Tariq Ramadan – Chronicles of Ramadan #10 The Neighbours

Peace be with you.

We talked about

listening to oneself and listening to the people

around us, our family,

our parents, our children.

And still there is something which is important

in the our teachings

in the Islamic teachings, has to do with

our neighbors.

And it's so important that and the prophet,

peace be upon him, alaihis salatu wasalam, was

so much

insisting on this that the companions understood that

he was going to say that they can

inherit

from,

their neighbor, and they can,

and they will be

heirs in the in the reality of our

faith. So they are important. And we come

to,

understand Islam. If you look at the

second practical

pillar of Islam, the zakat, you have to,

spend it. And as we are fasting and

there is a zakat, Ramadhan,

you have to give the money just in

your neighborhood. You have to look at the

people around you.

With our

life today and, you know, the,

communications

and the means of communication,

it's as if we are

connected to the world. So we are very

quick to be very emotional about what is

happening around the world and very neglectful

about the people around us, and this is

something

which is part of the spiritual journey is

look at yourself. Yes. Look at your family,

but you can look at your neighborhood and

the people who are close to you.

That's

an essential part of the way you are

going to repair

the social

fabric, the social reality around

with your neighbor.

And the prophet, peace be upon him, alaihis

salatu wasalam, said he has not

completed

his faith. The one who can sleep at

peace

while his neighbor

is starving

and is facing,

social realities and bad realities.

That's something which

tells you so much

about the fact that you should

show concern

about the people around you, about your neighbor,

and you have to repair this relationship.

It's out of a smile,

out of,

the way you deal with them because you

know that sometimes just near to you, in

the flat,

near to you, in your And

sometimes

we

remain

silent. Our And sometimes we remain silent,

or,

we do as if

or we react in a way as if

we haven't seen anything as if it's not

us.

And we are confusing between, yes,

you should not

ask too much,

but we should show concern about the reality

of the people,

and the neighbors

are part of your spiritual journey. And the

last question that you have to ask yourself

is why god? Why Allah

has put them on your way close to

you.

This is the true question

because at the end of the day,

there is no

accident in the fact that out of their

presence,

in what they give, and in which way

they are disturbing your daily life, there is

a meaning that you have to get.

Don't forget to tell the people you love

that you love them. Life is fragile.