In Islam a neighbour is not only someone of the same faith, clan or blood. Muslim or not, rich or poor, whoever lives close by is a neighbour, and keeping good relations with them is a demand of complete faith. A piece in Prothom Alo's religion pages sets out six rights of a neighbour from the Quran and hadith.
Verse 36 of Surah An-Nisa names three kinds of neighbour: the near neighbour, the distant neighbour and the companion at one's side, such as a classmate, a colleague or a fellow traveller. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said Jibreel urged him so often about neighbours that he thought a neighbour would be made an heir (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 6014).
The first right is respect: whoever believes in God and the Last Day should honour his neighbour (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 6018). The second is doing no harm: dumping rubbish nearby, leaving shared spaces dirty or disturbing others' rest with loud music all count. The Prophet warned that a person whose neighbour is not safe from his harm is not a believer (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 6016).
The third right is patience with bad behaviour: the believer who mixes with people and bears their harm is better (Sunan Tirmidhi, hadith 2507). The fourth is knowing their needs: the Prophet spoke harshly of anyone who sleeps full while knowing his neighbour is hungry (Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, hadith 751).
The fifth is settling disputes quickly to keep the peace, as verse 10 of Surah Al-Hujurat commands. The sixth is exchanging gifts: no gift is too small to accept (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 2566), add a little more broth to the pot and look in on the neighbours (Sahih Muslim, hadith 2625), and give first to the one whose door is nearest (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 6021).
The piece's point is that in hard times neighbours often reach us before relatives do, so being a good neighbour is not mere courtesy but, in Islam's view, part of faith itself.
Photo: Techtr14 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Prothom Alo
Comments
(0)