology of that microbiota is extremely
complex.
R. J. Dillon of the University of Bath, Department of Biology and
Biochemistry, mentions that new kingdoms of life have been found among the
microorganisms living on or within insects. He writes:
Molecular studies have revealed unrecorded microbial sequences in
many natural samples to the extent that new kingdoms of life have been
discovered in the Domain Archaea.
He also writes, discussing how some of the microbiota of the housefly
(Musca domestica) has the ability to
suppress disease-causing bacteria:
A few studies have examined the impact of the gut microbiota on the
establishment of human pathogens and parasites in their insect vectors.
Gnotobiotic insects (Greenberg et al, 1970) were used to provide evidence of
the bacterial pathogen-suppressing ability of the microbiota of Musca domestica and Lucilia sericata.
We will not be so bold as to say conclusively that the microbiota of
the housefly - both the disease causing microorganisms and the other
microorganisms that suppress them - are exactly what the Prophet (peace be
upon him) was referring to. We must show some caution and self-restraint when
dealing with the sacred texts and interpreting what they mean.
This is especially true since our scientific knowledge is quite
limited. What we know about the natural world is by far less than what we are
ignorant of. There could be other qualities of the biological environment of
the fly's surface and internal environments that we still do not know about.
Therefore, it could very well be that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was
referring to something else about the fly for which we have yet to acquire
scientific knowledge.
*************************************
Some of us might find the idea of dunking a fly in our beverage,
removing it, and then taking a drink unsettling to say the least. This is
especially the case if we have had the privilege of living our lives in a
modern society, free of hunger and starvation, where a certain standard of
cleanliness is maintained in the environment and it is relatively easy to
protect our food and drink from flies and other pests.
However, a ruling such as the one mentioned in the hadîth becomes
painfully relevant to those who live with hunger and in less sanitary
environments where protecting food from flies is not so simple and throwing
away food and drink is not so easy an option. Such an environment was that of
Arabia 1400 years ago, and regrettably, there are still many places in the
world where we find scarcity and what by today's assessment are sub-standard
living conditions.
People under such circumstances quite often do consume food and drink
that has come in contact with flies. If they had to discard all such foods,
it would impose a serious hardship upon them.
Also, this hadîth is not obligating Muslims to drink beverages in
which flies have fallen. It is just advising them as to what to do in case
they wish to do so. A Muslim does not have to eat or drink anything that he
feels an aversion to consuming. Today, most of us would understandably be
repelled by the notion of drinking a beverage from which a fly had taken a
sip, let alone fallen into.
Islamic Law takes such natural aversion into account. We can see how
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when he was served a spiny-tailed
lizard to eat, refrained from partaking of it. Khâlid b. al-Walîd noticed
this and asked if eating the meat of the spiny-tailed lizard was unlawful.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: "No. It is just that it is not
found in the land of my people, and I find myself disinclined to it." He
did not eat it, simply because it did not agree with his disposition. It was
not a question of whether or not its flesh was permitted by Islamic Law.
We can apply the same ruling to a drink in which a fly has landed.
And Allah knows best.
-----------------
Narrated Abu
Hurairah (RAA): The Prophet said,
“If a
housefly falls into the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (all) in the
liquid, for one of its wings has the disease, and the other has the cure.21” Bukhari and Abu Dawud related it. Abu Dawud added in
his narration, “It puts forward the one
containing the
disease.22
21- It is not meant in this Hadith that
the person must drink the liquid inwhich the fly has fallen, the Prophet is only guiding the Muslims to the way in
which to protect themselves from being infected by microbes, should they want
to continue drinking after throwing way the fly.
22 - i.e. falls in the liquid with the wing containing
the: disease (the microbes)
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Saturday 7 July 2018
fly in your drink
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