عن علي قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: للمسلم على المسلم ست بالمعروف يسلم عليه إذا لقيه ويجيبه إذا دعاه ويشمته إذا عطس ويعوده إذا مرض ويتبع جنازته إذا مات ويحب له ما يحب لنفسه (سنن الترمذي رقم 2736)
Hazrat ‘Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “A muslim has six rights over his fellow muslim. (They are that) he should make salaam to him when he meets him, he should accept his call (invitation) when he calls him (and the invitation does not include anything impermissible in Shari‘ah, or respond to his call at the time when he is in difficulty or need), when he sneezes (and says Alhamdulillah) then he should reply to his sneeze by saying ‘Yarhamukallah’, he should visit him when he is sick, he should attend his janaazah when he passes away, and he should love for him what he loves for himself.”
The religion of Islam advocates and commands that one fulfil the obligations he owes to Allah Ta‘ala and the obligations he owes to the servants of Allah Ta‘ala.
Regarding the obligations and rights one owes the servants of Allah Ta‘ala, these can be divided into two types of rights.
The first type are those rights which are specific to each person individually e.g. the rights one owes towards his parents, kith and kin, neighbours, etc.
The second type are those rights which relate to all Muslims in general. In regard to this type, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has explained in his Mubaarak Hadith that each Muslim has certain rights over his fellow Muslims. It is these rights that have been explained in the above Hadith.
