Rights and responsibilities to others
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 2 · The School
Duties that are owed, not offered
Islamic teaching frames much of ethics as HUQUQ. That means rights which other people hold over you. Parents have rights over you. So does a neighbour. So does a guest, a traveller, an employee and an orphan. Framing it this way changes the tone. The Prophet ﷺ spoke very strongly about a person whose neighbour does not feel safe from their harm (Bukhari 6016). Kindness to a neighbour is strongly urged. Scholars differ on how far some kinds of help are required. Al-Qurtubi records one example: letting a neighbour fix a beam into your wall. Malik and Abu Hanifa said this is recommended, not a must. Al-Shafi'i and Ahmad said it is required.
Neighbours, whoever they are
The teaching on neighbours is emphatic. Al-Qurtubi says the advice about neighbours covers a neighbour who is Muslim or not. He calls this the sound view. The Quran says Allah does not forbid dealing kindly and justly with those who have not fought you over your faith or driven you out of your homes [60:8]. In Madinah, historical practice bound the city's different communities by agreement. Teaching this accurately means two things. Do not overstate the harmony. And do not pretend the conflicts did not happen.
Where scholars differ
Many obligations have details. How much? To whom? In what circumstances? On these, qualified scholars have reached different conclusions. Those differences are recorded rather than hidden. This lesson does not settle them, and it is not a ruling. Anyone who needs an answer for their own situation should ask a qualified scholar, who can hear the particulars.
Here is an imagined case. It is nearly midnight when Amelia's family hear a knock. Their neighbour, Mrs Okafor, has locked herself out in the cold. She is not Muslim. The family do not ask about that first. They think of the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said that Jibril kept urging him about the neighbour, until he thought the neighbour would be made an heir (Bukhari 6014). Ibn al-Uthaymin explained that this wording shows how strongly Jibril urged it. In his commentary on Bukhari, Ibn Hajar wrote that the word neighbour includes a Muslim and a non-Muslim. So the family bring her in, make her a hot drink and ring a locksmith. By one o'clock the locksmith has opened her door. Mrs Okafor is safe at home.