Hadees 10 — Al-Waṣāh bi-l-Jār — the Rights of the Neighbour الْوَصَاةُ بِالْجَارِ

1 · Where we are #

• Still in Kitāb al-Adab of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, continuing in book order from raḥmat an-nās wa-l-bahāʾim in Lesson 9, which closed on man lā yarḥam lā yurḥam.
• Now the neighbour. You met the neighbour's trust once already, in Lesson 7, through the third of the greatest sins (zinā with the neighbour's wife); here the neighbour is the subject itself.
• These ḥadīths are familiar ones — heard often in khuṭbahs and talks. The point of studying them is to take them seriously.

The seven ḥadīths:

2 · The chapter heading #

Al-waṣāh bi-l-jār — "The counsel about the neighbour."

Waṣāh (like waṣiyyah) is counsel, a charge laid on someone. The chapter is about the counsel of Rasūlullāh ﷺ to do good to the one who lives next to you — the jār.

3 · Ḥadīth 1 — Jibrīl's counsel about the neighbour #

Mā zāla Jibrīlu yūṣīnī bi-l-jāri ḥattā ẓanantu annahu sa-yuwarrithuh.

"Jibrīl kept on counselling me about the neighbour, until I thought he would make him an heir."

Narrated by ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā.

The force of it: the neighbour was never made an heir — but the counsel was repeated so often that the Prophet ﷺ thought he would be. That is the weight of the neighbour's right.

4 · "Neighbour" is general #

• The ḥadīth says jār — not jār al-muslim, not jār al-muʾmin. The same is true of the other neighbour ḥadīths.
• It is like the Qur'an's use of miskīn and yatīm: the Qur'an speaks of the miskīn in many places and never as "a Muslim miskīn". The word is left general, and so is the duty.
• So the neighbour may be a non-Muslim — a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist — and his right must still be given.
• The Jewish neighbour. A Companion had an animal slaughtered in his house, and asked his household whether they had sent some of it to "that neighbour" — and that neighbour was a Jew. He did it because of the Prophet's ﷺ counsel about the neighbour.

5 · The neighbour's claims on you #

A neighbour can hold more than one claim on you:

One who is neither a relative nor a Muslim still has the third right, and it is a duty on us. Wronging a Muslim is a sin; wronging any person is a sin — the sin of injustice to a neighbour does not depend on his religion.

In practice: when there is a wedding or a function at home, invite the neighbour; if you cannot invite him, send him food.

6 · Who is your neighbour? #

The word jār reaches beyond the house next door. Anyone near you is a neighbour, and each has a right — not to be disturbed, to be helped, to be visited when ill:

• the person beside you on a park bench;
• the patient in the next bed in hospital;
• the colleague at the next desk at work;
• the person in the next seat on a bus or a train — which is why talking loudly on the phone about your office and your business, while he is trying to sleep on an early-morning journey, wrongs a neighbour.

7 · Ḥadīth 2 — the one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm #

The next chapter's heading carries al-Bukhārī's own verdict: the sin of the one whose neighbour is not safe from his harms. Al-Bukhārī puts his understanding of a ḥadīth into his chapter headings — here the heading says outright that such a man is a sinner.

Wallāhi lā yuʾmin, wallāhi lā yuʾmin, wallāhi lā yuʾmin. Qīla: wa-man yā Rasūlallāh? Qāla: alladhī lā yaʾmanu jāruhu bawāʾiqah.

"By Allah, he does not believe; by Allah, he does not believe; by Allah, he does not believe." It was said: "Who, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "The one whose neighbour is not safe from his harms."

8 · What lā yuʾmin means #

• It does not mean the man has no īmān at all. He believes in Allah and in the Hereafter.
• The ḥadīth is about maẓāhir al-īmān — the outward signs of īmān. Many ḥadīths name such signs; honouring the guest is another.
• So a man whose neighbour fears him is missing the outward expression of īmān, whatever is in his heart.
• The positive side: honouring the neighbour, doing good to him, helping him and not troubling him — that is the manifestation of īmān.

9 · Disturbance in the name of religion #

A man of īmān does not disturb people — and that includes disturbance made in religion's name:

• a loudspeaker carrying recitation over a residential street early on a Sunday morning, when families are resting;
• the neighbours of a masjid, who live with whatever the masjid broadcasts;
• a radio or a TV played loudly, or noise of any kind;
• remember who may be next door: someone sick, someone elderly, someone with a difficulty.

Wallāhi lā yuʾmin — this is not a manifestation of īmān.

10 · Ḥadīth 3 — let no woman belittle a gift to her neighbour #

The chapter heading is the ḥadīth's own words: lā taḥqiranna jāratun li-jāratihā.

Yā nisāʾa l-muslimāt, lā taḥqiranna jāratun li-jāratihā wa-law firsina shāh.

"O Muslim women, let no woman belittle [what she gives] to her neighbour, even if it is a sheep's hoof."

• Even if it is only a sheep's hoof, she should not hold back from giving it because it is small — and the one who receives it should not think little of it either. The ḥadīth binds both sides.
• A gift is a token of love. A little of the curry you cooked, a little of a sweet, a cup of kanji: it strengthens maḥabbah between two households.
• A small good brings a big good. No good is too small to be seen by Allah.
• Why the women are addressed: in practice it is the women who give and receive these things between houses.

11 · Ḥadīth 4 — let him not harm his neighbour #

Man kāna yuʾminu billāhi wa-l-yawmi l-ākhiri fa-lā yuʾdhi jārah.

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not harm his neighbour."

Narrated by Abū Hurayrah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu.

• Give the neighbour peace; do not trouble him.
• It is the same teaching as §8 from the other side: a man who believes in Allah and the Last Day will not harm his neighbour. Not harming him is a manifestation of īmān.
• Its opposite is not only harm but cold distance — neighbours who never speak and keep their doors shut.

12 · Ḥadīth 5 — honour the neighbour and the guest #

Samiʿat udhunāya wa-abṣarat ʿaynāya ḥīna takallama n-Nabiyyu ﷺ fa-qāl: man kāna yuʾminu billāhi wa-l-yawmi l-ākhiri fal-yukrim jārah, wa-man kāna yuʾminu billāhi wa-l-yawmi l-ākhiri fal-yukrim ḍayfahu jāʾizatah. Qāla: wa-mā jāʾizatuhu yā Rasūlallāh? Qāla: yawmun wa-laylah.

"My two ears heard and my two eyes saw when the Prophet ﷺ spoke and said: 'Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his neighbour. And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his guest with his jāʾizah.' He was asked: 'And what is his jāʾizah, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'A day and a night.'"

Narrated by Abū Shurayḥ al-ʿAdawī.

The class's explanation of jāʾizah was not recorded.

Honouring the neighbour in practice: do not wrong him; help him; visit him when he is ill; attend the janāzah when there is a death in his house; greet him when you meet.

13 · Ḥadīth 6 — two neighbours: whose door is nearer #

Qultu: yā Rasūlallāh, inna lī jārayni fa-ilā ayyihimā uhdī? Qāla: ilā aqrabihimā minki bābā.

"I said: O Messenger of Allah, I have two neighbours; to which of them should I give a gift?" He said: "To the one whose door is nearer to you."

Narrated by ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā.

• If you can give to both, give to both.
• If you can give to only one, give to the one whose door is nearest.
• With two, three or more neighbours, the rule is the same: the nearest first.

14 · Ḥadīth 7 — every Muslim owes a ṣadaqah #

Ṣadaqah is not only money, as people think; it is a wide word. Every good deed is a ṣadaqah, and removing a stone or a thorn from a path, where it could hurt people, is a ṣadaqah.

The ladder, step by step:

• Malhūf is the one who is stricken and destitute. People hit by floods, cyclones and landslides are exactly the malhūf: help them at once, with your body as well as your money. Coming with your own hands to clean a flooded house can matter more than sending money alone.
• The last step is the floor, and it ties back to the neighbour: if a man can do nothing else, living without wronging or disturbing anyone — at home, on the bus, wherever he is — is itself a ṣadaqah.

15 · Good manners are the door to daʿwah #

• These ḥadīths say one thing: honour the neighbour, do good to him, and do not harm him — and "neighbour" means anyone near you.
• This is a matter of daʿwah. Big programmes and classes have their place, but good manners toward the people around us are the real door. The chapter of manners, bāb al-akhlāq, is a very large opening for daʿwah where Muslims live among others.
• Wronging neighbours gives a wrong picture of Islam. Where people come to think of Islam as a religion that disturbs others, Muslims correct it by their conduct, not by argument.

Wa-innaka la-ʿalā khuluqin ʿaẓīm — "And indeed you are of a great moral character." It is not about talking and preaching: what character do we have? Giving people a clear understanding of this religion through how we live is the real programme of daʿwah.

16 · What to carry out of this lesson #

1. Mā zāla Jibrīlu yūṣīnī bi-l-jār — the neighbour's right was pressed so often that the Prophet ﷺ thought the neighbour would inherit.
2. Jār is general. A non-Muslim neighbour has the neighbour's right in full.
3. Anyone near you is a neighbour — the next seat, the next bed, the next desk.
4. Lā yaʾmanu jāruhu bawāʾiqah — if your neighbour is not safe from you, the outward sign of your īmān is missing. That includes noise made in religion's name.
5. No gift is too small, and none is to be sniffed at — wa-law firsina shāh.
6. Do not harm him (Ḥadīth 4); honour him (Ḥadīth 5). The guest's jāʾizah is a day and a night.
7. Two neighbours? The nearer door first.
8. ʿAlā kulli muslimin ṣadaqah — and when you can do nothing else, holding back from harm is your ṣadaqah.
9. Your manners are your daʿwah.