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1052 Our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was friends with all communities such as Jews, however there are some people who have told me that if there is a Jew living next door to you must move out of your house immediately, and should not make friends with any Jews, is this true?

I realise that this may be because of the betrayal of the Quraysh tribe, but not every Jew is the same, so is it or is it not ok for us to mix with Jewish people?
It is very sad to see people placing hatred amongst the communities under the banner of Islam to hide their own ignorance.

We as Muslim’s are required to follow the Best of Example. Our Best of example is to follow the examples of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). Countless examples can be found in AHadith showing and explaining the values of Neighbours, Community, Humans and for that matter Animals alike, and to treat them with respect.

It is totally going against the teaching of Quran and Hadith to ostracize anyone. The best manner is to practice your religion in accordance to Islam and highlight your beautiful religion through your actions. If your knowledge and practice of Islam is strong and loving then this will be an invitation to people of other religions to look into Islam and you may be able to help them revert.

For further reading I would like to draw your attention to a topic we did in Ramadan 2006 regarding this very subject.

Rights of Neighbours

Islam is a religion of peace. It deals justly and kindly with each and every member of society without distinction of race, religion, or colour.

For example, Islam guides its followers to treat the neighbours kindly as our beloved Prophet (S.A.W) said: “Anyone who believes in Allah (S.W.T) and the Day of Judgement should honour his neighbour”. (Bukhari)

“The most excellent neighbour is he who behaves best with his neighbour”. (Tirmidi)

Hazrat AbdulAllah bin Umar (R.A) narrates that, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said, “Do you know what the rights of your neighbours are?” then He (S.A.W) said, “When they ask for help assist them, when they ask for money give them, when they are in need give them, when they are ill visit them, when the are in a good position congratulate them, when in difficulty share their grief, when they die go to the funeral, do not erect your buildings without permission so that the wind doesn’t reach them, do not make them suffer from the fragrance of your cooking but give them some too”.

Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said, “Whenever you cook soup, add extra water and have in mind the members of the households of your neighbours. Then give some of this (soup) with politeness”. (Muslim)

Food for thought:

Once there were mice in a pious person’s house and someone advised him to get a cat. He replied, “I feel that the mice will leave my house and enter the house of my neighbour. This means I will become such a person that doesn’t like a difficulty but want others to suffer the same difficulty”.

These are the beautiful teachings of our beloved Prophet (S.A.W). If we act upon these Sunnah, there will be no corruption in the world and there will be global peace and prosperity amongst the people (Muslim and None Muslims alike).

Your friend may be referring to a Hadith which states that, you are not supposed to make friends with Jews, Christians etc. This is taking the Hadith out of contents. The Hadith highlights that Jews and Christian cannot be trusted as friends but that doesn’t mean you cannot associate with them.

In western countries we face an environment where people freely exercise other religions. Muslims living in these countries work with, have business or trade dealing with people of other religion and this is permissible from an Islamic point of view. Having neighbours from other beliefs other than Islam is not prohibited either. However it is disencouraged to form close friendship, especially if your understanding of Islam is limited as this could endanger the adopting of scenarios where unislamic activities can take place.

While on the other hand if you are well versed in Islam then this can be used to present invitation of Islam to those non believer that you come into contact with.

And Allah (S.W.T) Knows best.

(Answered by: Hafiz Mohammed Akhtar)
Category (Islam / Muslims)
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