Mufti Menk – Social Conduct – Part 5

			Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala
rasulillah. While early he was happy he woman who who about dearest listeners, we speaking about the
rights of oneself and what a person actually owes his or her body, we have spoken about food, the
type of food, the amount of food and the health factor, the fact that a person owes himself or
herself rest, the right amount of rest at the right time. And the fact that we are not allowed to
overburden ourselves, it is actually a sin to overburden ourselves, you know, to work long hours
unnecessarily and not offer this body rest that it actually deserves. Similarly, about medication
		

			and the fact that it is an Islamic duty to seek medication and cure for the illnesses that this body
might be going through, we would like to speak of another write that this body has over us and that
is purification, it is very important that we realize that each person is responsible to do as much
as he or she is able to in order to purify the body and the soul from all impurities, ills as well
as evils and this includes the physical, social and spiritual aspects. Now regarding the physical
hygiene and cleanliness, obviously there are books which are written on the topic of bahara and
cleanliness in the Sharia, you know, when it comes to also having a bath, Oulu, etc, that you will
		

			have to read those books specialized books on bahara and in sha Allah May Allah grant us benefit May
he make us from amongst those who are always you know, physically clean, and who will always
maintain a high level of hygiene regarding the social aspect Mashallah we are in the process of
speaking about the social aspect of one's life. And when it comes to spiritual purification, this is
what we will dwell on for a few moments. It can only be achieved by submitting and surrendering to
the laws of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Now, staying away from all prohibitions and fulfilling as much
as possible of the duties that Allah subhanho wa Taala has placed on our shoulders Rasulullah
		

			sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has actually said
		

			that which I have prohibited, stay away from it, and that which I have ordered and commanded, do as
much as you are able to. And obviously this means that that which is foreign, and has been ordained
by Allah subhanho wa Taala. We cannot leave out those things. But when it comes to the other
commands of Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wasallam and Allah subhanho wa Taala, which are not for
awaji, such as the son and nephew, we should do as much as we can.
		

			Now, if we mentioned in point form a few of the duties regarding purification, some of the great
scholars have actually spoken about these points. The first is to distance oneself from false and
baseless beliefs. This is by far the most important rights that this body has over you.
		

			Secondly, to keep away from consuming that which is haram or doing that which is haram, this is how
you will achieve purification, spiritual purification. Thirdly, fulfilling compulsory deeds first,
and then soon enough, as much as possible. Next, to make sure that a person has a good and pure
intention Upon doing all deeds bearing in mind that Allah subhanho wa Taala has taught us through
the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in Malou Binney yet which means definitely all deeds will be
judged by the intentions.
		

			Then we also need to recite the Holy Quran on a daily basis, the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala
reading the Quran according to one's capacity and strength. And the recitation includes trying to
understand the laws of Allah subhanho wa Taala, putting them into practice.
		

			May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to do that. Then we have the verses of the Quran
and the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam should indeed have an impact upon us. The
true believers are described in the Quran as those whom when the verses of the Quran are read, then
the hairs will actually stand up and their skin, you know, it is felt on the skin, that this is the
word of Allah subhanho wa Taala that is being read to us.
		

			Then as well to maintain purity of the transactions and the dealings, you know, our day to day
dealings, our business, no matter whom we are speaking to those who work for us, those who we are
working with
		

			For those whom we are working for, we should always maintain purity in our speech in our
transactions in our dealings, and the dealings especially the business dealings should never
contradict the Sharia, which is the law of Allah subhanho wa Taala. One should understand at times,
there are a lot of haram things that go on in various societies, you know, people sometimes begin to
eat interest without even being bothered. If we are going to eat even a little bit of Haram. What
happens according to the hadith of Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the body, the flesh of
the body, that will grow or that will you know, the resultant flesh from that which we have
		

			consumed, which is haram will not be allowed to enter gender, it has to go into jahannam and burn
out. And when those particular places where the Haram flesh has grown, have been burned, then only
will this person be allowed to go into gentlemen, and let's ask ourselves a question for a moment.
Can we even stand, you know, a little flame on our baby finger, we cannot stand that. So if we
cannot stand that, let us understand that to stay away from the prohibitions in order to protect
ourselves from the fire of jahannam is very, very important. Those who may have consumed Haram,
engage in Toba ask Allah subhanho wa Taala. To to forgive us all, and whatever amounts were
		

			involved, we need to compensate them, we need to give them out back into South Africa to the poor
Muslims.
		

			The next point is we need to fulfill the compulsory rights of other human beings, as well as all
creatures, we need to be good to the creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala and we need to fulfill the
rights of all human beings and creatures and inshallah, we will go into a few details of the rights
of fellow human beings as well as the rights of the other creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala that
are not even human.
		

			And then we need to ensure that we are in good company at all times. And good company is that which
does not involve in prohibitions, that which does not involve in backbiting slandering, false
accusation, you know, taking of drugs, consuming of alcohol,
		

			does not engage in Xena, etc, the speech of your friends the way they speak, they must have good
speech, you know, if they don't speak well, meaning if they use foul language, you should try and
remind them and if that foul language is brushing off onto you, then you need to change your company
for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala and for the sake of the purification of your own soul and
your own self. So bear in mind, one of the most important factors that you owe, this particular body
of yours that Allah has granted you is that you do not allow it to go into bad company and to get
into the wrong company, you must grant it the best company possible. This is a duty that Allah
		

			subhanho wa Taala has placed on your shoulders, and he will ask you on the day of piano, that who
you with and who are your friends. In fact, there is a verse on the first page of the 19th Jews, we
Allah subhanho wa Taala mentions the oppressors. And the fact that they will say on the day of the
AMA, Oh Allah, we should have, you know, not taken such and such a person as a friend, because
definitely they have led us astray after the guidance actually came to us. So May Allah subhanho wa
Taala. Grant us good company. Remember, don't be shy to stay away from people who are bad, because
if you are going to be shy, maybe one day you might also become bad, and maybe it might have a bad
		

			influence on your own children. So this is something we need to remember. Similarly, constantly we
need to think of Allah subhanho wa Taala the fact that he is watching us the fact that he can see
the fact that he's all knowing and all watching omnipresent. We need to understand this of Allah
subhanho wa Taala and feel it. You know, many times people would hide behind locked doors, close the
curtains and then commit sin, but they should understand the Allah subhanho wa Taala obviously, our
our robber, the one who has created us, the creator is always there, he is always watching. So no
matter whom, in terms of human beings we try to hide from we will never be able to hide from Allah
		

			subhanho wa Taala and those of us who have engaged in the past in sin, may Allah subhanho wa Taala
forgive us all we need to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala is forgiveness. Remember one thing Don't lose
hope in the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
		

			Similarly, the next point in order to purify one's soul and oneself, we should never allow others to
be harmed or hurt in any way through our own speech and our actions.
		

			This is something very important sometimes you know, we tend to fulfill the rights of people but we
are not concerned about how they feel when we speak. Sometimes you may say something that is
actually correct, but the manner in which you have said it is incorrect. So, we are taught that when
you want to call towards Allah subhanho wa Taala you want to tell people what is right, you want to
tell people what is wrong, you must choose an appropriate time and you must choose appropriate
language to speak to the people so that they are convinced and they come into the command of Allah
subhanho wa Taala wholeheartedly at times the way we speak to people, you know, we tend them further
		

			away from Deen and further away from the Sunnah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we need to
remember don't ever make people lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala because that is a
deed of shavon shavon is Who is the one who makes people lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanho wa
Taala. So, this is something very important do not hurt others through your speech or your actions.
And when we say actions here, we are also speaking of you know, throwing a banana peel on the
passage or, you know, someone might come after you and slip, or throwing litter around disturbing
the environment, this is something very important, we need to abstain from this type of behavior.
		

			Similarly, you know, throwing rocks, and other harmful objects onto the road, which may disturb
people, this is something which is an Islamic In fact, Islam teaches us you would like to achieve
purification, then when you see a harmful object on the road, you should actually remove it, so that
it does not harm others, Mr. Total other and
		

			according to the Hadith, the removing of a harmful object from the road is actually a category from
amongst the categories of human. So let us understand this, we should not harm others through our
speech and actions in any way whatsoever. And the next point is, we should always be concerned with
our own personal weaknesses and their rectification. And this should keep us away from engaging and
involving in the weaknesses of other people. Obviously, we all are meant to be watching ourselves 24
hours of the day, and we are meant to be looking into ways of improving ourselves, if we are going
to spend time worrying about other people, and speaking about them, and you know, gossiping about
		

			them, saying this person has done this, and that person has done that, and this person shouldn't
have done that and shouldn't have done this, then obviously, we are not watching ourselves, we need
to watch ourselves 24 hours of the day. So if we are watching others, then definitely we haven't
been fair on our own selves. We haven't been watching ourselves. This is something very important.
Someone might say, well, when do we remind others to do good? Yes, it is the Sunnah of Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that all muslimeen and all the believers should remind one another of
what is right and what is wrong. But it must not make you go around to a third party that is not
		

			involved in any way and you know, speak and backbite and gossip and slander, that will be a major
sin and one will not be able to achieve purification if they go around in this manner. What we need
to do when we see something wrong, someone has done something wrong, we should go to them and speak
in the most polite manner and we should try and rectify the issue and the problem. If we cannot
speak to them directly, we should go to someone who has authority over them either a parent or an
elder brother or a relative or someone of that sort someone of that nature, maybe even a school
teacher, and we should speak to them and ask them to rectify the problem. This is how inshallah we
		

			will develop a society that will be an exemplary society. This is how inshallah, we will be able to
live in a society that is full of harmony and peace and a society that is very high in terms of
spirituality. The last point we are going to mention here is to engage in dua to Allah subhanho wa
Taala as much as possible, and to seek, you know, all forms of goodness from Allah subhanho wa Taala
and protection from all forms of evil. Sometimes days go past have we made dua to Allah subhanho wa
Taala have we asked him to meet you know, to help us meet our needs. And as a lot have we asked
Allah subhanho wa Taala to assist us have we thanked him for what he has given us? And have we asked
		

			his protection from the evil that is going on around and from all forms of evil that we can see and
that which we cannot see. So this is extremely important. Now, mentioning a few more rights. We've
actually spoken here about food, we've spoken about rest, we've spoken about medication, and now if
		

			spoken about the purification of oneself. I'd like to mention a few more points in this program, a
few more rights and sometimes we may have overlooked these rights. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant
us the ability to understand, we should understand that the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam that speaks of Mahara and cleanliness actually states as to who shot a man, which means
cleanliness is half of your Eman. That's according to one narration. Now, one might think look, how
can cleanliness be half of a man if we are to ponder very carefully, we are only thinking of the
physical cleanliness and you know the fact that I need water, I need soap I need this, I need that
		

			and I must wash myself keep myself neat and clean and smart at all times. That is only one single
aspect of cleanliness. We have besides that, besides the physical cleanliness, we have something
known as spiritual cleanliness. We spoke about it today, we have mental cleanliness, we need to
clean our minds of evil thoughts of bad ideas of haram items, we are not allowed to let them go into
our minds in the first place, we should tackle them and fight them off. Then we have social
cleanliness. And we have been speaking about social cleanliness as well. How we live with one
another, how we live in society, how we live with the other creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala we
		

			need to maintain a very clean relationship with everyone human being as well as the other creatures,
then there is environmental cleanliness, obviously, when it comes to the trees, the grass, when it
comes to the other aspects of the environment around us, it is our duty that we maintain a clean
attitude towards the environment as well. And we have also if we can term it, financial cleanliness,
you know, all our transactions, our business dealings must be according to the commands of Allah
subhanho wa Taala. We cannot afford for a split moment to be found on the other side of the law on
the wrong side of the law of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So, I've just mentioned a few more points of
		

			this cleanliness, we could go on speaking about how this Mahara and cleanliness, you know, extends
into all the different faculties and all the different departments of life. May Allah subhanho wa
Taala grant us the ability to understand the great words of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
And a very important point is when it comes to this body of ours, it's amazing how when we dress we
don't realize at times, that this body, we owe it appropriate dressing and cover. What this means is
the body requires that we cover it it is our duty placed on our shoulders to cover the body
appropriately. If we do not cover the body appropriately, then that body will stand against us on
		

			the day of pm and say yeah, Allah, I wanted to be covered, but this person did not cover me
correctly. So let us not be found, as I said on the other side or the wrong side of the law, always
understand what is your duty, fulfill it and you will find that Allah subhanho wa Taala will grant
you happiness in sha Allah in the dunya as well as in the afra.
		

			And we need to understand also that the eyes that we have, they have rights over us and what is the
right of the eye, the right of the eyes is that we owe the eyes the fact that we will protect them
from looking at haram Subhana Allah so the eyes have a right over you and that is you must protect
those eyes from looking at that which is forbidden, unlawful and Haram. Obviously if a person
happens to you know, glance at something that is haram, they must drop their gaze as soon as
possible for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala and you will find your spiritual levels going up.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all elevated spiritual levels. So the eyes also you owe your
		

			eyes something and that is protection. We don't want these eyes to come on the day of the AMA and
bear witness against us to say yeah, Allah, this person used me to look at her arm May Allah protect
us. And the same applies to the other faculties of the body and the other organs of the body. Let's
say the hands for example. You owe your hands protection from holding, touching, feeling that which
is haram. You are not allowed to feel to touch to hold those things which are haram that is a duty
you owe even your hands so panela So yes, it is our duty, but over and above
		

			That these hands might bear witness for us or against us on the day of pm. As we know in Surah
Yaseen we Allah subhanho wa Taala says a Leo manakamana for him what you can Luna ID him What a
shadow Abdulla home Bhima can we actually born on that day, we will seal their mouths and their
hands will speak out to us and their legs will bear witness against them regarding what they have
been earning. So this is a very important verse we learn from it that even our hands will be
speaking for us or against us on the day of piano. When it comes to our legs for example, we are
prohibited we owe these legs the fact that we will protect them from walking towards the places that
		

			are Haram. This is something very, very important which most of us don't even understand. And when
it comes to your hair, Masha Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala has granted us hair on our heads. When it
comes to the sisters let us understand it is a duty the hair you owe the hair something and you owe
it the fact that it will be covered and it will be looked after it will be combed it will be cleaned
and if necessary, it may even be oiled according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam. The Hadith says whosoever has hair should look after that hair, protect that hair. Imagine
if we are to walk out with our hair, you know, beautiful hair and we walk into the public with that
		

			hair. That hair is speaking to us. It tells us look it is my right over you that you cover me. You
are leaving me naked. Why are you doing this to me? The hair is speaking to us. But we cannot hear
that hair on the day of the AMA. We don't want that hair to bear witness against us to say yeah,
Allah, this person left me naked and did not cover me. May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us when
it comes to males as well. It is the duty of the males to look after their hair to comb and clean
the hair. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all the ability to understand this. So these are all
rights that your body has over you. And we need to fulfill these rights. In fact, I'm going to end
		

			with a very, very important write that this body has over you. It is something that we wouldn't even
have believed that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam could have spoken about but remember there
is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to Deen and the right that I am going to speak about and
I'm going to end with this right is that whenever you would like to use the toilet, it is
islamically your duty that you do so as soon as possible without unnecessarily holding back Subhan
Allah. The reason is this body is an Amana, from Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, if you are going to
hold back what is meant to come out, then it may result in different types of sickness, which will
		

			affect your body adversely. And you will not do your body any good. The body will hold it against
you on the day of piano and let's understand something else as well. That when it comes to passing
wind also it is islamically incorrect to hold it back unnecessarily such that you begin to suffer
gastric problems etc. This is something that we need to understand Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam has taught this to us. And many times people take this for granted. They feel that you know
it is something that we should not even be speaking about. No, there is nothing that the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has forgotten to teach us so May Allah subhanahu Allah grant us the
		

			ability to understand that when it comes to rights over oneself, it is so broad so broad, that no
religion has ever taught such teachings beautiful teachings. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us
the ability to adopt what has been said or sallallahu wasallam about a girl and Amina Mohammed
Muhammad Subhana Allah He will be Hamdi Subhana Allah whom will be having Deacon shadow Allah Illa
Illa antenna stone Furukawa to buoy Lake
		

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu, was Salam ala
rasulillah. Why Allah Allah He was happy he woman why Allah who about dearest listeners, inshallah,
we will be discussing the rights of neighbors, we should understand that apart from one's spouse,
the parents, the children and relatives, they also exists a permanent dissociation of contact with
one's neighbors. And this association plays a major role in influencing the entire life of a person.
This is why Islam has made it clear the manner in which each person should be with his or her
neighbors and being a good neighbor and fulfilling the required rights is actually declared by
		

			Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam as a condition of Eman and of faith and Rasulullah sallallahu
		

			While he was Salam exclaimed in one Hadith, he says by Allah He is not a true believer by Allah. He
is not a true believer he repeated this thrice he was asked whom we are a school of law. So Allahu
alayhi wa sallam, he said, the one whose neighbors do not feel secure from his mischief and evil and
this is why to have a good neighbor is actually a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala and if we are
going to be good neighbors, then it is a sign of Eman. The question is who are neighbors, let us
understand that though the term neighbor commonly refers to those who live next to and around our
house and our home, we should bear in mind that even at work or at school or in the masjid, or at a
		

			gathering, or even just on the road, those who are traveling next to us or with us or around us, we
have a duty towards all those categories, they are all regarded as neighbors of a different level.
And we should not cause any form of harm or difficulty to them in any way, nor should we offend
them, you know, verbally or in any other way at all. In fact, we should extend as much help as we
can as Muslims, it is a requirement that we help as much as we can, when they are in need of that
particular help. Let's take a look. For example at the masjid Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
has actually said whosoever has eaten fresh onions or garlic should not come near the masjid until
		

			he rinses his mouth thoroughly. And obviously this is because if he does come to the masjid, he will
offend a lot of people with that smell, and he will harm and disturb those next to him in the
masjid. So this includes obviously harming the angels from this hadith we see that to offend those
who are next to us at any time or place is not acceptable in Islam. So as Muslims, we are meant to
be those who are conscious of what they do, how they appear, and even how they smell so that they do
not offend those who are next to them at all times. Subhana Allah nowadays what happens and I'm just
going to speak on this for a moment because it is a reality. Those who smoke May Allah subhanho wa
		

			Taala grant him the ability to leave this very bad habit. Those who smoke unfortunately sometimes
they would come into the masjid not realizing that the smell of smoke is worse than that of onions
and garlic and they have smoked you know so many cigarettes, they would walk in In fact, even if
they had to shake your hand, you know your hand you would smell it for half an hour or an hour after
that, you know of smoke and cigarettes. If they had to stand next to you in Salah you would actually
be affected to a great degree. There are times when myself, I find it difficult to stand next to
certain people because you lose concentration in Salah because of the offensive smell or law what we
		

			need to do is cut down on smoking before we come to the masjid. And if we have been smoking we need
to go into the whoo place. And we need to rinse our mouth. We need to wash our hands with soap and
then come into the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala so that we don't disturb the angels Firstly, as
well as the other Mussolini's who might be around May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us. In fact, I
can even go a step further. Those who do smoke, you know, may Allah subhanho wa Taala have mercy
upon them and their wives, those whom you live with Subhana Allah do we not feel for a moment how
they must be having to put up with so much just to live with us, because of this bad habit that we
		

			have the smell in fact we can call it a stink, may Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us all. So it is
our duty as Muslims to ensure that we don't harm those who are next to us, those who are around us
at any given time. If we study this carefully, we will understand that you know in fact, if we study
what we are speaking about, on this topic of neighbors, we will understand that the term neighbor is
so broad that according to what you are speaking about it would actually be understood in that
manner. For example, every suburb has a neighboring suburb that would be regarded as a neighboring
suburb, as well as every city and every country has a neighboring country. So the rule that we have
		

			just been speaking about applies in each case. And since it is obviously most common, that you know
the neighbor is the neighbor of the home and the property we will actually speak about or dwell on
this for a moment. Let us take a look at the categories of the neighbors of the home that Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wasallam has spoken about. He says there are three categories of neighbors. The
first is the one whose rights must be fulfilled as a neighbor. The second is the one whose rights
must be fulfilled as a neighbor and as a Muslim. And the third
		

			is the one whose rights must be fulfilled as a neighbor, as a Muslim, and as a relative of ours
Subhana Allah. So those are the three categories. And this shows that a non Muslim neighbor also
enjoys the rights of being a neighbor. And the Muslim neighbor enjoys both the rights of being a
neighbor, as well as that of being Muslim. And a neighbor who is a relative enjoys all three rights,
that of being a neighbor as well as a Muslim as well as being a relative, may Allah subhanho wa
Taala grant us the ability to fulfill these rights. Now, let us go straight into the question, what
are the rights of the neighbors? Firstly, we have learned from the clear a hadith of Rasulullah
		

			sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that we should not harm them that is the first right we should not
oppress them and we should not even create a sense of fear within them, you know, regarding evil or
mischief on our part, and we have already mentioned one Hadith in this regard. Now, this includes
disturbance, you know, in the form of say noise for example, sometimes what happens we are listening
to the radio, we are listening to Koran, that which is beneficial, but the volume is so loud, that
we are disturbing our neighbors they might be asleep, they might be busy trying to concentrate doing
something else, we are not allowed to disturb them without noise, I have spoken here of halaal
		

			something that is halaal that you are listening to but the volume is wrong. What if that was
actually something Haram, you would firstly be prohibited to be listening to that particular item.
And secondly, the volume would also be wrong. So May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to
understand that even if you are listening to Quran, which is actually something very virtuous, if
the volume is wrong, you may be just sending in the process. Similarly, when it comes to smoke, we
should make sure that you know we don't allow smoke to go towards the neighbor's intentionally from
our yard or from our property. What happens sometimes is you know we have leaves or we have the
		

			rubbish and we want to burn it. So we just light a fire without even considering and thinking you
know, where is the smoke going, and what is going to happen when the smoke actually goes into the
next door yard, they will probably be cursing you from head to toe. May Allah subhanho wa Taala
protect us and this is why Islam has not forgotten anything, we are actually taught you want to
light a fire you are causing smokes, be careful as to where it is going, you've got to go to the
neighbor and seek His permission. Now we've spoken about the bad smells. On the other hand, even the
good smells, you know, let's say for example, a person is lighting a bride and Masha Allah, you know
		

			the beautiful scent of you know, meats being bride going to the neighbors, it's not fair, you know,
you make them wish to be honest with you. And what would actually be better is for you to send a
piece or two you know a little bit more or less to them so that they can also feel that they were
part and parcel of it. And then the next time they smell that particular smoke, they will actually
look forward to a chunk or two of the meat that you've been writing. So this is something Islam has
taught us that you should always consider the neighbor and make sure you don't harm him. We've
spoken here of you know, burning rubbish as well as burning something when you are cooking, or
		

			things like those May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to understand this. Similarly,
when we are throwing out the rubbish, we should make sure that we don't throw it out into the
neighbor's yard. Sometimes people just throw things out of the window without realizing it lands
straight into somebody else's property. Sometimes people put the bin outside, not realizing that
when the wind blows, the smell goes straight into the neighbor's door, what if it happened to you
and in fact, it might be happening to us from our neighbors? How do we feel if we feel bad about it,
let us make sure that we don't do it to others. So protect them from foul smells coming from your
		

			yard and protect them from you know, rubbish being thrown at towards their property from your
property. This is something that Islam actually teaches, so we should not harm them in any way and
we should not even create a sense of fear within them regarding any evil or mischief on our part.
The next point is we need to be good towards our neighbors. And this includes obviously good
character, good speech, good conduct, you know, as well as offering assistance whenever possible.
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has actually said in one Hadith that jabril alayhi salaatu wa
sallam continued stressing goodness to the neighbor so much that I thought he would make him an
		

			heir. I thought that the neighbor would actually be made an heir of the estate after the death of
his or her neighbor. This is how much gibril Allah has salatu salam stressed goodness to the
neighbor. Now what we learned from this is the rights of a neighbor are indeed very, very important.
		

			Because you live next to this person 24 seven, if you are going to maintain a good relationship with
a neighbor, then obviously it is a sign as we have mentioned of demand, some people are actually
forced to leave the particular home that they are living in to another area or another road only
because of the fact that they have neighbors who are bad, let us make sure that we are not those bad
neighbors. And imagine if Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said a person is not a true
believer, if his neighbor is not protected from his harm, in that particular case, what if that
neighbor had to actually shift away because of you or because of me? May Allah subhanho wa Taala not
		

			make us from those, we also need to invite our neighbors towards Islam, if they are non Muslims,
this is a right that we owe them, to be honest. And we should invite them Firstly, by our good
character, our good conduct our speech, our beautiful speech, as we said, you want to tell them
something, if they are infringing your rights, it does not mean you must go out to them and start
screaming and shouting and get upset and angry about everything. No, you should go to them speak in
a very dignified manner. And you can pass a comment or two to say, you know, Islam teaches us to
speak very, very politely to our neighbors, and inshallah that might even have an impact on them.
		

			But if you are going to scream and shout at them, there is nothing you can actually expect, besides
them getting the wrong picture of Islam because of your deeds and your actions. It might even drive
them further away from Islam, may Allah protect us. And if it does do that, then obviously we will
be guilty of driving people away from Islam. So we need to invite our neighbors towards Islam if
they are non Muslim, if they are Muslims, and they happen to be engaging in that which is wrong, let
us understand something. Firstly, it is prohibited to go out and mentioned to others what you
noticed from your neighbors. The reason is, when they are your neighbors, you will notice much more
		

			than other people notice. So you need to cover it up. And you need to, in the case of evil, do
something about it, try and go to them speak to them in the politest of ways and highlight to them
that look, this is islamically incorrect if they are Muslim, and this is something that you know,
Allah will not be happy subhanho wa Taala. And, you know, if you, you know, Baraka will be in your
life, etc, etc. and we can speak to them very politely, this is something that is a duty, so we need
to call those non Muslims towards Islam. And when it comes to Muslims, we need to ensure that if
they are engaged in something wrong, cover it up, don't go and expose them to other people tomorrow,
		

			you would not like Allah subhanho wa Taala to expose you. And at the same time, you should try to do
something about it, speak to them, if it happens to be a teenage child who is you know, up to a
little bit of mischief. Maybe you can speak to the parents or sometimes ask your child, you know, to
speak to that particular child, obviously, if they have the same *, and the child could, you know,
maybe get a few words across to that particular child. So we need to have a genuine feeling for our
neighbors as well. The next slide we are going to speak about is we need to visit them at times of
illness. And we need to help if necessary. And this is obviously for both Muslim as well as non
		

			Muslim neighbors. And we should bear in mind the rules of hijab and the rules of you know, covering
up the rules of separation in Islam. It is not befitting for a male to go out to his you know, adult
female neighbor, who is not related in any way and you know, say no, I'm visiting, because she's
ill, that is actually incorrect. islamically we may inquire about her health through the husband or
through an adult child. And the same applies the other way around. But when it comes to the same
*, we should go out we should go to them and we should knock on their door and ask about their
health. And we should you know, try and help wherever necessary. We can even make dua for our Muslim
		

			neighbors to say Allah cure them for the non Muslim neighbors. Yeah, Allah subhanho wa Taala guide
them towards Islam and soften their hearts towards Islam. So this is a right the next right we are
going to speak about is to sympathize with them at times of death or at times of sadness and
difficulty, and again to help with the arrangement of burial in the case of death and to help to try
and solve their problems in the case of other difficulties. Now, this includes, as I mentioned
before the non Muslims as well. However, we should bear in mind that attending a religious service
for the funeral of non Muslims is prohibited and it is also disallowed for Muslims to make dua for
		

			forgiveness for the non Muslims. This is why we said you should make dua rather for the guidance of
those who are alive when they have died. We don't make dua for their forgiveness because it is
prohibited in the Koran the but what we can do what we are allowed
		

			to do is to sympathize, you know, you go next door and say, you know, we are sorry about what has
happened and comments similar to that. The next right is to conceal the faults of your neighbors
we've already spoken of that slightly. And as we said, as a neighbor, if you notice something from
your neighbors, it is prohibited to go around and publicize it because it is your duty to very
politely and humbly remind them of what is correct and to cover up whatever evil you have seen. And
as I said, as a neighbor, you will notice things that other people will not notice. The next night
is we should be happy upon their happiness and their good fortune. And jealousy is prohibited, even
		

			when it comes to your own neighbor Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says that jealousy eats
away the good deeds of a person just as fire eats away dry wood. Now when we say be happy upon their
happiness, you know, there is a waiting next door, be happy about it, you know, don't become jealous
about what is going on there, if they have bought a nice car, Mashallah, you know, thank Allah
subhanho wa Taala, that he has granted them and ask Allah to grant you as well, but don't let it be
a point of sadness when they are happy, similarly, when they are sad, should also bring sadness to
you, because you should try to minimize that sadness for them. In fact, when it comes to loss, it is
		

			the duty of a neighbor to try to minimize the risk of loss to his own neighbor. And what this
includes is, you know, when they are absent when they go on holiday, it is your duty as a neighbor,
whether they've told you or not to keep a little Watch out on their property and their premises, so
that you can actually fulfill the right of a neighbor and try your best to you know, protect the
property in their absence. The next night we are speaking about is we are not allowed to erect a
building and this is a very important point, we are not allowed to erect a building higher than
theirs in such a way that the passage of fresh air or light is blocked from their property Subhan
		

			Allah, this is the right of the neighbor. So, if you would like to do this, it may only be done
after their consent. And similarly, if there is a river or a pipe or some sort of water flow flowing
through our property into this, it is prohibited to stop the flow of water or to use it all up in
such a manner that the water does not even get to them, and they have no benefit from it. So what we
should understand is that when it comes to erecting a building, we should make sure that we are not
blocking the light from the neighbors, this applies to trees as well, when there are trees in our
property, always look at those trees and cut them if necessary, they must not be harming and
		

			affecting the neighbors in any way whatsoever, if there are trees in our property that are blocking
the light blocking the fresh air, you know, or being of great disturbance, sometimes, you know, the
roots of the trees could actually go in and suck all the water that their borehole might be you
know, utilizing or if that might be being sucked up by that particular pump that is pumping the
water up if that is the case, we need to do something about those trees because we do not want on
the day of the AMA that you know we are held responsible for the tree that was growing in our yard
that was blocking something from our neighbors. Similarly, the next right we will talk about is
		

			whenever a delicious or an aromatic dish or meal is prepared, you know, a share should be sent to
them. This is in order not to create a sense of sorrow within them or their children. Sometimes you
can have the children next door they will be saying you know the food from next door is smelling so
nice. I wonder what they've cooked and you know you are sitting there with everything being cooked
and you know, how would it actually be digested if this is not going to be sent to them, the little
children let them taste you know about a you know a piece or two of what you've cooked and
Alhamdulillah they will also make dua for you and Allah subhanho wa Taala will grant you good health
		

			in sha Allah. So it is the right of the neighbor that you send them a little bit of something that
is prepared, especially when it is smelling so nice that it makes them wish May Allah subhanahu wa
taala grant us the ability to actually understand this particular right similarly, when it comes to
our children, it is not right for us to allow our children to display their toys and their
foodstuffs that are better than the neighbors unless they are being shared or unless we have already
sent similar toys or foodstuffs to their children. SubhanAllah look at what Islam teaches us. Your
children has to have beautiful toys, nice toys, if they are going to go and display those toys to
		

			the neighbors who might be underprivileged, you know slightly, it will create a sense you know, a
feeling in the heart that is not a good feeling. So they either share the toys, or you either buy
another set of toys, similar toys for the neighbors as well. And voila, you will be rewarded for
that. Even when it comes to foodstuffs, we should try and give our children that
		

			Which if the neighbors have to see or if the children of the neighbors have to see they will not be
sad and in their hearts to say, you know what, we can't even afford this and look at this child
eating this and that and it actually reminds me of some parents who some mothers who send you know,
packed lunch with their children to school, try not to pack that which is you know, it will create a
disturbance in the school everyone's going to look oh, you know, this person has the latest imported
chocolates from Hawaii or what have you, because what will happen is the child might innocently eat
it and then suffer stomach problems because the entire classroom was wishing wishing for that
		

			particular chocolate and no one got it, and everyone was watching the child eating would you like
that to happen to your child, may Allah subhanahu Allah protect us, if you would really like them to
eat it, let them do it privately in the house, then obviously, when a neighbor needs to position a
trust or a timber for his roof onto a common wall, that is between the two properties, then he
should be allowed to do so within a reasonable limit. And this also means that if a nail is knocked
into a common wall, obviously here we are not speaking of separate walls, we are speaking of a
common wall, if a nail is to be knocked into a common wall on the neighbor's side, then we should
		

			not object of if it is for a valid reason. The last point we will we would like to mention is you
know whenever you are selling or renting a property, the neighbor is to be given the first option in
Islam, it is only when this neighbor refuses either by not being interested at all or if the
neighbor cannot afford the amount that we are asking for. Then only we may resell that particular
property or rented out to others. Because the in Islam the neighbor has the first refusal option
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has actually said the neighbor has the greatest claim to the
house or property next to him. So these are some of the rights that we actually owe our neighbors.
		

			inshallah we may mention a hadith or two in the next program, regarding the virtue of being a good
neighbor, and thereafter inshallah, we will move on to some other rights. May Allah subhanahu Allah
grant us the ability to understand what has been said, And may Allah subhanho wa Taala make us from
amongst those neighbors, who will be an asset to their neighbors both in the dunya as well as in the
pharaoh or sallallahu wasallam albaraka Allah Nabina Muhammad Subhana Allah He will be handy he
Subhana Allah whom will be handy kenisha to Allah Illa illa Anta Mr. hirokawa tabula