• The world nowadays adopts isolation and quarantine against spread of coronavirus.
• Islam is the first system to enact hygienic rules to prevent outbreak of epidemics.
• Isolation and quarantine are two of these rules enacted by Islam.

Rules for quarantine in Islam

Islam has established clear teachings for quarantine, including:

• Patients with infectious diseases should be isolated at home or in hospitals.
• They are not allowed to mix with others.
• Regardless of his/her location (at home or in hospital), a patient is obliged to take care of other people’s health and protect them against infection.
• Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him, said in a Holy Hadith: “A sick person should not be taken to one who is healthy”.
• According to Islamic teachings during ‘illness’, a patient should stay at home for several days and take some rest.
• A patient should avoid contacting with other people, whether in mosques, markets or public stores.
• A patient should adhere to all these rules to prevent spread of the disease and harming other people.

Quarantine in Islam:

• Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him, set the principle of quarantine to prevent outbreak of serious infectious diseases.
• The Prophet’s teachings regarding this were evident on two epidemics: namely plague and leprosy.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “If you get wind of the outbreak of plague in a land, you should not enter it; but if it spreads in the land where you are, you should not depart from it.”