SURAH AN-NISA (WOMEN): 36

TRANSLATION:

[4:36]
Worship Allah, and do not associate with Him anything, and be good to parents and to kinsmen and orphans and the needy and the close neighbor and the distant neighbor {29} and the companion at your side {30} and the wayfarer and to those (slaves who are) owned by you. Surely, Allah does not like those who are arrogant, proud,...

INTERPRETATION:

{29} Quran and Sunnah (teachings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ) have placed great emphasis on the rights of a person’s neighbours and on treating them well. Three categories of neighbours have been described in this verse. The first category is “close neighbour” (جارذی القربی), the person whose home is adjacent to one’s home. The second is “distant neighbour” (الجارالجنب) , the person whose home is not as close. Some interpreters of the Holy Quran have interpreted these as those neighbours who are also relatives, and those neighbours who are not related to a person. Some other interpreters have interpreted these as Muslim neighbours, and non-Muslim neighbours. The words of the Holy Quran are open to all these interpretations. The point is that great emphasis has been placed on treating all of one’s neighbours well, whether they are relatives or strangers, Muslim or non-Muslim, or live right next to one’s house or a few houses away.

{30} This is the third category of neighbours which the Holy Quran has termed “the companion at your side” (صاحب بالجنب). This refers to a person who has temporarily become one’s companion, for example, someone sitting or standing next to a person while traveling, or sitting next to a person in a meeting, or standing next in a queue. The Holy Quran deems that person also as a kind of neighbour and has advised that people should treat them well. Then going beyond that, it has been advised that people should treat every wayfarer and traveler well, even if they are not a companion or a neighbour.