What are the rights of neighbours in Islam?

The weight of the right

The Prophet ﷺ tied the honouring of the neighbour to faith in Allah and the Last Day, which is how the scholars read the repeated formula "whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his neighbour." Shaykh Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad explains that this pairing shows the right of the neighbour is one of the most confirmed of rights, and that the neighbour's closeness — the shared wall, the shared street — is exactly why both good and harm travel so easily between them.

The strongest statement of that weight is the Angel Jibril's repeated instruction:

"Jibril kept advising me about the neighbour until I thought he would make him an heir."— Sahih al-Bukhari 6014, from Aishah رضي الله عنها

Al-Abbad draws the point out: the Prophet ﷺ thought a revelation might come assigning the neighbour a share of inheritance. No such revelation came, but the nearness of it shows the right is among the most binding of all.

The three ranks of neighbours

The scholars divide neighbours by what each one is owed, and the division is stated plainly in the well-known narration of Jabir رضي الله عنه:

"Neighbours are three: a neighbour with one right, a neighbour with two rights, and a neighbour with three rights. The one with one right is the idolater who has no kinship — he has the right of neighbourhood. The one with two rights is the Muslim — he has the right of Islam and the right of neighbourhood. The one with three rights is the Muslim relative — he has the right of Islam, the right of neighbourhood, and the right of kinship."— Musnad al-Bazzar, from Jabir

Ibn Rajab notes that this narration has been transmitted through several chains, connected and disconnected, and that none of them is free of criticism — so the wording is reported, not established with certainty. Its meaning, however, is repeated across the sources. Al-San'ani makes the practical point that the right of neighbourhood is not cancelled by the neighbour's disbelief, and by extension not by his sinfulness either.

The non-Muslim neighbour is still owed kindness — and al-Abbad notes the wisdom in it: good treatment and generosity are themselves an invitation to Islam, so a person combines calling to Allah by word with calling to Him by conduct.

Who counts as a neighbour

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen settles this by custom rather than by a fixed measure. Some reports speak of forty houses in each direction, and he does not reject the figure outright — he notes that in the Prophet's ﷺ time houses were small enough that forty could genuinely be neighbours, while today forty houses would cover a vast area. The rule he gives is that the neighbour is whoever people customarily count as a neighbour, and that this is a matter the Law left to custom, unlike fixed penalties such as the hundred lashes, which are set and do not vary.

Where generosity has to be directed rather than spread, the closest door comes first. Aishah رضي الله عنها asked the Prophet ﷺ which of two neighbours she should give a gift to, and he replied:

"To the one whose door is nearer to you" (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Ibn Uthaymeen explains the reasoning: the nearest neighbour sees what comes in and out of your house, so his heart may attach to what he sees — which makes honouring him the more pressing duty.

Refraining from harm

The prohibition on harming a neighbour is the sharpest of these rights. Ibn Rajab states that harm without justification is forbidden against anyone, but against a neighbour it is more severely forbidden. The Prophet ﷺ swore three times:

"By Allah, he does not believe; by Allah, he does not believe; by Allah, he does not believe." It was said: Who, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "The one whose neighbour is not safe from his mischief."— Sahih al-Bukhari 6016

Ibn Uthaymeen reads "mischief" (bawa'iq) as covering deceit, betrayal, oppression and aggression — and then applies it concretely. Harm by word includes raising a radio or television loud enough to disturb the neighbours; he notes that even reciting the Book of Allah at a volume that disturbs them is an aggression, because the harm is in the disturbance, not the content. Harm by deed includes dumping rubbish by a neighbour's door, blocking his entrances, and persistent banging. He also cites the case of a man whose tree or irrigation beside his neighbour's wall causes damage — that too falls under the same prohibition.

Ibn Rajab adds that a neighbour may be restrained from anything in his own property that damages his neighbour's property — shaking, pounding, foul smells, or digging a well that drains his neighbour's — and that this is the apparent position of the schools of Malik and Ahmad.

Giving, sharing and goodwill

Beyond refraining, the neighbour is owed positive good. The Prophet ﷺ instructed Abu Dharr رضي الله عنه:

"O Abu Dharr, when you cook a broth, add more water to it and look after your neighbours."— Sahih Muslim

Ibn Uthaymeen explains the instruction: increase the water so the broth stretches further and can be shared, and the same applies to anything else you have in surplus — milk, drink, food. The neighbour has a claim on you.

Ibn Rajab records that Imam Ahmad was asked about a man who knows his neighbour is going hungry. He said: share with him. Asked what if he only has two loaves himself, Ahmad said: feed him something. Ibn Rajab reads Ahmad's words as holding that supporting a hungry neighbour from what you can spare without harming yourself is obligatory.

The inner dimension is stated in the oath:

"By the One in whose hand is my soul, a servant does not believe until he loves for his neighbour what he loves for himself."— Sahih Muslim 45, from Anas رضي الله عنه

Ibn Uthaymeen clarifies what this negation means: it is not a negation of faith altogether, but of its completeness. Ahl al-Sunnah agree that such a person is not a disbeliever; what is removed is perfect faith. And al-San'ani notes that the wording "neighbour" is broader than "brother" — it reaches the Muslim and the non-Muslim, the righteous and the sinner, the friend and the enemy, the near and the far — and each is given his due according to his rank.

Key takeaways

• Refraining from harm comes first: the Prophet ﷺ swore three times that a person whose neighbour is not safe from his harm lacks complete faith, and harm against a neighbour is more severely forbidden than harm against others.
• The right has ranks: a Muslim relative neighbour is owed three rights, a Muslim neighbour two, and a non-Muslim neighbour the right of neighbourhood — which his disbelief does not cancel.
• Give from what you have: sharing food, broth, or surplus is an established practice, and Imam Ahmad held that supporting a hungry neighbour from what you can spare is obligatory.
• The nearest door comes first when you cannot be generous to everyone, because that neighbour sees what enters and leaves your home.
• Who counts as a neighbour is settled by custom, not by a fixed number of houses — Ibn Uthaymeen's position, given that the reports of forty houses reflect a time when homes were far smaller.

Further reading

• Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Jami' al-'Ulum wa al-Hikam — the commentary on the fifteenth hadith
• Ibn Uthaymeen, Sharh Riyad al-Salihin — the chapter on the right of the neighbour
• Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad, Sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah

And Allah knows best.