Love your neighbor… “

Choose your neighbour before choosing your home,” this is a widespread Arabic proverb that means it is according to the value and merit of the neighbour that the price of the residence should be estimated. And there was also a saying “a good neighbour is a source of happiness”.

The definition of a neighbor is quite varied; for example, it can refer to someone who lives directly beside you, but it can also refer to someone living further away, such as someone who shares the same place of worship (mosque or church) or social meeting place, or lives in the same district as you, or whatever is traditionally considered to be a neighbor. A neighbour can simply refer to any other person irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet.

In Islam, Allah informs us that neighbours are important segments of the society. In fact, after obligations to relatives, come obligations to neighbours. Without having good neighbours, people can have a difficult and miserable life.

In addition, the Prophet Muhammad once said that the Angel Gabriel had advised him to be generous with neighbours, to the point that he almost thought that Allah would give neighbours inheritance rights as well. The Prophet Muhammad summarized good treatment of neighbours: “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him be kind to his neighbour; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him show hospitality to his guest; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him either speak good or remain silent.”

Besides all our religions teach us to be generous to our neighbours, our mode of living is something different. Following the teaching our religion for instance; by sharing food with our neighbours. In such a case, we are literally reducing the hunger pangs of many. This is not just about hunger always when sharing with neighbours. Here, sharing really is a gesture of kindness, humility and also about unity among people, sharing what is common to our humanity. It is also about building neighbourly relations through small acts of kindness.

But the questions are; when was the last time we offered a bag of chips or cookies to the kids of our neighbours? When was the last time we cut up some watermelon on a hot day and offered it to our neighbours?

Alas! These answers will be negative. We are living in a society where neighbours often do not know one another. People are scared of one another. The rate of crime has increased tremendously due to our ignorance. People may see one another being hurt and killed, and their answer would be: “it is not my business to get involved.” Everyone is looking after himself. These attitudes and behaviours did not lead us to a harmonious society. As we can see, we are the victims of our ignorance.

Ibrahim Haruna MaiJamaa, Katsina. Sabon-layi,