The Values of Neighborliness Between Islamic Teachings and Contemporary Reality

“Until I thought he would make him an heir”
This phrase stopped me many times and amazed me even more—how could the neighbor’s right reach such a lofty status in Islam, to the extent that the Prophet ﷺ thought revelation was about to assign him a share of inheritance?

It is not merely a passing recommendation, but rather the insistence of Gabriel (peace be upon him), who continued to advise the Prophet ﷺ regarding the neighbor until the Prophet was astonished by this great attention.

As narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, from Abdullah ibn Umar, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Gabriel kept advising me about the neighbor until I thought he would make him an heir.”

To understand the gravity of this instruction, it is enough to know that inheritance shares in Islam are governed by precise and strict rules—so strict that they drove the mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, from the city of Khwarazm (in present-day Uzbekistan) and one of the most renowned scholars of Islamic civilization in the mid-2nd century AH (8th century CE), to establish the science of algebra and introduce the decimal number system. From his name the term “algorithm” was later derived.

Al-Khwarizmi states in the introduction to his Al-Mukhtasar fi Hisab al-Jabr wal-Muqabala (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing):
“I have composed a concise book on the calculation of algebra and balancing, covering both simple and complex aspects of arithmetic, for the needs of people in matters of inheritance, wills, division, judgments, trade, surveying of lands, digging of canals, geometry, and other fields, intending thereby what is good and beneficial.”

Among the inheritance shares mentioned in the Qur’an is Allah’s saying in Surat al-Nisa (4:12–14):
“And for you is half of what your wives leave if they have no child. But if they have a child, then for you is one fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they made or debt. And for them is one fourth of what you leave if you have no child. But if you have a child, then for them is one eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you made or debt. And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor descendants but has a brother or sister, then for each one of them is a sixth. But if they are more than that, they share in a third, after any bequest made or debt, without harm. This is an ordinance from Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Forbearing. These are the limits of Allah. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. And that is the great success. But whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits—He will admit him to a Fire, abiding therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.”

If the science of inheritance and succession is so precise, then why all this emphasis on the neighbor—almost as if Islamic law were about to make him one of the heirs if his neighbor were to die?

And what is the value a person gains from his spatial closeness to any Muslim?

There is no doubt that place holds a special importance for every human being. It is not merely a geographical void or a point on a map, but rather the vessel into which human life is poured. Without it, a person loses his roots and his meaning.

The relationship between man and place is reciprocal: place grants him identity, while man immortalizes place through memory, culture, and symbolism.

That is why defending the land, preserving the environment, and protecting architectural and cultural heritage are not merely political or economic issues, but are at their core a defense of man himself. For man without place is like a body without a soul, and place without man is a silent void without meaning.

A person may change his place, may migrate, be exiled, or displaced, yet place remains etched in his memory, haunting him like an inseparable shadow. For this reason, philosophers, sociologists, and writers never considered place a secondary element, but rather a key to understanding the entire human experience.

Philosophers and writers grasped this dimension well. The French author Marcel Proust, in his novel In Search of Lost Time (1913), points out that the simplest spatial details can recall an entire past buried deep in memory. Thus, place becomes a keeper of both personal and collective history, making its loss akin to the loss of memory itself.

Proust describes his fictional town of Combray, inspired by his birthplace in the small French town of Illiers:
“The world usually consisted only of Monsieur Swann, who, except for a few passing strangers, was almost the only person to come to our house in Combray—sometimes for dinner as a neighbor, and at other times suddenly in the evening without an appointment.

On evenings when we sat outside the house under the big chestnut tree, around the iron table, and heard at the end of the garden not that metallic, noisy bell that drowned and deafened with its unceasing iron buzz—since everyone in the family entered without ringing—but instead the double, soft, oval, golden chime of the strangers’ bell, everyone at once would wonder: a visitor? Who could it be?

Yet we knew with certainty that it could only be Monsieur Swann.”

Not far from this nostalgia for place, Arabic literature is also rich with images of place: Imru’ al-Qais standing at the ruins, Al-Mutanabbi longing for his homeland, Abu Tammam mourning the loss of Baghdad, and Mahmoud Darwish making Palestine a poetic axis inseparable from place and identity.

In contrast, the materialist capitalist view perceives space only through a consumerist lens, neglecting its human dimension. For it, space is primarily an economic element, not a bearer of memory, identity, or spirit. It is reduced to a commodity subject to buying and selling, its value measured by the profits it generates and the investment opportunities it opens. Thus, land, real estate, cities, and even gardens or beaches become nothing more than investment assets rather than living human spaces filled with relationships and memories.

According to this materialistic view, spatial value does not lie in beauty, history, or belonging, but in economic returns. For this reason, cities and villages are restructured to serve capitalist logic through the reproduction of space: old neighborhoods inhabited by the poor are transformed into upscale districts that drive them out, attracting investments and the wealthy; natural areas are turned into tourist resorts marketed globally. In this way, space is produced as a commodity that entrenches social inequality.

Within this vision, space is stripped of its human and symbolic dimensions. Memory and identity are considered obstacles to investment. Thus, authorities and corporations do not hesitate to demolish historic neighborhoods or erase entire villages to build new projects, believing that value lies in profit alone. Consequently, space disappears as a living social environment and reappears merely as an economic product.

Islam, on the other hand, elevates its view of urban development, making it part of the human mission in life. It is based on a monotheistic creed that makes building the earth part of man’s purpose on earth, as God says in Surah Hud: “It is He who produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask forgiveness of Him, and then repent to Him…”. Thus, development is not merely an economic or material activity, but a religious and civilizational duty connected to stewardship and worship.

This development is tied to social justice; it cannot be a means of monopolizing basic resources or marginalizing the poor. Al-Albani narrated in Irwa’ al-Ghalil from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger ﷺ said: “People are partners in three things: water, pasture, and fire; their sale is forbidden.”

Urban development in Islam is an integrated vision: legal because it responds to stewardship, ethical because it rests on justice and mercy, aesthetic because it reflects God’s love for beauty, social because it ensures solidarity, and environmental because it maintains balance with nature. It is not merely a material or economic activity, but a human and civilizational project connecting earth to heaven, the individual to society, and man to his Creator.

Islam’s command to honor parents is justified by the bond of blood. God says in Surah Al-Isra: “… and be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age with you, do not say to them even ‘uff,’ nor repel them, but speak to them noble words. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy, and say, ‘My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up when I was small.’”

Its command to maintain ties of kinship is justified by closeness. God says in Surah Muhammad: “So would you perhaps, if you turned away, cause corruption on earth and sever your ties of kinship? Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their sight.”

Islam’s concern for the bond of faith is justified by the need for members of the Ummah to support one another. A believer’s faith is incomplete unless he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. Al-Nasa’i narrated from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger ﷺ swore, saying: “By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, none of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself of good.”

The right of the neighbor occupies a lofty status in Islam, as it is one of the foundations of building the believing community. It is tied to faith in God and the Last Day, and kindness to neighbors is made a criterion of righteousness and piety. In the Islamic conception, a neighbor is not just someone who lives next to you, but a person with a spiritual and moral connection to you, with rights that must be fulfilled just like other obligatory rights upon a Muslim.

God says in Surah An-Nisa: “… and be kind to parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the distant neighbor …”

Even a non-Muslim neighbor has the right to good neighborliness from his Muslim neighbor. The Muslim, like a palm tree, spreads goodness to all around him—Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Al-Tabarani narrated in Musnad al-Shamiyyin from Jabir ibn Abdullah that the Messenger ﷺ said: “Neighbors are of three kinds: a neighbor with one right, and he has the least of rights; a neighbor with two rights; and a neighbor with three rights, and he is the best of neighbors. As for the neighbor with one right, he is the polytheist with no kinship; he has the right of neighborhood. As for the one with two rights, he is the Muslim with no kinship; he has the rights of Islam and neighborhood. As for the one with three rights, he is a Muslim relative; he has the rights of Islam, kinship, and neighborhood. And the least right of the neighbor is that you do not harm him with the smoke of your cooking pot unless you offer him some of it.”

The benefit of a Muslim extends to others, as Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Abdullah ibn Umar:
“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he said: Tell me of a tree that resembles—or is like—the Muslim man: its leaves do not fall, it does not wither, and it produces its fruit at all times. Ibn Umar said: It occurred to me that it was the date palm, and I saw that Abu Bakr and Umar remained silent, so I disliked speaking up. When they said nothing, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: It is the date palm. When we rose, I said to my father Umar: O my father, by Allah, it had occurred to me that it was the date palm. He said: What prevented you from speaking? I said: I did not see you speak, so I disliked speaking or saying anything. Umar said: For you to have said it would have been dearer to me than such and such.”

The Companions and their successors understood these instructions well; they hastened to show kindness to their neighbors regardless of their religion or lineage. Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan that Abu Ubaid Allah said:
“I was with Abdullah ibn Umar while his servant was skinning a sheep. Ibn Umar said: O boy, when you begin, start with our Jewish neighbor. He repeated this several times, until someone asked: How often you repeat this! Ibn Umar replied: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued to advise us regarding the neighbor until we feared that he would make him an heir.”

Muslims across the world inherited this practice to this day, until it became a custom and tradition: neighbors exchange plates of food, sent full and never returned empty.

Harming a neighbor destroys one’s good deeds, even if they are many. Ahmad narrated in al-Targhib from Abu Hurairah:
“They said: O Messenger of Allah, such-and-such woman fasts the day, prays at night, but harms her neighbors. He said: She is in the Fire. They said: O Messenger of Allah, another woman performs the obligatory prayers and gives in charity from curds, and she does not harm her neighbors. He said: She is in Paradise.”

Al-Tabarani narrated in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“He does not truly believe in me who sleeps satiated while his neighbor beside him is hungry and he knows of it.”

Good character is a supreme goal in Islam. Al-Tirmidhi narrated in his Sahih from Jabir ibn Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, the most beloved of you to me and the closest to me in seating on the Day of Judgment are those with the best character. And the most detested of you to me and the farthest from me on the Day of Judgment are the talkative, the pretentious, and the arrogant.” They asked: O Messenger of Allah, we know the talkative and the pretentious, but who are the arrogant? He said: Those who are proud and haughty.

Good example plays a central role in calling to Allah. Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“A man is upon the religion of his close friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.”

Allah the Exalted says in Surah As-Saff:
“O you who believe! Why do you say what you do not do? It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.”

Good deeds cannot be confined to material acts alone. Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani narrated in It-haf al-Mahra from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“You cannot satisfy people with your wealth, but you can satisfy them with a cheerful face and good character.”

Enduring others’ harm and being patient with them is better than isolation. Ibn Majah narrated in his Sahih from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“The believer who mixes with people and is patient with their harm is better than the believer who does not mix with people and is not patient with their harm.”

Among the illuminating historical examples of this meaning is the story of Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu‘man, who had a young neighbor that indulged in drinking until he became drunk and would sing loudly: ‘They have lost me, and what a youth they have lost!’ disturbing Abu Hanifa with his voice. Abu Hanifa bore this patiently and never complained.

One night, Abu Hanifa did not hear his voice. He inquired about him and was told that he had been imprisoned. He went to the governor, vouched for him, and secured his release. When the young man was freed, Abu Hanifa said to him: O young man, have we lost you?

The young man felt ashamed, repented, and his repentance was sincere. This story embodies patience with a neighbor’s harm and striving to reform him with mercy, not with harshness.

Al-Haythami narrated in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, your smile at your brother is charity, pouring from your bucket into your brother’s bucket is charity, removing harmful things from the road is charity, your enjoining good is charity, your forbidding evil is charity, and guiding a lost person is charity.”

Islam also took into account the neighbor’s rights in matters of daily living. Among the legislations that reflect this is the right of preemption (shufʿa), which grants the neighbor priority in purchasing the adjoining property before it is sold to others, preserving neighborly comfort and preventing the entry of those who might cause harm.

Another right emphasized in Islam is the protection of a neighbor’s secrets and honor. Because proximity may allow a neighbor to know private details about his neighbor’s life and family, it is a trust not to disclose what one sees or hears that could harm them. Respecting privacy is also essential, without spying or peering into a neighbor’s home. Allah says in Surat al-Ḥujurāt:
“O you who have believed, avoid much suspicion. Indeed, some suspicion is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.” (49:12)
This verse applies generally but is even more binding in the case of neighbors due to their closeness.

Some may assume these noble Islamic values are overly idealistic, yet in reality, they have clearly shaped contemporary Arab civil codes concerning neighborhood relations.

For example:
Article 1025 of the Jordanian Civil Code (Law No. 43 of 1976) states:
“Blocking light from a neighbor is considered excessive harm. No one may construct a building that blocks their neighbor’s windows and prevents light from entering. Otherwise, the neighbor has the right to demand its removal.”

Article 1279 of the same law provides:
“A neighbor may not force his neighbor to build a wall or similar structure on the boundary, nor to give up part of a wall or the land it stands on. Nor may the wall’s owner demolish it without strong reason if this would harm the neighbor who relies on it.”

The Moroccan Code of Real Rights similarly rules in Article 62:
“The owner of land who builds upon it must construct roofs and balconies so that rainwater and the like drain onto his own land, not his neighbor’s.”

Article 66 of the same code:
“No owner may open windows, doors, or similar openings in a wall adjoining a neighbor’s property without that neighbor’s consent.”

Article 73 of the same code:
“A neighbor may not plant trees close to another’s building if the roots spread into it. If he does, the building’s owner has the right to demand their removal.”

The Qatari Civil Code (Law No. 22 of 2004), Article 841:
“The owner must not overuse his right to the extent of harming his neighbor’s property. A neighbor cannot complain of ordinary, unavoidable inconveniences of neighborhood, but may demand removal if they exceed what is customary, taking into account usage, location, and the purpose of each property. Official permits do not negate this right.”

Article 916 of the same law:
“If, in good faith, a landowner builds and encroaches slightly upon adjacent land, the court may grant him ownership of the occupied portion in exchange for fair compensation.”

In general, it is evident that modern Arab laws on neighbor rights are directly inspired by Islamic teachings. Though framed in contemporary legal language influenced by Latin or Anglo-Saxon civil law traditions, their essence is rooted in Islamic principles, particularly the rule of “no harm and no reciprocating harm” and the numerous scriptural texts that exalt the neighbor’s status.

On the social level, many contemporary Muslim societies suffer from what can be called value schizophrenia, which is harsher than the mere double standards of hypocrisy.

This appears in how many Muslims today repeat Islamic values with their tongues, but these values never move beyond their throats. Time and again they fail in trivial life situations, succumbing to gossip, envy, arrogance, or slander—tests they should easily pass.

It is as if the Qur’an, Sunnah, and Friday sermons are addressing other people, not them.

The only explanation for such behavior is heedlessness, contrary to Allah’s words in Surat al-Ṣaff:
“O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.” (61:2–3)

And the only way out of this heedlessness is in the remembrance of Allah, as He says in Surat al-Munāfiqūn:
“O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does so—it is they who are the losers.” (63:9)

A vivid metaphor for this struggle appears in the Egyptian TV series Wanoos (written by ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Kamāl and directed by Shādī al-Fakharānī), inspired by Goethe’s Faust—a tale Goethe labored over for more than sixty years and which became his greatest and most famous work.

The story depicts a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for worldly desires, only to later repent and be saved by God’s mercy.

In the series, actor Yahya al-Fakharani plays the role of the devil (Iblīs), who tempts Yaʿqūt (played by Nabil al-Halfawi), promising him immortality in return for serving him instead of God.

But in the final scene of the series, Yaqoot repents just moments before his death, and Iblis bursts into rage at his repentance.

Ibn Mufliḥ says in al-Ādāb al-Sharʿiyyah wal-Manaḥ al-Marʿiyyah that Imām al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī stated:
“Good neighborliness is not merely refraining from harm; true good neighborliness is bearing harm with patience.”

This is a profound meaning that indicates benevolence does not stop at avoiding harm, but goes further to endurance, forgiveness, and initiating goodness—because such virtues create social cohesion and build a strong and loving community.

Allah Almighty says in Sūrat Fuṣṣilat:
*“And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he were a devoted friend. But none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except one having a great portion [of good].” (41:34–35)

These moral values rise above material benefit and personal interest, being rooted in the centrality of the Creator in how man views himself, others, and the universe.

“All creation are God’s dependents, and the most beloved of them to God are those most beneficial to His dependents.”

When Islam enjoined kindness to the neighbor, it made the relationship with place a deeply human bond, and the relationship with the neighbor a test of faith. Just as civilization cannot be built without justice, society cannot stand without good neighborliness — until the whole neighborhood becomes like a single family, its people sharing mercy just as they share the earth that carries them and the sky that shelters them.