Muiz Bukhary – The Rights of Neighbours in Islam
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All praise
and thanks
belong to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Lord of all worlds
and peace and blessings be upon our beloved
prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
his family members, his companions,
and all those who follow him,
follow his teachings,
follow his path
until the day of judgment.
We praise Allah ajal
for his boundless mercy,
for his infinite
knowledge and wisdom.
We pray for his guidance,
His guidance
that illuminates
our path,
the path ahead.
We pray for his blessings,
for Barakah,
for his boons
that sustain us, that nourish us
in every moment of our lives.
We send our
heartfelt
salutations
upon our noble prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
the embodiment of compassion,
the paragon of mercy,
the role model,
the perfect role model
who was sent for humanity.
May Allah's peace and blessings also be upon
his pure family,
his loyal companions,
and all those who tread in his footsteps
with the class, with righteousness until the end
of time.
I begin by reminding myself and then all
of you all gathered here in this
house of Allah
to adopt the life of taqwa,
And that is to bring in the consciousness
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
of your maker during every single second of
your lives.
And oh, my dear brothers and sisters in
Islam, you must do this if you wish
to attain victory,
if you wish to attain
success in this world as well as the
hereafter,
for there is no other way to success,
for there is no other way to victory
except through taqwa,
except through following the teachings of Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
Once a man
goes to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
and he complains,
he complains
about his neighbor
who used to trouble him.
He goes to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam and complains about his neighbor
who used to trouble him. The prophet
now advises the man who came and complained
the man who came and complained
to take some of his belongings,
some of his things,
you know, to if you will pack a
bag,
take some of your belongings,
and go and sit on the road.
And now
the man does as the messenger salallahu alaihi
wasallam instructed him to do. And now people
were passing by
and they were asking this man, why are
you seated on the road
with your belongings?
Just imagine if you were to go and
sit on your road, the road that you
live
in, with your belongings on the road.
Obviously, people who know you, people who pass
by, they're going to ask you
because they can see you. They know you.
They're going to ask you why why are
you seated here out on the road with
your belongings?
So people were asking this man,
and this man,
he responds that his neighbor
had caused him trouble.
His neighbor had caused him trouble.
Now the people, when hearing this response from
the man,
they began to curse the neighbor.
Oh, what a bad person.
How unfortunate.
This and that, and they started to
speak negatively of the neighbor
who was causing trouble, and they started to
curse him as well.
And
now the numbers started to increase.
Everyone who was going past
started to say something negative. You know, he's
not going to do well in life. He's
this. He's that. And they go on to
curse the neighbor.
Now the neighbor finds out about this. He
finds out that his neighbor
is seated out there telling people that he's
causing trouble and every person passing by is
cursing him. So now he goes to the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and he tells
the messenger
about the situation.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam then says,
you know, all these people,
they're cursing you. Right? They're speaking negatively of
you. Right?
Allah's
curse.
The curse of Allah
is on top of their curses.
The curse of Allah
towards you
as a neighbor causing trouble towards your neighbor
is on top of the curses of all
these individuals. In the sense, Allah is at
the top cursing, and then you have all
these curses. You're bothered. You're concerned about the
curses of these individuals. Right? So you should
know that Allah's curse is on top of
all of this.
The man immediately goes to his nayba and
he says, the narration goes along the lines
of these words, you know, by Allah, I
will never trouble you after this.
By Allah, you are safe from my trouble
after this.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
this hadith is recorded
in, Adab al Mufrad, the book of Imam
al Bukhari, Rahimahullah.
And
in the few minutes that I have with
you all, let us reflect on an extremely
important aspect of our faith. And this is,
the rights of our neighbors.
Islam
places great emphasis.
You might be thinking Friday sermon, rights of
the neighbors. Is it that important a topic?
You know why I chose this topic?
Because it is that important a topic,
and we heavily undermine it.
We heavily undermine it. We take it lightly.
We take it extremely lightly.
Whilst if you look at
the Quranic ayaat
regarding this,
If you look at the hadith of the
messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
regarding this, the narrations are extremely stern.
The narrations are extremely powerful,
and the narrations
emphasize
the importance of this.
Look at this hadith. Again, recorder of the
book of Imam al Bukhari Rahimahullah. The prophet
sallallahu alaihi sallam is reported to have said,
and he said it 3 times by the
way,
by Allah,
he does not have iman.
By Allah,
he does not have iman.
By Allah,
he does not have iman.
Then the people asked the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wasallam, You Rasulullah,
who are you talking about?
Then the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam responds,
he
whose neighbor
is not safe from his harm.
In other words, if you
are the cause of trouble to your neighbor,
if you are the cause of harm to
your neighbor,
then you do not have iman.
You do not have faith.
In another narration, hadith is recorded in the
book of imam Muslim
prophet sallallahu alaihi sallam, his report to have
said,
the one whose neighbor
is not secure
from his evil, he will not enter Jannah.
He will not enter paradise.
Allahu Akbar. Look at how stern the narrations
are.
Now you might be thinking, but I come
to the masjid.
I
pray. I'm on time.
I fast.
I go on hajj. I go on amra.
I give 1,000,000 out in charity.
Zakah. I've helped so many families.
I've helped so many couples get married.
I've fed so many people. Built so many
water solutions.
I've done this. I've done that. Ramadan comes
about. I'm in the first row.
But if you are causing trouble to your
neighbor and we're going to again define what
does it mean to cause trouble.
If your neighbor is not safe
with regards to the evil you cause, with
regards to the disturbances you cause, with regards
to the trouble you cause,
then the prophet says you do not have
iman
and you're not going to enter jannah. May
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us all.
May I have another hadith?
SubhanAllah.
Umadaisha radiAllahu anha she mentions
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
Jibril alaihi salatu wa sallam,
he kept emphasizing
treating neighbors with kindness, treating one's neighbors with
kindness.
He kept on emphasizing it so
hardly.
The narration goes along the lines of these
words. The prophet says,
at one point, I thought
the command would come
that the neighbor is going to inherit from
you. Allahu Akbar.
The neighbor is going to inherit from you.
Now if you
contemplate on this narration for a moment, my
dear
brothers and sisters in Islam,
who generally inherits from you? Think about it
for a moment.
If you reflect on the hadith, who who
who inherits from you? Each individual, we are
all going to be inherited from
regardless of whether you have
whether you leave behind a a big estate
that is to be divided. When we say
estate,
we mean
your assets, your net worth, the estate of
a deceased individual.
Everything. You know, all your assets, whatever you
belong, whatever you want, basically.
Or even if you're leaving a little bit
a little bit behind,
someone's going to inherit from you. Who generally
inherits?
Your spouse will inherit from you.
Why? Because of the proximity.
Right?
Your children are going to inherit from you.
Your son is going to inherit from you.
Your daughter is going to inherit from you
by default,
and then perhaps there's the chance for your
parents to inherit from you and in certain
situations, your siblings to inherit from you. So
as you can see,
a very close circle.
You're not going to have strangers from the
road inheriting from you.
You're not going to have far
distant relatives
generally inheriting from you. It's a very close
circle that inherits from you.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says
that Jibreel alaihi salatu salam went on to
emphasize
the rights of the neighbors so much that
at one point I thought he's going to
say, you know what?
A share of your inheritance is also going
to go to your neighbors.
This is the amount of importance,
the amount of emphasis
that was attached to the rights
with regards to one's neighbors, Allahu Akbar.
We have another hadith. The prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam is reported to have said
when it was said to him, You Rasoolallah,
there is such and such a woman.
A certain woman was described.
Such and such a woman. She prays at
night,
and she fasts during the day,
fasts during the day. We're not talking about
random fasts here and there. Regularly, she fast
during the day,
and we're not talking about only waking up
in the night during Ramadan
or during the last 10 nights of Ramadan
or during only 27th night of Ramadan. No.
No. No. No. No. No. She regularly
gets up during the night. She spends the
night in prayer,
and she does many good deeds.
She does many good deeds,
but
she harms her neighbors with her tongue.
With her tongue. With her words, she harms
her neighbors.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam clearly said,
there is no good in her.
She is in Jahannam.
She's in the hellfire. Hadith is recorded in
the book of Imam Ahmed Rahimah.
There is no good in her.
She is in the * fire.
A woman who fast during the day,
who spends the night in prayer,
who does many many good deeds,
but she harms her neighbors with her tongue.
There's no good in her. She's going to
be in the fire of Jahannam.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is also
reported to have said, hadith is recorded the
book of imamatirmidirahimahullah.
The best of companions
in the sight of Allah
is the one who is best to his
companion,
and the best of neighbors in the sight
of Allah is the one who is the
best to his neighbor.
The best to his neighbor.
Now I'd like to mention
a few action items.
You see, in today's landscape,
we're gravitating towards
vertical living. If you you ask people today,
a lot of people today live in apartments.
They live in condominiums.
They live in gated communities.
Unlike in the past
where,
at times, even today, when you go to
the countryside,
you will see houses are spaced
with a lot of distance.
Why? Because
perhaps land is cheap,
and you're able to afford land around you
as
well. So you won't really have a lot
of neighbors. But when you look at the
urban landscape, again, because of the cost of
living,
because of land prices being so expensive,
you have a lot of neighbors. You're either
living down the street with many neighbors, your
house is right adjacent to your neighbor, At
times, you you you share just one wall.
Or you're living in a condominium. You're living
in an apartment.
You're living
in a gated community.
So the rights of the neighbors become even
more applicable.
So how do you avoid
being a bad
neighbor?
Number 1, noise control.
We need to be mindful of noise levels.
You see in the past,
walls used to be quite thick.
Unfortunately,
now, cost cutting,
whatnot, walls have become paper thin.
Walls have become paper thin.
So you can hear the conversations next door.
Your conversations, the sound from your residence
easily seeps into the neighbor's house, your conversations,
your discussions,
your usage of devices, be it the television
or your handheld devices, the noise of the
radio, noise of what you're listening, noise of
what you're consuming, noise of what you're watching.
So noise levels. You need to be mindful
of noise levels,
especially during early mornings and late nights.
So avoid making excessive noise that can disturb
neighbors.
You see, in certain condominiums, they actually have
guidelines.
Say, for example, after
2 in the afternoon or 3 in the
afternoon, you're not allowed to do any renovation
work. You're not allowed to drill. You're not
allowed to, you know, hammer a nail.
You know, if you're living in an apartment,
you may have children with you. You must
ensure when they're playing
that they don't drop hard objects on the
ground because, like I said again, walls are
paper thin. It's not very thick. You can
cause disturbances. There may be elderly people living.
There may be patients living as your neighbors.
There may be children living. We need to
be considerate.
You see, we're not talking about other faiths
here.
We're talking about what Islam expects of us.
What the teachings of Islam mandate.
You see, if you're going to cause trouble
to your neighbor,
you have not brought in iman. Remember the
starting a hadith. You have not brought in
iman.
Number 2, you're not going to go to
Jannah. May Allah protect us all. So be
considerate as neighbors.
Maintain your noise levels.
Let's say you have a vehicle
that makes a loud noise. It can be
a sports car. It can be a vehicle
with a big engine.
Try to ensure that you don't make a
big racket in the morning. You see, in
certain condominiums,
they've actually got guidelines
for people because sometimes people tend to modify
their engines also to make louder noises,
not to make noises basically to disturb the
neighborhood, to disturb the community.
Youngsters today, you know, we tend to race
around
not caring about the neighbors, about the community,
about the elderly,
about those who are sick, so much of
noise pollution.
Remember these words of the messenger sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
And let's say you are planning on some
renovations because at the end of the day,
you want to repair your house, you want
to plan to, you know, build something, renovations,
inform your neighbors in advance.
Inform them in advance
so that they're prepared, so that they can
adjust their schedule a little bit, so they
also understand, okay, work is going on, and
try to minimize it as much as possible.
Number 2,
respect your neighbor's privacy.
Do not invade into your neighbor's privacy.
Avoid peeking into their homes. Avoid spreading rumors.
Avoid gossiping about them. SubhanAllah.
Subhanallah.
Let's say you overhear some loud noise, an
argument going on. Now don't go gossiping. Hey.
You know what?
Mister and missus are having a huge fight.
You know, I heard plates flying around, dishes
flying around, you know, swear words being used.
He called his wife this. She called him
this. He left the house. Those were dashed.
I mean, we all have marriages.
We all,
you know, go through arguments, misunderstandings.
Why do you want
to air the dirty laundry of others? If
you do that, it will be done to
you. It will be done to you. What
goes around comes around. And again, if you
do it, you're invading into your neighbor's privacy.
You have caused your neighbor trouble.
You have caused your neighbor evil. May Allah
protect us all.
Waste disposal.
You know, at times, you know, you're living
in a, like I said, a condominium.
You tend to eat food that has or
gives off a bad smell or a strong
smell. Let's put it that way. Because for
some people,
certain smells are aromatic. Let's say durian, for
example. I'm not a fan of durian,
but then there are those in the crowd
who would love it. They love it. I
cannot stand it being in my vehicle,
but there are those who love the smell
of durian.
But you have to understand that if you're
living with neighbors, there may be people who
like it, and there may be people who
don't like it.
So if you want to indulge in
it, indulge in it in such a way
where you don't cause hindrance to others.
Dispose of the waste appropriately.
Make sure that it is not lingering around
the smell.
And on top of such foods, even general
waste
you know, at times, there are people who
just dump their waste outside.
They don't ensure
to cover it properly. Then what happens?
The stray dogs,
stray animals, the crows, they come, start pecking
on that. And then the the the driveway
of the other individual's house is littered with
all your garbage. What
have you done? You have caused evil. You
have caused trouble.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam says you do
not have iman. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam
says you will not enter Jannah. The warnings
are very stern, my dear brothers in Islam.
Very, very stern.
So take it to
heart. Avoid encroachment.
Slowly,
there are people who encroach on the lands
of others,
and eventually, this leads to disputes.
It's
not much, you know, so people justify it
in their head. Oh, it's just one strip
of land.
It may be one strip of land. It
may be 1 millimeter of land. If it
does not belong to you, it is haram.
You are encroached.
So do not encroach on the lands of
others.
Ensure that your construction sometimes it's a balcony,
and now it's encroached on the land of
the other person. Sometimes it's a tree. It's
encroached on the land of the other person.
Sometimes it's just a a shade,
but now it has encroached on the land
of the other person. You have done so
without the permission of that person. Be careful.
You have caused trouble to your neighbor. You
have caused evil to your neighbor.
And again, parking etiquettes.
Today almost everyone in the crowd has some
form of a vehicle.
It may be a motorcycle.
It may be a car.
It may be a van.
It may be whatever the vehicle that you're
using.
Make sure that you do not block the
driveways of other individuals. You don't block the
spaces of other individuals
causing them trouble.
And at times, there are shared facilities that
you use
within a condominium. It can be a car
wash, for example.
One car wash, maybe 100 homes have to
share.
Now don't go and hog it to yourself.
Don't go and park your vehicle there
preventing the other person from washing his or
her vehicle.
Maybe that person is in an urgency to
go somewhere. You've caused trouble to that individual.
Always be considerate.
Shared spaces, common spaces, lobby spaces, lounge spaces.
You have to be considerate. Why? Because you're
sharing it with others. It's a neighborhood. It's
a community.
So in terms of being a good neighbor,
greet your neighbors warmly.
Socially interact with them well.
Share your food with them.
The prophet
tells us,
the one who fills his stomach alone
whilst his neighbor goes hungry, he is not
a mumin. He is not a believer. Allahu
Akbar. If you fill your stomach alone and
your neighbor is hungry, you're not a believer.
In another hadith, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, he instructs Abuza radiallahu an,
when you cook a stew,
like a gravy,
a curry,
increase it.
Increase
the broth
and share it with your neighbors. Take care
of your neighbors. Share the food with your
neighbors.
Allahu akbar. Don't be stingy. Don't only cook
for yourself.
Try to offer help. Be ready to offer
assistance in times of need,
whether it's helping with the groceries,
fixing something, providing some support during emergencies,
there's a funeral
visit,
offer your condolences,
Offer your sympathies. Help the family out. There's
someone sick.
Visit the sick. Show empathy. Show understanding.
Be considerate.
Help them to resolve conflicts.
If they ask you to get involved, don't
poke your nose unnecessarily.
But if they ask for your help, try
to go in and resolve
conflicts amicably.
You see, when you look at the teachings
of the prophet and the Sahaba, you see
the rights at times summarized.
If they ask for help, offer them help.
If they ask to borrow something from you,
some salt, some pepper, some spices,
a ladder, a hammer, a drill, a water
hose.
Help them out by lending these things to
them.
If they are poor, help them to satisfy
their needs. If they are afflicted,
console them.
If
they achieve something, congratulate them.
If they fall ill, visit them.
If there's a funeral in the house, visit
them. Offer your condolences.
Even to the extent that the righteous people
of the past say,
do not build your house
higher than your neighbor
without asking the consent of your neighbor. Why?
Because by building,
you might disturb the wind flow to their
house.
Allahu Akbar. Do we think? Yeah. Who cares?
It's my land.
I'll do what I want to do.
I'll do what I want to do.
Who cares about my neighbor? Let him suffer.
Let him suffocate and die.
It's my land.
And most of the time, our relationships with
our neighbors are not the greatest.
At times, we don't even know who our
neighbors are,
nor are we bothered to know.
Now
as I conclude my dear brothers and sisters
in Islam,
who is your neighbor?
Who is your neighbor?
The word jar, who is it?
Is it the neighbor to your right?
Is it the neighbor to your left?
Is it the neighbor opposite?
Is it the neighbor at the back?
Is it the neighbor in the next road?
The sahaba were asked the same question
and some of the Sahaba responded by saying
the the term naybah
jar
includes
40
houses
in front of a person,
40 houses behind the person,
40 houses to the right of a person,
40 houses to the left of a person.
This is your neighborhood.
Allahu
Akbar.
This is your responsibility, oh believer,
oh follower of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
You are seated in the masjid.
The person seated next to you is your
neighbor.
The person seated to your left is your
neighbor.
The person seated behind you is your neighbor.
The person seated in front of you is
your neighbor.
You're parking outside the masjid,
the person parking in front of you is
your neighbor.
The person parking behind you is your neighbor.
You're traveling, you're companion, you're seated in public
transport, the person seated next to you is
your neighbor, is your jar.
So as you can see, the definition is
as such.
So wherever a believer goes, he causes no
trouble to his neighbor. He's always considerate.
He doesn't sit in a way where it
could cause discomfort to his neighbors.
He doesn't park in a way where it
would cause trouble to his neighbors.
He does not block driveways. He does not
block the vehicles of others.
This is how considerate you as a believer,
as the follower of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam must be. Your office space,
the store next to you, your neighbor. The
store to your right, your neighbor. Your store
in front, your neighbor. The store behind you,
your neighbor.
You will be thinking, no no no no
no no, Sheikh. You got it wrong. That's
my competition.
You're competition alright,
but they're your neighbors.
Therefore,
my dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
let us pray unto Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that he helps us to be good neighbors,
to be kind neighbors, to be loving neighbors,
to emulate
what the prophet
expected
of us.
The prophet expected something.
He expected something.
So let us strive to be that.
Let us strive to be a neighbor
of iman,
a neighbor
as per the teachings of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. And by being this good neighbor,
as you can see, even if you don't
do
colossal amount of good deeds, I'm not undermining
good deeds. I'm not saying now don't go
home and apply the logic. You know what?
I think what the sheikh said is even
if I don't pray fajr, if I'm a
good neighbor, I'm going to go to Jannah.
Masha'Allah.
No. I didn't say that.
I didn't say that. Your obligations, you need
to fulfill it. You need to pray fajr.
You need to pray.
Your obligations need to be fulfilled. No doubt
about it. Your zakah, you must give it.
But along with that, if you're going to
be a good neighbor,
even if you don't do
extra optional good deeds,
this deed of yours will drag you into
Jannah. On the other hand, you're doing your
obligations.
You do a whole lot of optional good
deeds, but you're a bad neighbor.
Now that will drag you to jahannam. May
Allah help us to get our priorities straight.
With that, I conclude. I pray, oh, Allah,
grant us the strength to be the best
of neighbors
reflecting the kindness and mercy taught to us
by our beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. Allah, fill our hearts with love and
compassion for those around us, for our neighbors
around us, enabling and helping us to build
supportive and loving communities. You Allah, protect our
neighbors from harm and grant us the wisdom,
grant us the knowledge, grant us the strength
to respect their privacy and their rights. Oh,
Allah, help us to be considerate. Help us
to be mindful of our actions and our
statements,
ensuring that we do not cause discomfort,
ensuring that we do not cause trouble or
inconvenience to our neighbors. Oh, Allah, inspire us
to engage in acts of kindness, in acts
of generosity,
sharing
our blessings, the blessings that you have given
us with those who live near us, with
those who are in difficulty.
You Allah bless our neighbors with good health,
with happiness, and prosperity. You Allah, strengthen the
bonds of our community. You Allah, just as
how you united us here in this Masjid,
unite us in the gardens of Jannah, in
the companionship of our beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. Ameen Ameen