His eminence Sheikh Saleh ibn Humaid delivered the Friday Khutbah titled “The Rights of Neighbours in Islam” in which he addressed the neighbour’s rights as outlined in the religion of Allah (?). He presented evidence from the Qur’?n, Sunnah and ‘?th?r (religious relics and accounts attributed to the Companions) showing the necessity to observe the teachings of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in this respect and the danger of going against them.
Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah! He created and He gave commands; He possessed and He prevailed; He wished and He preordained. I praise Him (?) and I thank Him. He bestowed and He gave; He bestowed enough bounties and He granted people self-sufficiency. I bear witness that there is no deity worth worshipping except Almighty Allah alone with no associate. To Him praise is due in this life and in the hereafter. I also bear witness that our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) is the Servant and Messenger of Allah –purest of the pure and the leader of the righteous. May Allah send His Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy), Peace and Blessing onto him, his family, and his pious and devout Companions who, despite their immense suffering in the cause of Allah, showed no signs of delinquency and never surrendered or retreated, onto tabi’in (the contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam] after his death) and those who followed them righteously till Doomsday.
Now then, O people, I urge you as well as myself to observe fear of Allah. Fear Allah –may Allah have mercy on you– and worship Him. Unite on compassion, love and obedience and never let rancour, caprice and disobedience throw you into disunity.
Adorn yourselves with obedience to your Lord; expiate and repent of your sins; and never walk away from the door of your Lord, so you may abide in the Garden of Eden. He who meditates on the end of life should be cautious in his actions, and he who is certain about the length of his journey should ready himself for it.
The true Muslim is the one who does not inflict harm, physical or verbal, on other Muslims. Al-muhajir (emigrant) is the one who renounces what Allah has forbidden, and al-mujahid (fighter in the cause of Allah) is the one who makes jihad against himself and his whims. Allah (?) says, "O you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah that you may prosper." [al-Imran: 200]
O Muslims!
The laws of our faith and the commandments of our Islam begin with the realization of tawheed (monotheism), soundness of worship, solidity of relations and purity of connections. The Islamic bond and brotherhood in faith are the core of belief and essence of feelings. With them and for them the Muslim lives. They are intertwined and coherent: creed, rituals and strong connections.
Read, if you will, "Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are of kin, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the way farer, and what your right hand possesses, for Allah loves not the arrogant, the vainglorious" [An-Nisa: 36]
In this verse, Allah combines together His right with the rights of His servants. People entitled to these rights belong to many categories. First, they could be “thawu alqurb?”: relatives (especially parents, on account of their close kinship and the great importance of their rights); second, “qar?b mukh?lit”: mixed type of relatives (neighbours who are near of kin, neighbours who are strangers, companions by your side –when travelling by bus, by train, or by plane, for instance); and third, the weak who need charity on account of physical weakness (such as orphans) or on account of poverty (such as the poor).
Brothers and sisters in faith!
One of the greatest accomplishments of Islam is the way it organizes society in concentric circles. The innermost circle represents the parents, next is the one representing the neighbours, friends and acquaintances and so on until we reach the outer circle that represents strangers and non-Muslims.
Now, let us examine one of these circles: that of good neighbourliness which represents cooperation and depicts all forms and goals of the Islamic bond.
Fostering relations with the closest community at home and in the neighbourhood takes priority because it is the most able, the closest and the quickest to realise complementarity in due time and to evaluate the benefit in its manifest form.
Neighbours know each other well; they even know the secrets of one another; they are aware of what comes into and what goes out of their neighbours’ homes. They may see the imperfections of one another, watch their neighbours’ visitors coming and going, hear their noise, sense the aroma of their neighbours’ cooking, and know about their disputes, contentions and serenity. No house contents or family secrets can be kept from the neighbours.
The Arabic term Jiwar is used to express a high rational and religious value. The verbs Istajara and ajara respectively mean “to seek refuge with” and “to give refuge to”. Only our Lord (?) is the One Who provides ijarah (shelter) but never needs it from anyone.
Satan –may Allah’s curse be upon him– has deceived his followers and let them down saying, "While I am a neighbour to you (will protect you)" [al-Anfal: 48]. The Arabic term jar (neighbour) indicates protection from harm and doing good and benevolence.
Neighbours fall into several classes and ranks; some are close; others are not so close. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says, “The term neighbour may refer to both Muslims and non-Muslims, to the pious and the disobedient, to friends and enemies, to strangers and relatives and to close and distant neighbours. They form a hierarchy in which the highest rank is occupied by the one who possesses all of the above attributes. Next in rank is the one who possesses all of these attributes, then he who possesses most of them, and so on. The opposite is the one who possesses the other attributes, and so he is given accordingly.”
Scholars said, “The circle of neighbours must be expanded as much as possible.” Ali (?) says, “He who hears the call to prayer is a neighbour.” Again, it is reported in a hadith that “No prayer is accepted from a mosque’s neighbour unless it is performed in the mosque.” Imam Al-Awz?’i –may Allah have mercy on him– said, “Neighbourhood extends 40 houses in each direction.”
O Muslims!
The neighbours’ rights are so important that our Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) associated them with belief in Allah and the Last Day. He (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should treat his neighbour well.” In another Hadith version, “… must not do his neighbour harm.”)
Abu Shuraih (?) reported that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, “By Allah, he will not believe, by Allah, will not believe, by Allah, he will not believe.” “Who, O Messenger of Allah?” they asked. “He whose neighbour does not feel safe from his harmful deeds,” he answered.
Ibn Abbas –may Allah be pleased with him and his father– is reported to have quoted the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) as saying, “He is not a believer he who sleeps with a full belly while his neighbour is hungry.”
All these hadiths, ‘?th?rs and the like corroborate the strong connection between belief and respecting the neighbours’ rights. They show that the neighbours’ rights are aspects and acts of faith. It is the belief in Allah, Who knows the treacherous eye, and the belief in the Last Day when people are gathered to account for their past deeds.
In a hadith narrated by Al-Termidhi, Ibn Habban, Ibn Khuzaima and Al-Hakim, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, “The best friend to Allah is he who treats his friend best, and the best neighbour to Allah is he who treats his neighbour best.”
Abu Hurairah (?) reported that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) once asked, “Who will take from me these words, follow them through or teach them to someone who will?” Abu Hurairah said, “I said, ‘I will, O Messenger of Allah’!” So the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) counted five on his hand and said, “Avoid committing proscribed deeds, you become the most pious; be content with what Allah has sent you, you become the richest person; be good to your neighbour, you become faithful; wish for the others what you wish for yourself, you become a Muslim and do not laugh too often because laughter kills the heart.” Narrated by Al-Termidhi; it is a hasan (good) hadith.
Brothers and sisters in faith!
Being good to one’s neighbour implies three things: Being benevolent to him, refraining from doing him harm, and bearing his harmful deeds.
Benevolence is a broad term that implies greeting one’s neighbour, being nice and offering guidance to him to show him what is good for him and his family spiritually as well as materially. It also implies protecting the neighbour’s honour in his absence with emphasis on good behaviour, leniency, solidarity in fair and foul weather, sharing with him in happiness and sorrow, offering him condolences or congratulations, and showing him kindness and friendliness.
Examples of being good to one’s neighbour include giving him what is available because the neighbour watches what goes into and what comes out of his neighbor’s house.
Imam Muslim narrated that Abu Tharr (?) was reported to have quoted the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) as saying, “O Abu Tharr! If you cook marqah (broth, bouillon, gravy), add a lot of water to it and give some to your neighbours!”
In the Prophet’s words “a lot of water” there is a notification to avoid unnatural show-off in offering gifts. He did not say, “add a lot of meat to it,” because meat may not be easy for all to get. Care should be taken not to present your neighbours with a negligible thing because the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, “Then look for your neighbour’s household and offer them what is conventionally acceptable.” This means that one should not offer what is conventionally and traditionally considered worthless or too little.
This is an example of high moral standards which strengthens ties, love, good treatment, and contribute to the avoidance of corruption. The cooking aroma may hurt a neighbour with small children, especially if such a neighbour is a widow or a poor man, in which case they would be unable to feed their children and would feel bad about it. This state of affairs would create a feeling of suffering and sorrow, whereas sharing a little food would help mitigate it.
Upon distributing the meat of ‘udh-hiyah (slaughtered animal at sacrifice Eid), Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) told his wife, “Start with our Jewish neighbour!”
It sounds in the Prophet’s last words “till I thought he would include the neighbour in inheritance” that there is no difference between relatives and neighbours except in matters of inheritance.
Another form of Ihs?n (benevolence) is comforting one's neighbour when in need. Rather, how beautiful it is to be useful to him through the talents and expertise with which Allah has blessed us. Thus, the rich help the poor, physicians help treat illnesses, and teachers help in teaching. The same can be said of engineers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and the rest of the vocations. All this would make neighbours love one another, help and do good to one another.
Other forms of Ihsan include: teaching, guiding, and advising one's neighbour, commending him, politely and wisely, to do good and warning him against doing evil. He should also be kind with his neighbour's children and guide them to what is useful to them in matters related to religion and life.
In a comprehensive Hadith that has a good chain of narrators, Mu’adh bin Jabal (?) said: "we said: O Messenger of Allah! What are the rights of a neighbour? He said: "if he asks for a loan, give it to him; if he asks for help, help him; if he is in need, give him; if he falls ill, visit him; when he dies, follow his funeral procession; if something good happens to him, be pleased and congratulate him; if something bad happens to him, be displeased and console him. Do not hurt him by the aroma of your cooking pot unless you intend to send him some of your food; do not raise your building high to overlook him and block the wind except by his permission. If you buy things, offer him some, or carry them into your house secretly, and do not let your children go out with some of what you bought lest this galls his children".
In a Hadith agreed upon (among Hadith scholars): "He who shares property with a neighbour or a partner shall not sell it before proposing it to him."
The nearest neighbours deserve one's favour and benevolence on account of their closeness, for the nearest neighbour can see what is brought in and carried out of his neighbour's house. 'A'isha –may Allah be pleased with her– said, "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, I have two neighbours. To whom should I offer my gifts?' He replied, 'To the one whose door is nearer to you.'
Muslim scholars said: "What is meant is that if you do not have enough to offer both neighbours, then offer the nearer one; but if you can offer both, then this would be better."
Responsibility is multiplied and rights are increased when the neighbour is poor, an orphan, a widow or one with a special need. It is narrated that, on the Day of Judgement, a poor neighbour will hold to his rich neighbour and say: "O Lord! Ask this man why he closed his door in my face and refused to show me common kindness!"
O brothers and sisters in Islam!
One of the greatest rights of neighbours is to refrain from hurting them. The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) has said: "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbour".
In a Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah (?) that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) observed: "He will not enter Paradise whose neighbour is not secure from his harmful deeds".
In another Hadith the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: "Oh Allah, I seek refuge with you from an evil urbanite neighbour, for a nomadic neighbour is always on the move." Narrated by Ahmad, Al-Bukhari in Al Adab Al Mufrad, Al-Nass?i, Al-H?kim who corrected it, and Athahabi agreed with him on the correction.
'Baw?’iq' is the plural form in Arabic of 'B?’iqah' which means ‘calamity’, ‘destruction’, ‘evil deeds’, and (all kinds of) ‘harmful acts’.
In the Hadith the expression "not secure from his harmful deeds" means that one should not use his knowledge of his neighbour's conditions as a means to defame, oppress, or blackmail him.
Seek refuge with Allah –may Allah have mercy on you– from the evil neighbour who listens to obscenities and talks irrationally of whatever occurs to him. Beware again and again that your wealth or fame be a reason to humiliate or harm your neighbour or be arrogant with him. Teach your children to keep the rights of the neighbours so that the neighbourhood people are not brought up on envy, spite, hatred and malignity.
Now then, O servants of Allah!
Observing the rights of the neighbours would result in intimacy and friendliness. Thus the dwellers of the neighbourhood and the society would be able to live in security and peace exchanging benefits, fulfilling their needs amongst themselves, cooperating in righteousness and taqwah (doing what Allah ordered and abstaining from what He forbade), pushing away evil and harm from their families and houses sincerely and faithfully, explicitly and implicitly. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, enjoin good and forbid evil, and hasten to do good things. Such Muslims are indeed among the righteous.
May Allah (?) benefit me and you with the great Qur’?n and with the guidance of Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)! I say this and ask Allah’s forgiveness for you and me and for all the Muslims of every sin and wrongdoing! So ask for His forgiveness; He is the All-Forgiving, All-Merciful!
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