The Five Basic Rights of A Muslim In A Muslim Society
Islam is not just a religion that contains commandments pertaining to religious obligations, rather it is a code of life and all the instructions and guidelines that it brings can help in laying the foundation of a healthy and civilized society. Therefore, it is quite common among Muslims to adopt Islam as the law or the framework for ethical values of the society.
In order to make sure that the members of the society work for the betterment of each other, Islam applies upon them certain obligations and duties. Every individual in an Islamic society has some rights, which are then obligatory upon the other concerned individual to fulfill.
The lines below discuss the five basic human rights of the members of an Islamic society.
Hadith:
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith:
“The rights of one Muslim over another are five: returning the greeting of Salaam, visiting the sick, attending funerals, accepting invitations, and saying yarhamuk Allah (may Allah have mercy on you) to one who sneezes.” (Bukhari)
The hadith is quite obvious in the rights that Muslims have in an Islamic society. Before moving onto the rights, there is a need of clarification pertaining to these rights.
Clarification:
Generally in Islam rights and obligations are mandatory upon a Muslim to fulfill and lack of fulfillment of them results in a person committing a sin, as is the rights of poor, the rights of parents, the rights of children and so on. However, the rights mentioned in this hadith are of general nature and not individual. It means that if any one of the members of the neighborhood or society fulfilled these rights, the other members will not be held accountable for not fulfilling them.
Returning Greeting Of Salam:
The returning of Salam greeting to a fellow Muslim might seem trivial but it is one of the most important rights that people in a Muslim society have towards each other. In the Muslim world Salam is a greeting that every Muslim passes or tries to pass whenever he or she comes across a fellow Muslim for the first time. If a person says Salam to the group than anyone in the group can reply to it and it will do good for the rest of the group, however, if it is said to a person individually then it rests upon the individual to respond to it. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith:
“You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you about something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread Salaam amongs yourselves.” (Muslim)
From the hadith it is clear that although saying Salaam to someone or responding to it might seem a trivial thing, however, it represents the love between the people in a Muslim community and this love is what then assists in believing and that believing then leads to entering paradise.
Visiting the Sick:
The second right that Muslims have over other Muslims is for them to be visited whenever they are sick. It is an obligation upon Muslims to visit someone if he or she is sick. This shows the Islamic bond of brotherhood, where one feels for the pain and suffering of the other and as a means of moral support visits him or her in their plight. Pertaining to visiting the sick, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in one of His hadiths:
“There is no Muslim who visits a (sick) Muslim early in the morning but seventy thousand angels send blessings upon him until evening comes, and if he visits him in the evening, seventy thousand angels send blessings upon him until morning comes, and he will have a garden in Paradise.” (Tirmidhi)
From this hadith the reward and bounties of visiting a sick Muslim are clear. There is no denying the fact that visiting a sick person is a gesture of civilized people and society, however, if one does not find it as a motivation, then the element of reward definitely helps motivate a person in visiting a sick person.
Attending a Funeral:
Attending the funeral of a Muslim brother is another obligation that rests upon the Muslims in a society. Funeral is the saddest time in the life of a the people who are closer to the deceased , therefore, visiting them at the funeral consoling them in addition to praying for the deceased is one of the important occasions where a Muslim should make his or her presence sure for another Muslim. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith pertaining to this in the following way:
“A believer who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah’s reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of tow Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the Mount Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only.” (Bukhari)
From this hadith one can easily assess the reward associated with participating in the funeral processions. Going to the funeral, taking part in the funeral prayer and then participating in the burial ceremony each carry reward and therefore, a Muslim must try to be a part of as much process as possible in order to fulfill the obligation in the best manner and earn greater reward.
Accepting Invitation:
The third kind of right, which Muslims in a society have, other Muslims is for their invitation getting accepted. A Muslim might call another Muslim for dinner or any kind of legitimate hangout where they could share and spend quality time with each other, then it is mandatory upon the other Muslim to comply to the invitation and respond to it in the best manner. The accepting of invitation shows that a Muslim values spending time with the other Muslim and whatever reason of hangout he or she has for the other, the latter accepts it and acknowledges its importance for the one who is requesting invitation.
Say YarhamukAllah:
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith:
“Allah likes the act of sneezing and dislikes the act of yawning, so if anyone of you sneezes and praises Allah (says Alhamdulillah), it is a duty on every Muslim who hears him to say to him YarhamukAllah.” (Bukhari)
From this hadith the importance and significance of saying YarhamukAllah. As imperative it is for the sneezer to say Alhamdulillah, it is equally important for the one who witnesses the sneeze and the praise to respond to it with YarhamukAllah. Therefore, when Muslims are in the company of each other and sneezing takes place, then both should perform their duty of praising Allah.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the aforementioned five rights are the basic human rights of a Muslim over the other Muslims in the society. In addition to making the fabric of society strong, the fulfillment of these rights brings reward for a Muslim as well, therefore, every Muslim must try to fulfill these rewards whenever the chance is available.
