الفرار من المجذوم

Avoiding Contact with Leprosy

Therapeutic Practice Hygiene & Prevention

Direct guidance to keep physical distance from a person with leprosy, framed alongside the general principle that disease does not spread except by Allah's permission.

sahih graded

فِرَّ مِنَ الْمَجْذُومِ كَمَا تَفِرُّ مِنَ الْأَسَدِ

“Flee from the leper as you would flee from a lion.” (meaning, not a literal translation)

Sahih al-Bukhari 5707 Sahih

Elsewhere the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have taken a leprous man's hand and eaten with him, which scholars read as demonstrating that the general precaution does not require ostracizing or humiliating the afflicted person.

Ibn al-Qayyim's Commentary

Classical commentators reconcile this with hadith negating 'contagion' by reading both as true: transmission occurs only by Allah's decree, and He has ordinarily made prevention part of that decree — so avoiding exposure is both prudent and theologically consistent.

Caution

Modern leprosy (Hansen's disease) is treatable with multidrug therapy and is only mildly contagious after prolonged close contact — consult current WHO/medical guidance rather than historical practice for actual cases.