Courtesy to the Neighbour

On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good things or keep silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his [travelling] visitor.” (Recorded in al-Bukhari and Muslim).

“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbour.”

Here we can illustrated the relationship between belief in Allah, the Last Day and how one treats one’s neighbour. SubhanAllah, how complete the religion of Islam is. There is nothing that is not taken into account. If we believe in Allah and the coming of the Last Day, then we must treat our neighbour well.

Being courteous and generous to our neighbours includes helping them when they need assistance, visiting them when they are ill, checking on their welfare, being kind to them in speech etc. This would also include guiding them to what is best even if they are non-Muslims. In this case, the obligation of dawah would fall upon us.

Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah place a great emphasis on treating one’s neighbour well. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an:

“Worship Allah and join none with Him in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor who beg, the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a non-relative, the companion by your side, the wayfarer and what your right hands possess. Verily Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful.” (Surah al-Nisaa:36)

We can see in this verse that Allah (swt) has combined His rights with the rights people over one another. Each holds its own importance and the obligations must be met to perfect our practice of Islam and to earn the highest reward on the Day of Judgement.  

Let’s ask ourselves if we are treating our neighbours with their due respect, and if not, if there is anything we could do to remedy the situation? Can you think of an act of kindness that you could do to earn then pleasure of your neighbour? If we do it seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt) then, by His (swt) grace, we should find our reward on the Day that matters most .