RIGHTS OF OTHERS
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RIGHTS OF OTHERS |
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25- The right of your master who has favoured you (freeing you from slavery) is that you know that he has spent his wealth upon you and brought you out of the abasement and fright of bondage to the exaltation and comfort of freedom. He has freed you from the captivity of possession and loosened the bond of slavery from you, he has given you glory of yourself, he has brought you out of prison, he pushed difficulty away from you, he spread for you the tongue of justice, he legalized all the world for you, he has given you the ownership of yourself, he has unfastened your captivity, he has given you leisure to worship your Lord. All those considered flunk in his wealth. Therefore, you should know that he is the closest among Allah’s creatures to you after your relatives, in your life and death, and he is the truest creature to support, help, and sustain for the sake of Allah. Then do not prefer yourself the moment he is in need of you.
The right of the slave whom you have favoured (by freeing him) is that you know that Allah has made you supporter of him, protector, helper, and strong holder. Allah has made him a cause for you to escape from Allah’s punishments which will be considered your recompense from him the day of judgement and also you will have the right of inheriting from him in this world as an offset of what you spent on his sake – of course if he does not leave maternal relatives – and fulfilling the rights upon him. But if you do not perform his rights, his interitance might not be agreeable to you. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of him who does a kindly act toward you is that you should thank him, mention his favours and survices, spread good information about him and supplicate for him sincerely in that which is between you and Allah (s.w). If you do that, you would have thanked him secretly and openly. Then if you are able to repay him through an action, do so, if not, intend it until you will get a strategic period for it.
The right of the one who calls for prayers is that you know that he is reminding you of your Lord, calling you to your fortune and helping you to accomplish what Allah made obligatory upon you. So, thank him for that just as you thank one who does good to you. Although you were in your house, as long as you are interested in prayers, you are not accused. And after knowing that it is a blessing from Allah upon you, which conceals no doubt, you should valuate the grace of Allah by praising and thanking Him for it in any case. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your Imam in your ritual prayers is that you know that he has taken on the role of a mediator between you and your Lord, he speaks for you but you do not speak for him, he supplicates for you but you do not supplicate for him, he guards against you but you do not guard against him, and he suffices you from his standing before Allah and his question but you did not suffice him in that for you. If he performs the prayer negligently, it belongs to him even if he sins. You are not his partner and he has no excellence over you. So, he protected yourself by himself, protected your prayer by his prayer. Therefore, thank him in that measure. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your sitting companion is that you treat him mildly, show fairness toward him, talk fairly with him, do not exaggerate in your looking at him, let your conversation with him be straight and clear, do not stand up while sitting with him without his permission. But it is permissible for him who sits with you to leave without asking your permission. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your neighbour is that you guard him when he is absent, you respect him when he is present, you aid him, you assist him during his absence and presence. Do not take time to find his faults and evils with the intention of knowing them, but when you see them unintentionally and sincerely, you should conceal and hide what you have seen concerning him which cannot be discovered however much they are searched for. Do not listen to him when he does not know.
Do not handle him over a difficult situation without helping him, do not be jealous of him, forgive him for his stumble and slip, you should show discernment toward him, stay peacefully with him, you should repel the tongue of abuse and deception from him, you should associate with him in a respectable life. There is no strength save in Allah!
The right of a companion is that you act as a companion with bounty and in fairness or at least equity, you should honour him as he honours you, you should guard him as he guards you, do not allow him to be the first to act a noble quality toward you instead of you to preceed. If he does it before you, reward him, you should respect him as far as cordiality is concerned. You should counsel him frequently, sorround him and support him to submition to Allah and you should protect him from disobedience. When you do all that you will be a sympathy to him instead of being a torment against him. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of the partner is that if he is absent, you suffice him in his affairs and if he is present, you show equity with him, you make no dicision without his dicision, you do nothing on the bases of your own opinion without exchanging views with him, you guard his property for him and you do not betray him in that of his affair – let it be minor or major. Because, verily, it reached us “The Allah’s hand is above the hands of two partners as long as they do not betray each other’. And there is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your property is that you take it from what is lawful and spend it only in what is permitted, do not slant it from its positions, do not spend it except in their necessary places, do not spend it – as it was from Allah – but turn it back to Him or else, on His sake, do not prefer anybody before your self who perhaps will not thank you or will not be fit for being a successor in your inheritance or will not abide by Allah’s regulations through it, which will mean that you were the one who aided him on his rebellion and disobedience or due to what he created in your property by spending it in positions which make him benefit while leaving you with a guilt, sorrow and regret and other results. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your creditor is that, if you have the ability, you pay him back without postponing and you enrich him and do not repel him simply because the prophet of Allah (s.a.w.w) narrated (The procrastin-ating of a richman is injustice). But if you are in straitened circumstances, satisfy him with good words and send him away with gentleness instead of embezzling his wealth and mistreating him; verily, that is meanness. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of the associate is that you neither mislead him nor act dishonestly toward him, nor deceive him nor neglect him, nor delude him, do not dishonour him as an enemy does; if your associate has confidence in you, you should also do the same to him and be more closed to him knowing that cheating the uninhibited is usury. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of the adversary who has a claim against you is that, if what he claims against you is true, do not revoke his proof and nullify his suit, you should settle an account with yourself, judge yourself, witness to your self instead of others to witness to you because it is Allah’s right against you. But if what he claims against you is false, act kindly toward him, terrify him, entreat him by his religion which will break his sharpness away from you by making him remember Allah (s.w) and you should drop away excessive and falsified speech that does not drive away your enemy’s anger; yet you turn back with his fault and he sharpens his hostility against you since bad expressions bring about evilness. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of the adversary whom you have a claim on is that if your claim against him is true, you maintain polite moderation in speaking to him because a case causes antipathy in the ears of the adversary whom you have a claim against. Be constant on your proof and firm it up with kindness, allow him a period of time, explain clearly showing leniency toward him, do not be in dispute with him in order not to destroy your proof which may cause you to fail. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of him who asks you for advice is that you attempt to advise him with the advice you know and expect to be the best and put yourself in his position which will make you advise him with mercy and tenderness. Certainly, your softness will make him accept your opinion apart from your being coarse. But if you find that you do not have any view about his issue, and you know someone in whom you have confidence, you should direct him to that person. By doing that, you will be considered his advisor and good wishing. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your advisor is that you do not make accusations against him after the failure of his opinion which does not conform to your own opinion. Simply because it is among the opinions which some people accept and others refuse. Actually, your accusation against him is not necessary since you did not have any advisor more capable than him. And if he advises you, you should thank him for having selected his advice and for its being attractive. If his advice conforms you, praise Allah and accept it from your brother with by thanking him and doing the same to him if he seeks any view from you. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of him who asks your counsel is that you give him your counsel which you see is better for him and will be accepted, you speak with him words which are not above his minds because every brain has a different category of words it accepts and repels. However, your manner and conduct should be mercy. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of your counsellor is that you act gently toward him, make your heart open to allow his counsel enter, give ear to him to understand his counsel, then meditate in it. If he presents you with the right course, praise Allah for it and accept it and take his counsel important. But if he does not present you with the right course, show compassion toward him and you should not accuse him. Yet you are to know that he did not spare any advice to you but he failed. And if he deserves being accused, do not pay much attention to him in any case. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of him who is older than you is that you show reverence toward him because of his age and religion – Islam. If he has any merit in Islam due to his front in it, you leave off confronting him in a dispute, you do not precede him in a path, you do not go in front of him in the path.
You do not ignore him. If he acts foolishly toward you, you put up with him and honour him due to the right of his religion and age because both of them – religion and age – are in the same measure. There is no strength save is Allah.
The right of him who is younger than you is that you show compassion toward him, you educate him, you teach him, you pardon him, you hide his fault, you show kindness to him, you aid him, you conceal his new guilt because it is a cause of his repentance and his favouring, you do not take him to litigation, and, that is the nearest way of instructing him.
The right of a beggar is that you give him after conforming his words and after seeing that you have the capability of solving his problem; you should supplicate for him and aid him at his request. But if you doubt the truth of his words after having heard of any accusation against him and you did not resolve to aid him, do not consider his words to be false because it might be the devil which turned you away from your fate by hindering between you and the approach to your Lord. Hence, you leave him with his fault hidden and send him back with a soft and tender voice.
However, when you dominate your soul in his issue and give him what he proposed from you, certainly, those are actions due to courage.
The right of an asked man is that you accept from him with gratitude and cognition of his bounty if he gives and you accept his excuse if he withholds and you should excel in supposition about him. And you should know that if he withholds, he has no blame in his wealth because it is his. And if he was unjust, verily, man is very unjust, ungreatful.
The right of him by whom Allah makes you happy is that – if he intended it – you should praise Allah first of all and then thank him for that due to his measure of requital, you reward him since he was the one who hurried to you and appropriated a premium for him. But if he did not intend it you should praise Allah and thank Him knowing that it was from Him. Through that, you will be united to him and passionately attached to each other because of his being among Allah’s motives which caused his blessings upon you, and after that, you wish him welfare. Certainly, motives of graces are blessings whenever they are although they are not intended. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of him who does evil to you intentionally through word or action is that you pardon him in order to check himself and become disciplined – since there are many who are like him.
Allah (s.w) says “And whoever defends himself after his being oppressed, this is against whom there is no way (to blame). The way (to blame) is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly; these shall have a painful punishment and whoever is patient and forgiving, that most surely are actions due to courage.”([1] And He says “And if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will be certainly the best for those who are patient.”[2]
But when he does evil to you unintentionally, do not recompense him as if he did it intentionally, but, instead, show compassion toward him and send him with geniality. There is no strength save in Allah.
The right of the people with you in the same creed is harbouring safely for them, sympathising with them, acting kindness toward their evil doers, treating them with friendliness, seeking their well-being and thanking their good doer to himself or to you because when he does well to himself, it is as if he has done well to you – when he refrains from doing anything bad to you and imprisons himself from harming. So, be general to all of them by supplicating for them, aiding all of them with your support and give all of them their rights; put the old among them in the position of your parent, the young among them in the position of your son; and the middle in the position of a brother. If anybody consults you, you should show tenderness and compassion toward them. Join your brother with what a brother is supposed to attach to his fellow brother.
The right of the people under the protection of Islam is that you accept from them what Allah accepted, you should fulfill what Allah provided them with, like protection, and pledge, you should entrust them to Allah in what they wished for themselves and coerced into it, you should treat them with what Allah treats them.
There should be a hindrance between you and their injustice by taking care of Allah’s security, and the fulfilment of His and the Prophet’s pledges. It was narrated to us from the Prophet that he said: “Anyone who oppresses a treaty maker, I will become his opponent”. Consequently, you should fear Allah. There is no strength save in Allah.
These fifty rights sorround you in all ways, it is incumbent upon you to abide by them and fulfill them with seeking aid and help from Allah (s.w). There is no power nor strength save in Allah. Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds.
