Sequence It will be noticed that human rights have remained the main focus of attention since the beginning of the present Surah upto this point. These related to orphans, the women and inheritance. Taken up now are rights of parents, relatives, neighbours and those of human beings in general. Since a perfect fulfillment of these rights is possible only at the hands of a person whose orientation to Allah, His Messenger and to the answerability of the Last Day is correct and strong, and who avoids miserliness, arrogance and affectation, being impediments to all positive efforts, the text presents the need to believe in the Oneness of Allah, to avoid any association with His pristine divinity, and to stay away. from the rejection of the meeting on the Last Day. Also taken to task are ways of the disbelievers who disobey the Messenger of Allah and revel in their miserliness. Commentary The reason why Tauhid precedes rights There are many wise considerations in opening the roster of rights with the exhortation to worship Allah alone and not to associate with Him anything in that worship. One of these, and a basic one indeed, is having the fear of Allah and the conscious concern to fulfill His rights. A person who is& neglectful on that score can hardly be expected to remain particular about fulfilling the rights of anybody else. He will find one or the other excuse to satisfy his immediate circle of relatives and friends, to keep his prestige in the society or to escape the law of the government. What really forces him to honour human rights, watched or unwatched, is nothing but the fear of Allah and the sense of responsibility before Him. This fear and this Taqwa is achieved through nothing but tauhid, the firm belief in the Oneness of A lah to the total exclusion of everything else in that unicity. This is why it was appropriate to remind man about the Oneness of Allah and the need to worship Him before describing the rights of relatives and others. The rights of parents come first after the message of Tauhid By taking up the rights of parents immediately after the command to worship Allah as is His due, it is being suggested that, no doubt all blessings and favours are really from Allah Almighty, yet seen in terms of worldly means, the frequency of favours received by man, closest next to those of Allah Almighty, are those he receives from his parents. This is because they are, given the chain of causation, the very fountain-head of their being. And in all those stages of trial from the birth of a child to his young age, the parents are the ones who take care of the being, sustenance and growth of man to the best of their ability and God-given means. This is why the command to worship and obey Allah has also been supplemented with the mention of the rights of parents at other places in the Holy Qur&an. At one place it is said: أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ (Be grateful to Me, and to your parents.) (31:14). At another place, it is said: وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَا تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّـهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا (And when We made the children of Isra&il take a pledge: You shall not worship anyone but Allah; and to parents you shall be good...) (2:83). In the verses quoted above, the text does not say that one should fulfill the rights of parents or serve them. The word used here is Ihsan (doing good) which, being far more comprehensive, includes spending to support them as needed, to be of service to them physically when so required, not to talk to them in a voice too sharp or too loud causing disrespect, not to say anything to them which may break their heart, and not to treat their friends and well-wishers in any manner which hurts them. On the contrary, one should do everything possible to comfort and please them. Even if the parents have fallen short in fulfilling the due rights of children, the children should never take it as an excuse for their own ill-treatment. Sayyidna Mu` adh ibn Jabal (رض) عنہ says that, out of the ten things the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) had asked me to be particular about, one was: &do not associate anyone with Allah even if you are killed or burnt alive&; and the second was: &Do not disobey or hurt your parents even if they ask you to leave your children and family.&-(Musnad Ahmad) Besides the great emphasis laid on obedience to parents and on treating them well as in the sayings of the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) there are countless merits and grades of reward promised for those who do so: A hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim reports that the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &One who wishes to have his earnings and life increased by the blessing of Allah should fulfill the rights of his relatives.& A narration in Tirmidhi says: &The pleasure of Allah lies in the pleasure of the father and the displeasure of Allah, in the displeasure of the father.& Al-Baihaqi reports in Shu&ab al-&Iman that the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said:, ‘When a son who is obedient to his parents looks at them with love and regard, every glance of his brings forth for him the reward of an accepted Hajj.& According to another narration from al-Baihaqi, the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &Allah Almighty forgives most sins but one who disobeys and hurts his parents is condemned to face all sorts of unforeseen troubles right here in this mortal world, much before the ultimate reckoning of the Here after.& The emphasis on treating relatives well After having mentioned parents, the verse emphasizes the good treatment of all relatives. A very comprehensive and well-known verse of the Qur&an which the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) very often used to recite at the end of his sermons, presents the same subject in this إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ Still being recited in the Khutbah during Friday prayers all over the world, the verse means: &Allah commands you to do justice and be good to all and to fulfill the rights of the relatives. (16:90) & This includes serving relatives to the best of one&s ability, as well as keeping in touch with them. Sayyidna Salman ibn ` Amir (رض) reports that the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &Sadaqah, when given to the poor and needy, surely brings the reward reserved for such charity, but, when given to a kinsman, it brings a twofold reward - one for the charitable giving and the other for having fulfilled the rights imposed by kinship.& (Musnad Ahmad, Nasii, & Tirmidhi) Let us keep in mind that the need to fulfill the rights of parents is the first priority followed by that of relatives in general. The rights of the orphans and the needy The third group mentioned in the verse is that of &the orphans and the needy& whose rights were already taken up in some detail earlier in the Surah. But, by recalling it under the general head of relatives, the hint given is that one should consider helping orphaned children and helpless people as necessary as one would do for his or her own relatives. The rights of the neighbour Then appears &the close neighbour& at number four, and the distant neighbour,& at five. The Arabic word, اَلجَار &al jar& means &the neighbour&. The verse describes its two kinds - the close and the distant. These two kinds have been explained variously by the noble Companions may Allah be pleased with them all. Generally, commentators say that &a close neighbour& is one who lives next to your house, and &the distant neighbour& is one who lives at some distance from it. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas (رض) said that &a close relative& means one who is a neighbour and a relative at the same time which makes him the holder of two rights; and &the distant neighbour& means one who is simply a neighbour and is no relative and who has, there-fore, been mentioned later. Some commentators have said that &a close neighbour& is one who is part of the Muslim community and is a Muslim while &a distant neigh¬bour& refers to a non-Muslim neighbour. The truth of the matter is that the words of the Holy Qur&an lend to all these probable meanings. It is no doubt reasonable and lawful to have a difference in degrees between different neighbours, either on the basis of their being relative or non-relative, or on the basis of their being Muslim or non-Muslim. However, it is agreed upon that a neighbour, close or distant, related or unrelated, Muslim or non-Muslim, has the essential right that he be helped and cared for to the best of one&s ability. However, a person who has some other right as well, besides his right as a neighbour, he will have a degree of precedence as compared to others. The Holy Prophet has himself explained this when he said: &Some neighbours have one right, some others have two, still some others have three. The neighbour with one right is a non-Muslim with no bond of kinship; the neighbour with two rights is not only a neighbour but a Muslim too; the neighbour with three rights is a neighbour, a Muslim and a relative, all in one. (Ibn Kathir) The Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &Jibra&il has always been telling me to be helpful and caring with one&s neighbour, so much so that I started thinking that may be the neighbours will also be included as sharers in inheritance. (al-Bukhari and Muslim) According to a narration in al-Tirmidhi and the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &The best and the most superior is the best in relationship with his neighbours&. And a hadith in the Musnad of Ahmad reports: &It is not permissible for a neighbour to eat his fill while his next door neighbour is hungry.& The right of the Companion at your side Mentioned at number six is &the companion at your side&. Trans¬lated literally, it includes a travel companion sitting by your side in a rail compartment, an aero plane, a bus or a car. It also includes a person who is sitting with you in any common meeting. The way the Shari’ ah of Islam has made the rights of regular neighbours, close or distant, a matter of obligation, it has likewise made equally obligatory the right of good company enjoyed by a person who sits next to somebody for a little while in some meeting or journey - which includes everyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, related or unre¬lated, as equals. The instruction to treat such a person nicely is signifi¬cant, the lowest degree of which is that you cause no pain to anyone with your word or deed, you say nothing which may hurt the feelings of the other person, you do nothing which embarrasses, annoys or troubles him, such as, a puff of cigarette blown towards his face, or a spit of things chewed deposited by his side, or a style of sitting which leaves very little space for the other person to sit. No wonder, if people started following this instruction of the Holy Qur&an, the common disputes between passengers of trains, particu¬larly in countries with overcrowded modes of transportation, would be all over - if everyone were to think that he needs just about enough space to seat one person. This much is his right, but he does not have the right to occupy anymore space beyond that. The person sitting next to him has as much right to sit in that train as he does. Some commentators have said that &a distant neighbour& includes everyone who works by your side in some job or vocation, in industry or wage-earning, in office work, whether on the station of duty, or in travel. (Ruh al-Ma` ini) The right of the wayfarer This appears at number seven. A wayfarer is a person who, during your tavel status, comes to you, or becomes your guest. Since this stranger Muslim or non-Muslim has no relative or friend around in the given situation, the Holy Qur&an by considering his predicament as a human being - has made the fulfillment of his right too as something obligatory. It means that one should treat him well, as much as possible and convenient. The rights of bondmen, bondwomen, servants and employees Concluding the list at number eight, it is said: وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ (and those owned by you) which means bondmen and bondwomen owned. Their right too - that they be treated well - has been made equally obligatory. It means that one should not fall short in making sure that they have food to eat and dress to wear, and also that they are not burdened with jobs beyond their ability to handle. Though, given the lexical meaning of the verse which is clearly referring to &the owned&, that is, the bondmen and bondwomen, but as based on the same analogy and on the sayings of the Holy Prophet g these rules cover servants and employees as well, for they too have the same right. There should be no niggardliness or delay in giving them their due salary, meals and so forth, and also that they are not burdened with jobs beyond their ability. Arrogance hinders the fulfillment of rights The last sentence of verse 36: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا (Surely, Allah does not like those who are arrogant, proud) is really a unifying complement of what has been said immediately earlier. In other words, anyone falling short of fulfilling the rights of the eight kinds of people serially mentioned earlier, must be none else but the arrogant and the proud - those who have an offensively heightened sense of superiority and those who love lording over others to exact esteem from them. May Allah keep all Muslims safe from it. There are many ahadith carrying stern warnings against arrogance and pre-Islamic vainglory: عن ابن مسعود (رض) قال : قَالَ رسول اللہ (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) لا یدخل النار احد فی قلبہ مثقال حبَۃ من خردل من ایمان ولا یدخل الجنۃ احد فی قلبہ مثقال حبَّہ من خردل من کِبِر (مشکوۃ ص 433 بحوالہ مسلم) Sayyidna Ibn Masud (رض) has narrated that the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &A person who has in his heart faith worth the weight of a mustard seed will not go to the Hell; and a person who has in his heart arrogance worth the weight of a mustard seed will not go to Paradise.& (Mishkit, p. 433, vide Muslim) Quoted here is another hadith which also carries a definition of arrogance: عن ابن مسعود (رض) قال : قَالَ رسول اللہ (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) لا یدخل الجنۃ مَن کانَ فی قلبہ مثقال ذَرَّۃ من کِبِر ، فقالرجل ا الرجل یحب ان یکون ثوبہ حسنَا، قال ان اللہ تعالیٰ جمیل یحِّب الجمال، الکبربطر الحق و غمط الناس (مشکوۃ ص 433 بحوالہ مسلم) Sayyidna Ibn Masud (رض) has narrated that the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: &Whoever has in his heart arro¬gance worth the weight of a particle will not go to Paradise. Then, someone asked: &How about people who like that their clothes be good and their shoes too ... (Is this arrogance?) & He said: &Allah is beautiful;-He likes beauty. Arrogance is wanton disregard of the (other person&s) right and the holding of people in contempt.& (Mishkit, p. 433, vide Muslim)