 My dear viewers, respected brothers and sisters, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. One of the factors that indeed enables the human being to live harmoniously in society is their relationship with their neighbour, with the people that are adjacent to them as far as their place of residence is concerned. The Qur'an, the teachings of the Holy Prophet and the Ahlul Bayt, peace and blessings be upon them, have not in under any circumstances ignored this issue, but rather have placed much emphasis to keep in the minds of believers the issue of looking at the responsibilities associated with being a good neighbour, and highlighting what needs to happen in order for us to take care of their neighbours and the position that they occupy as well. In the Holy Qur'an, Allah SWT, in Surah An-Nisa, chapter 4 verse 36 says, Wa'budullah wa la tushriku bihi shay'a wa bil walidain i'ahsana wa bil al-Qurba wa li-Yatama wa al-Masakeen, Allah says, Worship Him and do not associate anything with Him and be kind with their parents and virtuous as well as those who are relatives, the orphans, the poor, wa al-Jari al-Qurba wa al-Jari al-Junab, and the neighbours who are relatives and neighbours who are close by. Now, this is clear instructions not to take the matter of neighbours lightly. Allah says be kind, be generous, be magnanimous, be a good role model as far as the relationship with the neighbours is concerned. The narration of the Holy Prophet, Muhammad SAW says, Ma'zala jibreel yosini bil jar hatta zanantu anna hussayi warrithah, that jibreel kept emphasising the importance of the neighbour to the extent that I thought that they will be included amongst the inheritors and the ones who will be entitled to inheritance from the people. That was the importance. Ameer al-Mu'mineen, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Peace and Blessings be upon him and his progeny says, Allah Allah fi jirani kum fa innahum wasiyatu nabiyakum, that make sure that you look after your neighbours because they have been emphasised by the Prophet, Peace be upon him, in his wasiyah, or at least he has emphasised the need to look after them. In a beautiful narration in the book Makarim ul-Akhlaq, from the Holy Prophet, Muhammad SAW, hurmat ul-Jari' ala l-insan ke hurmat yu'ummeh, that the sacredness and the sanctity of the neighbour over the person is like that of the mother over the son. Such is the focus and notice the delicate comparison there. There was a man who was a neighbour of Imam al-Sadaq, alaihi salam, and he put up his house to be sold for 100,000 dirhams. And somebody asked him, but the value of the house is approximately 30,000. Why is it that you've raised it to such? He said, because my neighbour is Jafar al-Sadaq, and hence I've raised it to that level. Why? Because a neighbour like Imam al-Sadaq, alaihi salam, will treat anyone righteously with respect. Whatever has happened, you see the Imam, alaihi salam, forgiving and so on and so forth. And that's why the amount indeed was raised. Imam al-Sadaq himself says, husnul jawar yazidu fer-rezqa, being respectful and dutiful to neighbours increases sustenance. Husnul jawar yawammer al-diyar yazidu fer-al-ahmar, it helps with the prolonging of one's life. And the Qur'an tells us, you know, even there's a distinction between the jahar, the neighbour who is from the family, and the jahar who is not. The distinction is just that we know that the family comes first, but the one who is not, there's no specification whether they are Muslim or not, whether they are from a particular denomination or not. That's a key thing to understand, especially given this day and age whereby the reputation of Islam and Muslims is under scrutiny and that people have questioned, you know, the qualities of Muslims that they only see the negative side of Muslims. They don't see the positive as much, the media focuses by and large on the negativity associated with Islam. They have really looked at only a few individuals who have hijacked the teachings of the religion of Islam, and therefore, importantly, the role for the Muslim anywhere, especially in the West, becomes quite crucial, especially the image that they're giving to the non-Muslim neighbours. What kind of picture am I portraying of Islam, and especially as well the followers of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them. The Prophet of Islam is narrated to have said that من كامنا يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يؤذي جاره whomsoever believes in Allah on the Day of Judgment must not hurt their neighbour, and he was asked one day that there was a lady who performs her prayers and she fasts during the day and stays at night with Ibadah, but she deliberately and continuously torments and is disrespectful to her neighbour. The Prophet, according to the narration, says, هيف النار, well, she will get punished for that. It's not sufficient to say, well, you know, the Ibadah is personal choice, but the acts of worship should reflect in the behaviour of the individual, a true mark and the measure of whether the Salah, the Psalm, the Ibadah, the Ziyarah, the devotion to Allah al-Bayt has really impacted the individual and has been accepted is whether it has positively improved our akhlaq, if it has made our conduct much better than where it is. That's why Imam Al-Qadim, Salawatullah, peace be upon him, says, ليس حسن الجوار كفوا الأذاء To be a good neighbour, it doesn't mean that you just simply avoid to hurt or to disrespect or to somehow not be a good neighbour to your own neighbours. But ولكن حسن الجوار الصبر على الأذاء but to be patient over what they do as well. Today people complain that, you know, the neighbour, there's noise, there's sometimes issues out there. We have to exhibit and display as much patience as possible. Once a Prophet of Islam, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam, was approached by an individual who said, I really have bad neighbours. What do you advise me to do? What can I do to deal with this issue? The Prophet of Islam says, be patient across three days. And if nothing happens, then on the last day, take out your belongings from the house and put it in the middle of the road. He said, really? He said, yeah. And on the third day, of course, nothing happened. Then this person took out his stuff and put it on the middle of the road. People asked his neighbour inquired and he said, I'm unhappy with the way things are going. He drew attention to that. He put pressure on his neighbour and things were sorted. So sometimes it needs this kind of action. If patience is not resolving the matter, if we cannot communicate with the neighbour and ask them politely and with courtesy, with respect, if at all possible, to solve the problem between us, then I think that would be a useful method of managing any conflict or any misunderstanding. Now, there are narrations that, for example, tell us of the rights of the neighbour that they enjoy over us from the Ahl al-Bayt, alaykum as-salam, such as Imam Zayn al-Abideen, alaykum as-salam. So as one of them is, that if they are away, that we look to protect their house or protect them as well, if they're not, for example, not here and somebody mentions something about them, perhaps even to that extent. And this is a nice idea because what it does is it creates that community cohesion. It creates that spirit of understanding and the mentality that, okay, I will be protector of your property whilst you're not here. And this ideally will be also reciprocated and increases the trust that exists between the neighbours. Iqramu shahida, he's here, he or she is there, but constantly to ask about them, to inquire. Today in the West, we have to ask how many of us know the neighbours? How many have had a conversation with them, perhaps even invited them, perhaps have given them gifts or have, you know, asked them to share a meal with us or, you know, in the month of Ramadan, present them with some food as a gesture regarding, you know, this holy month, spoken to them about what has been happening, about the beautiful teachings of the religion, just out of a conversation, not with any other intention or any other motive, but with the idea of just simply dispelling the myths and misconceptions, for example. They have, for example, certain festivals like Christmas and other things. There is no problem in, for example, congratulating them by giving them a box of chocolates or some flowers or things like that as just to kind of keep the relationship strong. Third point is, nusratuhu idha kana madluma, to help them when they are being oppressed. This is also a right that exists for the neighbours are concerned. La tattadaa allahu awra, this is crucial, because sometimes, you know, houses are next to each other, and sometimes can see things from the house regarding what's happening in your neighbour. So it is not about, you know, it's about protecting them, rather than exposing their secrets or exposing things which are not revealed to others, or looking at that which we are not permitted to look at. So to be honourable, to be honest, to be honourable and respectful is crucial. The fifth is satratuhu awrata. Sometimes what happens is they may do something, the neighbour may do something, it's unclear to them that it's inappropriate because others may be seeing them, or they've done something which is not recommended to be done. Whatever, it is important to protect anything which exposes them and that's what the Imam, alaihi salam, wants us to do. The sixth point is if they want or seek some kind of nasiha advice, then you should do it, but not before others, so privately. Can you see all these points by the Imam, alaihi salam? It's as if we're talking about believers, but this is for all neighbours, and this is for all kinds of people. It is of importance for us to keep this in mind. Number seven, don't leave him alone at the time of calamity. So be supportive, a shoulder to cry on, any help to assist. For example, if the car has broken down, or their family member has passed away. I remember recently coming across a story in the United Kingdom where a Muslim family saw an elderly lady who was in her 90s, she was by herself. They got to know her and they started to support her, help her gradually day to day with certain chores. She became much older, they had a birthday party for her and she was greatly appreciative of all their help because her only daughter was abroad. It was later reported in the newspapers here in this country and when she passed away, they sorted out arrangements for funeral with the family and helped even to bring some family from the airport and attended the funeral. A wonderful example of a family who are neighbours who did what they can to uplift the example of neighbours, neighbourly good conduct. Number eight, to forgive them as well if they've... Remember that as a neighbour is concerned, they are quite close and therefore in proximity, so therefore sometimes they might make mistakes, we might make mistakes, sometimes we might say something or might not do what we ought to do or supposed to do and therefore there needs to be a spirit of forgiveness, there needs to be a spirit of overlooking the errors and the mistakes. And another point that Imam Ali Salam highlights is live a noble life, a life of dignity. And today, what the challenge is, that the impression we give about ourselves or Islam and Muslims to our neighbours is one that in the future will determine the overall opinion of the community and society about the faith and about the religion. It is not about only what the media is saying, which is sadly negative or about what certain scholars or leaders of communities and mosques, that in itself has a limited role. Each and every individual, certainly in the West and in other places as well, can play their role and can ensure that they do whatever they possibly can to keep the image and the impression and the reputation strong. Because remember, ultimately if push comes to shove and people would speak about, okay, what do you believe? What do you think about Muslims? How have you encountered Muslims? And the neighbours and others at workplace and others can come forward and say, my Muslim neighbour is a very good person. My Muslim neighbour looks after my house when I'm away, asks about me, congratulates me at the festivals and other things. My Muslim neighbour rarely causes for concern for them. And the voices out there will overwhelm the negativity that exists out here and there because actions speak louder than words. Remember, reading in the United States in the month of Ramadan, an Iraqi family that had come from Iraq and settled in America, it was their first Ramadan, even their English wasn't as good, but they asked their neighbour to join them for Iftar. And the neighbour later actually said that it was the first time that I'm invited to a Muslim's family's house. I thoroughly enjoyed their generosity, their kindness, and it even gave me a good opportunity to explore the religion of Islam even further and to investigate what the tenants and the foundations of this glorious religion is all about. So it is a great chance as well, it's an opportunity to improve the situation as far as the reputation of Islam and Muslims are concerned. The Ahle al-Bayt, alayhum salam, want us not to be individualistic in our outlook. They want us to think beyond and build society as strongly as possible. They want us to inculcate these values into our children as well, that of love and respect and tolerance because sometimes it is crucial that we don't overlook this issue and we develop a tendency of thinking far beyond in order to be blessed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the footprints and the following of the glorious Ahle al-Bayt, alayhum salam. Repay to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us in this regard with the Shafa'ah of the Ahle al-Bayt, alayhum salam and for us to be exemplary role models following in the footsteps. Wa akhru da'wanan, alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin wa sallallahu alayhum a'la Muhammad wa a'lihi al-tayyibina, al-tayyibina.