Sikander Hashmi – Be Good to Your Neighbour KMA Friday Message
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AI: Transcript ©
Respected elders, my dear brothers and sisters, my
friends,
Assalamu alaikumu rahmatullahi ta'ala wabarakatuh.
For a few moments, my brothers and sisters,
I would like you to think
about your home country.
Now I know this may not apply to
every single person,
but
for most people they are able to think
of a country where they have roots, either
where they have come from or where perhaps
their parents
had roots.
Imagine in your country,
there is a group of foreigners
who are immigrating and they are settling in
your country.
They are different from everyone who is in
your country right now.
They
speak a different language.
They practice a different religion.
They wear sometimes different clothing.
And some of their manners and things that
they do and that they believe are very
different than what you are used to in
your society, in your country.
When such people start coming
and settling in your country,
and
then
there are
some challenges that arise. Now the challenges may
be because of them or may not be
because of them. Yet there are challenges.
And the challenges are associated with them because
you see, when there are problems, human nature
is that we look to blame someone.
We look to point the finger at someone.
So crime increases in your country
and you start noticing names
that have to do with these people who
are coming and it sounds like them. And
you start seeing
things
happening, challenges occurring in society,
and you feel like and people feel like
it is this group of people who are
causing these challenges and these troubles.
What would be the reaction
of
your community, your society, people in your country
to these foreigners?
And I asked this question because I had
a very interesting conversation once,
you know, sitting with a group of good
brothers, and we were just talking about some
home
countries, similar thing as I described.
But it was actually about
a group of people,
same circumstances as I described.
And
the conversation
turned towards
why this group of people, even though they
are Muslim and it was a Muslim country,
are have become a burden on society,
and why perhaps they should no longer come,
and why they need to be dealt with.
And at that moment, I said, Well, hold
on. Hold on a second. Hold on a
second. Let's pause here.
Because the same conversation could happen about us
here.
The exact same conversation would apply to Muslims
in this country.
When others, the majority look at us and
say, These are the people who are strange.
These are the people who speak a different
language. These are the people who practice differently,
and they are coming. And
when crimes occur, many times we see Muhammad
and Abdullah as the suspects,
as the criminals.
When we see we drive by and we
see disorderly conduct, it is these people who
are doing it.
They are the ones whose children are having
fights in school and creating gangs. And it's
not just
us, others as well.
But the focus and attention is on us.
So the same conversation can happen about us.
My point, my brothers and sisters, are mentioning
this
is that despite
these natural feelings that can occur,
when we
find that people are still being fair,
they are still
not lashing out generally,
they are still being kind, or at the
very least they are not going out of
the out of their way to be rude.
That means there is some goodness inside of
them.
It means that there is some goodness inside
of them because the natural tendency of a
person,
human tendency is
to think of the other, to blame the
other, to sideline the other, to shut down
the other, to look down upon the other.
That is the natural tendency. So when a
person is not doing that, it means that
there is some goodness inside of them
which is giving them pause, which is forcing
them or compelling them to be fair, and
not to brush everyone with to paint everyone
with the same brush.
My brothers and sisters, when we see this
goodness, this goodness needs to be recognized.
This goodness needs to be
recognized and appreciated.
1st and foremost, we must be grateful to
Allah
That Allah
has put us amongst people
who are fair minded. Alhamdulillah. For the most
part, you will always find some people who
are ignorant everywhere. Right? In some places, you
will find many who are ignorant. But alhamdulillah,
we find a few who are ignorant,
but the vast majority that we deal with,
Alhamdulillah,
to be fair minded people. Right? When this
masjid was being built and when the application
was going through, it is actually common in
many places,
in non Muslim countries, to have great opposition
to the building of masajid,
to have great opposition. And by the way,
nowadays that opposition is not even coming from
locals, from people who are already settled here.
It is coming with, it is coming from
others who have also imported this hatred to
this country as well. It wasn't always like
that.
In any case, alhamdulillah,
we did not face any challenges of that
sort. There are people, they came and they
visited. They are not Muslim. Okay. They are
not from any of our countries.
Okay. They are they have been raised here,
born here, have been here for generation or
2 or even more. And they came and
they said, told me 1 lady, she told
me my face. She said, you know, I'm
very happy to see this place,
that you're doing building this mosque here. And
there were a few people who were going
around trying to cause trouble, trying to have
a petition signed against you, or to create
some sort of movement against the mosque. And
I said, No.
This lady, she's telling me, she's not Muslim.
She said, I said, no.
They should be allowed.
Just like everyone has, their place of worship,
they should be allowed. And I'm not going
to sign you with this petition. I'm not
going to participate with you, and they need
to be allowed to
have their place of worship,
have their masjid, and this project should go
ahead. So,
Alhamdulillah,
Allah has blessed us with many good people
in this neighborhood. And the reality is in
the city as well, we find
many people with good hearts who are very
fair minded. Now brothers and sisters,
whether our neighbors are good or whether our
neighbors are bad,
our deen, the deen of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala puts great emphasis on the rights of
the neighbor. Mujahid
he narrated that a sheep was slaughtered for
Abdullah ibn Amr
by a member of his family. And when
he came,
he said, did you give some to our
Jewish neighbor? He kept asking this, did you
give some to our Jewish neighbor? Did you
give some to our Jewish neighbor? Give what?
From the sheep that was slaughtered.
A sheep that was slaughtered for food, for
his family, for his household. He says, Did
you give some to our neighbor, the neighbor
who was Jewish?
And then he goes on, he said, For
I heard the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam saying
that,
That Jibril
Angel Jibril alaihis salam kept urging me to
treat neighbors kindly until I thought that he
would make neighbors
heirs.
Meaning,
he emphasized the prophet
said
that Jibril
emphasized the rights of the neighbors so much.
And kept emphasizing kind treatment of neighbors.
Until I thought that he would make meaning
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the command would
come that your neighbor has a share in
your inheritance. Can you imagine?
You pass away and then your neighbor has
a share in your inheritance. That's not the
sharia. That does not happen. So it's okay.
You can relax. But
this is how much it was emphasized to
the prophet
The prophet
he linked the treatment of the neighbors with
belief
in Allah in the last
day.
He who believes in Allah and the last
day should treat his neighbor
well.
And similar narration,
He who believes that Allah in the last
day must not
do his neighbor any harm.
So treat good
and Well, first of all, don't cause any
harm and treat your neighbor well. This is
from
the salient qualities of the believers who believe
in Allah and in the last day.
Abu Hurayna
reported that a man said, You Rasulullah,
so and so praise.
O Messenger of Allah, such and such person
prays,
fast, gives charity often,
but she harms her neighbor with her sharp
tongue.
How does she harm her neighbor? Not by
throwing stones,
not by walking through their property, not by
stealing things from them, just through her sharp
tongue. The messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa
Salam said,
she will be in the * fire. May
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.
And then
the prophet
was asked, the man said, oh messenger of
Allah,
so and so prays,
fast and gives in charity very little,
does very little of the good deeds of
and acts of worship. But
she does give some cheese and she does
not harm her neighbor with her tongue.
So she gives
some food to her neighbor and she does
not harm the neighbor. The prophet
said,
and she will be in Jannah. Insha'Allah.
So my brothers and sisters, we should not
underestimate
the importance
of treating others well, especially our neighbors.
And this is all by the way of
regardless of who they are and what they
are like. Because sometimes you might be thinking,
well, okay, they are afar or they are
this, they are that, or they are you
know, fasih, or they follow this ideology, or
they do this, they practice this, they practice
that, they eat, they eat this, and they
drink that.
He writes in his celebrated commentary,
that the term neighbor
includes Muslims and non Muslims. And then he
goes on. He doesn't stop there.
The pious
and the impious.
The friend
and foe and
the foreigners
and the locals.
The helpful
and the hurtful.
The
relatives and strangers.
And the closest home, and the furthest homes
in the neighborhood.
So what does that tell us? It tells
us then when we get these injunctions, these
teachings about neighbors, my brothers and sisters,
it includes everyone who is around us.
Everyone that Allah
has put around us. Yes, includes the Muslim,
and includes
the kaafir, and includes
the pious, the impious, the friend, the foe,
the foreigner, the local, the helpful, the hurtful,
the relative, the stranger,
the closest home, and the furthest home. They
are all your neighbors in the neighborhood, and
they all have rights upon you.
The prophet
also taught us care and concern
for our neighbors.
That in the prophet
saying,
That he is not a believer.
Me, he who sleeps with
a full belly.
Sleeps with
a full belly while his neighbor, he knows
that his neighbor is hungry.
He can't be a true believer.
He goes to sleep comfortably
knowing that his neighbor is hungry. If he
doesn't know that's, you know, a separate discussion.
If a person knows the neighbor is struggling
and his neighbor is hungry and he's still
able to go to sleep,
he's not a believer.
All of these teachings, my brothers and sisters,
they stem from the verse of the Quran
where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us,
First of all, worship Allah and associate nothing
with him.
And do Ihsan, treat your parents with Ihsan,
do good to your parents.
Masamanu Wa Ta'ala goes on says, And to
relatives,
and to orphans,
and to the needy, and to the near
neighbor, and the neighbor who is
further away,
the companion at your side.
And
the traveler. Allah emphasizing
good treatment for everyone. But if you notice
that there is different
types of neighbors that are mentioned in different
ways in this ayah.
Right? The near neighbor, the neighbor who is
further away.
And,
the prophet explained this as also as those
who are, you know, close more close to
you in relation and those who are further
from you in relation as well. But you
can also understand it as the near neighbor,
the neighbor who is further away, and the
companion at your side. Meaning not just the
people who are living around you, but the
person who is sitting beside you, the person
who perhaps is driving beside you, the person
who is in the next cubicle beside you
at work, the classmate who is sitting beside
you, the classmate sitting around you in the
classroom.
Every single person
has a right upon you by virtue of
being in your company,
by virtue of being in our company as
believers.
The iman of the believer is so strong,
should be so strong, the Islam should be
so strong that its positive effects are felt
by everyone who comes
in our company. Anybody who comes
around us,
anybody who comes around this masjid should feel
something about iman and Islam in this neighborhood.
Every person who comes around your home should
feel
something about iman and Islam
around your home.
Everyone who comes around your car should feel
something the same way when you're driving. So
every single
place,
spot where we find ourselves,
there should be some positive
impact
from our iman in Islam that emanates from
us, and benefits,
and
helps
those who are around us. May Allah
make us capable of doing this.
It is known that we don't always have
the best relations
with everyone. Happens within family members, happens with
neighbors as well.
If that happens my brothers and sisters, we
are taught not to reciprocate with negativity.
Hasan Basri
he said,
That being a good neighbor is not
by refraining from harming.
Being a good neighbor is not just from
refraining from harming, rather being a good neighbor
is to bear the harm.
And the same thing we learn about silatulrahm
as well. Now when it comes to upholding
the ties of kinship,
if someone does good to you, a relative,
and you do good to them,
there's nothing special in that. You are simply
reciprocating the good that they have done to
you. The notable
thing is if they are bad to you,
but you are still good to them. And
the same applies to neighbors as well. If
the neighbor is good to you and you
are good to them, he takes out your
garbage, you take out his garbage. He shovels
the driveway for you one day, you do
it for him one day. You know, he
mows your lawn one day, you mow the
lawn. You're just reciprocating.
Yes, it's good. I'm not saying it's bad.
But there's nothing special about that. He's good.
You're good. You're tit for tat, you know,
back and forth.
Okay? But the real notable thing is, if
the neighbor is bad, but you still try
to be good. You still bear the harm
and you try to take the higher road,
this is what we should be aiming for,
my brothers and sisters.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said as related by Abi Shuray Abu Shuray
radiAllahu
Alaihi
Wasallam.
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying by Allah he
does not have faith.
Was does not have faith. By Allah he
does not have faith and he does it
3 three times.
And he was said, who is it? You
Rasulullah.
Who is it?
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam saying that,
who is this? The one whose neighbor is
not safe from his harm.
Prophet
telling us that it is inappropriate, it is
unfathomable
that a
believer,
a mumin
harms
his or her neighbor. Right? This is not
something which is
acceptable
in any way. So my brothers and sisters,
let us do a few things. So number
1, you know, let us ensure that we
do not harm our neighbors in any way.
We do not annoy them in any way.
You know, this could be our own personal
neighbors around our home. You know, especially nowadays,
many of the homes are close together. You
know, sometimes the noise can travel.
You know, other times, other things can cause
trouble to others. So let's try to actively
ensure we don't cause any trouble to any
of our neighbors, you know, and collectively as
a community for our Masjid neighbors as well.
And in Ramadan, we talked about, you know,
this neighbor and people are walking through their
property and they will not, they do not
like it, you know, so let's try to
be respectful
and ensure that we do not,
annoy or bother any of our neighbors or
anyone really, but especially our neighbors in any
way, number 1. And number 2, let us
try to find ways to go out of
our way to show kind kindness and reverence
and respect for our neighbors,
out of respect for the teachings of Allah
and his messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Yes.
Whether it is looking out for them when
they are sick, you know, when they have
some issue, them some trouble, checking up on
them, giving them gifts. Occasionally, it doesn't have
to be very expensive,
little
things can make a difference. So
let us try our best, Insha'Allah, to build
positive relationships.
Try to avoid polarizing discussions.
If you know you and your neighbor have
very polarizing opposite political views, don't talk about
it. You don't need to. K? Avoid the
discussion, you know, end it off with a
smile and laugh and, you know, just just
bury the discussion. Don't continue it. You know,
don't bring up religion unnecessarily if there is
something they don't want to talk about. If
they wanna talk about, sure. That's fine. But
if they don't wanna talk about it and
annoys them, don't do it. You know? So
just try to find ways to build good
and strong relationships
with your neighbors. The Prophet
said, The best companion to Allah is the
best to his companions,
and the best neighbor to Allah is the
best to his neighbors. Who does not want
to be a neighbor to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala? My brothers and sisters,
we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make
us the best of neighbors
so that we become the neighbor of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala in the hereafter.
Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us
the best neighbors as well in this life
and in the hereafter.
We take a break.