"Rights of Neighbors" 7/12/07

• "Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious;"Qur'an (Surah Nisaa, 4:36)
• the Prophet (S) said that angel Jibril (AS) continued to advise him at one point about neighbors until he thought they'd inherit from him
• narrated by Abu Dharr (RA): 'if you make soup, put extra water in it and be considerate of your neighbors' [hadith paraphrased]
  
• narrated by Abu Huraira: 'by Allah he does not believe whose neighbors aren't safe from him' [hadith paraphrased]
• entering jannah will be delayed if you were bad to your neighbors
• 'anyone who believes in the Last Day and in Allah should not harm his neighbors' [hadith paraphrased]
• 'the best of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is best to their neighbors' [hadith paraphrased]
• 'the most important thing with neighbors is keeping harm from them and being patient with their harm' [hadith paraphrased]
• the rights of neighbors:

1. be friendly/nice to them
2. protect the honor of their family, especially the women
3. occasionally send them gifts
4. don't cause them harm, help them when needed, visit them when they're sick

• forgiving someone is more rewarded than keeping a grudge

The Rights of Brotherhood (Imam Ghazali)

1. material assistance

• brotherhood is like 2 hands washing each other, helping one another out; why? because they have the same goal: submission
• there are 3 degrees of brotherhood

1) treating them like servants (e.g.: if there is extra food, you give them the leftovers)
2) equal treatment (e.g.: eating at the same time, from the same pot)
3) putting your brother or sister before you (e.g.: making them eat before you do)

• the third level is undoubtedly the best to be at, and is the most selfless
• example of Umar's (RA) son: when offered meat, he refused it on account of his neighbors, told the man to offer it to them first; everyone in the neighborhood was so selfless, eventually the meat came back to him (subhanallah!)
• the dearer to Allah swt is the nicer of the friends

2. personal aid

• your fellow Muslims' needs are more important than your own

3. holding one's tongue

• you shouldn't mention others' faults
• don't contradict others or argue with them
• don't quiz them about affairs (e.g.: where were you last night, I saw you come home at 2 am!)
• stay silent about their secrets
• don't hide praises about them (just keep it modest)
• be tolerant of others, observe silence in your heart, and give up suspicion
• conceal others' faults <-- **this is the mark of religious people** <--
• staying silent when you're right is harder on the soul, but more rewarded

4. speaking out to defend each other

• mutual love is necessary by sacred law
• praise each others good qualities (don't forget to say "mashaa'Allah")
• genuine Islam (submission) is to not love what's not what you'd love for yourself (so basically if you don't love for muslims what you love for yourself, you haven't attained true faith yet)

5. forgiving failures in (1) religion and (2) in your rights

• advise against sinning against Allah, but with the proper adab and attitude
• accept others' apologies, whether it's real or fake!!!

6. prayer

• make du'a for your Muslim brothers and sisters
• remember that the angels around you say 'ameen! may the same be for you' (i.e.: make good du'as!!)

7. loyalty/sincerity

• even in their absence we should be loyal and sincere, as if they were present
  
• loyalty to your br or sr means NOT listening to gossip or ill talk about them

8. relief from discomfort

• ease each others' discomforts; why? for the sole reason of love for Allah!

There are 3 types of people:

1. those you benefit from
2. those benefitting someone else but not receiving benefit
3. those you can't get benefit from and cannot help you and will actually hurt you