Some Words Regarding Al-Jaar "The Neighbors"

Some Words Regarding Al-Jaar "The Neighbors"

Verily all praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, we seek His aid and we ask His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allaah from the evil of our selves and from the evil of our own actions. Whosoever Allaah guides, then none can misguide him, and whosoever Allaah misguides then there is none that can guide him. I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and final Messenger, may Allaah’s Prayers of Peace and Blessing be upon him.

To proceed after that brief introduction:

The issue of neighbors is of interest and concern to all and in Islaam, the neighbors are held in a very high esteem, unlike in other systems of ethics and man-made laws. Indeed these others systems encourage people to disrespect their neighbors, so that it becomes easy to infringe upon their honor, abuse or harm them.

Allaah the Exalted and Most High said:

“Worship Allaah alone and do not associate any partners with Him (in singling Him out with all worship), and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-Masaakeen (the poor), wal-Jaari dhil-Qurbaa (the neighbor who is near of kin), wal- jaaril-Junoob (the neighbor who is a stranger) the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and what your right hand possessions, Verily Allaah does not like such as those who are arrogant and boastful.”

  [Surah An-Nisaa’ 4:36]

As for the neighbor, Allaah the most High has order us, in His book and through the tongue of His Prophet, to protect him, to respect him, his (or her) rights and to care about his welfare. Do you not see that Hesubhaanah, has mentioned the neighbor after the Tawheed, parents and close relatives, for He subhaanah says, “al-Jaari dhil-Qurbaa”–neighbors who are near meaning those who are (Qareeb) related to you “wal- jaaril-Junoob” –meaning those who are not related to you (Ghareeb). This is the statement of Ibn Abbaas. [Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr said “At-Tabaree reported it with hasan isnad.” (Al-Fathul-Baari 10/441)]

In the Arabic language, the word junoob is defined as: “Fulaanun Ajnabiyun” (a stranger), and the related word janaabah means: “Al-Bu’du” (distance in relationship).

The scholars of the Arabic language said,

“Falaa tahrimnnee Naa’ilaan ‘an janaabatin,

 fa’innee amru’oon wasta al-qibaabi ghareeb.”

“Do not prevent me from seeing (my Muslim brother) Naa’il because ofjanaabah (not being related to him), for indeed I’m a man who is in the midst of a crowd that is ghareeb (strange or filled with strangers).”

The Arab poet Al-Ash’aree said:

“Ataytu Huraythan ‘an janaabatin,

fakaana Huraythun ‘an ‘ataa’iya jaamidaa.”

“I came to visit Hurayth in spite of janaabah (not being related to him), but Hurayth refused to give me anything [because of not being related].

Imaam Al-Qurtubee rahimahullaah, said:

“On this basis, concern for neighbors is a religious duty, regardless of whether they are Muslim or kaafir (non-Muslim) and this is the saheeh(correct) opinion.”

Al-Ihsaan (doing good) consoling him, treating him kindly, refraining from disturbing him and defending him.

Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr rahimahullaah, said:

“Al-Jaarul-Qareeb means those who are related by blood, and al-Jaarul-Junoob means those who are not related. This is the saying of the majority, others have said that jaarul-qareeb refers to Muslims and jaarul-junoobrefers to non-Muslims, or that Jaarul-Qareeb means one’s wife and Jaarul-Junoob refers to one’s traveling companions.” [Al-Fathul-Baari (10/441)]

Our beloved Prophet (ﺳﻠﻢ ﻮ ﻋﻠﻳﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ ) forbade causing harm to the neighbors and advised the Muslims with treating them well, as he said,“He will not enter Paradise whose neighbor is not safe from his bad behavior.” And this is a serious threatening warning against causing harm to one’s neighbor whether Muslim or non-Muslim.

As for treating them well, Allaah’s Messenger (ﺳﻠﻢ ﻮ ﻋﻠﻳﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ ) said,“Jibreel  (The Angel Gabriel -may Allaah’s peace and protection be upon him) kept recommending me to treat my neighbor well and politely until I thought that he would command me to make him one of my heirs.”

Also in another authentic Prophetic narration which proves that refraining from harming one’s neighbors is a part of Eemaan (true faith), the Messenger of Allaah (ﺳﻠﻢ ﻮ ﻋﻠﻳﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ ) said: “Whoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbor.”

Disputes and feuds between neighbors regularly occur, and a bad neighbor is something to be dreaded, whilst a good one is as the saying goes, “worth his (or her) weight of gold!” But neighbor problems are nothing new, however much we may “go back to the good old days”, when people could leave their doors un-locked, it is still a fact that people have always been concerned both about what kind of neighbor they have, how they should relate to those who live closest to them.

The rights of neighbors do not entail only refraining from disturbing them, we should also put with their disturbance; be kind to them; be the ones to initiate good deeds; be the first to greet a neighbor; not to prolong disputes; visit them when they are sick; console them in times of sadness and congratulate them in times of happiness; forgive them their short-comings; not to stare into their house; not to upset them by leaning wood against their wall; not to pour away water in their gutter, not throw dirt or filth into their courtyard; not to stare at whatever they carry into their house; conceal whatever of private matters they may inadvertently reveal; not to eavesdrop on their conversations; not look at their female relatives; take care of their family’s needs when they may be absent; not to disturb their servants; be kind to their children; and guide them in religious or worldly matters of which they may have little knowledge of and the likes of these from noble manners.

But modern civilization, which is founded on materialism does not care for good principles and behavior. It has made man into a machine, going along in life’s orbit deaf and without feelings, playing the role laid down for him devoid of noble feelings or higher human principles.

No one can escape from his (or her) own monstrosity or deformity except for those whose souls are deeply rooted in religious principles and whose hearts are illuminated with true knowledge of Allaah azza wa jall, or those who live on the margins of society far away from the centers of materialistic civilizations, such as farmers, shepherds, and the people of the desert areas.

Among the noble principles which have been destroyed virtually world-wide by materialistic civilization, are the rights which people have over one another.

Among the most important of these rights are those which have been mentioned above, namely the rights of neighbors.

As respect for the neighbors was so important both during the jaahiliyyah(time of ignorance before Islaam) and when Islaam came, [it followed that this is a matter of] common sense and decency, as well as being required by Deen.

More to come inshaa'Allaahu ta'aalaa........