NEIGHBOURS

O Son! When you see your neighbour, ask them how they have been doing! Visit them when they become ill! When you want to visit them in their home, do not enter without being invited! Help your neighbour with their needs if you can! Rights of neighbours is a very important issue. For, our Prophet ‘’alaihissalâm’ stated: “Your neighbour has a right which is comparable with inheritance: the right of a neighbour. If your neighbour is a Muslim, then his right doubles: one of them is the right of a neighbour, and the other one is the right of a Muslim."

If your neighbour does not have something to eat, then you cannot eat the food you have. For, they have a rightful share from the food you possess. Whenever you are to eat a meal, you have to ask yourself whether you have a neighbour without something to eat.

It is a must for every Muslim, and especially for newlyweds, to look for a residence in a Muslims’ quarter, so that they will live among Sâlih and Sunnî Muslims who avoid harâms and practise their acts of worship. A hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “Before you buy a house, inquire how the neighbours are! Before you set out, choose your companions!” Another hadîth-i-sherîf states: “Respect for neighbours, like respect for parents, is a must.” Respect for neighbours means being in good terms with them. It means not behaving so as to hurt them. One or two or, at most, forty houses in each direction enjoy neighbours’ rights. Neighbours’ rights pertaining to property and possessions are written from paragraph 1192 onwards in Majalla.