What to do when a house fly falls in your drink or food? Sunnah & Science
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The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said “If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink) and take it out, for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.”
What science says about it?
Rasulullah Shallahu’alaihiwassalam stated, “If a fly falls into the vessel of one of you, he should dip it all and then discard it, for one of its wings contains the disease and the other the remedy” (Al-Bukhari). This hadith is controversial due to the fact that, in general, flies are vectors for the spread of disease from unclean areas to food and drink.
Therefore, research was conducted on the right wing of the housefly (Musca domestica) as a microbe-neutralizing agent for contaminated beverages. This study employed a Randomized Complete Design with 5 treatments and 2 repetitions. The water was treated with sterile water (positive control), water containing Escherichia coli bacteria (negative control), and water containing Escherichia coli bacteria with the addition of 1, 2, and 3 right-winged flies. The research commenced with the collection of a fly’s right wing and continued with the dilution of Escherichia coli culture tubes up to six times.
The bacterial culture was inoculated using the Pour Plate method on Eosin Methylene Blue agar, which is incubated for 12 to 48 hours at 37 degrees Celsius. Every 12 hours, data is retrieved by observing the calculation of the number of microbes using a colony counter. The data obtained after 48 hours of incubation yield a result of “0” that cannot be analysed using SPSS. The result indicates that microbial growth does not occur in beverages contaminated with the right wing of Musca domestica.
Science Reference:
Claresta I, Sari DD, Nurohmi S, Fathimah, Damayanti AY. The Right-Wing of Fly
(Musca domestica) as a Neutralization of Drinks Contaminated by Microbe. J Nutr
Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2020;66(Supplement):S283-S285. doi: 10.3177/jnsv.66.S283.
PMID: 33612611.
Hadith Reference:
حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدُ بْنُ مَخْلَدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلاَلٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عُتْبَةُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ بْنُ حُنَيْنٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ يَقُولُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ إِذَا وَقَعَ الذُّبَابُ فِي شَرَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلْيَغْمِسْهُ، ثُمَّ لِيَنْزِعْهُ، فَإِنَّ فِي إِحْدَى جَنَاحَيْهِ دَاءً وَالأُخْرَى شِفَاءً ”.
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said “If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink) and take it out, for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3320
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3320
