Tafseer of the Hadeeth of Six Rights of every
Muslim

Ash-Shaikh 'Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sa'dee's explanation of the hadeeth
regarding the Muslim's rights Abu Hurayrah (radhiyallaahu 'anhu)
narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
said, "The rights of the Muslim upon the Muslim are six."
It was said, "And what are they Oh Messenger of Allaah?"
He replied, "When you meet him, give him the greeting of peace,
when he invites you, respond to his invitation, when he seeks your
advice, advise him, when he sneezes and praises Allaah, supplicate
for mercy upon him, when he becomes ills, visit him, and when he
dies follow him (i.e. his funeral)."

This hadeeth was reported by Muslim.These six rights, whoever establishes
them in dealing with the Muslims, then his establishing things other
than them (from the obligations) are even more important (or necessary).
And his doing these things results in him fulfilling these obligations
and rights, which contain an abundance of good and tremendous reward
from Allaah.

The First Right:

"When you meet him, give him the greeting of peace." For
verily the greeting of peace is a cause of love, which results in
producing faith (Al-Eemaan), which results in the person entering
the Paradise. This is as Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
said, "By the o­ne in Whose Hand is my soul, you all will
not enter into the Paradise until you believe, and you will not
believe until you love each other. Shall I not direct you to something
that if you do it, you will love each other? Spread the greeting
of peace amongst yourselves."

The greeting of peace is from the virtuous characteristics of Islaam.
For verily each of the two people who meet each other supplicates
for the other for safety from evils, and mercy, and blessing that
brings about every good. And what follows this is a cheerful face
and appropriate words of greeting which result in unity and love,
and it removes feelings of estrangement and cold disassociation.
Thus, giving the greeting of peace is the right of the Muslim, and
it is obligatory upon the person who is greeted to return greeting
with a similar greeting or o­ne that is better than it. And
the best of the people are those who start the greeting of peace
first.

The Second Right:

"When he invites you, respond to his invitation." This
means that when he invites you with an invitation to some food and
drink, then fulfill the request of your brother who has drawn near
to you and honored you with the invitation. Respond to his invitation
(i.e. accept it), unless you have an excuse.

The Third Right:

His statement, "And when he seeks your advice, advise him."
This means that if he seeks consultation with you regarding some
action, as to whether he should do it or not, then advise him with
that which you would like for yourself. Thus, if the action is something
that is beneficial in all aspects, then encourage him to do that,
and if it is something harmful, then warn him against it. And if
the action contains both benefit and harm, then explain that to
him and weigh the benefits against the harms. Likewise, if he consults
with you concerning some dealing with someone among the people,
or whether he should marry a woman off to someone, or whether he
should marry someone, then extend your pure and sincere advice to
him, and deal with him from the view point of what you would do
for you own self. And avoid deceiving him in any matter of these
things. For verily whoever deceives the Muslims, then he is not
of them, and indeed he has left off the obligation of being sincere
and advising. And this sincerity and advising is absolutely obligatory,
however it becomes more emphasized when the person seeks your advice
and he requests from you that you give him a beneficial opinion.
For this reason the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) specifically
mentioned it in this important situation. The explanation of the
hadeeth, "The religion is sincerity", has already been
mentioned previously (in this book) in a manner that suffices without
us having to repeat the discussion here.

The Fourth Right:

"And when he sneezes and praises Allaah, then pray for mercy
upon him." This is due to the fact that sneezing is a favor
from Allaah, in the expelling of this congested air that is blocked
in certain parts of the body of the human being. Allaah makes it
easy for this air to have a passage out where it can exit, and thus
the sneezing person feels relief. Thus, the Prophet (sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam) legislated that the person praise Allaah for
this favor, and he legislated for his (Muslim) brother to say to
him, "May Allaah have mercy upon you." He also commanded
the person who sneezed to answer his (Muslim) brother by saying
to him, "May Allaah guide you and set right your affairs."
Therefore, whoever does not praise Allaah, then he does not deserve
for others to pray for mercy upon him, and in this case he cannot
blame anyone except himself. For he is the o­ne who has caused
himself to lose the two blessings: the blessing of praising Allaah,
and the blessing of his brother's supplication for him that is a
result of the praising.

The Fifth Right:

His statement, "And when he becomes ill, visit him." Visiting
the sick is from the rights of the Muslim, and especially for the
person who has a highly stressed and emphasized right upon you,
like the relative, and the friend, and so forth. It is from the
best of the righteous deeds. And whoever visits his Muslim brother,
he remains engulfed in the mercy (of Allaah), and when he sits with
him the mercy (of Allaah) covers him. And whoever visits the sick
Muslim at the beginning of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing
upon him until evening comes, and whoever visits him at the end
of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing upon him until morning
comes. It is desired for the person who visits the sick to supplicate
for him to be cured and to make him feel at ease. He should ease
his worries by giving him glad tidings of well-being and recovery
(i.e. be positive). He should remind him of repentance and turning
to Allaah, and he should give him beneficial admonition. He should
not sit with him too long (i.e. over staying his welcome), rather
he should o­nly sit with him long enough fulfill the right of
visiting, unless the sick person is positively effected by many
people coming in to see him and many people coming to sit with him.
Thus, for each situation there is a different statement (i.e. advice
o­n how to deal with it).

The Sixth Right:

His statement, "And if he dies, follow him (his funeral)."
For verily whoever follows the funeral until the deceased's body
is prayed over, then he will receive a Qeeraat of reward. (Translator's
note: A Qeeraat is an amount equivalent to the size of the Mountain
of Uhud in Madinah.) And if he follows the funeral procession until
the body is buried, then he will receive two Qeeraats of reward.
And following the funeral procession contains (fulfillment of) a
right for Allaah, a right for the deceased, and a right for the
living relatives of the deceased.Ash-Shaikh 'Abdur-Rahmaan bin Naasir
As-Sa`dee (Rahimahullaah)

Source: Bahjatu Quloob il-Abraar wa Qurratu 'Uyoon il-Akhyaar fee
Jaami' il-Akhbaar, pp. 65-67, hadeeth no. 29.

Translated by: Aqeel Walker