The Duty Towards Neighbours.

The Duty towards Neighbours.

Ibn Abdallah.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful;

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, May Allah blessings and peace be upon His Messenger.

It is duty as a Muslim to honour their neighbours and give their due rights. Failing to perform such a duty thus one had missed an important obligation as a believer. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) encouraged people to be kind to their neighbours and to honour them. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam said:

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honour his neighbours." [Al-Bukhari]; and in a similar Hadith, he (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: "… should be kind to his neighbours." [Muslim].

 

A neighbor is someone who lives in the same neighborhood as you; he could be a friend, but does not necessarily have to be one. The definition of a neighbor can have various meanings; for example, it can refer to someone who lives directly beside you, as the Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: "One must not prevent his neighbor from placing his wood against his wall." [Al-Bukhari].

However, it can also refer to someone living further away, since the Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: "No obligatory Solāh (prayer) is accepted from a neighbor of the Masjid (mosque) except if it is offered in the Masjid."

Scholars differ over who is considered a neighbor. Some scholars are of the opinion that a neighbor is one who shares the same Masjid or social meeting place, while some are of the opinion that whoever prays Fajar in the same congregation is considered your neighbor.

Others say that whoever lives in the same area or district is your neighbor, and yet others are of the opinion that neighbours are determined by tradition, whoever is traditionally considered to be your neighbor is one.

The rights that your neighbours have over you depends on whether they are immediate or distant, whether they are related or not, and also whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.

A. Immediate neighbours to whom one is related and who are Muslims, have three sets of rights:

1. The rights of a neighbor.

2. The rights of relationship.

3. The rights afforded to them as fellow Muslims.

B. Immediate neighbours who are Muslims have two sets or rights:

1. The rights of a neighbor.

2. The rights of a fellow Muslim.

C. Finally, immediate neighbours to whom one is related and who are not Muslims have two sets of rights:

1. The rights of a neighbor.

2. The rights of relationship.

It is also important to note here that an immediate neighbor takes preference over a distant neighbor, and a distant neighbor takes preference over people who are not neighbours.

The Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) encouraged people to be kind to their neighbours and to honour them. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honour his neighbours." [Al-Bukhari]; and in a similar Hadith, he (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam)  said: "… should be kind to his neighbours." [Muslim].

The Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam) took a neighbor’s comments as a reflection of that person's character -- be they good or bad. He also took the words of praise as a sign that the people were good in all their actions, and words of criticism that they were bad in all their actions. Basically, how you treat your neighbor reflects directly on your own personal character and how you deal with everyone in business and personal relations.

The Rights of your Neighbor

1. People must not behave on their property in such a way that it has an adverse effect on their neighbor; such as building windows which overlook a neighbor’s property, or digging a well next to their neighbor’s well so that it deprives their neighbor’s well of water. The proof for this is the words of the Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam): "No harm and no compulsion". [At-Tirmidzi].

This ruling is from the Maliki school of jurisprudence and was supported by Ibn Taimiyyah (Rahimallah) who said: "It is forbidden to build a stable for housing animals next to or adjoining your neighbor’s house, because of the animals' urine and feces, and their continuous movements, during the day and night, would prevent people from sleeping. Likewise, you should not build a mill or bellows (for a blacksmith) or anything like that.”

Present day examples would include machines and equipment that emit disturbing noises. If people do anything on their property that is disturbing or harmful to their neighbours, then they must remove the cause of the disturbance.

2. It is permissible for people to build a house on their own property, even up against their neighbor’s wall -- but only if they have no other choice and only if their neighbor is not harmed by it in any way. Even in such cases, they should still ask their neighbor’s permission beforehand.

If they are denied permission, their neighbor may be legally compelled to grant them permission by the proper authorities. The proof for this is in a Hadith related by Abu Hurairah (Radiallāhu`anhu) who said that the Prophet (Sallallāhu `Alayhi Wa Sallam), said: "You must not prevent your neighbor from putting his wood on your wall." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

3. If the flow of water becomes blocked on a farm, perhaps due to wastefulness and subsequently bursts out, causing damage to neighboring farms, the neighbours may come up with proposals to channel or dam the water and irrigate the farm. If the wasteful farmer refuses to comply with them, the ruling is the same as in the following case of a damaged wall.

4. If a wall between two properties is damaged, the owners of one property can ask the owners of the other to participate in rebuilding it. If they refuse, they can be compelled to do so. Likewise, they can be compelled to help demolish the wall if it is expected to collapse.

5. The owners of the highest buildings in an area must construct screens to prevent themselves from overlooking their neighbor’s properties. Likewise, whoever wishes to utilize their roof should make sure that they cannot see into their neighbor’s properties and erect a screen for this purpose if necessary.

6. Whoever owns some property, but cannot reach it without causing damage to a neighbor’s property is forbidden to cause the damage. Instead, the authorities should endeavour to arrange matters in a way that prevents harm to either party.

Thus, even though our neighbours may be Muslim or non-Muslims -- each are equally entitled to their rights according to our religion. Sometimes we may find it hard to reach out to our non-Muslim neighbours, but it is an obligation upon us, and it can also be one of the best forms of Da’awah we can give.

[Excerpted with some modification from the Al-Jumu’ah - Vol. 14 - Issue: 6; Via Islam Web]