Honor Your Neighbor
Date:
Channel: Kamal El-Mekki
File Size: 21.40MB
Related
- Edris Khamissa – Tap into your potential – 21.08.2014
- Sulaiman Moola – The Best Way To Make Your Dreams Come True Is To Wake Up!
- Kamal El-Mekki – Jummah Khutbah 1
- Tim Humble – The Muslim Family #36 – A Roadmap for Your Child’s Islamic Education
- Kamal El-Mekki – From Root to Fruit
- Mufti Menk – Your House! Build It, Buy It, Rent It
- Zakir Naik – Sister Vandana Asks – What is the Secret of your Memory Power?
AI Generated Summary ©
The title of the Khubba is honoring good behavior and love, and the Prophet's words are used to assert the importance of your neighbor. There are numerous narratives about the importance of your neighbor's good behavior and love, and the need for patient behavior upon harm. Visitors are encouraged to be patient with your neighbor's harm, and anyone who believes in Islam should not harm their neighbor even if they are a non-M-thirsty neighbor. It is important to be clear and follow the truth to avoid falsehood.Transcript ©
Read
White
Hi,
Hi,
Brothers and sisters in Islam,
today, the title of our Khubba
is honor your neighbor.
And this is a value that has remained
since the earliest of prophets,
to be good to your neighbor, to honor
your neighbor, and to love your neighbor.
And this value has remained within Islam.
And there are many ayaat and many ahadith
that show the importance of taking care of
your neighbor.
If there's
a hadith that is for lack of a
better term very dramatic about the importance of
the neighbor that will be the one in
Sahih Muslim where Jabir ibn Abdullah Radiallaan,
he says the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was
standing
in a garden. So a garden or a
meadow in Al Madina.
And he was talking to this man. So
Jabir Radallahu Anhu did not recognize this man.
He's never seen him before.
And the man kept talking and talking and
talking to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And
then it's as if he would check with
him, have you understood? And the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam would nod. And then the man
kept talking to him, and the Prophet kept
nodding. And then he would speak to him
again, and then the man the Prophet would
nod.
And he continued for such a long time
to the point that Jabir radiAllahu anhu,
he said, I thought to myself that I'll
go and interrupt him. I'll go to him
and say, you've been talking to the Prophet
for too long. Give him a break or
just finish up what you're saying.
So to the point that I want to
go and interrupt.
And I considered doing it, but before I
could do that, the man left. He finished
finally finished talking to the prophet.
So Jabir radiAllahu anhu walked over to an
Nabi salallahu alaihi wasallam, and the Prophet salallahu
alaihi wasallam tells him that that was Jibril,
meaning Jibril the angel came in the form
of a man.
Then the prophet says,
You will see Biljar,
and Jibril will continue
to tell me the about the importance of
the neighbor and telling me to take care
of the neighbor.
Until I thought to the point that I
thought that at the end of this conversation,
Yibreel is gonna tell me, and by the
way, when someone dies, their neighbor inherits from
them. Only family members inherit, but to the
point that the prophet thought that he's gonna
end by telling me that the neighbor also
inherits
since he is so important.
Notice also in this narration that Jibreel, this
entire long talk, it was one topic. It
was just the neighbor. It wasn't like the
neighbor and 3 other issues. The whole time,
he's talking about the neighbor.
And if that was the only narration we
had, you would conclude that the neighbor is
absolutely important
in Islam. But obviously we have others, Sahib
Bukhari and Muslim.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
by Allah, his words by Allah, he is
not a true believer, he will not become
a believer.
3 times the prophet swore by Allah, he
said he will not be a true believer.
So then
then he explains
who he's talking about. He said,
And also correct, the scholars say to say,
So there both of these are correct, different
readings. But, basically, the prophet is saying
that the one whose neighbor is not safe
from
the harm.
So the prophet is swearing by Allah 3
times that he's not a believer, which means
he's not a true believer,
if your neighbor is not safe from your
harm.
If your neighbor is not safe from your
harm, then you are not a true believer.
And harm here can be you fighting with
them or having verbal altercations
or even spying
and being nosy. And there are some people
who said, we used to hide our groceries
from our neighbor because the minute we pull
up, he opens the window and he and
then sees where we're shopping and what we're
doing and what we bought. That's all part
of the harm.
So
you see
this also numerous times in the lives of
the righteous before us meaning their care and
their attention to their neighbor. Mujahid narrates that
Abdulla ibn Umar
once slaughtered the sheep and then they had
cut the meat and he tells the servant
start with our neighbor first,
even before his relatives, even before his friends.
And this neighbor was a Jewish man. So
before his Muslim friends, before his Muslim neighbors,
before his family members, start with our neighbor
first. Give him meat first. And it didn't
matter to him that whether he was Muslim
or not. What mattered was that he's a
neighbor and he has rights upon him. Al
Hasan al Basri, the great scholar Al Hasan
al Basri
he used to say,
To be a good neighbour doesn't mean you
don't harm your neighbour. That's not being a
good neighbour.
He said, but being a good neighbor is
being patient upon your neighbor's harm.
So some think that just being a good
neighbor means you don't have a fight or
any quarrel or dispute with your neighbor that
makes you a good neighbor. He's saying that's
not being a good neighbor. Being a good
neighbor is when you're being harmed by your
neighbor
and you're patient upon that. They're harming you
and you're patient upon that.
So
anytime now if your neighbor makes
a lot of noise or plays music out
loud or there's smoke that's coming and bothering
you, we're so quickly to go and complain
to them. Or we're so quickly
to to where some people just called the
police immediately. And this was one of the
things that is always amazing that you can't
even go and speak to your neighbor, but
you call the police in order to tell
them to lower their music or to keep
the noise down.
But let's see if the Imam al Hasan
al Basri, rahamahuallahi, he practiced what he preached.
He had a neighbor who lived above him,
and the neighbor had an area in their
in this home where they the people would
relieve themselves. So like it was almost like
a bathroom. It's an area where they leave
themselves.
But the way that area was structured is
that the water, and by the water we
mean the urine,
would seep through and it would come down
into the house of Al Hasan al Basri.
And he never told his neighbor, he never
complained to him. One day Al Hasan al
Basri falls ill so his neighbor comes to
visit him and when he enters the house
he sees this area of water dripping
and that they're collecting it into a container.
And the neighbor was surprised to see that
and he said how long has this been
going on? And Hassan al Basr said
for 20 years.
He said, for 20 years, and you've been
patient upon this? And this man was a
non Muslim.
And,
he tells him, yes,
because and this is where you plug the
response. You're
doing something because of Islam. Let them know
it's because of Islam, not any other reason.
So he said, yes, because our deen commands
that we are good to our neighbors.
And the man took his Shahadah right then
and right there.
Now this is just a very high just
so we're clear, this is a very high
standard of Hassan al Basra, rahamullah. But there's
absolutely nothing wrong Islamically
to go and knock on your neighbor's door
and just very politely to let them know
that something is leaking into your home. Very
politely without it being a fight, there's absolutely
nothing wrong with that. But he just went
to the highest level of being patient with
the harm and not even complaining to his
neighbors.
That's why,
he that's why that statement he said,
Being a good neighbor is not just not
harming your neighbor, but it's being patient upon
their harm. That's the higher level.
There is, that's why there's an Arab Arabic
saying that says,
your neighbor
is, yeah, and he's still your neighbor.
Even though he might
So your neighbor is still your neighbor even
if he's unjust to you. Even if he's
unfair to you, he's still your neighbor. He
still has that status.
So
a low level is just there is no
harm that you don't do any harm to
your neighbor. Higher than that is that you
don't do harm to your neighbor and you're
you befriend them. Higher than that is that
you're patient upon their harm. Higher than that,
you're patient upon their harm, and you're still
their friend.
And where would
al Hassan al Basri learn all this from?
No doubt he taught it he learned it
from the greatest teacher, sallallahu alaihi
wasallam.
The prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, who who were
his neighbors?
One, his uncle, Abu Lahab, and the wife
of Abu Lahab, Jameel,
she would put
She would put
the thorns and harmful objects and trash in
front of the house of the prophet
night and day. She doesn't stop. Night and
day, she's putting these things.
The other neighbor, Uqhmud ibn Abi Mu'il, he
is the one who came and spit at
the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam, strangled him
once with a garment until he passed out.
He's the one who put the camel placenta
on his back eventually when he was praying
in the Kaaba.
His neighbors would throw trash into his home
while he was there. They would throw trash
into his home, and the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam would not do anything besides collect
it. And he would yell out to them.
He would say out so they can hear
him,
Oh, sons of Abdul Banaf, their ancestor,
What kind of,
there's not an accurate word in English. There
used to be a word, neighborship,
but it's archaic. It's not used anymore. And
neighborship would exactly mean,
and which means
any the the relationship and the act of
being a good neighbor. So he would say,
what kind of neighborship is this, if we
can use that term.
So from the place of the neighbors,
if a violation against a neighbor can be
greater sin than doing it against someone else.
In the hadith in Sahih Muslim, a man
came to the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He
said,
Which of the sins is greatest? Prophet said,
and that you create an equal to Allah
while he is the one who created you.
I said, then what? He said, and and
that you would kill your child out of
fear that he will eat with you.
Out of you the fact that he'll cost
you money, so you kill your child.
I said, then what? So notice what do
we have the order here? We've got,
shirk, then we have murder, and then
that you commit with the halilah of your
neighbor. Meaning,
anyone that your neighbor is a mahram for,
your neighbor's wife, your neighbor's daughter, your neighbor's
sister, your neighbor's aunt if she lives with
them, your neighbor's mother.
And it is even more haram
than committing zina with anyone else from any
other section or part of town.
So because it's now an an a violation
against your neighbor, and a neighbor has a
place in Islam.
In Muslim, Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
Whoever believes in Allah in the last day,
he should not harm his neighbor.
And in Surat Al Nisa, Allah subhanahu ta'ala
says,
you,
worship Allah. You don't associate anyone with them,
and then parents, and then keeping the relations,
and then
some of the scholars said this is a
neighbor whose door is close to you.
The neighbor who is further down, even a
couple of doors down, across the street is
still your neighbor. So above you, if you're
in an apartment below you, that's your neighbor,
to your right, to your left, all of
them are entitled to good behavior. The other
tafsir says,
that's the Muslim neighbor. That
is the non Muslim neighbor. But either way,
both of them are honored, and the
closer, the more priority you get. In Sahih
Bukhari,
Aisha
asked the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. She
said,
He said, Oh, Prophet of Allah, I have
2 neighbors.
She's saying,
Yeah. She's
saying, so which of them should I give
the gift to? And the prophet
said,
to the ones where the door is closer
to you. You start with that one. The
one who so that means the priority the
closer the neighbor, the more priority.
And the prophet gave Abu Dar, the companion
who gave him advice.
If you cook anything
with some kind of sauce or gravy or
something
with it. So he he said increase its
water, meaning increase its quantity
and make sure you give your neighbors. And
the scholars said, even if they're not in
need, still give your neighbors because that will
increase
love and affection and improve their relationship. So
it's cake, fruit, anything
just to improve that relationship
for his forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for
his forgiveness shall prosper.
So from this, we can already deduce the
the importance
of inviting our neighbors to Islam. And if
we were to ask
for a show of hands of how many
people in this room have ever given
and invited their neighbors to Islam,
without asking that, but what do you imagine
would be the number? You think 1 or
2 people in the room, or do you
think 50% of people in the room? Like,
we are not very conscious of this idea.
It's not in the top priority that we
need to call our neighbors to Islam.
And what if on the day of judgment,
your neighbor uses you as an excuse in
front of Allah
What if they say, you Allah, I've been
their neighbor for 15 years. They never once
bothered to tell me about Islam.
And there's so many ways. Look, if I
am not able to go and physically sit
down with them, one of the things about
your neighbors is you know their address.
We just need a different number. You know
their ZIP code and everything. You can mail
them material if you're if you're even if
you're that if it's that awkward or scary
to sit with them, you can mail them
material.
And
imagine if there was one non Muslim here
in America, and he lived surrounded by Muslims.
And they are always coming to him with
cake, with brownies, with fruit, with gifts,
with pamphlets, with material, and how many years
do you think he would remain a non
Muslim?
But
that's why the early Muslims, they changed the
world through their conduct. They didn't have websites.
They didn't have dua'at and dawah training. They
changed the entire world just through their manners
and their conduct and their dealings. But with
that, I'll conclude with this story that I
personally heard yesterday from someone,
and this is 1, a Muslim who lives.
He's a yeah. I mean, we don't over
praise him in the sight of Allah, but
a person of good manners and patience, and
he is in Manville in in Texas.
And he
he said he was showing me his his
property, and
and he was telling me how that country
area,
p everybody
did not welcome him, and nobody wanted him
in that area.
He said, my neighbor who's across the street
came to me. The first time I ever
met him, the first thing the first words
he said to me, I don't like colored
people.
He said, this man proceeded for the next
couple of years to make my life absolutely
miserable. He said, there is not an an
organization,
or an entity, or a government group, or
section that he did not call and complain
to me about. He said even if a
tree falls on my property, he will immediately
call and complain. And he said, he made
my life so difficult.
But he said, wallahi, I never once retaliated,
and I never once even went to him
and said, Yaqi, leave me alone.
But he said that was he was getting
that from all the neighbors around him, but
this guy especially.
He said, but I never once retaliated or
even spoke to him about what he's doing
to me,
and I would always make du'a, you Allah,
either guide him to Islam
or destroy him or take him make him
move somewhere.
He said, one day, I'm passing,
and he sees me, and he just calls
me by my first name from a distance.
I came to him. He said, listen. I've
decided to move. I'm moving,
and I wanna sell you the house.
Yeah, and
he he said, I don't want to list
it publicly,
and I wanna sell it to you, and
I don't wanna sell it to anyone else.
And,
so the man tells him, he said he's
telling me, he said, I told him, I
don't have the money right now. I don't
have the funds. He said, I will salute
you on in installments.
He said, I can't pay interest. It's in
in my religion, he said, with no interest.
He said, why don't you list it?
It's worth 3 times more, and this is
the the insane part of the story.
And he's selling him the house for 1
third of the market value. He said, I'm
telling him if you list it, you'll get
3 times the market. I said, I don't
wanna list it, and I don't wanna tell
it to anyone but you.
So he sold it to him. And now,
of course, years later, the house is his,
and it appreciated in value. And I kept
asking him, but I understood what made the
man,
yeah, and he lose his senses like that.
It's his patient
upon the harm, and Allah rewarded him by
giving him the whole house for a third
of the market price. A third of the
market price.
We ask Allah to make us of those
who recognize the truth as clear truth and
follow the best of it, and to make
falsehood and abstain from it.
falsehood and abstain from it.