Saudi Gazette report Respecting one's neighbors and looking after their rights is emphasized in Islam. The Arabic adage “one's neighbor before one's self” (al-jar qabl al-dar) is no longer widely practiced as it used to be. Modernity and the fast city life have changed what used to be the norm in the past, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported. Umm Abdulaziz is a housewife who remembers that neighbors in the past used to care for one another. “Life is too fast now and this beautiful situation is no more. You can live in an apartment and not know your neighbors for years. People will not try to get to know you. In many cases, neighbors can become enemies,” she said. “I still remember how neighbors used to knock on each other's door and ask for a knife or salt. Neighbors used to know one another well and spend time together,” she said with a sense of nostalgia. Maha Al-Ghalib is a college student. She said that people who live in cities are generally from different cultural backgrounds. “That is why some of them prefer not to intermingle or get to know their neighbors who might be of a different culture. People think that they won't get along with their neighbors if their neighbor is from a different city or region,” she said. “I personally blame modern technology for the weak relationship among neighbors,” she said, adding that some social traditions that have passed down from previous generations have played a role in creating a chasm among neighbors. “Some women do not want to know other women if they seem to be of different social backgrounds and different lifestyles,” she added. Dr. Khalid Al-Naqeeh, a professor at the Department of Sociology and Community Service of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, said that Islam urges people to respect their neighbors and not to harm or annoy them. He cited a verse of the Holy Qur'an, “Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah does not love the arrogant, the vainglorious.” (4:36) He also cited a Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Jibreel kept on recommending me to treat neighbors kindly and politely until that I thought Allah would order me to make them my heirs.” “This saying shows the importance of treating neighbors well and recognizing their rights in Islam. This emphasis on neighbors' rights shows that Islam wants all sections of society to stay united and in solidarity with one another,” said Al-Naqeeh. “If the neighbors of a district are kind to one another and always greet one another, they will live in complete peace and harmony,” he said, expressing his worry at the current way in which neighbors treat one another. “If a neighbor continues to treat his neighbor like a stranger, people will become alienated just like in the West where everyone lives in their own world and don't care about their neighbors,” he said. He also called on municipal councils and mosques to invite local residents to events aimed at strengthening their ties with one another. “Each neighborhood should have a playground, a park, and other facilities important for bringing people of the same neighborhood together,” he said. Saad Al-Fayadh, social adviser and imam of a mosque in Hail, said mosques can bring neighbors together. “Residents should visit their neighbors if they are sick and share moments of joy and sadness with them,” he said. He also called for community centers to be built where people could go to partake in activities and build relationships with one another.
